01.01.10
Location: Totowa, NJ
Sales: $115 million
Description: Key Personnel
Peter Longo, chairman and COO, Scott Tesser, president and CEO; Rich Noble, CFO and treasurer; Dan Kamat, vice president, Industrial Textile Division; Shaile Dusaj, director industrial marketing and sales; Keith Martin, industrial business manager
Processes
Needlepunch, thermal bonded, chemical bonded, heat activated adhesive coatings, specialty finishes
Major Markets
Apparel interlinings, automotive fabrics, medical, fabric softener substrates, furniture and bedding, filtration, vinyl substrates, home furnishings, wipes, hygiene, footwear, roofing and construction, filtration
As it continues to successfully grow its technical business, New Jersey-based Precision Custom Coatings reported its sales grew from $100 million in 2008 to $115 million in 2009. Among its successes is filtration, a market the company entered two years ago when it converted equipment formerly used in apparel to make nonwoven media.
“Of any of the industries we are in, filtration is the most resistant to economic conditions,” said chairman and CEO Peter Longo. “We started looking at it two years ago but it took a little while to penetrate. The barriers to entry are high but we had no trouble achieving them.”
In fact, PCC technology has already allowed the company to develop media capable of achieving higher MERV ratings at the same price as its competition because it has saved money on equipment.
PCC currently has three lines dedicated to filtration. Two of these are older apparel-related lines, modified to meet the needs of filtration; the third is a brand new line which will be fully operational by November. This third line, executives said, will allow the company to expand its focus beyond HVAC into other filtration markets.
In addition to filtration, mattress and bedding continues to grow for the company thanks to its strong growth in the Northeast. The company is getting into composites instead of just offering highloft tops. New products include filler cloths and panels.
Another market, automotives, has certainly had its challenges during the past year but luckily for PCC it has avoided many of the commodity markets and instead, most of its products are premium. “We have had the luxury of not having to chase commodity markets,” said president and CEO Scott Tesser. “If you just go after commodity, forget it, there are too many companies supplying the same market.”
PCC’s traditional market apparel still comprises about 50% of its business but nearly all, about 95%, of it is conducted in Asia where PCC operates two facilities in China. This business continues to be successful but has been challenged by local competition, counterfeits and patent infringements in a market that contains two types of customers—one that cares about quality and the other driven only by price. PCC hopes as the Asian customer grows in sophistication, there will be more of the former and this will help it expand its scope in Asia beyond apparel.”
“We are just starting to expand beyond apparel. The strategy is to eventually grow and expand our business the way we did in North America but it is still three years out,” said Mr. Tesser.
The next step for PCC’s nonwovens business will be a new line, probably centered on airlaid technology, sometime next year. “This will give us a better variety of products in different areas,” Mr. Longo said. With airlaid, we will be capable of making products in a range from a half inch to as high as five inches, this flexibility will allow PCC to enter a lot of new markets. The new technology can be made at higher speeds and it opens up a lot of new doors for us.”
Sales: $115 million
Description: Key Personnel
Peter Longo, chairman and COO, Scott Tesser, president and CEO; Rich Noble, CFO and treasurer; Dan Kamat, vice president, Industrial Textile Division; Shaile Dusaj, director industrial marketing and sales; Keith Martin, industrial business manager
Processes
Needlepunch, thermal bonded, chemical bonded, heat activated adhesive coatings, specialty finishes
Major Markets
Apparel interlinings, automotive fabrics, medical, fabric softener substrates, furniture and bedding, filtration, vinyl substrates, home furnishings, wipes, hygiene, footwear, roofing and construction, filtration
As it continues to successfully grow its technical business, New Jersey-based Precision Custom Coatings reported its sales grew from $100 million in 2008 to $115 million in 2009. Among its successes is filtration, a market the company entered two years ago when it converted equipment formerly used in apparel to make nonwoven media.
“Of any of the industries we are in, filtration is the most resistant to economic conditions,” said chairman and CEO Peter Longo. “We started looking at it two years ago but it took a little while to penetrate. The barriers to entry are high but we had no trouble achieving them.”
In fact, PCC technology has already allowed the company to develop media capable of achieving higher MERV ratings at the same price as its competition because it has saved money on equipment.
PCC currently has three lines dedicated to filtration. Two of these are older apparel-related lines, modified to meet the needs of filtration; the third is a brand new line which will be fully operational by November. This third line, executives said, will allow the company to expand its focus beyond HVAC into other filtration markets.
In addition to filtration, mattress and bedding continues to grow for the company thanks to its strong growth in the Northeast. The company is getting into composites instead of just offering highloft tops. New products include filler cloths and panels.
Another market, automotives, has certainly had its challenges during the past year but luckily for PCC it has avoided many of the commodity markets and instead, most of its products are premium. “We have had the luxury of not having to chase commodity markets,” said president and CEO Scott Tesser. “If you just go after commodity, forget it, there are too many companies supplying the same market.”
PCC’s traditional market apparel still comprises about 50% of its business but nearly all, about 95%, of it is conducted in Asia where PCC operates two facilities in China. This business continues to be successful but has been challenged by local competition, counterfeits and patent infringements in a market that contains two types of customers—one that cares about quality and the other driven only by price. PCC hopes as the Asian customer grows in sophistication, there will be more of the former and this will help it expand its scope in Asia beyond apparel.”
“We are just starting to expand beyond apparel. The strategy is to eventually grow and expand our business the way we did in North America but it is still three years out,” said Mr. Tesser.
The next step for PCC’s nonwovens business will be a new line, probably centered on airlaid technology, sometime next year. “This will give us a better variety of products in different areas,” Mr. Longo said. With airlaid, we will be capable of making products in a range from a half inch to as high as five inches, this flexibility will allow PCC to enter a lot of new markets. The new technology can be made at higher speeds and it opens up a lot of new doors for us.”