01.01.02
Location: Weinheim, Germany
Sales: $1.4 Billion
Description: Key Personnel
Christoph Josefiak, managing director, spokesman; Arnold Weghmann, managing director, technical; Walter Schwarz, managing director, North America; Ludger Neuwinger-Heimes, managing director, finance and administration; Dr. Andreas Kreuter, Friedhelm Brandau and Dr. Gerhard Schaut general managers, interlinings; Lee Sullivan, general manager, tufts; Dr. Jörg Sievert, general manager, filter; Bill Casey, general manager, hygiene; Dr. Harald Stini and Helmut Beck, general managers, technical nonwovens, including shoe components
Plants
Weinheim, Germany; Neuenburg, Germany; Kaiserslautern, Germany; Greetland, U.K.; Barcelona, Spain; St. Omero, Italy; Cape Town, South Africa; San Martin/Buenos Aires, Argentina; Jacarei, Brazil; Suzhou, China; Yang-Mei Tao-Yuan, Taiwan; Tayuan, Taiwan; Durham, NC; Lowell, MA; Hopkinsville, KY; Pyungtaek, South Korea (Korea Vilene Company)
Processes
Drylaid staple fiber, wetlaid, spunbonded, melt blown, electrostatic spun microfiber, stitchbonded, needlepunched, thermal bonded, chemical bonded, water entanglement
ISO Status
All locations are ISO 9001; locations serving the automotives industry are QS 9000 certified. Most plants are certified according to ISO 14001
Brand Names
Vilene, Viledon, Vilmed, Pellon, MicronAir, Vlieseline, Vildona, Fliselina, Lutradur, Lutrasil, Evolon and others
Major Markets
Apparel interlinings, filtration, medical, protective clothing, automotive interior trim, electrical insulation, electrical specialties, home furnishings, industrial wipes, hygiene, shoe components, coating substrates, carpet backings, landscape fabrics, geotextiles, agriculture, furniture and bedding, industrial nonwoven specialties
Freudenberg Haushaltsprodukte KG
Postfach 81 02 46
D-68202 Mannheim, Germany
Telephone: 49-621-8773-0
Fax: 49-621-8773-50-18
Key Personnel
Hans-Georg Franke, managing director, chairman; Alexander Moker, managing director, logistics; Gerhard Schmitt, managing director, finance and administration; Klaus Peter Meier, managing director, sales and marketing
Plants
Augsburg, Germany; Arnhem, The Netherlands; Norrköping, Sweden; Roncello, Italy
Processes
Drylaid, thermal bonded, chemical bonded, needlepunched
Brand Names
Vileda, Wettex, Enka, Patito, Roll-o-matic
Major Markets
Household wipes and cleaning instruments, scourers, gloves
Freudenberg Politex Group
Str. Prov. Novedratese, 17/a
I-22060 Novedrate (CO), Italy
Telephone: 39-031-793-111; Fax: 39-031-793-202
E-mail: mk@politex.it
Web: www.freudenbergpolitex.com
Key Personnel
Achille Locatelli, chairman and CEO; Riccardo Sollini, managing director, finance and administration; Bernhard Klein, managing director, technical; Francesco Sancassani, marketing and sales manager (roofing division); Conrad Mauritz, marketing and sales manager (wadding division)
Plants
Novedrate, Italy; Pisticci, Italy; Colmar, France; Lodz, Poland; Macon, GA
Processes
Drylaid carded and/or needlepunched and/or chemical bonded, spunbonding, thermal bonding, chemical bonding
ISO Status
Main locations are ISO 9002 certified
Brand Names
Drenotex, Polifill, Terbond, Texbond
Major Markets
Roofing, geotextiles, wadding for furniture and garments
The past several months have been busy ones for Freudenberg, Weinheim, Germany, marked by the appointment of a new managing director, the implementation of structural and organizational changes and the launch of a three-year, E40 million capital improvement plan. In March, Christoph Josefiak was named managing director of the world’s largest roll goods producer after serving as technical manager for Freudenberg’s Household Products group. Former managing director Hermann Eidel reportedly left Freudenberg by mutual agreement.
As managing director, Mr. Josefiak’s key focus has been to improve customer orientation within the group. “Only when we have learned that the customer comes first, always and without exception, can we be even more successful in the market,” Mr. Josefiak explained. “This is of course a common truth, but it has to be lived by.”
