In the dynamic and global filtration industry, news and information is breaking on a daily basis. International Filtration News is tracking stories relevant to our industry from air and gas filtration to liquid filtration and the various end-uses for filtration technology. Here we will post news stories relevant to filtration and its downstream applications on an ongoing basis. Please check back for regular updates. Please check back for regular updates. If you have news that you feel should be added to this summary report, please email it to Matt Migliore at mmigliore@inda.media.
Most recent update: May 27, 2021
FTC Invicta trapezoidal cartridge filter wins New Product of the Year award at FiltCon 2021
Filtration Technology Corporation’s Invicta technology was awarded 2020 New Product of the Year by the American Filtration and Separations Society (AFS) during the association’s annual conference, FiltCon 2o21.
Invicta technology is a novel trapezoidal-shaped cartridge filter element design that leverages increased effective surface area inside a filter vessel resulting in increased capacity and extend filter life. Invicta’s unique design is an advancement of the 60-year-old cylindrical filter model.
“Our whole team at FTC is deeply honored that AFS has recognized our Invicta technology with this award. We think very highly of AFS, and it really means something special to be recognized considering their efforts to spotlight those that contribute to the industry. AFS members contribute exciting new innovations to filtration and separations every year,” said Chris Wallace, FTC’s VP of Technology. “Since its release in 2019, Invicta has changed industry thinking and the industrial filtration market with it.”
Source: ftc-houston.com
Ahlstrom-Munksjö adds capacity, capability to production line in Binzhou, China
Ahlstrom-Munksjö has completed an investment in one of its filtration material production lines in Binzhou, China. The machine rebuild adds production capacity and new capabilities that will further enhance the company’s product portfolio. The production line will be able to deliver high-performing oil, fuel, air and industrial filtration materials, which will strengthen Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s offering and service for the Asian market. The investment plan was initially announced in January 2020.
“This investment reinforces our commitment to our customers in Asia,” says Kathrin Hueppe, head of the Asia, Filtration & Performance Solutions business area for Ahlstrom-Munksjö. “Improving our capability in the Binzhou plant allows us to serve their growing needs in high-performance filtration.”
“In response to growing customer demand, both in the transportation and industrial filtration markets, Ahlstrom-Munksjö has in the recent years strengthened its product offering with unique capabilities and continuously invested to offer delivery security for customers globally,” says Giuseppe Costa, the company’s VP, Filtration Asia & EMEA. “This investment is part of our plan to strengthen our leading position in filtration materials.”
Source: ahlstrom-munksjo.com
Kathrin Sauter named VP of Corporate Marketing & Communications at Mann+Hummel
In an expansion of its management team, Mann+Hummel has named Kathrin Sauter as Vice President Corporate Marketing & Communications. Sauter will be responsible for global and cross functional marketing and corporate communications. Gudmund Semb will remain in the position of Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and will focus more on brand strategy and digitalization.
Sauter’s career began at the membrane manufacturer Microdyn-Nadir where she was most recently the head of marketing & communication. After the company was acquired by Mann+Hummel in 2015, she assumed the position of Manager Marketing Communications Industrial Filtration at Mann+Hummel. She then focused on the company’s Life Sciences & Environment business unit from 2017, lastly as Director Marketing Communications LS&E.
“I have full confidence in Kathrin Sauter and am delighted to welcome her to her new position,” says Gudmund Semb, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Mann+Hummel. “She has been working for Mann+Hummel for many years with outstanding commitment and inventiveness and complements the management team in the area of marketing and communications in an extremely valuable way. Both professionally and personally.”
Source: mann-hummel.com
Meissner expands Castlebar manufacturing facility
Meissner announced that its Castlebar, Ireland, facility is being expanded to over 9,000 m² (100,000 ft²) to serve its biopharmaceutical client base. The facility is surrounded by five acres, allowing for the growth in capacity without restriction.
In addition to manufacturing single-use systems, this site will support quality, regulatory, engineering, and customer service functions. Meissner’s HQ manufacturing campus is located in Camarillo, California, with a European logistics hub outside of Frankfurt, Germany. Meissner also maintains multiple sales and support offices throughout the world.
Source: meissner.com
Mann+Hummel announces expanded distribution strategy for North America
Mann+Hummel announced its distribution expansion strategy for the North American Automotive Aftermarket brands, with the company expanding into two distribution centers to serve customers through a west coast and east coast distribution strategy. Mann+Hummel is partnering with DHL Supply Chain to facilitate this expansion.
The new west coast distribution center will be established in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will open in summer 2021. At about 400,000 square feet, it will begin customer shipments in late 2021.
