“To manufacture in the UnitedStates is to be proactive,” declaresRobert Geyer, president and owner ofEndustra Filter Manufacturers Inc. Inrecent years, he notes, as the markethas transformed as a result of increas-ing energy prices, import pressuresand a shrinking manufacturing sec-tor, companies can’t afford to be com-placent. And by focusing on being

proactive in serving the needs of itscustomers – along with adhering to itsvalues of reliability, quality, pride anddedication – Endustra has main-tained a strong, growing business.

“Any company that operates usinga 10- or even five-year-old businessmodel will contract,” Geyer says.“Since 2009, Endustra has securedfour new patents, scaled our Tri-

Vent® technology to fit applicationsfrom 60 to 60,000 CFM, and we havereached out to new technology seg-ments and assisted in adapting theirequipment to the American market.

“Rather than scale back during therecession, we retooled and refo-cused our processes to reduce leadtimes from three to four weeks tothree to four days – we don’t feel a

OBEY THE MARKETendustra understands the marketplace is challenging for

manufacturers, but by listening to customers and adapting to their

needs, the filter manufacturer is gaining marketshare. by staci davidson

SPECIAL SECTION LeanEndustra Filter Manufacturers Inc. / www.endustrafilters.com / HQ: Schererville, Ind.

Specialty: Intake filters / Robert Geyer, President and CEO: “[Customers] expect unwavering integrity.”

endustra tri‐vent®

series tkt

bottom outlet manifold

intake filter silencers replace

9‐panel housings at the

eastern municipal water

district, temecula, calif., wrf.

manufacturing-today.com FALL 2013

Lean SPECIAL SECTION

customer should have to wait for afilter,” he continues. “We developedproprietary scheduling methods tomaintain on-time deliveries formore than 99 percent of all orders.This is what we would like to seefrom our suppliers, so that’s what weprovide to our customers.”

Based in Schererville, Ind.,Endustra manufactures its flagshipline of the Tri-Vent® series intake fil-ters and filter silencers, as well asreplacement filter elements and dustcollector cartridges for the OEM andend-user markets. The company isstructured to best serve manufactur-ers of blowers and compressors usedin manufacturing, pneumatic convey-ing and wastewater treatment – or anyprocess that requires a large volume ofclean compressed air, Geyer says.

“Our customers are manufacturersand engineering firms, and they expectto be able to tell us what they need, andthey assume that Endustra will deliverthe product on time and with zerodefects,” he says. “Our customersexpect us to consistently exceed ourpromised specifications. They expectunwavering integrity. Quality meansgetting more than you paid for.”

Quality Products, On Time

Endustra feels it is best and is set apartin its industry because it not only pro-vides performance-based products,but also adapts its technologies to fitcustomers’ needs. “We don’t even liketo use the word ‘custom,’” Geyer says.“When a customer needs somethingdifferent, something that isn’t on ourshelf – whether that is a matchedcolor, private labeling or a completelynew design – we standardize the prod-uct the customer wants.”

Endustra shies away from the term“custom,” because Geyer believes itimplies delays, added costs and diffi-culties. Endustra’s lean processmeans it can easily adapt to the needsof its customers, offering “options”instead of “customizations.”

“With our process, a customizedproduct is delivered in the sameamount of time as a standard product,so by taking away the delays and diffi-culties, it’s not really custom any-more,” Geyer says. “We ask our cus-tomers what they need our product todo, and we deliver.”

Endustra is able to operate this waybecause of its dedication to quality,

which has been in place since it wasfounded in 1971, but the company real-ly got serious about it in the mid-1980s.This was the beginning of the qualitymovement in the United States, Geyerrelates, and Endustra began self-audit-ing how it performed in differentareas. Eventually, it came up with itsown way of tracking conformance.

The company starts at the receiv-

endustra offers a complete

line of tri‐vent®

filters and

filter silencers.

