www.camfilfarr.com
Camfil Farr, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden was founded in 1963 by the Larson family, one of the company’s principal owners. As a world leader in the production and development of air filters and clean air solutions, the company has 23 production units and R&D centers in four countries in the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The Group has approximately 3,300 employees
Camfil Farr operates in four business segments: Comfort Air, Clean Processes, Safety & Protection and Power Systems.
Comfort Air
This business area accounts for almost half of Group sales. Most air filters for this segment are installed in ventilation systems in schools, offices, homes, hospitals and airports. Since the Comfort Air market consists mainly of replacement filters, operations in this segment are relatively insensitive to fluctuations in the economy and achieve constant annual growth.
In Europe, bag filters are dominant, with hi-Flo being the most common product. In the U.S., compact filters with pleated filter media are more common. The best known is Farr’s 30/30 pleated panel filter.
Clean Processes
Camfil Farr’s filters and clean air solutions are used in most industries where demands for extremely clean air are of the utmost importance. Customers include the microelectronics, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, and automotive industries. In clean manufacturing processes, filtration often takes place in several stages, where pre-filtration is first carried out to protect the high-efficiency filters. Pre-filters here are similar to those used in the Comfort Air sector. High-efficiency filters often cover the entire ceiling in a cleanroom environment. Megalam is a typical final stage filter for clean processes. The need for gas filtration is steadily increasing. Camfil Farr has developed the Gigapleat for this purpose, among other molecular filters. This business area accounts for 32 percent of Group Sales.
Safety & Protection
This business area provides air filtration systems for nuclear plants, develops and supplies Air Pollution Control products for dust collection, and also supply filters for the chemical and biological industries. Safety & Protection account for 6 percent of Group sales.
Power Systems
Protecting equipment such as gas turbines, compressors and diesel engines has been a key Camfil Farr segment for more than 40 years. Air intake systems, enclosures, silencers and exhaust systems for gas turbines are one of Camfil Farr's expanding international businesses. In 2006, this business was expanded through the acquisition of Kaefer-Raco Engineering Gmbh, an important entry ticket into the segment for large gas turbines which generates most of the aftermarket for air filters. During 2006, the existing Camfil Farr gas turbine divisions in Sweden and Canada were integrated with Kaefer-Raco to form the new Camfil Farr Power Systems business unit under a joint management.
Nuclear facilities have been a customer for Camfil's Absolute filters ever since the early 1960s, when Camfil started to supply the Studsvik nuclear research facility, located not far from Camfil's international head office in Trosa, Sweden. Over the years Camfil has become the leading supplier to the European nuclear power industry, notably in Belgium, Finland, France, Germany and Sweden.
In Scandinavia, Camfil supplies filters to four nuclear power plants in Sweden and two in Finland. The Finnish plants (TVO) have won a prize for being among the world's safest and most efficient nuclear facilities (close to 40 percent of Finland's power needs come from nuclear energy).
The Group's French company, Camfil SA, manufacturer of Absolute filters for nuclear plants since 1967, supplies air filters, activated carbon cells and filter housings for virtually all nuclear facilities in France, a total of 59 reactors producing 60 GW of electricity (close to 80 percent of France's power needs).
Filters and housings are also supplied to seen reactors in China, South Africa, South Korea and Spain. The French subsidiary supplied filters for two nuclear plants at the Lung Ao site in China.
Power Systems account for 17 percent of Group sales.
2008 notable developments include:
Four facilities combined in a single large plant in Malaysia to form new Asian manufacturing hub
Joint venture established in India in association with Anand Industrial Filtration Systems Ltd in which both parties formed the company Camfil Farr Air Filtration India Ltd. Camfil Farr owns 76 percent of the new company. During the year, the net assets of the Indian company Anfilco Ltd. were acquired for SEK 13 M. Anfilco manufactured products for gas turbines and the new Indian subsidiary is now part of Camfil Farr’s Power Systems business area. Anfilco had previously co-operated with Camfil Farr for many years, producing products under licence in India. Sales of the new Indian subsidiary totalled SEK 29 M in 2008.
Acquisition of Air Care Technology Ltd and Total Air Care Ltd. in New Zealand, now incorporated in existing subsidiary Camfil NZ Ltd., adding expertise and capacity for general HVAC products and cleanroom filter testing. These companies sold filters and services for testing and validating air filtration systems. They also had a small production unit for low-end filters outside Auckland which has now been taken over by Camfil Farr. The new combined company generated sales of SEK 7 M in 2008.
Opening of new sales and logistics centre in southern Germany
“Camfilcairing” was launched in the beginning of 2009 – a Group-wide initiative to further develop and maintain sustainable business practices.
Camfil Farr publishes Sustainability Report for 2008. The report released in September, 2009 describes the company's initial sustainability actions, goals and performance indicators. Published on a voluntary basis, the company is setting up a consistent approach to communicating sustainability through five main directions: energy efficiency, indoor air quality, green products, the supply chain, and risk assessment. http://www.camfilfarr.com/campaign/
2007 Highlights include:
45 percent growth, helped by three strategic acquisitions made in 2006 to strengthen product platforms and market positions. The 2006 acquisitions were IF Luftfilter (Sweden), one of their largest competitors in the Nordic region; Kaefer Raco (Germany) a German market leader in the supply of air intake, exhaust, damper and diverter systems; and Australian Air Filters, a major filter company in Australia
Acquired long-standing agent and partner Kaare A. Rustad as a wholly owned subsidiary
Global production base expanded with start-up of new plants in China and Slovakia
Asian sales and marketing organization added new sales subsidiaries in Japan and Taiwan.
Financial Summary
Camfil Farr’s 2008 Annual Report states good overall performance for 2008, with higher sales and earnings. Group sales grew 6 percent in 2008 to $600 million (SEK 4.36 billion), of which 5 percent was organic and 1 percent related to acquisitions. Growth in fixed currencies was 5 percent. Operating profit was $54 million (SEK 400 M) in 2008. Europe was the most profitable region.
Demand was strong in the first three quarters but slowed in the fourth as the global financial crisis started to impact some segments and markets, notably the microelectronics industry in Asia (-8 percent).
Double-digit growth in Air Pollution Control and Railroad segments in the U.S., highest profitability achieved within European operations.
Sales in 2007 were U.S. $643 million (SEK 4.1 billion), vs. U.S. $549.8 million (SEK 3,763 million) for 2006. International markets account for more than 90 percent of sales. The Group's coverage of North America was broadened significantly in 2000 when Farr was acquired.