Mr. Josefiak is also concentrating on honing the company’s focus on its core product ranges and strategic businesses and improving Freudenberg’s efficiencies to strengthen its profit margins.
In response to the soft global economy, Freudenberg has initiated structural and organizational changes that give more responsibility to its five key divisions—Interlinings, Filtration, Hygiene/Medical, Technical Nonwovens and Tufts. These units are now not only responsible for product development, marketing, sales and services but also for production and the plants and lines themselves. “Through these measures, we hope to achieve reduction of costs and an intensive degree of growth in competence and a considerable improvement in customer relationships,” Mr. Josefiak explained. “These are factors that are essential for market success.”
In further efforts to defend itself against economic conditions, in May Freudenberg announced plans to invest more than E40 million during a three-year period to modernize and restructure its facilities. Approximately half of the new machine lines included in the plan will be installed in Freudenberg’s Weinheim facility, making this site truly state-of-the-art. Additionally, this plan will lead to the company’s individual production sites specializing in certain products rather than manufacturing a complete product range. In Europe, the Weinheim plant will produce materials for interlinings and filtration media while the Kaiserslautern, Germany site will manufacture products for the Tufts, Filtration and Hygiene/Medical segments. The Neuenberg and Parets plants’ capabilities will comprise technical nonwovens and the Greetland, U.K. site will be responsible for hygiene and medical items production. Freudenberg’s Colmar, France site will be dedicated to producing the company’s Evolon microfiber nonwovens.
During the first phase of reorganization, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2004, Freudenberg’s European interlinings business will be consolidated in Weinheim, where one new base line and a new printing line will be built and two existing base lines will be modernized. Additionally, a new production line for various types of filtration media will be built and seven older lines will be shut down. In Parets, two new base lines will replace two older base lines, which will be closed. The increased efficiency of the new and modernized machines will require less manpower and subsequently affect 300 jobs, according to reports.
While the initial stages of the plan emphasize Freudenberg’s European operations, company executives expect the changes to have far-reaching global effects. Future investments will center on all world regions.
The main thrust behind this improvement is defending Freudenberg against weakened market conditions, particularly in the nonwovens industry. As the largest roll goods producer in the world, Freudenberg is taking steps to ensure its dominance in the future. The entire nonwovens industry is currently going through a difficult situation, caused by worldwide problems being experienced in the garment industry, a key market for nonwovens, according to executives. Another factor is the general weakness of the world economy, the negative effects of which have spread to Asia and South America.
Despite these economic troubles, Freudenberg has been able to maintain its leading position through its strong brands, superior customer service practices and other quality improvements. By segment, interlinings—Freudenberg’s largest end use area—was affected by sharp drops in the North American apparel industry caused by regional shifts in the business. Furthermore, in Asia demand has been substantially reduced, creating competitive price pressures in the industry. This however has not kept Freudenberg from strengthening its positions there through consolidated sales and marketing forces and through the integration of the activities of the Korea Vilene Company, which has previously marketed nonwoven interlinings under the Xetex brand. The Asian interlinings business is now unified under Freudenberg and Vilene Interlinings Far East with a single sales agent of its own in each country.
Also in Asia, the business activities of Korea Vilene are now fully integrated into Freudenberg. Initially created to target the interlinings market, the scope of this venture has expanded to include filtration, automotive and hygiene in various Asian markets. New investments within the segment include an air through bonding line to expand hygiene materials as well as the creation of a separate filter converting company to manufacture automotive and industrial filters.
Additionally, Freudenberg has initiated new investments in its Suzhou, China facility as well as starting capabilities in Pyungtaek, South Korea for the production of 3P materials. The group’s competitive basis in Asia with local production, competent partners and an extensive sales and service network provides it with sufficient power to strengthen its competitive position in the Asian market, according to executives.
As the worldwide interlinings business continues to face overcapacity issues, Freudenberg will reorganize its production landscape on a global basis and approximately 50% of the above mentioned capital improvement plan will be dedicated to its interlinings business.
