Vöcklabruck is a charming town and administrative district centre, located in upper Austria close to lake Attersee by the A1. We arrived on a very hot beautiful day in early June, our very first visit despite nurturing a fruitful project based relationship since 2017. Our latest successful joint project nears completion which not least presented an opportunity to visit Hurrican and Vöcklabruck.
Hurrican has a similar approach as Pekotek to high quality standards, turn key problem solving and safe environmentally friendly ventilation and recycling.
Petri Rautiainen and Pierre Brolin had the pleasure of meeting the whole Hurrican management and development team for very pragmatic discussions. High on the agenda was of course our latest cooperation project this spring. Hurrican designed, manufactured and delivered a comprehensive paint shop - and as part of this larger case and order, Pekotek supplied our Non-Waste grit blasting plant. This is in fact the second project conceptualised and implemented in the same fashion, where Pekotek supplied the grit blasting plant, with Hurrican being the main supplier for an entire end-customer surface treatment line.
After resolving a few final project related issues we found time to discuss more general market challenges and opportunities, followed by an appreciated description of Hurrican´s history plus a tour of the comprehensive facilities.
60 years ago a small, ambitious team set out with a new mission: to keep the air clean and the workplaces safe.
Hurrican was established in 1965 with a prior history as a local metal foundry. Today one caters to partners from all over Europe including to customers in Finland. One has been tackling environmental and occupational hazards for decades, from metallic shavings to oily mists by designing and building tailored air-filtering systems that keep environments healthy and compliant. Over time, the business evolved to GmbH (Ltd) registration in 2001. The Dambauer family became key stakeholders, and managing director DI (FH) Stefan Huemer nowadays leads a team of around 30+ employees.
Above left, Pierre Brolin and Petri Rautiainen in front of Hurrican´s HQ. Above right, one angle of Hurrican´s extensive manufacturing facilities and Vöcklabruck production lines.
Building solutions, not just products
What sets Hurrican apart is its holistic approach, designing and delivering complete systems, tailored to each workspace "from planning to service and maintenance". This includes projects and expertise regarding dust and fume extraction, grinding processes, spray paint booths, oil-mist removal, heat-recovery and ventilation and much more.
Hurrican and Pekotek wish to responsibly maximize production capacity, while minimizing costs and maintenance work - on behalf of our customers.
The goal is to help businesses meet tight emission limits and protect the employees. In practice, when working with Hurrican a furniture factory as one example doesn’t just get a dust collector, but a full system consisting of e.g. extraction hoods for each machine, duct networks, filters, fans, and control units - all engineered to match a client’s needs, space and work processes.
Above, Hurrican Project Manager Ardit Saliji and Pekotek´s Development Manager Petri Rautiainen in front of hoppers and separation containers under construction in Vöcklabruck.
Though headquartered in Vöcklabruck, Hurrican has steadily expanded its European reach. One handles close to everything in-house while adopting a turn key approach - from filters and fans to control tech - ensuring and enabling high quality and longstanding service commitments. As a testament to this Hurrican has partners in a range of industries: metalworking, painting, woodworking, food as well as among pharmaceuticals.
As with Pekotek in the area of surface treatment solutions, Hurrican's customers also include vocational schools that train future specialists for trade and industry. And internal modernization is continuous, involving custom engineering, extraction tech, jet filters, high-pressure systems, heat-recovery and of course ventilation. Hurrican´s product lines now include mobile dust extractors, grinding tables, spray booths (wet and dry), filter membranes, control systems - the whole works.
We are grateful for interesting ongoing discussions and hope to see the whole Hurrican team soon again! All industries move toward cleaner production methods and stricter environmental regulations. Hurrican is no doubt poised to lead this development based on its track record as a one-stop-shop for clean air systems - while optimising both surface- and ventilation systems together with Pekotek.
A special thank you to Managing Director Stefan Huemer and to Project Manager Ardit Saliji for our pragmatic good cooperation plus for the interesting tour of Hurrican!
/ Petri, Pierre & the Pekotek Team
