Innovative and unique customized solutions have long been CARSTEN HOLM’s trademark. The company specializes in seals made of various materials in all quantities and in diameters up to 2,000 mm. “20% of our products are customized solutions; 80% are standard products,” explains Director Ulrik Holm, who runs the family together with his father.
“Customers benefit from high quality products at competitive prices. Our products are high standard, the material is carefully chosen. Furthermore, we are well-known for our fast deliveries and great flexibility. We can quickly realize prototypes and smaller batches, and we can help industries with avoiding or shortening of shutdowns. If a bakery, for example, has a problem with one of its ovens and there is a shutdown, it cannot produce any more. In this case, we drop everything and rush to help. Therefore, our phone line is open after normal business hours. We are literally on standby around the clock.”
Founded in 1979, the company started as a small service company and moved to Ringe in 1990. “When we started to work with CNC machinery, this was an important milestone for the company,” says Mr. Holm. “We have been the first company in Denmark equipped with the latest technology which allowed a completely new way of production. Before, iron tools were needed for mass productions. Now, one seal productions were possible, which made us a lot more flexible. In 2003, we also invested in an automatic stock system which increased significantly our efficiency. Thanks to the new system, it became a lot easier to get the right items.”
Today, after regular investments in state-of-the art-machinery and to its committed and skilled employees, CARSTEN HOLM is an attractive business partner for all different industries. The portfolio is characterized by hydraulic, pneumatic, static and rotary seals in different materials such as plastics and elastomers. Its core products o-rings and simmerings, sealings and wipers are sold mainly to niche markets such as the onshore and offshore industry.
“We deliver special items to Norsok and to the food industry,” states Mr. Holm. “There are many new regulations in Europe to ensure that sealings do not contaminate food. In the past, it used to be enough to achieve FDA approvals. Now this is not sufficient anymore. It is essential that we now have the certifications EC 1935/2004 and EC 2023-2006 for the food industry.”
26 people work for CARSTEN HOLM in Denmark; there are five at the subsidiary established in China in 2011. “Our employees are the key to success,” points out Mr. Holm. “Some of them have been working for us for 20 or even 30 years. We are almost like a family. We all help customers and are thrilled to find quick solutions. 50% of our customers are repair customers. I’ll give an example for our service approach: If there is a ship with a leak in the engine, there will be a quick order for a seal in the dock so that the vessel can go out to sea as soon as possible. We often deliver by taxi to keep down the time the ship has to be in dock. Another 50% are regular business customers, OEM customers. We take all items in stock to guarantee delivery on time. We deliver all year round. It is a planned business with possibilities to forecast.”
In terms of marketing, CARSTEN HOMS benefits from its homepage and its catalogue. “It was a big challenge to get 85,000 items in the catalogue,” says Mr. Holm. “The making of 3D drawings is almost finished now. Additionally, we use technical magazines for promoting purposes. But at the end of the day, our sales representatives still play the most important role.” To be able to continue growing, CARSTEN HOLM is now looking for a bigger site. At the same time, the company will pay more attention to China.