“Expanding to the West Coast represents a fantastic growth opportunity for our partners,” said Rodrigo Reyes, Senior Vice President, Automotive Aftermarket, Americas. “Once the new site is fully operational, we will ensure shorter lead times and efficient deliveries to our customers in Western USA and Canada. Expansion into the western region is an exciting opportunity we’ve been seeking for a long time.”
In the eastern region, Mann+Hummel will consolidate its two existing distribution facilities in North Carolina into a new center in Gaffney, South Carolina. It is expected to be operational in late 2022.
“For MANN+HUMMEL, a partnership with DHL was a clear choice, allowing us to focus on what we do best: Manufacturing high-quality filtration products,” said Sergio Bellacicco, Vice President Global Material Planning & Logistics for MANN+HUMMEL. “At our new distribution centers, we will implement the latest in robotics technologies, distribution capabilities and optimization solutions. We will move from shipping bulk quantities to specific units, working with just-in-time strategies to support our customers and partners.”
Source: mann-hummel.com
Memsift enters the Korean market in partnership with Angstroms
Memsift Innovations Pte Ltd and Angstroms Co Ltd have executed a cooperation agreement in the form of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore the market opportunities for Memsift technologies in Korea though pilot trials. These technologies include Memsift’s thermal separation process and membranes and its TS-30 system.
“Angstroms is a known player in the Korean market and we are specialized in membrane separation technologies for industrial effluent treatment and solvent recovery,” said Kim Baekahm, Executive Director and CEO, Angstroms. “We see the advantages of Memsift’s products over the traditional industrial liquid-waste treatment methods and it could be applied in some of our current projects. This agreement will allow us to do the pilot trials at our customer site and let them experience the cutting- edge technologies. We believe the partnership with Memsift will give us a lead in the Korean market for industrial liquid-waste treatment and resource recovery.”
Memsift received interest from Angstroms Co Ltd, to present Memsift’s products in the Korean market. Angstroms is working on industrial effluent treatment and solvent recovery through vapor permeation membrane technologies. Angstroms agreed to introduce Memsift products to the customer base in Korea and its existing customers.
“Memsift technologies are receiving good traction from the international market and this agreement will allow us to expand our activities in the Korea market,” said Dr J. Antony Prince, founder & CEO of Memsift Innovations. “Similar to Singapore, the Korean market is also driven by technology and innovations and this will allow us to introduce our innovative products in that market for early adoption before entering into the other regional markets. It is a big advantage for us working with a local partner who has the technical expertise, knows the market very well and is willing to bring our products to their customers in the market. This will allow us to achieve our goals together. We are also exploring similar partnerships for other regions and hoping to do more of this in the future.”
Source: memsift.com | angstroms.co.kr
Sandvik set to acquire South African-based company Kwatani
Sandvik has signed a deal to acquire the South African-based company Kwatani. Kwatani’s product offering includes screens, feeders, fine separators, drives and services. The company will join Stationary Crushing and Screening, a division in Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions.
“I am pleased that we are continuing to execute on our strategy to grow through acquisitions and at the same time strengthening our position in rock processing. I look forward to welcoming Kwatani to our Group,” says Stefan Widing, President and CEO of Sandvik.
The acquisition of Kwatani, which is the first since the Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions business area was established at the beginning of 2021, will expand Sandvik’s equipment range and complement the existing aftermarket product and services portfolio. Kwatani’s offering in large multi-slope screens for the mining industry will add to Sandvik’s existing portfolio while supporting the Group’s position in Africa.
“Kwatani’s offering of large vibrating screens and feeders for the mining industry is in line with our strategy to strengthen our capabilities in comminution and will be a good complement to Sandvik’s strong competence and experience within stationary crushing and screening. This will further accelerate our growth within rock processing,” says Anders Svensson, president of Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions.
Kwatani is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, and has about 150 employees. In 2020 Kwatani had revenues of about 175 million SEK and an EBIT margin slightly dilutive to Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions. Impact on Sandvik’s earnings per share will initially be neutral.
The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter 2021 and is subject to relevant regulatory approvals.
Source: sandvik.com
Meissner wins $13.4 million contract from BARDA to increase production critical to COVID-19 vaccine
Meissner Filtration Products announced the award of a $13.4 million contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and development Authority (BARDA), part of the office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), to facilitate expedited expansion of their production capacity for products critical to COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutics manufacturing.
“Meissner has experienced substantial demand for our products associated with federally funded vaccine and therapeutics manufacturing efforts,” stated Christopher Meissner, CEO of Meissner Filtration Products. “It has been incredibly fulfilling for our organization to be able to make a direct impact fighting this pandemic and this contract serves to amplify and accelerate those efforts.”
Meissner will be expanding its Camarillo, California, manufacturing campus by making a significant investment alongside the BARDA award to include additional cleanroom manufacturing space, implementing advanced inventory management systems and adding support areas to augment capacity.
