History

The Early Years
Koch Membrane Systems, Inc. (KMS) was established as a privately held company under the name "Abcor, Inc." in 1963. Its charter was to develop and commercialize processes and equipment based on separation and purification technologies, which originated with scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The New Focus
In 1970, the company added semi-permeable membranes to its portfolio of separation technologies. These membranes proved to be so successful for Abcor that all of the other separation technologies were abandoned. Since then, the company has concentrated entirely on membrane separation and KMS became a world leader in the field.

The Evolution
The growth of the original company was gradual but well focused. Koch Engineering Company, recognizing the commercial potential of these technologies at the outset, not only provided the seed capital to establish Abcor in 1963, but obtained a minority ownership position. In 1977, Koch Engineering Company bought out the shares it did not already own, and Abcor became a wholly owned subsidiary. Finally, in 1981 the name was changed to Koch Membrane Systems, Inc.

Success From Solid Roots
KMS is a member company of the Koch Chemical Technology Group LLC (KCTG). The group was started in 1945 with the formation of Koch Engineering Company, Inc., which now does business as Koch-Glitsch, LP and is also a member company of KCTG. KCTG has grown to include ten primary business entities through a combination of acquisitions and research investments. Through these companies, the group supplies industrial processing and pollution-prevention equipment to businesses and communities around the world. These companies are on the cutting edge of a multitude of technologies that are sophisticated and complex, yet touch our lives in many simple, but vital, ways.

Koch Chemical Technology Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries with operations in more than 30 countries. Koch Industries is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, and was ranked by Forbes magazine as the second largest privately held company in the United States. It is involved in virtually all phases of the oil and gas industry, as well as in chemicals, process equipment, energy services, asphalt products, mineral services, cattle ranching, venture capital, and financial trading.

A Global Community
Koch Membrane Systems, Inc. has grown through the internal development of superior filtration products, as well as through acquisitions of leading companies in the field. KMS is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts, with offices throughout the world and manufacturing plants in Wilmington, Massachusetts, and San Diego, California.

Among the acquisitions of Koch Membrane Systems, Inc. were Romicon, Inc. in 1991, Fluid Systems Corporation in 1998, and Puron AG in 2004, all three of which had closely related products and technology. Romicon's outstanding reputation was based on hollow fiber membranes and membrane systems.

Puron had developed a unique submerged membrane bioreactor technology that shows great promise for both industrial and municipal wastewater treatment.

Fluid Systems Corporation was one of the pioneers of commercial reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membrane products. Today, Fluid Systems Corporation is fully integrated into Koch Membrane Systems, Inc., which is now one of the leading providers of state-of-the-art products for desalting both brackish water and seawater for drinking purposes. This advanced desalination technology is also used for many industrial applications including the food, dairy and beverage markets.

Leading Through Innovation
Annual sales for Koch Membrane Systems, Inc., now approach $100 million, making it the largest and most creative developer and manufacturer of industrial scale ultrafiltration equipment in the world.

In addition to ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes and systems, KMS manufactures nanofiltration (NF), microfiltration (MF), and other advanced membrane products in a variety of configurations including hollow fiber, spiral, and tubular shapes. The company sells equipment in a wide variety of global markets that include municipal drinking water, industrial wastewater, juice, dairy, wine, pulp and paper, automotive, pharmaceutical and biotech, sweeteners and many, many more.

KMS is an ISO 9001 Certified company.