Meanwhile, the company’s Tufts business continued to experience strong growth due to the global acceptance of spunbond polyester material, particularly in the North American automotive industry. Despite this optimistic situation, aggressive purchasing practices in the automotives industry have continued a trend toward price erosion. While the automotives industry has begun to expand in 2002, it is not expected to reach the full thrust of activity recorded in 1999 and 2000.
In general, Freudenberg executives see an overcapacity situation in spunbond polyester materials, which was aggravated by a soft global economy in 2001. This is especially the case in Asia, where supply is outpacing increasing demand, and the result has been products developed in Asia being exported into Europe and North America. Although basic demand for spunbond polyester is expanding, the major issue affecting the nonwovens business is the temporary oversupply situation in the market, but the general opinion is that this will moderate as capacity and demand balance one another out, according to executives.
One noteworthy item in Freudenberg’s Tufts division is the start up of a new spunbond line in its Durham, NC facility, which came onstream ahead of schedule in December. Representing a $40 million investment, the new line features technology improvements that deliver greater uniformity, higher production speeds and lower costs. The added capacity generated through the new line was desperately needed by the plant, which was struggling to meet total demand. The new line will produce approximately 100 million meters of product and will lead to a temporary overcapacity situation for the division.
Freudenberg’s Hygiene/Medical segment experienced strong growth in 2001, and sales growth is expected to continue throughout 2002 as the company moves into its second full year of production on its thermal bonding line in North America. The world hygiene market is growing steadily, and nonwovens are expected to remain an important element of the next generation of disposable products. The challenge for Freudenberg and for the hygiene industry as a whole is to provide differentiated products, according to the company.
Another business segment that has escaped the ill effects of a soft economy is filtration. Growth in this segment has primarily stemmed from higher demands for fine filtration products created by increased environmental concerns, health awareness, stringent limit values for pollutants and the sick building phenomenon. This trend of increased filtration requirements led Freudenberg to expand its product portfolio in the area of ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Condition Engineering) filters and media containing activated carbon for the adsorption of odors. Filters for odor removal are available for general HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) applications, industrial process and cabin air filtration for automotives. To reaffirm the importance of filtration as a strategic business, Freudenberg is investing more than E15 million in new base and converting lines in Kaiserslautern. These new production lines will significantly increase the manufacturing capacity for filters and will help Freudenberg better service its customers in the area of industrial air filtration, liquid filtration and cabin air filtration, according to executives.
Freudenberg’s fifth core segment, Technical Nonwovens, has been restructured to include its shoe components business and also comprises the company’s battery separators, cable wrappings and electrical insulation segments. The consolidation of this business segment has allowed Freudenberg to act globally in all of its essential market segments.
The year 2001 was also marked by divestments for Freudenberg. The company’s synthetic leather production was brought to a close and its abrasive business was sold. In order to compensate for sales lost through the closure of these two businesses, Freudenberg has been focusing more closely on the strength of its nonwovens business, a measure that has already generated higher sales.
In terms of product development, one area of continuing interest for Freudenberg is Evolon, a continuous filament spunlaced material featuring good drapability, soft feel, high tensile strength, excellent comfort properties and good launderability. These features can be can be further enhanced by a variety of finishing treatments—impregnating, coating, printing, dyeing, embossing, brushing, buffing, calendering, flocking and laminating. Since its introduction in 1999, Evolon technology has expanded and the material is now available in weights ranging from 100-170 gpsm. Company executives expect technology development to continue, eventually making Evolon available in weights as low as 60 gpsm. These lower weights will ultimately lead to more market potential for Evolon.
Freudenberg can produce about 1500 tons of Evolon per year on one line in Colmar, France and is presently working on debottlenecking that line to increase its capacity. Once this project is complete, a second Evolon-producing line, called Evolon II, will be commissioned. “A new Evolon company has been founded and will be fully responsible—besides production—for generating sales in the various markets,” Mr. Josefiak said. “We are convinced that Evolon will continue to grow and will sell into different technical applications during the course of the next year.”
Another area of interest for Freudenberg is its joint venture agreement with Japan Vilene, Tokyo, Japan. Named Freudenberg Vitech, the venture targets the automotive headliner facing market in North America. The company recently completed construction on a line capable of producing 16 million square meters of needlepunched materials in Hopkinsville, KY. The added capacity responded to a growing demand for needlepunched materials in the North American automotives market, where nonwovens continue to replace other materials.