“While we have seen increased demand on the basis of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics, our products are also a key piece in the development and manufacture of other lifesaving medicines so it’s critical that we able to support all of our customers through this period and in the future,” said Max Blomberg, Executive Director of Operations. “This expansion, which will provide a substantial capacity augmentation for our Camarillo campus, is just the latest in our continuing work to ensure we scale with our clients’ needs.”
This project has been funded in part with federal funds from the BARDA, ASPR, DHHS, under Contract No. 75A50121C00028.
Source: meissner.com
Trucent opens expanded production facility in Indiana
Trucent opened a $2 million expansion of its CentraSep production facility, increasing the building from 18,000 sq. ft. to 44,000 sq. ft. The facility is located in Noblesville, Indiana, north of Indianapolis where CentraSep centrifuges are manufactured, and will manufacture the CentraSep industrial centrifuge product line along with other filtration systems. The expansion allows for an increase in employees and the addition of new equipment and resources.
“With the consolidation of so many resources in one place, this facility will be second to none in the development, testing, manufacturing, and maintenance of industrial centrifuges,” said Jeff Beattey, Vice President of the Trucent Industrial Technologies division.
Michigan-based Trucent plans to invest an additional $2 million in this Indiana facility over the next few years.
“Our goal was to build an unmatched Center of Excellence for industrial centrifuges, and the opening of this new facility represents the achievement of that goal,” said Trucent’s Founder and CEO, Tom Czartoski. “We are focused on bringing together dynamic companies and talented individuals to leverage our collective engineering knowledge, vast experience, and world-class customer commitment.”
Source: trucent.com
DXP Enterprises completes acquisition Carter & Verplanck, expanding water & wastewater service in U.S. southeast
DXP Enterprises, Inc. has completed the acquisition of Carter & Verplanck, Inc., a distributor of products and services exclusively focused on serving the water and wastewater markets.
Founded in 1927, Carter & Verplanck is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and focuses on serving the Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama markets. Carter & Verplanck provides bio-solid & residual, potable water management and wastewater treatment solutions. CVI goes to market as a high service branch-based operator and has approximately 17 employees.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The purchase price will be financed with cash from DXP’s balance sheet and DXP Enterprises, Inc. common stock as consideration. Sales and adjusted EBITDA for CVI for the last twelve months ending December 31, 2020 were approximately $29.5 million and $5.0 million, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA was calculated as income before tax, plus interest, plus depreciation and amortization, plus non-recurring items that will not continue after the acquisition.
David Little, Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are excited to announce the closing of Carter & Verplanck. Along with our recent acquisitions at year end, CVI will expand our water and wastewater offering and provide us with a platform and an opportunity to better serve these targeted market needs. Similar to DXP, Carter & Verplanck is focused on providing superior customer service and product expertise. CVI is a great company with high caliber people.”
Source: dxpe.com
Parker Bioscience Filtration expands UK manufacturing site; ramps up support for vaccine production
Parker Bioscience Filtration has expanded its manufacturing capabilities through an investment at its Birtley, UK, site to support vaccine production in the EMEA region. The expansion has allowed it to increased production of single-use manifolds needed by vaccine producers.
The investment included new manufacturing and testing facilities, extended laboratories, new cleanrooms, and office and conferencing spaces. The site also houses a 600m2 ISO Class 7 cleanroom facility, dedicated to the manufacture of single-use assemblies for biopharmaceutical operations.
The program also included the launch of The SciLog Suite, allowing for interactive demonstrations with Parker Bioscience Filtration’s automated single-use bioprocessing systems and for running trials to determine how the equipment can be used in processes.
“The overall investment in our facilities has made our Birtley premises one of the most modern manufacturing sites for integrated bioprocessing solutions in EMEA,” said Kris Holmes, general manager of Parker Bioscience Filtration. “Our extensive manifold manufacturing capacity enables us to play a key role in the vaccine manufacturing supply chain in EMEA and we are delighted to be able to support the biopharmaceutical industry at a critical time, as operations scale-up to meet the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic.”
Source: parker.com
FiltXPO panel sessions to focus on filtration’s role in addressing big challenges in environment, health and technology
The second edition of FiltXPO International Filtration/Separation Exhibition & Technical Conference will feature a series of panel sessions focused on issues around environment, health and technology. Industry leaders will discuss and debate ways filtration can address today’s societal challenges related to epidemic/pandemic response, sustainability, climate change, and other issues. The event will feature five panel discussions, an exhibition floor, and filtration-focused trainings.
