09.11.19
Walpole, MA
www.hovo.com
2019 Nonwovens Sales: $377 million
Key Personnel
Val Hollingsworth, president and CEO; Josh Ayer, division president, Engine & Industrial Filtration; Mike Clark, division president, high efficiency and specialty filtration; Ken Fausnacht, vice president, global operations; John Fitzgerald, vice president and CTO; Jochem Hofstetter, vice president, managing director, Europe, Middle East and Africa
Plants
Apizaco, Mexico; Corvallis, OR; East Walpole, MA; Easton, NY; Floyd, VA; Greenwich, NY; Hatzfeld, Germany; Hawkinsville, GA; Kentmere, U.K.; Mysuru, India; Suzhou, China; West Groton, MA; Winchcombe, U.K.
Processes
Wetlaid, meltblown, carded thermal bonded (point and flat calendered), latex bonded, through-air bonded, needlepunch, thermal lamination, aqueous and solvent-based saturation, nanofiber-webs, composites, webs incorporating functional particles
Sales decreased 4.5% to $377 million in 2019 at Hollingsworth & Vose due largely to the broader economic impact of trade tensions including the U.S.-China trade dispute and Brexit. Meanwhile, the picture for 2020 is mixed as activity in several of the company’s key markets including automotives and industrial filtration faced slowdowns earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic while other markets picked up steam.
“(The automotives market) has been recovering in the third quarter, but there is tremendous uncertainty about how long it will take to reach sustainable pre-Covid levels,” says Nick Starita, president, energy and industrial systems.
Meanwhile, markets like filtration media for medical applications including respirators, ventilator filters, surgical masks, PAPR respirators and HEPA filtration for hospitals, have been part of the Covid-19 response effort.
“Demand for these products has been very strong,” says Mike Clark, president, high efficiency and specialty filtration. “We have also seen a push in the general HVAC markets to higher efficiency filtration. We believe that market demand for medical filtration products will continue well into 2021 and beyond. I think that the industry will see a ‘reset’ to a new, higher baseline in some segments.”
In response to the need for more face mask materials, H&V’s special Covid-19 task force developed Nanoweb FM, a new filtration media made by H&V, designed for use in homemade face masks. To get this material into use, H&V formed a collaboration with Midwest Textiles to create and sell ready-to-sew face mask kits to the general public.
“This relationship brings together H&V’s knowledge and experience in the filtration industry with Midwest’s ability to reach the individual consumer,” Clark says. “We are pleased to offer this new mask kit.”
Also in response to the critical need for PPE, H&V has developed a new material for non-surgical medical gowns on an accelerated timeline. Using standard construction methods, this new material can be converted into medical gowns for healthcare workers in hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities. The material meets stringent testing including the AATCC 42 impact penetration and AATCC 127 hydrostatic pressure tests.
“H&V had already been manufacturing critical materials used in the fight against Covid-19, including filtration media for N95 respirators, ventilator filtration media and the materials used in surgical hoods, so it made sense for us to see how else we might be able to meet the needs of healthcare workers on the frontlines,” says Jeff Crane, segment leader at H&V. “Accelerating our research and development process, partnering with companies that provide third party testing and pulling expertise from different industries we serve allowed us to quickly develop this new material in just a matter of weeks and begin supplying it to gown manufacturers that are facing shortages due to the pandemic.”
Customers for the new material include a mix of existing H&V customers as well as new customers who are helping to meet demand for medical gowns. H&V is manufacturing the material entirely at its manufacturing facility in Easton, NY.
“H&V has a long history in producing nonwovens for demanding, highly technical, air and liquid filtration applications and, hence we were very fortunate that our material scientists and process engineers had the expertise and capabilities to quickly develop fluid barrier materials that the medical industry desperately needed,” Clark says.
Not only did H&V ramp up development and production of face mask and medical gown materials on an accelerated timeline, it was achieved using available materials and existing production lines.
“I am really proud of the people at H&V, for their deep commitment, and for stepping up to go above and beyond for the good of our customers and humanity,” he adds.
