01.01.09
Location: MANCHESTER, CT
Sales: $112 Million
Description: Key Personnel
W. Leslie Duffy, chairman of the board; Dale Barnhart, president and CEO; Thomas Smith, vice president, CFO and treasurer; Mona Estey, vice president—Human Resources; Mary Tremblay, vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary; Peter Kurto, vice president—Business Development; Kevin Longe, president, Performance Materials; Joseph Wilsted, president, Automotive; Peter Ferris, president, Charter Medical, Ltd.
Plants
Rochester, NH; Saint Rivalain, France; Winston-Salem, NC; Hamptonville, NC; Green Island, NY; Ossipee, NH; Meinerzhagen, Germany; Saint-Nazaire, France; Maastricht, The Netherlands
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
Biotherm, Capraton, CELL-FREEZE, Clear-PakT, CRS Wrap, CryoLite dBLyte, Freeze-PakT, LydAir MG, LydAir MB, LydAir SC, LyPore Defender, LyPore MB, LyPore SC, LyPore XL, Lytherm, ManniGlas, Solupor Membrane, ZeroClearance, ZeroClearance In-Tack
During 2008 Lydall made significant changes to its structure to strengthen its core businesses. Lydall began to implement a strategy to understand the growth markets served within Lydall’s businesses and match the underserved market needs with Lydall’s capabilities. “We are focusing on markets that have higher growth rates and products that we expect will generate higher gross margin percentages for us in the future,” commented CEO Dale Barnhart.
The four pillars of Lydall’s growth strategy include: organic growth from new product development; geographic expansion into Asia and Europe; Lydall Lean Six Sigma (LLSS) to continually improve operating performance resulting in revenue and income growth; and acquisition of product lines and/or businesses that participate in identified growth markets.
At the consolidated level, overall sales at Lydall for 2008 were $306 million, of which 23% were nonwoven roll goods. At $112 million, Performance Materials segment sales increased by $3 million in 2008 compared to 2007. Contributing to this increase were higher net sales of industrial thermal insulation products of $1 million, partially offset by a decrease of $0.5 million to $70.5 million in net sales of filtration media. As result of the global economic downturn, many of Lydall’s filtration customers adjusted downward their production schedules and the amount of products purchased from the company in order to reduce their current levels of inventory.
Within Lydall’s Industrial Thermal Insulation business, sales hit the $41 million mark in 2008, an increase resulting from increased energy and industrial products sales and partially offset by a drop in demand for building and appliance insulation products. Sales for energy and industrial products increased due to strong demand in the electrical markets as well as increased net sales to manufacturers of cryogenic equipment for liquid gas storage and transportation. Due to an economic recession in the U.S. impacting the new home and commercial buildings construction markets, the company’s sales of building and appliance insulation products decreased during 2008.
In terms of capital investments at its Performance Materials Segment, Lydall is purchasing new equipment to enhance engineered products for the appliance industry. “We expect this equipment will allow us greater design flexibility, resulting in access to new markets for our appLY Mat appliance insulation product,” said Mr. Barnhart. He added that new product line extensions of appLY Mat are enabling Lydall to penetrate both thermal and acoustical applications in residential and commercial appliances. Beyond capital improvements, Lydall is also expanding its business through acquisition activity. As a result of its purchase of DSM Solutech B.V. last year, Lydall’s portfolio now includes Solupor specialty microporous membrane technology, which has been integrated into its Performance Materials business. The first product developed from Solupor is Arioso, a high performance air filtration composite media that offer durability, high permeability and chemical inertness.
“Arioso has generated a tremendous amount of interest from our existing customers as well as from potential customers in new markets,” commented Mr. Barnhart. Arioso expands Lydall’s product offerings in its established high purity air markets and provides a competitive advantage in other sectors such as dust collection, air pollution control, respiratory face masks and vacuum cleaners.
In commenting on Lydall’s acquisition of DSM Solutech, Mr. Barnhart said that Lydall “will pursue an acquisition opportunity when it aligns with our strategic roadmap. Adding high performance products like membranes to our portfolio was a perfect fit with our technology plan. Solupor has a number of unique attributes that differentiate it from other membranes due to its structure that is similar to a nonwoven.”
In fluid power and transportation filtration markets, Lydall is advancing current performance boundaries of microglass media with the introduction of LyPore Defender hydraulic and lube grades and LyPore Unity coalescing grades. “The main goal with both product lines is to deliver extended filter life, which results in product differentiation for our customers and cost savings for their customers,” explained Mr. Barnhart.
In the life science area, LyPore Clarity is Lydall’s new product line of binderless microglass media used for lateral-flow diagnostics testing and laboratory/analytical markets that demand purity, consistency and reliability.
As for its Thermal/Acoustical business, Lydall is underway with plans to close its St. Johnsbury, VT manufacturing facility and consolidate its North American automotive parts production into its Hamptonville, NC operation. The consolidation is expected to reduce operating costs significantly, increase efficiency and enhance the company’s competitive position while maintaining essentially the same level of manufacturing capacity. The company commenced the transfer of equipment and production in the first quarter of 2009 and is currently substantially complete with the consolidation. Beginning in the latter part of 2009, Lydall expects to start to benefit from reduced fixed overhead and selling, product development and administrative expenses as a result of the consolidation.
