HAF Equipment
Custom Engineered Dry Powder Process Systems

Typically, the dry bulk material handling industry utilizes equipment that is usually heavy, stationary, and specifically designed to handle powdered materials. When designing such material handling systems, ergonomics and operator comfort are often overlooked. Peter Hoefler, founder of HAF Equipment, a premier powder handling company, had experienced these issues first-hand when he decided to change the filter bags from the filter receiver developed by his company. Believing that operators should not have to deal with such inconvenience on a regular basis, he set out to design an ergonomic filter receiver. Consequently, the Moovinator, which is a vacuum filter receiver with a unique horizontally loaded filter receiver was launched, allowing operators to clean the equipment easily. HAF Equipment follows an operator-centricity design philosophy while developing custom advanced dry powder process equipment and systems. HAF focuses on process manufacturing and helps customers with all aspects of their process, ranging from dry handling, liquids, milling, sifting, and drying.

“Our passion is to connect with customers and develop operator-centric equipment,” says Michael Thiel, Director of Sales & Marketing, HAF Equipment. HAF understands the challenges faced by customers through meetings and discussions centered on what they are trying to achieve. HAF reviews the characteristics of the raw materials that need to be transferred and processed, and details regarding how the materials are being transported. All relevant information is gathered to design a system that can effectively handle materials as per the client’s requirements. HAF’s tagline, “Ready to Connect” perfectly encapsulates the company's approach to successfully deliver custom engineered and tailored systems for each unique customer. Moreover, HAF repairs existing systems and provides diagrams and layouts to help clients envision their new system.

HAF serves clients from a variety of industries including food, dairy, chemical, functional foods, automobile, EV, battery, and dust collection. While dry bulk material handling is a primary focus at HAF, the company also provides systems that process liquid materials.

The company’s machines are designed with operator-centricity and low maintenance in mind.HAF also offers pneumatic conveying systems, which use air to transport dry bulk products or powders through pipelines from one location to another. The company specializes in both dense phase and dilute phase pneumatic conveying. Dense phase pneumatic conveying is used when handling abrasive materials like sand, carbon, or silica while dilute phase pneumatic conveying is used for non-abrasive materials.

When moving bulk dry materials, vacuum conveying is the preferred method. To this end, HAF offers the Moovinator, a vacuum conveying system designed with a higher than normal air-to-cloth ratio, which in turn provides a smaller unit than traditional vacuum receivers. From materials as fine as carbon, sticky as sugar, oily as cinnamon, or as abrasive as pet coke, the Moovinator can convey materials by vacuum or by pressure from one point to another. Besides, the other innovative piece of equipment offered by HAF is the Navigator, which is an automated bulk bag unloader. It can empty 2,000-pound super sacks and fit inside a 12-foot headspace—which is important for customers when they are retrofitting new equipment and have constraints with space.

Moving forward, HAF is focused on automation. This is in response to the shortage in the workforce especially with regard to skilled operators as was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many automated designs for new equipment are in the pipeline for HAF and several patents are pending. For companies interested in automation and reducing their workforce, HAF is a perfect partner that provides creative solutions which help in streamlining the manufacturing process and improving efficiency.