Hawle Beteiligungsgesellschaft m.b.H.
The Hawle Austria Group produces and distributes quality products for water supply all over the world. Our mission is to find the best solution for our customers and to be a reliable partner to our employees. The Hawle Austria Group remains a family-run company based in Austria, but is now active all over the world. We are developing new business sectors with a clear strategy that places `water` at the focus of our actions. Even though the UN declared this vital resource a human right in 2010, millions of people still do not have access to clean water. Many people don`t think twice when turning the tap and enjoying a glass of fresh water, or luxuriating in a hot bath on a cold winter`s day. Only rarely do people wonder about the journey the water has been on before it flows out of the tap. Hawle products are used to ensure that water is distributed and regulated cleanly and reliably, from the source to the home.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations and our distributors
- Business Type:
- Manufacturer
- Industry Type:
- Pipes and Piping
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
About us
With an extensive range of isolation, distribution and control valves, as well as pipe connections and fittings for drinking water and wastewater systems, Hawle plays a major part in ensuring a reliable water supply. We are deeply committed to finding the best solutions for our customers and meeting the highest quality demands. This quality commitment stretches all the way back to the pioneer Engelbert Hawle, whose passion for inventing and refining can still be seen in Hawle today.
Hawle takes its responsibility seriously and sets high standards for all its corporate processes. As a founding member of the “Quality Assurance Association for Heavy-Duty Corrosion Protection” (Gütegemeinschaft Schwerer Korrosionsschutz, GSK), Hawle has its own process approval procedures at all its production sites. This means that it can guarantee consistently high quality worldwide.
Vision, Mission and Values
Vision
Clean drinking water means life. Life means commitment. That's why we provide the most reliable connections for drinking water supply around the world.
Mission
With pioneering spirit, reliable products, solution-oriented and partner-driven teamwork, we are actively shaping a reliable water supply around the world.
Water is a vital resource, which is why Hawle places the utmost importance on the reliability and functionality of its products. To us, reliability also means focusing on the future and acting responsibly in everything we do. For this reason, stable relationships with employees, partners and customers are the basis of a culture of commitment that underpins the Hawle brand. Reliability also means financial stability and reliability of supply. We make sure that both of these are upheld through long-term relationships with and professional management of our suppliers, as well as by manufacturing a large number of parts in-house.
For this family-run company, partnership means putting people at the center of all we do. Hawle views the partners with which it cooperates as equals.
Our corporate culture is built on respect, honesty and a willingness to listen. We find the best solutions by working as a team.
Engelbert Hawle’s greatest passion was to continue breaking new ground after coming up with his revolutionary idea. This drive to evolve is therefore in our DNA. A passion and enthusiasm for innovation can be found throughout the company to this day, and it spurs us on to innovate and develop new technologies and processes. Hawle does not plan on losing its curiosity – and its aim will always be to find the best solutions for its customers.
History
The revolutionary idea
Hawle’s success story began with a simple question: how do you connect two pipes together?
Engelbert Hawle devoted his time to solving this problem while working at the Steyr factories during the Second World War. His job was to keep the water supply running. This simple question led to a revolutionary idea and the foundation of the company in the Austrian town of Vöcklabruck in 1948.
The ground-breaking invention was the ‘spar flange’ – a ring made of cast iron which made it possible to connect two pipes together and seal them. In a workshop that was modestly equipped but abuzz with ideas and passion, the skilled machinist began to produce this spar flange.
With more and more customers demanding wedge gate valves, he drew on his existing expertise in rubber processing and came up with the next revolutionary product in 1958: the world’s first resilient seated valve, also called the ‘Vulkan’ valve. This development cemented Hawle’s position as a pioneer and spurred him on to continue developing products.
Pioneering inventions in the post-war boom
The establishment of the first production facilities in Vöcklabruck in 1948 was followed by the opening of a branch in Frankenmarkt in 1962. Production of the ‘Vulkan’ valve began and Hawle’s passion for innovation was awoken. A wealth of milestones were achieved in the years that followed:
- 1961 ‘ISO’ fitting (thrust-protected push fitting for PE pipes)
- 1966 ‘Combi valves’ (fittings with integrated gate valves)
- 1967 ‘Elypso valves’ (first resilient seated gate valves in DIN short face-to-face length for PN 16)
- 1983 ‘BAIO system’ (first range of flangeless restraint valves and fittings)
- 1985 ‘Combined air release valve’ (first combined air release valve, specially designed for underground installation without shafts)
- 1985 ‘H3’ (first fully corrosion-resistant surface hydrant)
This pioneering spirit was evident not just in the products being developed, but also in the expansion of the business: by 1989, Hawle had already opened a branch in Hungary.
Start of internationalization
Once the borders opened up in Eastern Europe, Hawle began to gradually expand its business activities in this region, establishing branches in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. Work also continued on product development:
- 1993 ‘System 2000’ (range of restraint valves and fittings for PE and PVC pipes)
- 1995 ‘ZAK system’ (first range of threadless valves and fittings for service connection lines)
- 1998 ‘E2 valve’ (a new generation of valves with extensive connection options)
- 2000 ‘H4’ (a new generation of hydrants)
New company structure
Spurred on by the high demand for its products and services, Hawle kicked off the new millennium with a strategy for dynamic growth and established a large number of branches. An organizational restructuring followed in 2012: Hawle Beteiligungsgesellschaft m.b.H. with Hawle Holding GmbH as its parent company now contains almost all companies of the Hawle Austria Group, both in Austria and abroad, as one organizational unit.
- 2003 ‘Hawle A-valve’ (world’s first mono-design gate valve)
- 2006 ‘Hawle FIT’ (refinement of the tried-and-tested ISO fitting)
- 2008 ‘Vario’ (flexible fitting; angular deflections plus length adjustment and adjustable bolt hole positioning)
- 2011 ‘Synoflex’ (the variable-diameter restraint connection for all standard pipe types)
- 2012 ‘Ball check valve’ (the valve for waste water that is easy to assemble
and maintain) - 2012 ‘Combiflex’ (the versatile modular solution for all outlets)
- 2013 ‘Hawle butterfly valve’ (the high-performance valve and fitting for water distribution)
The evolution continues...
Hawle has developed a clear, long-term strategy for ensuring that the business stays successful in the future. After all, this family-run company knows just how important it is to fulfill its responsibilities towards its employees, customers, partners and suppliers.
Hawle is taking active steps to tap into further growth areas in the water management sector and contribute to the technological developments that are revolutionizing the world. All this is because Hawle is just like its products: Made for Generations.