Looking at H&V’s traditional businesses, the company’s NanWave, Nanoweb and Technostat technology platforms continue to be cornerstones of the HESF’s (high efficiency and specialty filtration) business and its multi-generational applications plans. These leading synthetic technologies enable high efficiency filtration with the lowest available pressure drop and can be combined and tuned to provide the best aspects of mechanical and electrostatic filtration. Given their ability to filter more with less energy for a smaller footprint, these product lines are expected to be significant growth drivers well beyond Covid, Clark says.
In the past few years, H&V has invested in new production capacity for both Nanowave and Technostat and Clark says the company continues to have major expansion plans for both technologies and is also developing further plans for NanoWave.
These developments will help H&V meet the need for higher efficiency filtration in commercial and residential HVAC where media with MERV ratings of 13 and higher are becoming more mainstream.
Meanwhile in engine and industrial filtration, H&V is excited about its potential to work with its partners for growth in the fast-paced fuel market segment. “As fuel efficiency and quality have a significant impact in each region we’ve worked hard to gain a deep understanding of the market needs and create product accordingly,” says Josh Ayer, president engine and industrial filtration. “We continue to develop multi-layer products with a variety of media and secondary processes. There is no one product fits all type of solution in this area. Each customer and region have specific needs that must be addressed in order to solve the complicated challenges in fuel.”
Despite challenges brought on by the global pandemic, H&V remains bullish about the future of the filtration market as macro trends globally point to the need for cleaner air and liquids in transportation, heavy duty and industrial applications. Meanwhile, smaller form factors, tighter tolerances, increasing government regulations around efficiency and a deeper personal understanding of end use operators are driving the need for high performing filtration.
“Filtration will continue to be a strong market globally–the demand for clean air, clean water and purification requirements for process ‘fluids’ (air and liquid) is only increasing,” Clark says. “In a word, H&V plans to maintain a leadership position through innovation. But in reality, that’s an oversimplification. We will only be successful if we have the ‘trust’ of our customers and the markets and that has to be based on: listening to what they are saying, and meeting quality and service commitments.”
Meanwhile, in Asia where H&V has operations in both China and Asia, sales declined slightly in 2019 due to international trade relations. Despite this, the company continues to see great opportunities for its business in these regions across all major market segments. “We will continue to build on our broad technical and production capabilities by investing in these regions to ensure local production capacity for our best technologies,” Clark says.
www.hovo.com
2019 Nonwovens Sales: $377 million
Key Personnel
Val Hollingsworth, president and CEO; Josh Ayer, division president, Engine & Industrial Filtration; Mike Clark, division president, high efficiency and specialty filtration; Ken Fausnacht, vice president, global operations; John Fitzgerald, vice president and CTO; Jochem Hofstetter, vice president, managing director, Europe, Middle East and Africa
Plants
Apizaco, Mexico; Corvallis, OR; East Walpole, MA; Easton, NY; Floyd, VA; Greenwich, NY; Hatzfeld, Germany; Hawkinsville, GA; Kentmere, U.K.; Mysuru, India; Suzhou, China; West Groton, MA; Winchcombe, U.K.
Processes
Wetlaid, meltblown, carded thermal bonded (point and flat calendered), latex bonded, through-air bonded, needlepunch, thermal lamination, aqueous and solvent-based saturation, nanofiber-webs, composites, webs incorporating functional particles
Sales decreased 4.5% to $377 million in 2019 at Hollingsworth & Vose due largely to the broader economic impact of trade tensions including the U.S.-China trade dispute and Brexit. Meanwhile, the picture for 2020 is mixed as activity in several of the company’s key markets including automotives and industrial filtration faced slowdowns earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic while other markets picked up steam.
“(The automotives market) has been recovering in the third quarter, but there is tremendous uncertainty about how long it will take to reach sustainable pre-Covid levels,” says Nick Starita, president, energy and industrial systems.
Meanwhile, markets like filtration media for medical applications including respirators, ventilator filters, surgical masks, PAPR respirators and HEPA filtration for hospitals, have been part of the Covid-19 response effort.
“Demand for these products has been very strong,” says Mike Clark, president, high efficiency and specialty filtration. “We have also seen a push in the general HVAC markets to higher efficiency filtration. We believe that market demand for medical filtration products will continue well into 2021 and beyond. I think that the industry will see a ‘reset’ to a new, higher baseline in some segments.”