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FALL 2013 manufacturing-today.com

SPECIAL SECTION Lean

ing dock, inspecting the raw materi-als. Then each operator throughoutthe process does an inspection, andhas the authority to reject what wassent to her or him. Once a product isall put together, it is inspected again.Endustra uses visual and metricsinspection to check all finished goods.

“We don’t measure five andapprove the lot – we check every sin-gle item,” Geyer says. “Everyone hasthe authority to stop production ifthey see a problem because, in the

end, everyone has a responsibility tothe customer. No one is reprimandedfor catching a mistake – we profit-share, so everyone understands that ifwe have to do something twice, we’reno longer making money on it. If wefind problems we fix them.”

Geyer notes that Endustra’s systemis so strong that it exceeds the prac-tice requirements of ISO standardsand audits, so it has not sought outthose certifications. “We are alreadyexceeding that quality documenta-tion and we don’t want to compro-mise our standards to get that certifi-cation,” he says. “We define a rejectnot as something we have to throwaway, but as something the customercatches. It is very rare that anEndustra customer returns a productbecause it isn’t right.”

He adds that Endustra was employ-ing the basic principles of lean manu-

facturing before that term wascoined, and it continues to this day.For example, he notes that the com-pany was able to reduce deliverytimes from three to four weeks tothree to four days, and that was due toa change it how it used inventory,making the process leaner.

“The way we are inspecting is alsothe reason we deliver on time,” hesays. “When quality work is done ontime, it is delivered on time. We trackinternal delivery times as well asdelivery times to customers. We have100 percent on-time delivery, year inand year out. If you don’t have to redowork, it’s easy to stay on time.”

Listening and Innovation

Endustra’s growth is being driven bythe Tri-Vent® Intake Filters andFilter Silencers, primarily as theresult of its innovation and dedica-tion to adapting its technology to theneeds of the market, and those needsinclude reduced operating cost andenergy efficiency. Geyer explains thatthe Tri-Vent® TK Series can provideup to 60,000 CFM of clean air with afootprint that is one-fourth the size ofany competing product. The TKrequires no tools to maintain andservice, and it reduces energy con-sumption so much that customerscan recover the filter’s cost in lessthan a year.

Geyer notes that this innovationand growth also helps Endustra toremain competitive in the difficultglobal market. “Our strategy is inno-vation,” he says. “When challenged byglobal competition and evolving tech-nologies, a company must listen to itscustomers, evaluate its products andservices, and in the end, obey the mar-ket. Every generation of new technol-ogy displaces products, expertise andeven whole industries out of practicalexistence. History tells us that com-panies that embraced the inevitabili-ty of changes and the benefit of tech-nological achievement prospered.”

tri‐vent®

series k08side‐access inline filters

scale up for high‐volume

applications.

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manufacturing-today.com FALL 2013

‘we profit-share, so everyone

understands that if we have

to do something twice, we’re

no longer making money on

it. if we find problems, we fix

them.’-Robert Geyer

Having achieved more than 40 yearsin business, Endustra is confident ofits core competencies, Geyer adds,and innovation in its field has allowedit to maintain the fast pace with whichits market is evolving. By focusing onits core competencies, Endustra’sstrategy for the present is to pursuecontinuous improvement and itsstrategy for the future is innovation.

“The Tri-Vent® is the right productfor today – we know that not becausewe think it is true, but because that’swhat the marketplace tells us,” hesays. “Yet 10 years ago, the product didnot exist. The manufacturing technol-ogy to produce the product did noteven exist. So what will the marketdemand in 10 years? We rely on ourbusiness partners, our customers, to

tell us what they need, and Endustrawill listen and we will innovate.

“For any number of reasons, theeconomy is particularly difficulttoday,” he continues. “Faced with adifficult economy, the temptationfor many companies is to scale back.And as government regulation andintervention increases and ever-greater pressure comes to bear on

Lean SPECIAL SECTION

installed in 2012 at the james r. dilorio

water reclamation facility in pueblo,

colo., the endustra tri‐vent®

series

kp8vcr side‐access manifold intake filter

silencer provides clean inlet air for five

sulzer‐abs high‐speed turblo blowers.

