Background

 

Viking Pump is proud to have Michael Smith Engineers (MSE) as our distributor in the United Kingdom. The company has a solid reputation as the UK’s leading pump specialist, providing solutions for difficult liquid handling since 1971. With a broad range of experience and ISO 9001 accreditation by NQA Ltd since 1994, this engineering team has the know-how for solving the most complex pumping problems via state-of-the-art solutions. Many of those solutions are supported by Viking’s various pump models and sizes, which have been successfully put into service across diverse applications—from chemicals and petrochemicals to industrial processes, pharmaceuticals, laboratories, research and development institutions, and OEMs.

 

Strategically located offices in the UK’s northern region (Yorkshire, sales and support) and southern region (Woking, headquarters) enable trained MSE technicians to be onsite at most major manufacturing locations within a couple of hours. The Woking workshop is fully equipped for assembly, repair, and testing. Additionally, on-site consultancy, troubleshooting, commissioning, and service are offered to provide a true end-to-end customer experience.

 

 

Brief Company History

 

The company was founded by Michael Smith in July 1971, starting as a distributor of specialized engineering equipment. In the 1960s, Smith worked with George Meller in setting up a specialist engineering equipment distribution company, which later became Axflow UK. Before that, he worked for Iranian Oil Services in London (Iros) and Burmah Oil in Assam. So, naturally, MSE’s first business contracts were with Middle Eastern, as well as Japanese, oil pipeline companies. A decade later, they moved into manufacturing chemical, metering, and dosing systems for UK utility companies. However, the distribution of specialized pump equipment was an ongoing mainstay, and the company formed agreements with Finish Thompson (Erie), Micropump (Vancouver), Liquiflo (New Jersey), and Dickow Pumpen (Germany) within the period of 1978 to 1990. After selling off the manufacturing division, the sole focus became the distribution, service, and repair of industrial pumps throughout the UK and Ireland. In the early 2000s, MSE took on the UK distributorship of pumps for HNP Mikrosysteme (Germany) and Wanner (Minneapolis). And then along came Viking Pump…

 

Long-term Relationship with Viking Pump

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When asked about the relationship between MSE and Viking Pump over the years, Jason Downing had this to say: “As the Sales Director at Michael Smith Engineers Ltd., I take great pride in highlighting the enduring partnership we've cultivated with Viking Pump since 2007. We deeply value this collaboration, which has played an integral role in our recent growth—reaching new heights in 2024, when Viking Pump Hygienic appointed us as their distribution partner in Great Britain. Viking Pump's unwavering commitment to quality, innovation, and reliability perfectly complements our dedication to excellence. The exceptional support provided by the IDEX Pump Technologies team in Shannon, Ireland over the last 17 years, coupled with the expertise of Viking’s team in Cedar Falls, Iowa, has been instrumental to our success. Our recent training session in Eastbourne gave us the opportunity to connect with the Viking Pump Hygienic team, and I am confident that we will build a strong and fruitful relationship with them in the years ahead.”

 

Downing went on to say, “Through our ongoing affiliation, we consistently harness Viking Pump's cutting-edge pump technologies to meet the diverse needs of our customers across the UK and Ireland. This partnership, rooted in trust, responsiveness, and mutual success, reflects our shared values and propels us toward achieving even greater milestones." 

 

People and Products

 

The company is currently run by Sam Smith (Managing Director), Jason Downing (Sales Director), and Jamie Lane (General Manager). The rest of the team includes Stuart Willgoss, Roberto Mori, David Todd, Laura Seaton, and Stephanie Downing in sales and support; Monica Wonham, who looks after the company’s accounts; Emma Boothman, Vanessa Higgins, Sumana Khair, and Viliv Viana, who are responsible for order processing; and Andi Gough and Kyle Lelliott, who run the workshop.

Michael Smith Engineers have experience in pumping many hard-to-handle liquids, including acids,

bases, organic/inorganic liquids, solvents, slurries, volatile liquids, corrosives, abrasive liquids, non-lubricating liquids, liquids with entrained gases, and flammable liquids.

 

They provide a wide range of drive options for the various pump ranges, including single-phase and three-phase motors, inverter control, DC motors, air motors, ATEX-approved drives, and

manual and automatic variable speed units. They also supply a complete range of specialty pumps and drives, and offer a comprehensive selection of accessories (filters, relief and loading valves, flow meters, and tubing) to complement the different types of pumps.

 

A Big Win – Viking Pump Supports Sustainability in the UK

MSE has had several wins working alongside Viking Pump, most recently partnering with one of their UK customers, Stepan, as a test site for Viking’s newest modular pump line. (Click here to read a case study about this beta test.) Other notable projects include the installation of SG-series mag-drive pumps in multiple additive injection applications, and several hot oil recirculation projects with large food manufacturers.

 

Sustainability success story

 

The biggest MSE-Viking win to date delivered not only huge improvements in system integrity and pump longevity, but also qualifies as a ‘sustainability’ success story in terms of energy savings and environmental protection—both growing concerns in the UK.

The customer was Tate & Lyle PLC, a British-headquartered, global supplier of food and beverage products to consumer and industrial markets. MSE commissioned two Viking O-Pro® Seal internal gear pump units to handle thick, viscous sugar syrup processing (specifically, mingling syrup spun off from affination centrifuges). The unique pumping requirement was to keep sugar crystals in suspension up to 550 microns (in reality, they are slightly bigger than this) whilst also handling dissolved solids 70% by weight, with up to 10% product aeration.

Viking’s stainless steel internal gear pumps—Model N1327A, with O-Pro® Seals—outperformed legacy equipment. For example, seals on the previous centrifugal pumps failed regularly, pipework fatigued from cavitation, and excessive energy costs were incurred. With the Viking pump replacements, the customer realized a substantial saving on electricity (22 kW versus 110 kW). Another advantage was running the new pumps at far lower speeds (particularly when considering the aerated product)—175 rpm max (usually around 50 rpm) versus 950 rpm. Furthermore, flows that typically ran in the region of 7-30 m3/hr could now reach approximately 55 m3/hr for greater production without risking safety. The operators were also impressed with the noise reduction of Viking pumps, which could not be heard when running, compared to the old pumps that caused adjacent pipework to rattle around.

In the spirit of delivering eco-friendly benefits, this winning solution demonstrated Viking’s innovative O-Pro® Seal ‘leak-proof’ capabilities in the UK market, expanding its safe operation to an application other than pumping chocolate.