In response to the need for more face mask materials, H&V’s special Covid-19 task force developed Nanoweb FM, a new filtration media made by H&V, designed for use in homemade face masks. To get this material into use, H&V formed a collaboration with Midwest Textiles to create and sell ready-to-sew face mask kits to the general public.
“This relationship brings together H&V’s knowledge and experience in the filtration industry with Midwest’s ability to reach the individual consumer,” Clark says. “We are pleased to offer this new mask kit.”
Also in response to the critical need for PPE, H&V has developed a new material for non-surgical medical gowns on an accelerated timeline. Using standard construction methods, this new material can be converted into medical gowns for healthcare workers in hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities. The material meets stringent testing including the AATCC 42 impact penetration and AATCC 127 hydrostatic pressure tests.
“H&V had already been manufacturing critical materials used in the fight against Covid-19, including filtration media for N95 respirators, ventilator filtration media and the materials used in surgical hoods, so it made sense for us to see how else we might be able to meet the needs of healthcare workers on the frontlines,” says Jeff Crane, segment leader at H&V. “Accelerating our research and development process, partnering with companies that provide third party testing and pulling expertise from different industries we serve allowed us to quickly develop this new material in just a matter of weeks and begin supplying it to gown manufacturers that are facing shortages due to the pandemic.”
Customers for the new material include a mix of existing H&V customers as well as new customers who are helping to meet demand for medical gowns. H&V is manufacturing the material entirely at its manufacturing facility in Easton, NY.
“H&V has a long history in producing nonwovens for demanding, highly technical, air and liquid filtration applications and, hence we were very fortunate that our material scientists and process engineers had the expertise and capabilities to quickly develop fluid barrier materials that the medical industry desperately needed,” Clark says.
Not only did H&V ramp up development and production of face mask and medical gown materials on an accelerated timeline, it was achieved using available materials and existing production lines.
“I am really proud of the people at H&V, for their deep commitment, and for stepping up to go above and beyond for the good of our customers and humanity,” he adds.
Looking at H&V’s traditional businesses, the company’s NanWave, Nanoweb and Technostat technology platforms continue to be cornerstones of the HESF’s (high efficiency and specialty filtration) business and its multi-generational applications plans. These leading synthetic technologies enable high efficiency filtration with the lowest available pressure drop and can be combined and tuned to provide the best aspects of mechanical and electrostatic filtration. Given their ability to filter more with less energy for a smaller footprint, these product lines are expected to be significant growth drivers well beyond Covid, Clark says.
In the past few years, H&V has invested in new production capacity for both Nanowave and Technostat and Clark says the company continues to have major expansion plans for both technologies and is also developing further plans for NanoWave.
These developments will help H&V meet the need for higher efficiency filtration in commercial and residential HVAC where media with MERV ratings of 13 and higher are becoming more mainstream.
Meanwhile in engine and industrial filtration, H&V is excited about its potential to work with its partners for growth in the fast-paced fuel market segment. “As fuel efficiency and quality have a significant impact in each region we’ve worked hard to gain a deep understanding of the market needs and create product accordingly,” says Josh Ayer, president engine and industrial filtration. “We continue to develop multi-layer products with a variety of media and secondary processes. There is no one product fits all type of solution in this area. Each customer and region have specific needs that must be addressed in order to solve the complicated challenges in fuel.”
Despite challenges brought on by the global pandemic, H&V remains bullish about the future of the filtration market as macro trends globally point to the need for cleaner air and liquids in transportation, heavy duty and industrial applications. Meanwhile, smaller form factors, tighter tolerances, increasing government regulations around efficiency and a deeper personal understanding of end use operators are driving the need for high performing filtration.
“Filtration will continue to be a strong market globally–the demand for clean air, clean water and purification requirements for process ‘fluids’ (air and liquid) is only increasing,” Clark says. “In a word, H&V plans to maintain a leadership position through innovation. But in reality, that’s an oversimplification. We will only be successful if we have the ‘trust’ of our customers and the markets and that has to be based on: listening to what they are saying, and meeting quality and service commitments.”
Meanwhile, in Asia where H&V has operations in both China and Asia, sales declined slightly in 2019 due to international trade relations. Despite this, the company continues to see great opportunities for its business in these regions across all major market segments. “We will continue to build on our broad technical and production capabilities by investing in these regions to ensure local production capacity for our best technologies,” Clark says.