Sales: $112 Million
Description: Key Personnel
W. Leslie Duffy, chairman of the board; Dale Barnhart, president and CEO; Thomas Smith, vice president, CFO and treasurer; Mona Estey, vice president—Human Resources; Mary Tremblay, vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary; Peter Kurto, vice president—Business Development; Kevin Longe, president, Performance Materials; Joseph Wilsted, president, Automotive; Peter Ferris, president, Charter Medical, Ltd.
Plants
Rochester, NH; Saint Rivalain, France; Winston-Salem, NC; Hamptonville, NC; Green Island, NY; Ossipee, NH; Meinerzhagen, Germany; Saint-Nazaire, France; Maastricht, The Netherlands
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
Biotherm, Capraton, CELL-FREEZE, Clear-PakT, CRS Wrap, CryoLite dBLyte, Freeze-PakT, LydAir MG, LydAir MB, LydAir SC, LyPore Defender, LyPore MB, LyPore SC, LyPore XL, Lytherm, ManniGlas, Solupor Membrane, ZeroClearance, ZeroClearance In-Tack
During 2008 Lydall made significant changes to its structure to strengthen its core businesses. Lydall began to implement a strategy to understand the growth markets served within Lydall’s businesses and match the underserved market needs with Lydall’s capabilities. “We are focusing on markets that have higher growth rates and products that we expect will generate higher gross margin percentages for us in the future,” commented CEO Dale Barnhart.
The four pillars of Lydall’s growth strategy include: organic growth from new product development; geographic expansion into Asia and Europe; Lydall Lean Six Sigma (LLSS) to continually improve operating performance resulting in revenue and income growth; and acquisition of product lines and/or businesses that participate in identified growth markets.
At the consolidated level, overall sales at Lydall for 2008 were $306 million, of which 23% were nonwoven roll goods. At $112 million, Performance Materials segment sales increased by $3 million in 2008 compared to 2007. Contributing to this increase were higher net sales of industrial thermal insulation products of $1 million, partially offset by a decrease of $0.5 million to $70.5 million in net sales of filtration media. As result of the global economic downturn, many of Lydall’s filtration customers adjusted downward their production schedules and the amount of products purchased from the company in order to reduce their current levels of inventory.
Within Lydall’s Industrial Thermal Insulation business, sales hit the $41 million mark in 2008, an increase resulting from increased energy and industrial products sales and partially offset by a drop in demand for building and appliance insulation products. Sales for energy and industrial products increased due to strong demand in the electrical markets as well as increased net sales to manufacturers of cryogenic equipment for liquid gas storage and transportation. Due to an economic recession in the U.S. impacting the new home and commercial buildings construction markets, the company’s sales of building and appliance insulation products decreased during 2008.
In terms of capital investments at its Performance Materials Segment, Lydall is purchasing new equipment to enhance engineered products for the appliance industry. “We expect this equipment will allow us greater design flexibility, resulting in access to new markets for our appLY Mat appliance insulation product,” said Mr. Barnhart. He added that new product line extensions of appLY Mat are enabling Lydall to penetrate both thermal and acoustical applications in residential and commercial appliances. Beyond capital improvements, Lydall is also expanding its business through acquisition activity. As a result of its purchase of DSM Solutech B.V. last year, Lydall’s portfolio now includes Solupor specialty microporous membrane technology, which has been integrated into its Performance Materials business. The first product developed from Solupor is Arioso, a high performance air filtration composite media that offer durability, high permeability and chemical inertness.
“Arioso has generated a tremendous amount of interest from our existing customers as well as from potential customers in new markets,” commented Mr. Barnhart. Arioso expands Lydall’s product offerings in its established high purity air markets and provides a competitive advantage in other sectors such as dust collection, air pollution control, respiratory face masks and vacuum cleaners.
In commenting on Lydall’s acquisition of DSM Solutech, Mr. Barnhart said that Lydall “will pursue an acquisition opportunity when it aligns with our strategic roadmap. Adding high performance products like membranes to our portfolio was a perfect fit with our technology plan. Solupor has a number of unique attributes that differentiate it from other membranes due to its structure that is similar to a nonwoven.”
In fluid power and transportation filtration markets, Lydall is advancing current performance boundaries of microglass media with the introduction of LyPore Defender hydraulic and lube grades and LyPore Unity coalescing grades. “The main goal with both product lines is to deliver extended filter life, which results in product differentiation for our customers and cost savings for their customers,” explained Mr. Barnhart.
In the life science area, LyPore Clarity is Lydall’s new product line of binderless microglass media used for lateral-flow diagnostics testing and laboratory/analytical markets that demand purity, consistency and reliability.
As for its Thermal/Acoustical business, Lydall is underway with plans to close its St. Johnsbury, VT manufacturing facility and consolidate its North American automotive parts production into its Hamptonville, NC operation. The consolidation is expected to reduce operating costs significantly, increase efficiency and enhance the company’s competitive position while maintaining essentially the same level of manufacturing capacity. The company commenced the transfer of equipment and production in the first quarter of 2009 and is currently substantially complete with the consolidation. Beginning in the latter part of 2009, Lydall expects to start to benefit from reduced fixed overhead and selling, product development and administrative expenses as a result of the consolidation.