Our History

More than 75 years making history in the pump industry

Our history started simultaneously in Germany and in Mexico. In Germany, Ruhrpumpen GmbH Wende & Hentschel started as a small pump operation doing maintenance to the installed pumps from all makers and models, as well as manufacturing spare parts.

In the same year, in Mexico, Worthington de México was incorporated as a pump manufacturing plant, serving mainly the water markets in the country. Both companies continued their growth path independently and went through several changes of ownership during the years.

Ruhrpumpen's Timeline

Deep into our history details

Maquinados Programados was formed in Monterrey, Mexico to provide machining services to domestic Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Since its formation, state-of-the-art machining technology was the base, being the first independent CNC machine shop in the northern Mexico.

It grew very rapidly until 1982, when Corporación EG faced the first oil crisis. Maquinados Programados participated in different industries and continued its growth after a couple of years of tough times.

Through the vision of the Elizondo Garza family, we capitalized the opportunity to become an OEM in 1986. The company acquired the assets of an established pump company named Crane Deming de México located in Monterrey, this move opened the door to become an OEM in the pump market in Mexico.

When it was acquired, the company had a very limited product portfolio. This demanded an entrepreneurial spirit to develop and be competitive through new product lines and state of the art manufacturing technology.

Crane Deming de México acquired the assets of Worthington de México. After a couple of months relocated the plant from Mexico City to Monterrey and merged it with the existing pump operation.

This acquisition increased substantially our product portfolio, markets and regions served with a 40-year-old installed base.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed; Derlan Industries from Canada formed a joint venture with Maquinados Programados. This was the inception of Corporación EG.

The join venture came with new challenges and opportunities that had to be faced, the implementation of best practices of an International company had to be deployed, establishment of Company Board and compliance with the most demanding stake holders. But also, access to new manufacturing technology, markets and international growth possibilities.

While looking for a pump company that could license us the technology to manufacture large submersible sewage pumps; we found a very well-known brand name in Europe, Ruhrpumpen GmbH. This new acquisition came with a fantastic group of talented people, new technologies mainly for the oil and gas industry, an established European and Southeast Asia customer base, large manufacturing facilities, and the ability to test pumps up to 10,000 HP. Acquiring Ruhrpumpen became a major milestone for Corporación EG.

Corporación EG acquired Barnes de Colombia. Its history started in 1961 as a domestic water pump company. By being part of Corporacion EG, its horizons were expanded looking outside of Colombia, since then it has had a nice growth year after year in international markets, mainly in Latin America. As of today, the Company has quick ship centers in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Guatemala, and Mexico. We continue working on the globalization of the brand.

The Nassa Johnston, a vertical pump product line came with this acquisition. 

The New Ruhrpumpen

Acquisition of Ruhrpumpen GmbH by Corporacion EG, 1997

Mr. Cesar A. Elizondo Villarreal, founder of the Mexican family company Corporación EG, together with his Canadian financial partners, acquired Ruhrpumpen GmbH. With this, Mr. Elizondo became the first Mexican entrepreneur ever to invest in a German industrial undertaking.

Deming de Mexico and Worthington de Mexico plant in the 1980's

Corporacion EG was a successful company with strong reputation for quality and operational excellence that began operations in 1979 as a Computer Numeric Control (CNC) machine shop in Monterrey, Mexico, to render services to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). In 1986, the firm acquired its first pump company, Crane Deming de Mexico SA de CV, and went on to take over Worthington de Mexico SA de CV in 1991.

Since 1997, a series of capital investments, acquisitions, new product development and a strong focus on customer needs have taken Ruhrpumpen to become a global supplier of highly engineered pumping technologies and related products:

Inside the Ruhrpumpen's facility in Tulsa, OK, USA

2000

Acquisition of the Flowserve manufacturing plant in Tulsa, OK, and formation of Ruhrpumpen USA. By acquiring this facility, RP gained access to the world’s biggest market and obtained an exclusive license to manufacture eight product lines typically used in oil refineries and power generation plants. This acquisition also established the foundations for the new Ruhrpumpen Group.

Worthington de México became Ruhrpumpen S.A. This marked the beginning of what today is the Ruhrpumpen Group.

2001

Our 1st complete decoking system for a refinery was quoted for Venezuela and won the order for Hamaca Project. At the time, we had no experience in decoking systems neither drawings, with a strong German Engineering team the engineering and design process started. In the end, Ruhrpumpen successfully supplied the system series 001. Today we are a major player in the global decoking business, leading on technology and performance.

2004

The customer base started to demand a more local presence with national integration, support and competitive service. This triggered an organic growth and expansion of Ruhrpumpen global footprint.

Ruhrpumpen Argentina was formed, to provide pumping systems and services in the South Cone.

2006

A joint venture with the Egyptian government led to the formation of Ruhrpumpen Egypt for the production and service of API centrifugal pumps.

2007

Birth of the Fire Pumps Business Unit, Ruhrpumpen Systems.
Ruhrpumpen inaugurates new manufacturing facility in Chennai, India

2009

 

To serve the growing Indian market and consolidate operations in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, the company established a new manufacturing facility, Ruhrpumpen India.

Melting metals at RP Metals foundry

2009

 

Maquinados Programados became Ruhrpumpen Industrial, and the foundry changed the focus to dedicate the resources producing castings only for the Ruhrpumpen Group, today this is Ruhrpumpen Metals.

2010

Fire Fighting systems have been part of our product portfolio for many years, a demand for a reliable and competitive supplier was identified.

In order to capitalize this opportunity, we had to be focused and specialized, we spun-off the fire systems business from RPSA. An independent business unit was formed to serve the market for both commercial and industrial applications. Today, Ruhrpumpen Systems has complete UL and FM approved pump lines, with an important presence in many parts of the globe.

2011

 RP reinforces its presence in the South American market with the opening of a new state-of-the-art production facility in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Ruhrpumpen China

2012

Expansion into Asia with the incorporation of Ruhrpumpen China, enhancing our global manufacturing footprint and strengthening our presence in the Asian market.

2013

Ruhrpumpen expands its global service network by opening a new Service Center in Antofagasta, Chile, to attend its customers in the South Cone. 

 
CHINA PLANT RP

2014

Ruhrpumpen has always had a very good reputation in the Chinese market being the leader in pipeline applications.

The time came to invest and have our own manufacturing facility in China. Ruhrpumpen China was opened, a new modern manufacturing facility.

 
 

2015 - 2016

Our first non-centrifugal pump line was added with the addition of Ruhrpumpen UK, established and focused on design and manufacture of API plunger pumps mainly but not limited for the oil and gas markets.

ZM Mainline Pipeline Pump

2019

Ruhrpumpen Industrial Europa was setup in the UK as the starting point for our entry into the European industrial pump market.

With the expansion of our industrial products, the development of a strong and competitive supply chain, forms the basis of Ruhrpumpen Industrial’s expansion.

2022

Incorporation of Ruhrpumpen Industrial EMECA, expanding our operations and strengthening our industrial presence across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

Ruhrpumpen PMC

2023

Opening of a new Parts Manufacturing Center in Monterrey, Mexico, significantly boosting our production capabilities and improving service delivery for our customers.

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