Textile Insight

IN THE MARKET | HEIQ COMPANY PROFILE Born on a Hike 24 • Textile Insight ~ July/August 2019 textileinsight.com A Swiss Mix of Outdoor Spirit and Scientific Rigor Spurs Innovative Chemistry. By Emily Walzer eiQ does not wait around to see what's happening, it makes things happen. Agile, entrepreneurial in nature and asset light by design, HeiQ strives to stay ahead of the market with a modern business model founded on a mission to innovate and differentiate. The Swiss supplier looks to accelerate product development via its network driven organiza- tion with a management style that brings energy and intensity to an aging textile industry. "We have a Swiss mindset in that we are the only tool you need to make something happen," says Carlo Centonze, HeiQ co-founder and CEO. "We want to be a tool to disrupt and we really want to innovate to make textiles better for everyone." To that end, HeiQ is structured to take advantage of a boundless academic research network, and an internal team of specialists with a high-level chemical engineering and marketing competency that puts that research into action. Founded in 2005, the young firm has quickly established a global footprint that now includes HeiQ Australia, where company co-founder Murray Height is based; HeiQ Hong Kong, HeiQ Chemtex USA, in North Carolina; and two new subsidiaries added this Spring, HeiQ China and HeiQ Taiwan, to serve customers in the region more closely and provide rapid support. HeiQ retains local identity with headquarters in Schlieren, Switzerland, close to Zurich. On a recent visit the place was a beehive of activity with staff preparing for the upcoming Performance Days and TechTextil trade events, in addition to various meetings regarding a new project, HeiQ XReflex, and other marketing-related matters, with Centonze focused intently on each task at hand, yet seemingly in constant motion. Marketing is a core tenet of HeiQ, unusual for a chemi- cal company. "We are very proactive in our approach with brand partners," comments Hoi Kwan Lam, HeiQ's chief marketing officer, whose background includes work at Procter & Gamble. "For really new technology we need to be proactive; we get involved in the process as early as possible." Also unique is the HeiQ Fabric Lab offering brands fabric development services, from supplier selection to tackling technical challenges as well as material testing and finalizing fabric agreements. Consistent with HeiQ's DNA, the service is a means to accelerate innovation. "Ours is a new way to create a company," states Centonze. "If you can change the way you think about textiles, and put in a modern way to attract a new audi- ence you will achieve." He adds, "We need to reflect what the old industry is doing globally but bring the science back to textiles. We need talk to the mills and be a knowledge bank for brands." HeiQ's contemporary approach is proving successful. The company is experiencing upwards of 30 percent growth, according to Centonze. In the last two years there have been 25 new hires, bringing the number of employees to 80 people located worldwide and serving upwards of 200 brands. Creating strong partners is key. Burton, for example, has been working with HeiQ on various solutions since 2014. "HeiQ is a very dynamic innovation-based com- pany and they are willing to work with us to provide custom unique solutions to enhance the performance of our products," explains Ashish Ahlawat, senior materials manager, Burton Global. "They are easy to access, and their team is open to ideas. Unlike other chemical companies, they are not very hierarchical which allows more creative/free flow of ideas which in turn makes the whole experience of dealing with them much more enjoyable." H Ralf Mundinger, head of application technology, runs fabric on the padder machine in HeiQ's onsite pilot plant.

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