Trust the filtration experts
Headquartered in Calgary, ESG Filtration Ltd is a wholesale distributor of process and sample system filtration products and services with a trademark for delivering exceptional customer service. With over 20 years of industry experience, the company possesses the technical proficiency to not only provide clients with innovative, high quality products, but also cost-effective solutions to seemingly insurmountable filtration issues.
Particularly well-known throughout the oil and gas sector, ESG Filtration is now increasing its presence in the food and beverage industry. Their expansive product line features a diverse range of liquid and gas filtration solutions produced by leading manufacturers, such as Headline Filters, 3M Canada, GE Osmonics, CONCOA and Sunsep.
Craig Bonn has been the President of the company since 2008. According to him, ESG Filtration has always kept their product line up-to-date, due in part to their close ties with some of the world’s biggest manufacturers.
“They continually bring new product offerings to us, so that keeps our own offering fairly fresh as well,” he says.
For the past several years, ESG Filtration has focused largely on distributing products that cater to the production of heavy oil at Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) facilities. The SAGD process has created new challenges, and subsequently new opportunities for the treatment of boiler feed water, leading to the application of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes in the filtration industry. Although this new endeavour lies somewhat outside of the company’s traditional offering, it has quickly become “a very big piece” of ESG Filtration’s business in recent years.
“We’re not the only game in town when it comes to RO membranes, but of the manufacturers out there, we represent one of the top ones, one of the best ones,” says Bonn. “So it’s an exciting area for us, and it has been a very big growth area as well. It’s also something that’s complementary to our core business, which is media filtration, vessels, hardware, housings − capital project stuff. So it doesn’t deviate too far away from that, but it’s a completely different technology and it’s something that we offer extensively that most of our specific competitors on the distribution side do not.”
Solution providers
Even in wholesale distribution, where every company aims to please their customers to earn repeat business, ESG Filtration has developed a reputation for exceeding client expectations. This is due, in part, to their stature as a smaller company, which gives them the agility and flexibility to go above and beyond for each individual customer. Additionally, ESG Filtration’s experienced and dedicated staff members pride themselves on delivering that next-level service clients don’t receive when dealing with bigger companies.
“We’re fully aware that, as distributors, being able to offer that customer service and support is paramount in retaining business long-term,” Bonn explains. “Obviously, that’s something you’ll hear from most companies, but from my standpoint, we’ve always done a very good job at being solution providers for our customers.”
“We actually want clients who are having problematic situations or applications that require a solution that’s going to fix that problem,” he continues. “With our many years of expertise and our experienced and talented sales team, we’re very successful at being able to be that solution provider. For us, it’s not just about selling the product, it’s about the technical ability to put the right product in the right spot application-wise to overcome the challenges our customers are facing.”
ESG Filtration also maintains similarly close-ties with the companies in their supply chain. Bonn reveals that many of their suppliers have been working with the company since it was founded in 1994.
Regardless of how long they have worked with the supplier, however, one thing remains consistent: ESG Filtration only works with “the best manufacturers.”
“We don’t want to be the same as everyone else, and we look to set ourselves apart through the partners that we have and through the products that we offer,” Bonn says.
Broadening their scope
The Saskatchewan Oil & Gas Show is a biennial event organized by the Weyburn Oil Show Board to showcase local companies in the service and supply segment of the oil and gas industry. At this year’s tradeshow, which took place in the first week of June, ESG Filtration partook in the festivities as an exhibitor to promote their cutting edge RO membrane products, and to pursue new connections and opportunities within the oil and gas industry.
“We’re looking at marginal and conventional production fields that are now being considered for enhanced oil recovery and other areas that are going to require filtration or products of that nature,” says Bonn. “So part of that is identifying and being ahead of the curve as far as knowing where there’s going to be demand, and at the same time identifying the customers that would be with.”
In order to better serve those customers moving forward, ESG Filtration plans to continue adding newer, more innovative products into their offering. They also aim to bolster their presence in southern Saskatchewan, viewing it as a market that well suits their brand.
The company’s main priority, however, is further expanding the sectors and industries they sell into.
“I want to continue to diversify what we’re doing without forgetting about what our core business is, which is what got us to where we are now,” Bonn says. “Continuing the strong customer and sales support is obviously key, but we’re looking to diversify into some other areas through a lot of the business we’re doing with the reverse osmosis membranes and other types of membranes.”
He also adds that the company is considering the possibility of broadening their scope to include both a service division, which would specialize in reverse osmosis machines and similar instrumentation, as well as an equipment manufacturing division.
“Those would be the two key areas we would view as goals to achieve within the next five years,” Bonn concludes. “Aside from that, we’re going to continue doing what we do well, and continue identifying new markets and areas that we can grow our business into.”
