Kamstrup : From Global Expertise to Local Impact

Equipped with a thorough localization strategy that is key to minimizing water loss across the North and South America regions, Kamstrup continues to increase its scale and reach. We catch up with Bruce Bharat, Regional President – Americas.

FROM GLOBAL EXPERTISE TO LOCAL IMPACT

In the past year, global trade conditions and supply chain pressures have pushed many industries worldwide to rethink how and where products are made.  

In the smart water metering sector in particular, these same forces have increased the urgency around localization and resilience, areas in which Kamstrup continues to excel.  

“Localization has always been the direction we wanted to go, but recent trade dynamics accelerated that journey,” opens Bruce Bharat, Regional President – Americas.  

“We’ve used the moment as an opportunity to move faster, strengthen our regional supply chain, and improve responsiveness for utilities and channel partners across North America.”  

Indeed, the company is proud to be part of a sector that is solving urgent, real-world challenges every day, including aging infrastructure, water loss, resource and capital constraints, and increasing expectations from customers.  

“Our mission is simple and worthy – to reduce and ultimately eliminate water loss – and that makes this work meaningful, even as the market becomes more competitive and turbulent,” he adds.  

This goal is partly achieved by the fact that Kamstrup recently improved the starting flow on its residential flowIQ 2200® water meters from 0.01 to 0.008 – a 20 percent improvement on what was already industry-leading low-flow performance.   

“We already had the best low-flow capabilities in the market, and we made it even better because we care deeply about measurement integrity and capturing every possible drop.” 

ELEVATING SCALE AND REACH   

Celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, Kamstrup’s founding vision remains steadfast – to deliver reliable metering that supports smarter water management and helps utilities reduce water loss. What has evolved, however, is the company’s scale and reach.   

“We’ve had a strong year in terms of growth – new customers, expanded deployments, and deeper adoption across multiple market segments.  

“We’re also continuing to strengthen our supply chain and manufacturing capabilities in North America so that we can serve the market with greater speed, stability, and quality,” Bharat adds.   

This year, the company is also proud to celebrate 35 years of ultrasonic metering.  

“We made a bold decision long before ultrasonic metering became a growing trend in the US market to commit to static, or solid-state measurement technology, because it offers the most accurate and stable way to measure water over the full life of a meter.” 

In the early 1990s, ultrasonic, or ‘static metering’ wasn’t commonplace in the industry. However, Kamstrup made the strategic choice to move away from mechanical technology and invest in change before the market demanded it – a major reason for the company celebrating such success today.  

Kamstrup is further distinguished by its consistent focus on the production of high-quality products.  

“We don’t treat manufacturing as an afterthought. Some companies design products and then try to figure out how to build them. At Kamstrup, manufacturing is integral to product design,” he urges.  

Indeed, the company’s scalability, quality, and innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum; they stem from intentional design, advanced automation, quality controls and robotics, and the discipline to build products the right way, every time.   

PRIORITIZING LOCALIZATION 

Since last speaking to Kamstrup, its Georgia facility has continued to mature, becoming a major anchor point for the company’s North American growth strategy.  

With this new facility comes the ongoing expansion of Kamstrup’s localized supply chain, which has facilitated its production capabilities to support local configuration and the assembly of larger commercial and industrial meter lines which, in turn, help shorten lead times and strengthen overall reliability and responsiveness.   

“Over the past year, we’ve expanded both the scope and maturity of what we do locally, improving our ability to serve utilities and channel partners with speed, stability, and consistent quality,” Bharat affirms.  

This also grants the company tighter quality control, significantly faster response times to demand shifts, and a more resilient manufacturing model for the US market.  

One of Kamstrup’s most meaningful developments has been the evolution of a localized supply chain ecosystem – including in-house production of printed circuit boards, Atlanta-based manufacturing of meter housings, and regional sourcing of critical components used in the final assembly of US-made water meters.   

Indeed, as its North American circuit board volumes have increased, the company has witnessed key Danish suppliers establish US manufacturing footprints to support this growth, therefore bringing the same competencies, tooling, and production standards closer to the facility in Georgia.  

The facility and its growing network equally have a major impact on the local community.  

“It’s not only the jobs Kamstrup creates directly – it’s also the jobs and opportunities created by the suppliers investing alongside us. These partnerships strengthen quality control, reduce lead times, and make our entire production model more responsive to changes in customer demand.”

MEASURING UP  

Kamstrup’s most recent projects serve to differentiate the company as they represent its advanced scale and strategic expansion.  

This is most pointedly demonstrated by Kamstrup’s collaboration with El Paso Water, which has reached the halfway mark in its roll-out, with more than 100,000 meters integrated into its network.  

“What makes the El Paso Water project even more significant is that it is using Kamstrup’s embedded acoustic leak detection, proving that this technology is scalable and valuable at full deployment levels.  

“This matters because leak detection at scale is where many utilities want to go, and El Paso Water will prove that it can be done,” Bharat explains.   

Elsewhere, Kamstrup has recently partnered with the Las Vegas Valley Water District (LVVWD), who – in a region where water scarcity is a defining reality – has built an operating model that invests heavily in conservation and demand reduction. 

Kamstrup was chosen by LVVWD for its ability to measure at exceptionally low flow levels.  

“LVVWD has highlighted the value of being able to measure extremely small usage – even down to drops of water – and how this changes the effectiveness of customer service, conservation, and leak response. 

“That kind of measurement sensitivity is extremely valuable in a conservation-driven market.” 

Kamstrup is equally proud of its deployments in León and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, where the company supports major advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) water networks, including the largest and second-largest deployments for water AMI in the region.  

“These projects demonstrate the value utilities can unlock through accurate billing and active water loss reduction at scale.” 

Kamstrup’s focus for the coming year primarily centres around growth – in customers, deployments, team capability, and localized manufacturing.  

Indeed, the company is continuing to build on its reputation for quality in the marketplace, while also investing in the people and infrastructure needed to support expanding deployments.  

“We’ll also continue our localization journey – not only because of supply chain dynamics, but because we believe in actively participating in the markets we serve, supporting regional partnerships, and building long-term resilience in how we manufacture and deliver our solutions,” Bharat concludes.

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