01.01.07
Location: Manchester, CT
Sales: $136 million
Description: Key Personnel
W. Leslie Duffy, chairman of the board, David Freeman, president and CEO; Thomas Smith, vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer; Mona Estey, vice president—human resources; Mary Tremblay, vice president, general counsel and secretary
Plants
Rochester, NH; Saint Rivalain, France; Winston-Salem, NC; Hamptonville, NC; St. Johnsbury, VT; Green Island, NY; Ossipee, NH; Meinerzhagen, Germany; Saint-Nazaire, France
Major Markets
Thermal and acoustical shields and insulation, high-efficiency air and liquid filtration media, bioprocessing and specialty blood and cell therapy products
Major Brand Names
Lytherm, Manniglas, Manniweb, Affinity, ZeroClearance, dBLyte, LydAir, LydAir ElementsMG, Actipure, AcuPore, AMS, CRS Wrap, Cryotherm, dBCore, LyPore, LyPoreMG, LyPore Unity, BioPak
For Lydall Inc., Manchester, CT, worldwide 2006 nonwoven sales topped the $136.7 million mark, representing a slight drop from last year’s $137.8 million total and 42% of Lydall’s company-wide 2006 sales, which reached $326.4 million.
“This improvement in large part reflects the cumulative benefits being realized from our Lydall Lean Six Sigma (LLSS) program,” commented David Freeman, president and CEO. “LLSS gained traction during 2006, our first full year under the program. More than 100 employees were trained during 2006 and well over that number have received training during the first half of 2007.”
At the same time, Lydall is increasing focus on product development. New product sales exceeded 20% of its total in 2006 and this percentage is expected to rise to 25% during the next couple of years.
Thermal/Acoustical segment sales accounted for approximately 67% of Lydall’s business last year, with the majority of this segment being comprised of automotive sales, while the Filtration/Separation segment accounted for approximately 24% of total 2006 sales. The majority of Lydall’s nonwovens sales target high-efficiency air and liquid filtration applications. Lydall’s nonwoven thermal/
acoustical products serve demanding building, cryogenic and high-end appliance applications. Lydall also manufactures nonwoven products employed in certain medical devices and as acoustical insulation in high-performance automotive applications.
Geographically speaking, Lydall’s business covers both Western and Eastern markets with foreign and export sales representing 43% of the company’s net sales in 2006. Export sales are primarily to Europe, Asia, Mexico and Canada. In the U.S., Lydall has operations in North Carolina, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Virginia; it also operates manufacturing facilities in Germany and France as well as sales offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Patrick Apfeld, vice president of marketing and business development for Lydall Filtration/Separation, described the filtration/separation market for nonwovens as healthy and growing faster than baseline GDP. “Some segments, particularly those related to consumer products, have become commoditized, and there has been some capacity rationalization and consolidations as a consequence,” he explained. “Lydall generally participates in a fairly narrow market space. We provide highly technical products to demanding niche business-to-business markets.”
Lydall Filtration’s strategy is to increase focus and development toward markets that require joint application development (with customers) and technical innovation. “Lydall Filtration has differentiated itself through world-class customer service, the customization of products for specific needs and by broadening the offerings beyond wetlaid microglass to include high-end, filtration-quality meltblown products and a range of composite materials.”
Speaking of wetlaid nonwovens, according to Reid Anthony, director of Lydall’s engineered nonwoven/technical paper business serving thermal and acoustical applications, suppliers have expanded their asset bases rather than decommission legacy assets and, in turn, have reassigned equipment to wetlaid products for building and cryogenic end uses. “The success of these ‘specialty businesses’ and the relative margin differential has subsequently attracted additional investment,” he said. “Specialty businesses, originally created for asset utilization, have become growth engines. From a competitive standpoint, we are seeing new entrants from Asia as well as vertical integration and consolidation of existing players. Lydall’s breadth of technology—meltblown, airlaid, wetlaid, composite and needling capabilities—distinguishes us in this growth industry.”
By way of capital improvements, Lydall is in the second year of a multi-year capital improvement plan at both its Rochester, NH and St. Rivalain, France filtration/separation facilities. These improvements include a series of proprietary process improvements aimed toward achieving unsurpassed filtration properties in microglass products and state-of-the-art wet-forming hardware and process control upgrades to support product uniformity.
Additionally, Lydall recently installed a new advanced laminating line at its Rochester, NH operation, expanding its technical capabilities and providing sufficient capacity to cover current composites demands and future growth for several years. The laminating line is a key process in the manufacture of the LydAir SC, LyPore SC as well as a growing portfolio of customized composite product lines, which are utilized in high performance filtration challenges including industrial and residential HVAC, gas-turbine, cabin air, drinking water and a variety of industrial fluid applications.
The Lydall Automotive Group is also investing in additional nonwovens capacity at its Hamptonville, NC facility to support substantial growth in acoustic products. Installation is scheduled for the second half of 2007 and will accommodate new business. It is scheduled to come onstream in early 2008.
“Continuing investment in proprietary process improvements for all our businesses will allow us to solidify marketshare in core markets and support expansion into demanding new applications,” Mr. Freeman said.
Lydall is also committed to expanding geographically and is establishing a commercial presence in China, where the company has leased warehouse space for filtration products. “Our goal is to set up a sales and service company with the capability of performing finishing operations in addition to acting as the central distribution and service facility for filtration products for Asia. We also intend to expand our presence for thermal/acoustical products in this important market,” Mr. Freeman said.
Wrapping up, Mr. Freeman said that Lydall plans to continue to concentrate on strategic sales growth and margin improvement. “We will remain focused on operating efficiencies, resource allocation and new product development. Our vision is to grow at a double-digit compound annual rate. With an expected organic growth rate in the single digits, acquisitions will be key to achieving our goal.”
