A START-UP WITH HISTORY!
The Fluid Competence story
A fun-loving pioneer. A stubborn analyst. A chemist with almost inexhaustible ambition. A lateral thinking forerunner in terms of environmental friendliness. Back when the term had not yet even been invented and the PCB scandal of the 1980s was still a way off, Helmut Theunissen was developing hydraulic fluids that were environmentally-friendly, free of mineral oil and characterised by a unique property profile. His aim was for them to be flame resistant, allow machines to be operated longer than ever before without requiring any maintenance and, at the same time, protect the environment thanks to their extremely fast biodegradability. In other words, he wanted them to be the exact opposite of the carcinogenic organic chlorine compounds that had been the fluids of choice for hydraulic systems until the mid 1980s.
Many believed that he was trying to square the proverbial circle. But his four decades of tenacity and unbelievable depth of research and development ultimately led to the creation of LUBESAVE, CORSAVE and FREEZESAVE as ready-to-use products with precisely this blend of properties.
A fun-loving pioneer. A stubborn analyst. A chemist with almost inexhaustible ambition. A lateral thinking forerunner in terms of environmental friendliness. Back when the term had not yet even been invented and the PCB scandal of the 1980s was still a way off, Helmut Theunissen was developing hydraulic fluids that were environmentally-friendly, free of mineral oil and characterised by a unique property profile. His aim was for them to be flame resistant, allow machines to be operated longer than ever before without requiring any maintenance and, at the same time, protect the environment thanks to their extremely fast biodegradability. In other words, he wanted them to be the exact opposite of the carcinogenic organic chlorine compounds that had been the fluids of choice for hydraulic systems until the mid 1980s.
Many believed that he was trying to square the proverbial circle. But his four decades of tenacity and unbelievable depth of research and development ultimately led to the creation of LUBESAVE, CORSAVE and FREEZESAVE as ready-to-use products with precisely this blend of properties.
“PEOPLE ARE NOT INNOVATIVE JUST ONE TIME.
THEY ARE EITHER INNOVATIVE ALL THE TIME OR NOT AT ALL.”
Helmut Theunissen
In the 2000s, Theunissen sought out other like-minded people and then established a team of developers that together worked on formulations for use in various applications. Helmut Theunissen sadly passed away in 2017, but the founding family and employees at the company he created, Fluid Competence, continue his work to this day. His maxims live on in Fluid Competence.
In light of the constantly changing legal framework conditions for system operation and ever-growing technical requirements, the company sees research and development as a continuous task. Indeed, Fluid Competence today describes itself as a “permanent start-up with history“.