Over three days, sessions will tackle:
- How do we achieve better Indoor Air Quality? (Moderator: Ashish Diwanji, President, Lydall Performance Materials)
- How did COVID-19 change the perspective on filtration and how prepared is the industry for the next pandemic? (Moderator: Mike Clark, Divisional President, Filtration Solutions, Hollingsworth & Vose Company)
- What is the single-use filtration industry doing to improve its environmental footprint? (Moderator: Philip Whitaker, CEO, BFC Solutions)
- Are filter standards friend or foe, a help or a hindrance? (Moderator: Tom Justice, President, Zene, LLC)
- How can filtration/separation help ensure adequate clean water supply in a changing climate? (Moderator: Mark Siebert, General Manager, Healthcare and Specialties, US and Canada, Berry Global, Inc.)
FiltXPO will take place at the Miami Beach Convention Center from March 29-31, 2022.
Source: inda.org
* International Filtration News is owned by INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (inda.org).
ASHRAE publishes updated health care facility ventilation standard
ASHRAE has released an updated edition of ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170, Ventilation of Health Care Facilities. The standard offers guidance, regulation, and mandates to designers of health care facilities.
The 2021 edition delivers guidance for designers and operators of these front-line facilities and incorporates 17 addenda to the 2017 edition of the standard. Changes include:
- Expanded requirements to allow airborne infectious isolation room exhaust discharge to general exhaust under certain conditions
- Revised scope, with improved guidance on thermal comfort conditions provided
- Extensive modifications to address the Outpatient and Residential sections
- Extensive revisions to air filtration requirements
- Addition of new columns in the ventilation tables to prescribe filtration requirement and designate unoccupied turndown
- Expanded guidance on separation distance requirements for varied intake and exhaust arrangements, coordinating with related ASHRAE Standard 62.1 data
- Improved guidance related to behavioral and mental health
Source: ashrae.org
INDA releases 2020 North American Nonwovens Supply Report
In 2020, North American nonwoven capacity increased to 5.552 million tonnes, a net increase of 0.7% (39 thousand tonnes) over 2019, according to the the eighth edition of the annual North American Nonwovens Supply Report by INDA, the Association of the Nonwovens Fabrics Industry.
Operating rates in 2020 were two sides of the same coin, as some end-use markets were completely shut-down for a few months, notably building and vehicle construction, and other end-uses were operating full-out. Producers were challenged by workforce and transportation issues. As a result, the overall operating rate only increased one-percentage-point over 2020. Additionally, as the operating rate is based upon tonnage, the increased demand for lighter-weight materials – medical apparel and fine-fiber meltblown – affected the total tonnage output, as some lines were running full-throughput of surface area, but not tonnage.
North American imports and exports, in tonnage, increased 51.2% and 14.2% respectively year-over-year. Imports were led by China (+97,200 tonnes, +121%) and India (+11,000 tonnes, +37 %). Even with the significant shifts in North American trade dynamics, nonwovens tend to stay where they are produced, with the net trade balance (imports less exports) accounting for less than 10% of the region’s capacity.
“This is a great time to be in nonwovens,” said Brad Kalil, Director of Market Intelligence & Economic Insights, INDA. “We are in a business that is expanding faster than the economy as production growth exceeded U.S. real GDP for the seventh consecutive year. Production growth also exceeded capacity growth for the fourth consecutive year. The overall operating rate for the industry also improved for the fourth consecutive year. Lastly – and most importantly – we are in a business that protects and improves people’s lives. This has been brought to the forefront recently with the benefits of protective medical apparel, respirators, face masks, and disinfecting wipes, now known by all. The nonwovens industry has responded to the pandemic and will continue to provide materials that keep the surfaces we touch clean, make safe the air we breathe, and provide a barrier to keep our bodies safe.”
The report is provided to INDA member companies and associates as part of their membership. The data gathered for this annual report serves as the foundation for the biannual North American Nonwovens Industry Outlook, which was published in December 2020.
* International Filtration News is owned by INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (inda.org).
Source: inda.org
Kurk Wilks elected to MEMA Board of Directors
The American Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) elected Kurk Wilks, President and CEO of Mann+Hummel, to its board of directors for a three-year term.
“Kurk is a talented and respected industry leader who brings valuable experience from the global automotive and commercial vehicle sectors, in both the original equipment and aftermarket segments,” said MEMA chairman Tim Musgrave, who serves as president and CEO at Pressure Systems International.
“We are honored to have Kurk Wilks, an active member of the OESA CEO Council, serve as a member of the MEMA Board,” said MEMA president and CEO Bill Long. “Kurk’s perspective and active engagement in MEMA divisions will strengthen our ability to advance the business interests of the vehicle supplier industry and all of our members.”
“It is a great honor for me to be able serving such an important industry association. I thank MEMA for their trust and look forward to the upcoming term of office,” said Kurk Wilks, who has served as president and CEO of the Mann+Hummel Group since January 2020. Wilks has been with Mann+Hummel since 1998.
Sources: mann-hummel.com | mema.org