Sales: $136 million
Description: Key Personnel
W. Leslie Duffy, chairman of the board, David Freeman, president and CEO; Thomas Smith, vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer; Mona Estey, vice president—human resources; Mary Tremblay, vice president, general counsel and secretary
Plants
Rochester, NH; Saint Rivalain, France; Winston-Salem, NC; Hamptonville, NC; St. Johnsbury, VT; Green Island, NY; Ossipee, NH; Meinerzhagen, Germany; Saint-Nazaire, France
Major Markets
Thermal and acoustical shields and insulation, high-efficiency air and liquid filtration media, bioprocessing and specialty blood and cell therapy products
Major Brand Names
Lytherm, Manniglas, Manniweb, Affinity, ZeroClearance, dBLyte, LydAir, LydAir ElementsMG, Actipure, AcuPore, AMS, CRS Wrap, Cryotherm, dBCore, LyPore, LyPoreMG, LyPore Unity, BioPak
For Lydall Inc., Manchester, CT, worldwide 2006 nonwoven sales topped the $136.7 million mark, representing a slight drop from last year’s $137.8 million total and 42% of Lydall’s company-wide 2006 sales, which reached $326.4 million.
“This improvement in large part reflects the cumulative benefits being realized from our Lydall Lean Six Sigma (LLSS) program,” commented David Freeman, president and CEO. “LLSS gained traction during 2006, our first full year under the program. More than 100 employees were trained during 2006 and well over that number have received training during the first half of 2007.”
At the same time, Lydall is increasing focus on product development. New product sales exceeded 20% of its total in 2006 and this percentage is expected to rise to 25% during the next couple of years.
Thermal/Acoustical segment sales accounted for approximately 67% of Lydall’s business last year, with the majority of this segment being comprised of automotive sales, while the Filtration/Separation segment accounted for approximately 24% of total 2006 sales. The majority of Lydall’s nonwovens sales target high-efficiency air and liquid filtration applications. Lydall’s nonwoven thermal/
acoustical products serve demanding building, cryogenic and high-end appliance applications. Lydall also manufactures nonwoven products employed in certain medical devices and as acoustical insulation in high-performance automotive applications.
Geographically speaking, Lydall’s business covers both Western and Eastern markets with foreign and export sales representing 43% of the company’s net sales in 2006. Export sales are primarily to Europe, Asia, Mexico and Canada. In the U.S., Lydall has operations in North Carolina, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Virginia; it also operates manufacturing facilities in Germany and France as well as sales offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Patrick Apfeld, vice president of marketing and business development for Lydall Filtration/Separation, described the filtration/separation market for nonwovens as healthy and growing faster than baseline GDP. “Some segments, particularly those related to consumer products, have become commoditized, and there has been some capacity rationalization and consolidations as a consequence,” he explained. “Lydall generally participates in a fairly narrow market space. We provide highly technical products to demanding niche business-to-business markets.”
Lydall Filtration’s strategy is to increase focus and development toward markets that require joint application development (with customers) and technical innovation. “Lydall Filtration has differentiated itself through world-class customer service, the customization of products for specific needs and by broadening the offerings beyond wetlaid microglass to include high-end, filtration-quality meltblown products and a range of composite materials.”
Speaking of wetlaid nonwovens, according to Reid Anthony, director of Lydall’s engineered nonwoven/technical paper business serving thermal and acoustical applications, suppliers have expanded their asset bases rather than decommission legacy assets and, in turn, have reassigned equipment to wetlaid products for building and cryogenic end uses. “The success of these ‘specialty businesses’ and the relative margin differential has subsequently attracted additional investment,” he said. “Specialty businesses, originally created for asset utilization, have become growth engines. From a competitive standpoint, we are seeing new entrants from Asia as well as vertical integration and consolidation of existing players. Lydall’s breadth of technology—meltblown, airlaid, wetlaid, composite and needling capabilities—distinguishes us in this growth industry.”
By way of capital improvements, Lydall is in the second year of a multi-year capital improvement plan at both its Rochester, NH and St. Rivalain, France filtration/separation facilities. These improvements include a series of proprietary process improvements aimed toward achieving unsurpassed filtration properties in microglass products and state-of-the-art wet-forming hardware and process control upgrades to support product uniformity.
Additionally, Lydall recently installed a new advanced laminating line at its Rochester, NH operation, expanding its technical capabilities and providing sufficient capacity to cover current composites demands and future growth for several years. The laminating line is a key process in the manufacture of the LydAir SC, LyPore SC as well as a growing portfolio of customized composite product lines, which are utilized in high performance filtration challenges including industrial and residential HVAC, gas-turbine, cabin air, drinking water and a variety of industrial fluid applications.
The Lydall Automotive Group is also investing in additional nonwovens capacity at its Hamptonville, NC facility to support substantial growth in acoustic products. Installation is scheduled for the second half of 2007 and will accommodate new business. It is scheduled to come onstream in early 2008.
“Continuing investment in proprietary process improvements for all our businesses will allow us to solidify marketshare in core markets and support expansion into demanding new applications,” Mr. Freeman said.
Lydall is also committed to expanding geographically and is establishing a commercial presence in China, where the company has leased warehouse space for filtration products. “Our goal is to set up a sales and service company with the capability of performing finishing operations in addition to acting as the central distribution and service facility for filtration products for Asia. We also intend to expand our presence for thermal/acoustical products in this important market,” Mr. Freeman said.
Wrapping up, Mr. Freeman said that Lydall plans to continue to concentrate on strategic sales growth and margin improvement. “We will remain focused on operating efficiencies, resource allocation and new product development. Our vision is to grow at a double-digit compound annual rate. With an expected organic growth rate in the single digits, acquisitions will be key to achieving our goal.”