In addition to its roll goods business, in December, the Freudenberg Group established a venture to recycle PET beverage bottles with the Rethmann Group, Selm, Germany, a deal that will ultimately strengthen its nonwovens business. The venture will recycle beverage bottles to produce PET for Freudenberg’s nonwovens production at the company’s plants in Italy and Rethmann’s facilities in Taiwan and the Netherlands as well as at a new facility in Kaiserslautern, Germany. During the process, the bottles are reduced to flakes by means of washing, shredding and sorting, and the flakes can be extruded to form chips by putting them through a further process. In this way, high quality raw materials are created, and Freudenberg will subsequently use them to manufacture nonwovens for carpet backing, roofing sheets, shoe insoles, car headliners, vehicle engine insulation and filters. The new company employs 200 people and is expected to achieve sales of E65 million.
In the future, Freudenberg will continue to provide innovative products and solutions to its customers by concentrating solely on their core requirements. It is this strategy that has allowed Freudenberg to be a nonwovens leader in the past and it is this strategy that will guide it in the future. “Within the divisions, innovation will be the main driving force behind growth in the future,” Mr. Josefiak said. “Cost leadership arising from our reorganization will also help us to expand our market shares.”
Freudenberg Politex
Unfavorable conditions caused by a slowdown in the economy were reported by Freudenberg Politex, Novedrate (CO), Italy. These conditions caused difficulties in both Freudenberg Politex’s main businesses, roofing and waddings. These difficulties included weakened demand as well as increased competition. Despite these conditions, the company was able to maintain 2000 sales levels in 2001.
The roofing business expanded its sales in emerging markets to offset weakened demands in developed markets such as Western Europe and North America. Other positives included increased penetration in the U.S. market for fiberglass reinforced nonwovens for roofing applications.
The waddings business was characterized by a market slowdown begun during the second half of 2001, which led to reduced sales volumes in both Italy and Poland, the two areas where the group has operations. In response to the slowdown in traditional markets, Freudenberg Politex looked to expand into new market areas. Among these efforts was the promotion of a sound absorbing product, which has found several applications in the construction market. Additionally, a new padding material for the garment industry was launched in Spring 2002.
In terms of investments, Freudenberg Politex has been focusing on innovating its manufacturing process. To achieve this, the group added a line in Colmar, France and converted a line in Pisticci, Italy in 2001. Both lines produce spunbonded nonwovens with fiberglass reinforcements. In the U.S., Freudenberg Politex constructed a high speed line for the production of glass reinforced staple nonwovens at its Macon, GA facility in April 2002.
Looking ahead, Freudenberg Politex will continue to focus on developing products with superior technical quality as well as expansion into emerging markets. The development of new polyester products to replace traditional backings as well as investment in qualified products for demanding markets are two key strategies that are expected to benefit the group in the future. “For the long term, within a presumable framework of persisting strong competition and price pressure, Freudenberg Politex is expected to grow as a consequence of the projected investments in the expansion of production capacity and the development of new innovative products,” predicted chairman Riccardo Sollini.
