German manufacturer KSB reinforces its base in Aix with a €4 million investment

On March 23, 2017, KSB, the leading German manufacturer of industrial pumps and valves, celebrated the opening of a new building to accommodate its Rhone Mediterranean management department and service center. The company has had a base in Aix Les Milles for 38 years and has chosen to stay in this area, which it considers to be strategic due to its accessibility and proximity to the company’s principal markets: the petrochemical, steel, construction and energy industries. Provence Promotion, which recognized this €4 million investment in the area by awarding the company the Invest in Provence label, sees KSB as the perfect ambassador for Provence in Germany.

Methane terminals, steel and petrochemical plants, container ships, nuclear and geothermal power stations, etc. All these industries use KSB pumps and valves. “German quality made in France!” as Boris Lombard, Western Europe CEO, asserted on March 23, 2017, before an audience of industrialists attending the opening of the Rhone Mediterranean headquarters, a brand new 6,000 m2 building in the Milles industrial estate. KSB has had a presence in Aix-en-Provence for almost forty years now and wanted to modernize its facilities. The German group is confident in the future of this area with its concentration of large industrial and energy companies and has invested €4 million in the construction of a regional headquarters. It has also doubled the capacity of its workshop to 1,450 m2 in order to find new markets.

Aix-Marseilles-Provence, an area that supports growth

With this workshop, also equipped with a deep pit, the German family group, which has four plants in France (La Roche-Chalais, Lille, Châteauroux and Déville-lès-Rouen), has every intention of continuing to grow. “Our regional headquarters is centrally located, close to the highways leading to Aix, Vitrolles, Marseilles and the Etang de Berre. We also have a high-speed train station a few kilometers away,” stresses Jean-Luc Borel, Rhone Mediterranean regional sales manager.

KSB’s operations have developed from Aix, particularly around the Fos chemical plant, the Rhone basin and also large facilities in the Aix-Marseilles-Provence area such as Géolide, the huge sewage treatment plant, and Thassalia, France’s first marine geothermal power station. With its commitment to development projects for industrial renewal in Provence, the group is consolidating its presence in the region and preparing to conquer new markets.

An ambassador to German companies

“You are one of the symbols of this region’s wealth. Your investment provides a clear sign of your commitment and loyalty. I hope that you will become Provence's ambassador to German manufacturers. Aix-Marseilles-Provence welcomes Europe’s largest industrial platform for fluid exchange. €900 million of investments are being prepared for the area around the Etang de Berre and Fos. In the Henri Fabre project and at PIICTO, manufacturers will have pumps to install!” notes Jean-Luc Chauvin, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Marseilles-Provence and Vice-President of Provence Promotion. This investment earned KSB the Invest in Provence label, awarded last December at the Pollutec Show.

In the course of its acquisition operations, KSB has created a network of service centers throughout France: 22 regional workshops, 5 subsidiaries and 80 partners maintain and repair pumps, valves and rotating machinery of all types and brands. On the sales side, it has 5 agencies and a network of franchisees for distributing standard pumps. This national coverage could place KSB in a strong position for encouraging its customers and also its partners to examine the business opportunities offered by Provence.

KSB has approximately 1,800 employees in France and intends to increase this number in the coming months in order to strengthen the services it provides for manufacturers. The KSB group has total sales of €2.3 billion, including €386 million in France.