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FALL 2013 manufacturing-today.com

Continuous improvement and innovation are the hallmarks of EndustraFilter Manufacturers’ current growth, but they have been importantattributes of the company’s success since its early years, explains ownerand President Robert Geyer. Endustra was founded by Geyer’s father,Robert E. Geyer, Jr., who, working with his father and brother, began sell-ing filters in 1968 and evolved to manufacture filters in 1971 for the localsteel industry.

To meet the needs of the market, the company originally focused oninlet filters for reciprocating air compressors, but over time, the operationevolved to focus on centrifugal compressors and pressure blowers.

“Before the phrase was coined, we practiced continuous improvement,

and as a result, we developed proprietary technologies and an institutionalknow-how enabling the company to develop intake filters that reducedenergy consumption and filtration costs,” Robert Geyer explains.

By the early 2000s, Endustra was field-testing the patented Tri-Vent®Series of filters, which now is the core of the company’s business.

Robert Geyer had an early interest in his father’s business, asking per-mission to work full-time in the factory during the summer when he was 13.“By the time I was in high school, I was in put in charge of manufacturingcells, and in college I helped design production lines,” he says. “After fin-ishing my education, I left the company and the industry for 10 years, thencame back after my father retired.”

Two Generations of Success

SPECIAL SECTION Lean

a dwindling supply of manufactur-ers to carry the burden of a stagnantjob market, from one perspectivethat is understandable. We don’thold with that thinking. In terms ofthe global filter market, we com-mand a tiny percentage of market-share. So from our point of view,even in a contracting economy, thereis opportunity for growth.”

Always Adapting

Endustra applies the 80/20 rule to itsgrowth goals, Geyer explains. “About80 percent of growth should come

from existing customers becausewe’ve already won their confidenceand we are helping them to grow,also,” he says. “About 20 percent willcome from new markets, and weexpect to see more of that as newtechnologies emerge.”

This has been a successful strategyfor the company, as is its focus onadapting to the needs of the market-place. Geyer says that the company’sfour patents since 2009 are all “prod-ucts that were created to meet needsthat hadn’t arisen before.” By remain-ing committed to the air filter indus-try and strengthened by its internalexpertise, Endustra is confident of itsongoing growth.

Additionally, even though the mar-ketplace is becoming more global, theAmerican market is still 90 percent ofEndustra’s business, and the companyremains dedicated to domestic pro-duction. Geyer stresses that it doesn’timport any raw material and all of its

manufacturing is done at its facility inIndiana. Its operational capabilitiesare key to its growth goals.

“Every year, we’ve doubled thenumber of Tri-Vent® TKs we’veshipped, and that is because the priceis right, the footprint is small, andthe cost recovery happens in a yearor less thanks to energy savings,”Geyer says. “We are seeing growth inthe entire product line, but it isscaled to meet the demands oftoday’s market. We are proud of whatwe’ve done – the Tri-Vent® is theright product for traditional equip-ment and enhances the performanceof newer technology machines.

“The Tri-Vent line can be changedand adapted for any product on themarket and any product comingdown the pipe,” he adds. “We adaptedthe line to include configurations ofintake filters that didn’t exist a fewyears ago. Whether a filter needs onecartridge or 10, we can supply it.” mt

tri‐vent®

series tm09 intake

filter silencers make filter

changes safe, eliminating

the need for ladders in

most applications.

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‘from our point

of view, even in a

contracting economy,

there is opportunity

for growth.’

-Robert Geyer

Published by Phoenix Media Corporation Tel: 312.676.1101 Fax: 312.676.1280On behalf of Endustra Filter Manufacturers Inc. © 2013 Phoenix Media Corporation. All rights reserved.