What Heimbach Group does

Heimbach Group, founded in 1811 in Düren, Germany, is a privately held manufacturer of paper machine clothing and technical textiles, operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Albany International Corp. (NYSE: AIN) with approximately 3,100 employees worldwide. The company is organized into two core divisions: Paper Machine Clothing, which designs and manufactures forming fabrics, press felts, dryer fabrics, spiral sieves, and transfer belts for paper mills producing tissue, graphic, packaging, specialty, and pulp grades; and Technical Textiles, which produces industrial process belts, press pads, fiber cement felts, brake pad carrier fabrics, food transport fabrics, silicone-coated felts, and high-temperature transport belts for nine industrial verticals including aluminum, automotive, chemical, food, and wood processing.

The underlying technology platform combines woven, non-woven, and multiaxial textile engineering with proprietary innovations including the patented DURALON machine-side weft material, Webmover transfer belt, Fast Forward start-up acceleration module, and an in-house R&D capability equipped with FTIR, DSC, EDX, SEM, and 3D confocal laser analytical instrumentation alongside proprietary performance simulation software. Manufacturing is conducted at six wholly-owned facilities in Germany, Belgium, China, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom, with additional acquired operations including Arcari S.r.l. (Italy, 2022) and Marathon Belting Ltd. (UK).

The business model is B2B industrial manufacturing with quote-based pricing determined per specification; revenue is generated through hardware sales of consumable clothing products, supplemented by the TASK (Technical Assistance, Service and Know-how) mobile diagnostic service division that provides on-site paper machine diagnostics, tension measurement, and dryer section optimization. Distribution is executed through 40+ regional sales managers, authorized distributors, and dedicated technical sales engineers covering 40+ countries across Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Americas, and EMEA. The company maintains ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 50001 certifications.

Name

Heimbach Group

Legal name

Heimbach GmbH

Website

https://heimbach.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1811

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Heimbach Group is a German-founded (1811) manufacturer of paper machine clothing and industrial technical textiles, serving paper mills and nine industrial verticals globally through six manufacturing facilities and a 40+ country sales network, operating as a subsidiary of Albany International Corp.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Düren

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Paper Machine Clothing: Design and manufacture of bespannungen (clothing) for paper machines including forming fabrics, press felts, dryer fabrics, and spiral sieves for all paper grades and machine types. Serves paper industry worldwide.
2. Technical Textiles: Specialized technical textiles for various industrial applications including aluminium, construction, automotive, chemical, food, leather, plastics/rubber, textile, and wood industries. Products include press pads for surface-finished particle boards, fiber cement felts, process belts, roller covers, silicone-coated felts, protection hoses, and high-temperature transport belts.
3. TASK Services: Technical Assistance, Service and Know-how division providing mobile diagnostic services for paper machines. Includes tension measurement, mass variation analysis (Odin system), dryer section analysis, nip profile measurement, and consulting services.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Heimbach Group manufactures and supplies paper machine clothing (forming fabrics, press felts, dryer fabrics, and spiral sieves) for the global paper industry, alongside industrial technical textiles used in aluminum, construction, automotive, chemical, food, and wood-processing applications. The company also provides TASK (Technical Assistance, Service and Know-how), a mobile diagnostic and consulting service for paper machines.

Product overview

Heimbach Group is a specialized textile technology company offering two core product lines: Paper Machine Clothing (Papiermaschinenbespannungen) and Technical Textiles (Technische Textilien). The Paper Machine Clothing division provides comprehensive solutions for all paper machine sections including forming fabrics (Primoselect, Primobond, Primoplan), press felts (Atrojet, Atrojet.T, Atrocross, Atromaxx, Atroplan, Atronet, Atrobond), dryer fabrics (Secoplan, Secolink), and auxiliary products (Atrobelt, Webmover, Fast Forward, Tensiometer). The Technical Textiles division serves diverse industries including aluminum, construction, automotive, chemical, food, leather, plastics/rubber, textile, and wood processing with products such as press pads for particle boards, fiber cement felts, food transport fabrics, process belts, brake pad carrier fabrics, silicone-coated felts, and high-temperature transport belts. The company also offers TASK - a mobile diagnostic and technical assistance service for paper machines. All products are supported by in-house R&D capabilities with advanced analytical equipment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TASK: Technical Assistance, Service and Know-how - mobile diagnostic unit for paper machines offering technical services including tension measurement, nip profile analysis, and dryer section optimization.

