What Donaldson makes

Donaldson Company is a filtration manufacturer, one of the largest in the world, and it organizes its business into three segments. Mobile Solutions is the biggest, at $2.29 billion of fiscal 2025 sales, and covers air intake, fuel, lube, coolant and hydraulic filtration plus exhaust and emissions components for on-road trucks and off-road construction, mining, and agricultural equipment. It sells both as first-fit filtration to OEMs and through a large replacement-parts aftermarket. Industrial Solutions, at $1.10 billion, makes dust, fume and mist collectors, compressed-air and process filtration, gas-turbine intake systems, and PTFE membranes for demanding plant environments. Life Sciences, the smallest and fastest-changing segment at $296 million, serves bioprocessing, food and beverage, and microelectronics with specialty filtration and separation technology.

The through-line across all three is a filter media and systems capability that Donaldson has built over more than a century. The company reports more than 2,800 active patents, 100-plus technical laboratories, and $88 million a year in research and development. Frank Donaldson invented the air-intake filter in 1915 to keep dust out of tractor engines on the plains, and the modern company still describes its work the same way: keeping contaminants out of engines, processes, and products that customers cannot afford to have fail.

Financial performance

Donaldson is a public company, traded on the New York Stock Exchange as DCI, and its numbers are audited and disclosed. In fiscal 2025, which ended July 31, 2025, the company reported record net sales of $3,690.9 million, up 2.9 percent from $3,586.3 million the prior year. Operating income was $495.4 million, a 13.4 percent operating margin, and net earnings were $367.0 million. The balance sheet is conservative for a manufacturer of this size: $180.4 million of cash against $668.3 million of total debt, comfortably serviced by operating income near half a billion dollars. Donaldson has paid a quarterly dividend for 70 consecutive years, a record only a handful of industrial companies can claim.

The revenue split tells you where the business sits in the economy. Roughly 62 percent of sales come from Mobile Solutions, which ties Donaldson to global truck build rates and heavy-equipment demand, while Industrial and Life Sciences add diversification into plant capital spending and bioprocessing. That mix has kept results steady through cycles that hit pure automotive suppliers harder.

Ownership and history

Donaldson was founded in 1915 by Frank Donaldson Sr. and has been headquartered in the Minneapolis area for its entire history, today at 1400 West 94th Street in Bloomington, Minnesota. It is an independent, publicly listed company, a component of the S&P MidCap 400, with roughly 14,000 employees and more than 150 manufacturing, distribution, and technical facilities across 40-plus countries. About 60 percent of sales are generated outside the United States, and the company runs plants in Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, China, Mexico, India, and elsewhere.

In March 2026 Donaldson completed a planned leadership succession. Richard Lewis, who had been chief operating officer, became president and chief executive officer, succeeding Tod Carpenter after Carpenter's 11 years as CEO and 30 years at the company. Carpenter moved to executive chairman. Brad Pogalz has served as chief financial officer since November 2024. Donaldson has expanded its Life Sciences segment through acquisitions including Solaris Biotech in Italy, Isolere Bio, and Univercells Technologies, extending its filtration expertise into bioprocessing.

Certifications and quality

Donaldson states that it adheres to the current revisions of ISO 9001, IATF 16949, and AS/EN9100, the three quality-management standards that matter for its OEM customers in on-highway, off-road, and aerospace markets. It posts facility-level certificates for plants across the United States, Mexico, China, and India, with several sites also certified to ISO 14001 for environmental management. Its Wisconsin operations carry AS9100D and ISO 9001:2015 for aerospace and filtration systems, and its Iowa engine-filtration plant runs an IATF 16949:2016 quality system. Multi-site certification at this scale is the norm for a Tier 1 filtration supplier serving Tier 1 and Tier 2 programs, and Donaldson also maintains a formal supplier quality manual for its own supply base.

Known customers

Donaldson serves OEMs and end users across construction, mining, agriculture, on-highway trucking, aerospace, power generation, food and beverage, and bioprocessing. Specific first-fit program awards are not individually disclosed, but two customer relationships are on the public record through supplier awards:

Beyond these, Donaldson's role is best understood at the sector level: it is a filtration partner embedded in the diesel-engine and heavy-equipment supply chains, selling first-fit filters into new machines and replacement filters across their service lives.

Sourcing evidence

Donaldson's US import record is unusual, and reading it correctly matters. The company appears in US customs data with 11,791 sea shipments since 2015, with the most recent logged September 21, 2026, and an estimated $22.4 million in ocean-freight spend across records with cost coverage. But the top shippers are almost all Donaldson's own foreign plants: Donaldson in Ostiglia, Italy (1,823 shipments), Donaldson Filtration Deutschland in Germany (1,310), Donaldson Europe in Belgium (705), Donaldson Czech Republic (660), Donaldson Wuxi Filters in China (656), and Donaldson de Mexico (579). This is an intra-company global logistics network, filters and components moving from Donaldson factories abroad into US distribution, not a third-party sourcing footprint.

Eight shown of 50 recorded shippers. By product category the flow leads with machinery and filters (HS chapter 84, 6,455 shipments), automotive parts (chapter 87, 1,308), plastics (734), and iron and steel articles (392). Top inbound lanes run Antwerp to Norfolk, a Mexican Pacific port to Houston, Rotterdam to Norfolk, and Shanghai to Long Beach. Shipment activity is steady: trailing-12-month volume is up about 5 percent versus the prior twelve months, and the single large monthly drop shown on public trackers is a partial-month artifact rather than a real decline. Buyers weighing nearshoring and tariff exposure can read this footprint as a company that already manufactures on multiple continents close to its customers.

Coverage caveats: these are US ocean-freight records only. Air, truck, and rail movements do not appear; some records name freight intermediaries rather than plants; and product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence.

Frequently asked questions

What does Donaldson Company make?

Donaldson makes filtration systems and replacement filters across three segments. Mobile Solutions covers air, fuel, lube, coolant, hydraulic, and exhaust filtration for trucks and off-road equipment. Industrial Solutions makes dust, fume, and mist collectors, compressed-air and gas-turbine filtration, and PTFE membranes. Life Sciences serves bioprocessing, food and beverage, and microelectronics.

Who owns Donaldson Company?

Donaldson is an independent, publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DCI and is a component of the S&P MidCap 400. It was founded in 1915 by Frank Donaldson Sr. and remains headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota.

What is Donaldson Company's annual revenue?

Donaldson reported record net sales of $3,690.9 million in fiscal 2025, which ended July 31, 2025, up 2.9 percent year over year. Operating income was $495.4 million, a 13.4 percent operating margin, and net earnings were $367.0 million.

Where is Donaldson Company headquartered?

Donaldson's corporate headquarters is at 1400 West 94th Street, Bloomington, Minnesota 55431, in the Minneapolis area. The company operates more than 150 facilities across 40-plus countries, with roughly 60 percent of sales generated outside the United States.

Who is the CEO of Donaldson Company?

Richard Lewis became president and chief executive officer in March 2026, succeeding Tod Carpenter as part of a planned succession. Carpenter, who led the company for 11 years, moved to executive chairman. Brad Pogalz is chief financial officer.

What certifications does Donaldson Company hold?

Donaldson adheres to current revisions of ISO 9001, IATF 16949, and AS/EN9100, with facility-level certificates across the United States, Mexico, China, and India. Several sites also hold ISO 14001 environmental certification. Multi-site certification is standard for a filtration supplier serving automotive and aerospace OEM programs.

Last verified September 27, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.