Sales: $1.4 Billion
Description: Key Personnel
Christoph Josefiak, managing director, spokesman; Arnold Weghmann, managing director, technical; Walter Schwarz, managing director, North America; Ludger Neuwinger-Heimes, managing director, finance and administration; Dr. Andreas Kreuter, Friedhelm Brandau and Dr. Gerhard Schaut general managers, interlinings; Lee Sullivan, general manager, tufts; Dr. Jörg Sievert, general manager, filter; Bill Casey, general manager, hygiene; Dr. Harald Stini and Helmut Beck, general managers, technical nonwovens, including shoe components
Plants
Weinheim, Germany; Neuenburg, Germany; Kaiserslautern, Germany; Greetland, U.K.; Barcelona, Spain; St. Omero, Italy; Cape Town, South Africa; San Martin/Buenos Aires, Argentina; Jacarei, Brazil; Suzhou, China; Yang-Mei Tao-Yuan, Taiwan; Tayuan, Taiwan; Durham, NC; Lowell, MA; Hopkinsville, KY; Pyungtaek, South Korea (Korea Vilene Company)
Processes
Drylaid staple fiber, wetlaid, spunbonded, melt blown, electrostatic spun microfiber, stitchbonded, needlepunched, thermal bonded, chemical bonded, water entanglement
ISO Status
All locations are ISO 9001; locations serving the automotives industry are QS 9000 certified. Most plants are certified according to ISO 14001
Brand Names
Vilene, Viledon, Vilmed, Pellon, MicronAir, Vlieseline, Vildona, Fliselina, Lutradur, Lutrasil, Evolon and others
Major Markets
Apparel interlinings, filtration, medical, protective clothing, automotive interior trim, electrical insulation, electrical specialties, home furnishings, industrial wipes, hygiene, shoe components, coating substrates, carpet backings, landscape fabrics, geotextiles, agriculture, furniture and bedding, industrial nonwoven specialties
Freudenberg Haushaltsprodukte KG
Postfach 81 02 46
D-68202 Mannheim, Germany
Telephone: 49-621-8773-0
Fax: 49-621-8773-50-18
Key Personnel
Hans-Georg Franke, managing director, chairman; Alexander Moker, managing director, logistics; Gerhard Schmitt, managing director, finance and administration; Klaus Peter Meier, managing director, sales and marketing
Plants
Augsburg, Germany; Arnhem, The Netherlands; Norrköping, Sweden; Roncello, Italy
Processes
Drylaid, thermal bonded, chemical bonded, needlepunched
Brand Names
Vileda, Wettex, Enka, Patito, Roll-o-matic
Major Markets
Household wipes and cleaning instruments, scourers, gloves
Freudenberg Politex Group
Str. Prov. Novedratese, 17/a
I-22060 Novedrate (CO), Italy
Telephone: 39-031-793-111; Fax: 39-031-793-202
E-mail: mk@politex.it
Web: www.freudenbergpolitex.com
Key Personnel
Achille Locatelli, chairman and CEO; Riccardo Sollini, managing director, finance and administration; Bernhard Klein, managing director, technical; Francesco Sancassani, marketing and sales manager (roofing division); Conrad Mauritz, marketing and sales manager (wadding division)
Plants
Novedrate, Italy; Pisticci, Italy; Colmar, France; Lodz, Poland; Macon, GA
Processes
Drylaid carded and/or needlepunched and/or chemical bonded, spunbonding, thermal bonding, chemical bonding
ISO Status
Main locations are ISO 9002 certified
Brand Names
Drenotex, Polifill, Terbond, Texbond
Major Markets
Roofing, geotextiles, wadding for furniture and garments
The past several months have been busy ones for Freudenberg, Weinheim, Germany, marked by the appointment of a new managing director, the implementation of structural and organizational changes and the launch of a three-year, E40 million capital improvement plan. In March, Christoph Josefiak was named managing director of the world’s largest roll goods producer after serving as technical manager for Freudenberg’s Household Products group. Former managing director Hermann Eidel reportedly left Freudenberg by mutual agreement.
As managing director, Mr. Josefiak’s key focus has been to improve customer orientation within the group. “Only when we have learned that the customer comes first, always and without exception, can we be even more successful in the market,” Mr. Josefiak explained. “This is of course a common truth, but it has to be lived by.”
Mr. Josefiak is also concentrating on honing the company’s focus on its core product ranges and strategic businesses and improving Freudenberg’s efficiencies to strengthen its profit margins.
In response to the soft global economy, Freudenberg has initiated structural and organizational changes that give more responsibility to its five key divisions—Interlinings, Filtration, Hygiene/Medical, Technical Nonwovens and Tufts. These units are now not only responsible for product development, marketing, sales and services but also for production and the plants and lines themselves. “Through these measures, we hope to achieve reduction of costs and an intensive degree of growth in competence and a considerable improvement in customer relationships,” Mr. Josefiak explained. “These are factors that are essential for market success.”
In further efforts to defend itself against economic conditions, in May Freudenberg announced plans to invest more than E40 million during a three-year period to modernize and restructure its facilities. Approximately half of the new machine lines included in the plan will be installed in Freudenberg’s Weinheim facility, making this site truly state-of-the-art. Additionally, this plan will lead to the company’s individual production sites specializing in certain products rather than manufacturing a complete product range. In Europe, the Weinheim plant will produce materials for interlinings and filtration media while the Kaiserslautern, Germany site will manufacture products for the Tufts, Filtration and Hygiene/Medical segments. The Neuenberg and Parets plants’ capabilities will comprise technical nonwovens and the Greetland, U.K. site will be responsible for hygiene and medical items production. Freudenberg’s Colmar, France site will be dedicated to producing the company’s Evolon microfiber nonwovens.
