Global Filter Manufacturer Maintains Momentum

“When your workplace is the entire world, you have to work across the entire world.” This is a mantra HiFlux Filtration A/S fully embraces. Even in 2024, as the company celebrated its 65th anniversary, the filter manufacturer has had a global presence. The interest in self-cleaning liquid filtration continues to grow worldwide. However, this past year has not progressed as rapidly as the management had hoped. The company, headquartered and with production facilities in Hedensted, has had a fine and satisfactory year. While Martin Holgaard, COO at HiFlux Filtration A/S, would have liked to see additional growth, he acknowledges that achieving that in 2024, with its challenging working conditions, would have been difficult.

“We’ve fought hard. And fortunately, not in vain,” says Martin Holgaard, continuing: “We’ve maintained the level from 2023, but there have been factors beyond our control. Several of our markets have faced challenges as investments in new factory equipment simply haven’t materialized. For example, we had higher expectations for Germany, but we knew at the start of the year that it would be tough. There’s significant uncertainty in the industry there,” notes Martin Holgaard. He adds that the company has many ongoing proposals in both Germany and the Benelux countries but observes hesitation in moving forward. This is why the filter manufacturer once again focused on implementing new markets and partners in 2024.

“We continuously work to scale our partner network. Our partners are crucial to us, and we do everything we can to support them. When they exhibit at trade fairs, we gladly participate, and we’ve been to Turkey several times, for instance. The country has an extensive food industry, and our Turkish partner is very active. We’ve also gained a new partner in France, whom we supported when they had a stand at the CFIA food fair in Rennes,” says Martin Holgaard.

The Food Sector Takes the Lead
The food industry has been the focal point of export market activities in 2024. The sector is a significant consumer of the self-cleaning Auto-line liquid filters, which minimize human contact and enhance food safety on production lines worldwide. The fact that the demand is also driven by the filters’ energy-saving features pleases Martin Holgaard. Reducing climate impact and optimizing liquid utilization, including water recycling, are strong arguments for replacing manual filters with fully automated ones.

Although the company has been involved in fewer large projects abroad compared to previous years, this has been partly offset by strong activity in Denmark. Here, the company has supplied filters to combined heat and power plants as part of the district heating rollout. Looking ahead to the coming year, the management in Hedensted hopes to make significant inroads into new markets such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. They also hope to see progress in many of the proposals submitted during 2024.

“We might even experience a genuine order boom. Whether that happens, I don’t know, but we’ve rarely had as many proposals out as we do now. The outlook is promising,” concludes Martin Holgaard.