Pioneering Work: KNF Flodos AG and the Success Story of the Liquid Pump
In the early 1980s, Erich Becker designs the prototype for the first KNF liquid pump. Not only does this technological wonder transfer liquids, it can dose them, too. Erich Becker recognizes the potential this new technology has to offer, but also knows that he stands before a great challenge. The liquid pumps come with their own special requirements – in terms of both production and sales – as they prove to be best suited to new sectors that KNF has not yet tapped into. Thus, an audacious plan is born: An entire specialized competence center with its own development and production team is created just for the liquid pump. This is a coherent business plan, but in the beginning, the center focuses its efforts on “just” this one pump – plus a brief newspaper advertisement.
The year is 1987. Erwin Bolt opens the newspaper where a job advertisement catches his eye: “New company, new product, new markets.” His interest is piqued. For 15 years, Erwin Bolt had been responsible for setting up subsidiaries for an existing Swiss group. Now, he is presented with the opportunity to lead a brand new company to success. It is a chance he can not pass up, even though he has never worked with diaphragm pumps before.
Erich Becker and Erwin Bolt come to an agreement, and in the months that follow, the new general manager sets out in search of a location in Switzerland, and for employees to fill it. Eventually, he manages to gather a small but dedicated core team. And it is indeed thanks to the first five employees’ devotion that the liquid pumps find quick market success and make a name for themselves in clinical diagnostics around the globe. After just a few weeks’ time, a Swiss pharmaceutical company takes interest in the pumps and orders about two-thirds of the liquid pumps scheduled for annual production, earning KNF Flodos a reputation worldwide. Over the following years, this new technology experiences a breakthrough in a wide array of sectors. In 1996, the rapidly growing company moves to a building all for itself in Sursee, Switzerland, and in 2004 the building is expanded. On May 5, 2017, the staff celebrates the production of its 5 millionth pump.
KNF Flodos is still defined by its passionate and highly specialized employees. They respond to customers’ requests, develop innovative products even in small production numbers and set market benchmarks with their work. At the same time, the production technology in Sursee still undergoes continuous improvement. Many other manufacturers look to KNF Flodos as a technology leader and attempt to reproduce its products. But KNF Flodos is convinced that their innovative production process, which guarantees speed and high quality, simply can not be copied.
Today, KNF Flodos boasts a staff of nearly 200 employees and has been a world-leading provider in its field for many years. Its continued success hinges on the KNF philosophy of independent product centers. After all, Sursee is home to the entirety of KNF’s expertise surrounding liquid pump technology.
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