From Bavaria to overseas: Success story of Primus Line^® on the US market

10/13/2023

Ten years ago, Rädlinger primus line GmbH from Cham in Bavaria, Germany, ventured across the Atlantic to introduce its technology for trenchless rehabilitation of pressure pipelines in the USA. In recent years, the company has been able to consolidate its position through successful projects and partnerships and would like to intensify its activities in the USA.

Ten years after Primus Line entered the American rehabilitation market, the system of the same name has now achieved an impressive market position. In the beginning, it was essential that the market understood the technology itself, recognized its application possibilities and the benefits for the end customer.

The distribution structure is mature and consists of a reliable and sustainable network of contractors, engineering companies and municipal contacts. In addition, the execution structure has proven itself with customer education, faster supply chain and installation.

A decade after entering the US market, Primus Line is an acknowledged partner in the industry. The product Primus Line^®, the flexible, fabric-reinforced pipe (FFRP), is widely accepted and part of the American Water Works Association’s manual M28 “Rehabilitation of Water Mains”.

The order backlog for the coming year already includes some major rehabilitation projects. However, this is no reason to rest on one’s laurels. The entire US team is continuing to work on more intensive market penetration and increasing awareness of Primus Line^®.

Already in its founding year, Raedlinger Primus Line, Inc. landed its first orders, which were implemented from 2014 onwards. The first highlight was the rehabilitation of 70-year-old grey cast iron water pipes with different diameters on a military base in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, over a length of almost three miles. Despite the slightly smaller diameter of the Primus Liners compared to the host pipe, the flow rate increased by up to 20 percent due to the improved C-factor. A first success!

Also in the same year, Primus Line increased its own visibility by participating in trade fairs and conferences and interested US companies came to the headquarters in Cham for their first visits and for accreditation training.

Staff development and distribution partnership

Due to the increased demand, the local team was strengthened by another employee at the end of 2015. This person already brought many years of experience in trenchless construction and know-how from the construction industry: John Moody is still the Director of Sales for the USA and Canada at Primus Line.

By the end of 2020, the sales team was increased to a total of four employees to cover all points of the compass in the USA. This constellation is still in place today. The Primus Line US team receives further support from a regional civil engineer, who is available to the engineering companies and customers as an expert for construction site planning and has the technical department from the headquarters in Cham as backups. This deepens the cooperation and enables the implementation of more extensive projects.

The number of completed projects and references grew and continues to grow, and with it the active memberships of Raedlinger Primus Line, Inc. in national American bodies such as the National Association of Sewer Service Companies (NASSCO) or the American Water Works Association (AWWA).

Since the beginning of 2022, MTC/Aegion has taken over the warehousing and shipping of Primus Line products for the water sector in the USA and Canada as the exclusive distribution partner; previously, project-related shipping to the installation partners led to long delivery times. In the meantime, the entire range for rehabilitations and bypasses in the water sector is available at the MTC/Aegion warehouse in Batesville, Mississippi. This means that projects can be implemented with much shorter lead times – even in emergency situations. Partnering with MTC/Aegion as the largest player in the North American rehabilitation industry opens up new distribution channels.