01.01.07
Location: Schwarzenbach/Saale, Germany
Sales: $140 million
Description: Key Personnel
Dipl. Kfm. Christian Heinrich Sandler, Dr. Christian Heinrich Sandler, Dieter Magiera, members of the management board
Plant
Schwarzenbach/Saale, Germany
ISO Status
ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001 certified, Ökotex Standard 100, OHRIS
Processes
Carded, waddings and drylaid nonwovens, thermal bonded, mechanically bonded, meltblown, thermofused, needlepunched, air through bonded, spunlaced, hot melt lamination, flexo-printing and coating
Brand Names
sawafill, sawabond, sawaloom, sawavlies, sawaloft, sawaflor, sawatex, sawascreen, sawagrow, sandler sports, sawacomp, sawaflock, sawaform, sawalux, sawaflex, sawasoft, sawasorb, sandler-fibercomfort, sandler-fiberskin, sandler-unico, sawadur, sawadry
Major Markets
Fashion, home furnishing, technical nonwovens (civil engineering, automotive, filtration, horticulture), hygiene, medical, wipes (baby, cosmetic, technical, oil)
At €112 million, sales were right on target for Sandler, Schwarzenbach/Saale, Germany, a leading producer of carded, needlepunch and spunlace nonwovens. “We are satisfied with our results as we were very close to achieving the sales figure we expected,” commented Ulrich Hornfeck, sales director. He reported that the company has several new projects underway in a range of markets outside of the wipes arena.
After deciding last year against expanding its production base outside of Germany, Sandler attributes its current success to its flexibility and fast reaction time from its Schwarzenbach headquarters. This advantage continues to dissuade Sandler from opening a manufacturing plant elsewhere, although Dr. Hornfeck said the company is keeping its options open. “If the market drives us there, we will follow. We always pay close attention to what our customers are doing.” He added that, regardless of changes in the market, Sandler plans to remain a family-owned company.
In a move set to expand its role in the wipes market, Sandler will invest €20 million to add a second high performance spunlace nonwovens line. According to the company, the new line—its second for the wipes market—will be run under the same stringent hygienic conditions as its existing spunlace line, which was added in 2003.
Since entering the spunlace market, Sandler has made great strides to offer differentiated products for the wipes markets by using special fiber blends and finishing techniques such as embossing, structuring and printing. One example is sawatex TriLace, a wipe with good dust and dirt absorption rates that dries quickly and is ideal for a number of household cleaning applications.
Baby wipes remains a key market for Sandler despite challenges in the export market stemming from the state of the Euro. Another obvious challenge here is the cost of raw materials, which continue to climb, impacting suppliers, competitors and end users, according to executives.
The additional line will keep Sandler focused on the spunlace market in Europe where the company reports slight growth. “The market is not growing rapidly, but we are seeing demand for a variety of interesting applications involving a lot of differentiation,” he observed. To date, Sandler has predominantly supplied standard spunlace and is looking forward to exploring its options for innovative new product variations.
Dr. Hornfeck described the company’s new carded needlepunch line as highly innovative as well. Targeting filtration and automotive products, the €10 million investment is part of a larger €25 million investment centering on special technologies for the development of new products and markets for the future. “We have large lines that offer the productivity required in the market,” he said.
Both of Sandler’s recent investments are intended to produce reasonably priced high quality products to meet customer-specific needs. “These investments position us well across a variety of markets,” Dr. Hornfeck remarked.
In the area of upholstery, Sandler is continuing to witness a shift to Eastern Europe, a trend that is expected to stabilize. “There will always be plenty of customers in Central Europe. Those seeking high quality will stay put,” he predicted.
Meanwhile, Sandler is seeing strong growth in technical areas such as filtration and automotive applications. Needlepunched fabrics for automotive sound absorption are performing well as are filtration products. “Other new technical applications are currently in development. They will synergize well with our existing portfolio,” he said.
In closing, Dr. Hornfeck referred to the company’s past years’ impressive achievement of generating half of its turnover from the sale of products fewer than five years old. “This is a major push for us and we are very satisfied with our ability to continue to meet this target in the future. We attribute this to the important partnerships we have with customers and suppliers.”