Products and services

• Primoselect Forming Fabric Innovative forming fabric with a unique weave concept combining optimum drainage with best runability, offering customization for maximum dewatering capacity, reduced energy consumption, increased productivity, or longer lifetime. Used in paper machines producing tissue and hygienic papers.
• Primobond Forming Fabric SSB (Structure Straight Bond) forming fabric family woven using 24 harness technology, featuring the patented DURALON machine-side weft material for improved service life and reduced power consumption.
• Primoplan Forming Fabric Double-layer forming fabric in 8- or 16-shaft construction with optional extra weft technology on the paper side, suitable for all former types and paper grades.
• Atrojet Press Felt Unique press felt with multiaxial non-woven module featuring highly flexible yarn content, tailor-made felt designs, high dewatering capacity, and efficient cleaning for economic service life in paper machines.
• Atrojet.T Press Felt Tissue-specific press felt designed for high dewatering at fast running speeds with rapid optimal performance within hours and reduced energy demand.
• Atrocross Press Felt Non-woven felt with layered construction enabling fastest start-up and highest nip dewatering, suitable for high-speed machines producing printing and writing papers as well as shoe presses.
• Atromaxx Press Felt Multiaxial all-rounder press felt combining warp-knitted and woven single base layers adapted to specific press configurations and paper grades, with modular construction for fine individual adjustment.
• Atroplan Press Felt Conventional woven press felt family with single or double-layer base fabrics, suitable for many applications including paper and board grades sensitive to marking.
• Atrobelt Shoe Press Belt Shoe press belt with continuous grooved designs for high machine speed and efficiency, offering excellent void volume retention, high resistance to crack formation, and chemical and temperature resilience.
• Webmover Transfer Belt Patented porous transfer belt with smooth surface and special topographical features for trouble-free sheet transfer between press and dryer sections, providing uniform material distribution and problem-free separation.
• Atronet Press Felt Press felt built on the Atrocross concept with compression layer between support structures providing superior dewatering performance over full felt lifetime, suitable for graphic and lightweight packaging papers.
• Atrobond Press Felt Conventional laminate felt combining single and multi-layer base weaves for handling large water volumes and high press loads, suitable for all paper grades.
• Secoplan Dryer Fabric High-performance dryer section fabric line with a comprehensive range of graded air permeabilities for all positions, featuring an energy-efficient performance profile across sub-lines Secoplan.O, Secoplan.X, and Secoplan.A.
• Secolink Spiral Fabric Spiral fabric available in SF (thinnest spiral fabric with flat monofilament spirals) and F (stronger spirals for higher abrasion resistance) variants for marking-sensitive positions in dryer sections.
• Fast Forward Start-up Module High-tech material module that accelerates paper machine start-up time from 2-5 days to a few hours, available for most Heimbach press felt designs to reduce lost production time.
• Atronet.P Connect Pulp Dewatering Felt Multiaxial seam felt with compression layer and one strong seam for cellulose dewatering, featuring high void volume, high seam strength, easy installation, and excellent wear resistance for pulp industry applications.
• TASK (Technical Assistance, Service and Know-how) Mobile diagnostic unit and technical service division providing on-site problem diagnosis, localization, and solutions for paper machines through specialized manpower and high-tech equipment including the ODIN mass-variation measuring tool.
• Technical Textiles - Industrial Application Range Industrial textiles for the aluminum, construction, automotive, chemical, food, leather, plastics/rubber, textile, and wood-processing industries, including press pads for surface-finished particle boards, fiber cement felts, food transport fabrics, process belts and roller covers for the chemical industry, heavy carrier fabrics for automotive brake pads, silicone-coated felts, protective hoses for rope cores, and high-temperature-resistant transport belts for glass and aluminum production.
• Industrial Conveyor Belts Woven conveyor belts for heavy industry manufactured by Marathon Belting Ltd. in Rochdale, UK, serving heavy industrial applications.
• Transport Belts and Composites Transport belts and composite materials manufactured and converted by Arcari S.r.l. in Limbiate, Italy, sold to industrial customers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Fast Forward reduces machine start-up time from 2-5 days to a few hours
• +4 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Nees Institute for Plant Biodiversity, University of BonnminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership for 'Oil-water separation with bio-inspired textiles' project combining botanical research expertise with textile engineering.
• ITA Institut für Textiltechnik, RWTH Aachen UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership for 'Oil-water separation with bio-inspired textiles' project combining textile technology research with industrial applications.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Andritz AG: Austrian industrial group whose Nonwoven & Textile division (formerly Küsters) manufactures paper machine clothing including forming fabrics, press felts, and dryer fabrics for the global pulp and paper industry. Directly competes with Heimbach across PMC product categories and customer segments.
• Voith Paper: German-headquartered paper machinery and services business that supplies paper machine clothing and consumables alongside complete paper production lines. Directly comparable to Heimbach in serving paper mills with engineered clothing solutions and aftermarket services.
• Valmet Corporation: Finnish supplier of paper machines, process technologies, and services to the pulp and paper industry, including an aftermarket consumables business. Comparable to Heimbach in targeting paper mill customers with engineered clothing and technical service offerings.
• AstenJohnson: US-based specialist manufacturer of paper machine clothing (forming fabrics, press fabrics, dryer fabrics) and nonwoven products serving the global paper industry. Closely comparable niche competitor to Heimbach across all PMC categories.
• Sefar Group: Swiss precision fabric manufacturer producing woven and technical textiles for industrial filtration, screen printing, and process applications. Comparable to Heimbach's Technical Textiles division in serving industrial customers with engineered fabric solutions.
• GKD - Gebr. Kufferath AG: German manufacturer of industrial mesh and technical fabrics for filtration, process belts, and architectural applications. Comparable to Heimbach in weaving technical textiles for industrial process and conveying applications outside the paper industry.
• Sioen Industries: Belgian technical textiles manufacturer producing coated fabrics, process belts, and engineered textiles for industrial applications. Comparable to Heimbach's Technical Textiles business in developing specialized coated and high-performance textiles.

Regional players

• Filzfabrik Fulda GmbH & Co. KG: German felt manufacturer with a long history in wool and synthetic felts used in paper machines and industrial applications. Comparable niche competitor to Heimbach in European PMC felt production, particularly in specialty and smaller-volume segments.
• Nippon Filcon Co., Ltd. Japanese manufacturer of industrial filtration products and paper machine clothing serving primarily the Asian paper market. Comparable to Heimbach in PMC manufacturing but primarily focused on the Japanese and broader Asian installed base.

Emerging players

• Saati S.p.A. Italian manufacturer of technical textiles and precision fabrics for filtration, screen printing, and industrial process applications. Comparable to Heimbach in technical woven textiles for industrial uses, with some overlap in European specialty markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Heimbach Group