Freudenberg Nonwovens was at Filtration 2008 touting a prime booth location at the exhibition entrance as well as the upcoming launch of its Filtration Division as an independent business group within the Freudenberg Group of companies effective January 1, 2009. The new business—Freudenberg Filtration Technologies, Limited Partnership—will continue to operate its North American headquarters in Hopkinsville, KY.

Barry Kellar, general manager and vice president of Freudenberg’s North American filter business, was on hand at the show yesterday promoting the company’s filtration capabilities. “We’re here talking to our customers about what this really means for them. The new business will focus on media development and converting technologies.”

Mr. Kellar described the upcoming move as a reorganization rather than a major change in Freudenberg’s philosophy or policy. “We believe that clean air and clean water will continue to be a strategic global issue,” he said. “We’re reorganizing so that we can be more flexible to address the industries in which we participate. In essence, the nonwovens group will handle manufacturing the medias and we will concentrate on developing and converting new products.”

With a strong product engineering background, the group has developed innovative automotive, industrial and human protection filtration media and filter products in air, gas and liquid filtration. The latest innovation by Freudenberg is the VitalAir residential filter program, which is designed to address increasing concern over home indoor air quality.