Sales: $140 million
Description: Key Personnel
Dipl. Kfm. Christian Heinrich Sandler, Dr. Christian Heinrich Sandler, Dieter Magiera, members of the management board
Plant
Schwarzenbach/Saale, Germany
ISO Status
ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001 certified, Ökotex Standard 100, OHRIS
Processes
Carded, waddings and drylaid nonwovens, thermal bonded, mechanically bonded, meltblown, thermofused, needlepunched, air through bonded, spunlaced, hot melt lamination, flexo-printing and coating
Brand Names
sawafill, sawabond, sawaloom, sawavlies, sawaloft, sawaflor, sawatex, sawascreen, sawagrow, sandler sports, sawacomp, sawaflock, sawaform, sawalux, sawaflex, sawasoft, sawasorb, sandler-fibercomfort, sandler-fiberskin, sandler-unico, sawadur, sawadry
Major Markets
Fashion, home furnishing, technical nonwovens (civil engineering, automotive, filtration, horticulture), hygiene, medical, wipes (baby, cosmetic, technical, oil)
At €112 million, sales were right on target for Sandler, Schwarzenbach/Saale, Germany, a leading producer of carded, needlepunch and spunlace nonwovens. “We are satisfied with our results as we were very close to achieving the sales figure we expected,” commented Ulrich Hornfeck, sales director. He reported that the company has several new projects underway in a range of markets outside of the wipes arena.
After deciding last year against expanding its production base outside of Germany, Sandler attributes its current success to its flexibility and fast reaction time from its Schwarzenbach headquarters. This advantage continues to dissuade Sandler from opening a manufacturing plant elsewhere, although Dr. Hornfeck said the company is keeping its options open. “If the market drives us there, we will follow. We always pay close attention to what our customers are doing.” He added that, regardless of changes in the market, Sandler plans to remain a family-owned company.
In a move set to expand its role in the wipes market, Sandler will invest €20 million to add a second high performance spunlace nonwovens line. According to the company, the new line—its second for the wipes market—will be run under the same stringent hygienic conditions as its existing spunlace line, which was added in 2003.
Since entering the spunlace market, Sandler has made great strides to offer differentiated products for the wipes markets by using special fiber blends and finishing techniques such as embossing, structuring and printing. One example is sawatex TriLace, a wipe with good dust and dirt absorption rates that dries quickly and is ideal for a number of household cleaning applications.
Baby wipes remains a key market for Sandler despite challenges in the export market stemming from the state of the Euro. Another obvious challenge here is the cost of raw materials, which continue to climb, impacting suppliers, competitors and end users, according to executives.
The additional line will keep Sandler focused on the spunlace market in Europe where the company reports slight growth. “The market is not growing rapidly, but we are seeing demand for a variety of interesting applications involving a lot of differentiation,” he observed. To date, Sandler has predominantly supplied standard spunlace and is looking forward to exploring its options for innovative new product variations.
Dr. Hornfeck described the company’s new carded needlepunch line as highly innovative as well. Targeting filtration and automotive products, the €10 million investment is part of a larger €25 million investment centering on special technologies for the development of new products and markets for the future. “We have large lines that offer the productivity required in the market,” he said.
Both of Sandler’s recent investments are intended to produce reasonably priced high quality products to meet customer-specific needs. “These investments position us well across a variety of markets,” Dr. Hornfeck remarked.
In the area of upholstery, Sandler is continuing to witness a shift to Eastern Europe, a trend that is expected to stabilize. “There will always be plenty of customers in Central Europe. Those seeking high quality will stay put,” he predicted.
Meanwhile, Sandler is seeing strong growth in technical areas such as filtration and automotive applications. Needlepunched fabrics for automotive sound absorption are performing well as are filtration products. “Other new technical applications are currently in development. They will synergize well with our existing portfolio,” he said.
In closing, Dr. Hornfeck referred to the company’s past years’ impressive achievement of generating half of its turnover from the sale of products fewer than five years old. “This is a major push for us and we are very satisfied with our ability to continue to meet this target in the future. We attribute this to the important partnerships we have with customers and suppliers.”