Hägele: Innovative fan technology for retrofitting or for mechanical engineering partners all over the world

With the help of his friends, Karl Hägele develops a tractor fan that not only draws air in to cool the engine but also blows contamination out of the radiator. The first prototypes were a hit!

The idea is thoroughly convincing. The Cleanfix reversible fan is awarded the German Agricultural Society’s gold medal at Agritechnica 1999 in Hanover, Germany.

Success doesn’t mean it’s time to rest; build upon that success. Cleanfix Variable Pitch for adjusting the cooling requirements is introduced, new hubs (C220, C225, C300) are launched on the market, the company is certified to ISO 9001.

Cleanfix reversible fans become even more efficient when the Cleanfix Flex-Tips are launched. The special design of the flexible blade tips effectively reduces air recirculation, thus providing maximum power at low energy consumption.

In collaboration with the University of Karlsruhe, we develop, build, and put into operation our own wind tunnel. The electronically controlled Cleanfix Pulstronic reversible fan receives the German Agricultural Society’s silver medal at Agritechnica 2009.

Customer orientation is part of the Cleanfix concept: We establish our Canadian branch, Cleanfix North America Inc., in Stratford in our own building with manufacturing, service, and sales.

Hägele GmbH founds Cleanfix Makina to establish our own manufacturing plant in Turkey and expand our service and sales network in that region.

Hub C252 is launched on the market. Thanks to our new hub, we can now offer Cleanfix reversible fans up to a diameter of 1300 mm for large machines.

So far, only individual components have been produced in-house. Investments in new CNC machines allow us to manufacture major components as well. This means we have control over even more quality factors.

Exactly what the market has been waiting for: Hydraulic reversible fans. Our patented smart seal sealing system ensures leakage-free fans. In this case, innovation makes a crucial difference.

As the second managing director alongside his father Karl Hägele, Benjamin Hägele heads up the successful family enterprise Hägele GmbH. He built up the local branch in Canada from 2009 to 2011 and has been managing director in Turkey since 2012.

We invest in high tech to thoroughly test everything: Fan testing rigs, heat bath, acid bath, climatic chamber, leakage test station, test rig for electrical components and much more. That’s because quality and practical benefits don’t come by chance.

The 100,000th reversible fan from the production facility in Germany is installed in a Case Optum 270 in Canada and delivered to farmer James Armitage.

Together with his father Karl Hägele and his older brother Benjamin Hägele, Steffen Hägele is “truly honored” to lead the successful family enterprise and its branches into the future.

Rail vehicle designers also recognize the benefits of Cleanfix reversible fans: Less downtime and lower service costs are strong arguments and open up a new, exciting sales market for Hägele GmbH.

Karl Hägele steps down from the executive management team and hands over the reins to Benjamin Hägele and Steffen Hägele. “I am delighted about this change and extremely grateful to everyone involved,” says Karl.

A mammoth online project: On two days, in three cycles, across all time zones, with a professional camera team, all Cleanfix distributors around the world are brought up-to-date.

Hägele teams up with a strong IT partner whose core competencies will benefit us and our business customers when it comes to digital transformation. Martin Pfeiffer takes over operational management.

Cleanfix Sales sends a clear signal by moving into a new, larger building with a modern infrastructure: Digitalization of the processes, expansion of the department, and the new spatial capacities give Cleanfix a lot of space for healthy growth.

This makes us proud: By implementing Industry 4.0 processes, production in single-shift operation was doubled to 20,000 units. OEMs view Cleanfix as a benchmark for auditing medium-sized companies.

With the acquisition of the company site adjacent to our headquarters in Germany, we’re responding to the constant growth in our order volume. Soon we’ll be able to start a second production line in plant 2 and manufacture up to 40,000 fans per year.

Companies cannot develop in a healthy manner without excellent managers. Working together with management consultants from Expand, we develop and establish a program to support and train managers.

Hägele GmbH’s mission statement is based on the six core values of honesty, commitment, excellence, courage, humility, and cooperation. These values have shaped the company and are important guidelines in our daily work.

The new test chamber can measure both fans and radiator packages as well as scaled-down models. Together with our OEMs, we are using the new test rig to determine the exact efficiency of quiet, energy-efficient radiator modules.

The new company size and its current growth call for restructuring. We are working intensively on this goal in newly established committees such as leadership and strategy development, as well as in numerous other working groups.