During the first phase of reorganization, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2004, Freudenberg’s European interlinings business will be consolidated in Weinheim, where one new base line and a new printing line will be built and two existing base lines will be modernized. Additionally, a new production line for various types of filtration media will be built and seven older lines will be shut down. In Parets, two new base lines will replace two older base lines, which will be closed. The increased efficiency of the new and modernized machines will require less manpower and subsequently affect 300 jobs, according to reports.
While the initial stages of the plan emphasize Freudenberg’s European operations, company executives expect the changes to have far-reaching global effects. Future investments will center on all world regions.
The main thrust behind this improvement is defending Freudenberg against weakened market conditions, particularly in the nonwovens industry. As the largest roll goods producer in the world, Freudenberg is taking steps to ensure its dominance in the future. The entire nonwovens industry is currently going through a difficult situation, caused by worldwide problems being experienced in the garment industry, a key market for nonwovens, according to executives. Another factor is the general weakness of the world economy, the negative effects of which have spread to Asia and South America.
Despite these economic troubles, Freudenberg has been able to maintain its leading position through its strong brands, superior customer service practices and other quality improvements. By segment, interlinings—Freudenberg’s largest end use area—was affected by sharp drops in the North American apparel industry caused by regional shifts in the business. Furthermore, in Asia demand has been substantially reduced, creating competitive price pressures in the industry. This however has not kept Freudenberg from strengthening its positions there through consolidated sales and marketing forces and through the integration of the activities of the Korea Vilene Company, which has previously marketed nonwoven interlinings under the Xetex brand. The Asian interlinings business is now unified under Freudenberg and Vilene Interlinings Far East with a single sales agent of its own in each country.
Also in Asia, the business activities of Korea Vilene are now fully integrated into Freudenberg. Initially created to target the interlinings market, the scope of this venture has expanded to include filtration, automotive and hygiene in various Asian markets. New investments within the segment include an air through bonding line to expand hygiene materials as well as the creation of a separate filter converting company to manufacture automotive and industrial filters.
Additionally, Freudenberg has initiated new investments in its Suzhou, China facility as well as starting capabilities in Pyungtaek, South Korea for the production of 3P materials. The group’s competitive basis in Asia with local production, competent partners and an extensive sales and service network provides it with sufficient power to strengthen its competitive position in the Asian market, according to executives.
As the worldwide interlinings business continues to face overcapacity issues, Freudenberg will reorganize its production landscape on a global basis and approximately 50% of the above mentioned capital improvement plan will be dedicated to its interlinings business.
Meanwhile, the company’s Tufts business continued to experience strong growth due to the global acceptance of spunbond polyester material, particularly in the North American automotive industry. Despite this optimistic situation, aggressive purchasing practices in the automotives industry have continued a trend toward price erosion. While the automotives industry has begun to expand in 2002, it is not expected to reach the full thrust of activity recorded in 1999 and 2000.
In general, Freudenberg executives see an overcapacity situation in spunbond polyester materials, which was aggravated by a soft global economy in 2001. This is especially the case in Asia, where supply is outpacing increasing demand, and the result has been products developed in Asia being exported into Europe and North America. Although basic demand for spunbond polyester is expanding, the major issue affecting the nonwovens business is the temporary oversupply situation in the market, but the general opinion is that this will moderate as capacity and demand balance one another out, according to executives.
One noteworthy item in Freudenberg’s Tufts division is the start up of a new spunbond line in its Durham, NC facility, which came onstream ahead of schedule in December. Representing a $40 million investment, the new line features technology improvements that deliver greater uniformity, higher production speeds and lower costs. The added capacity generated through the new line was desperately needed by the plant, which was struggling to meet total demand. The new line will produce approximately 100 million meters of product and will lead to a temporary overcapacity situation for the division.
Freudenberg’s Hygiene/Medical segment experienced strong growth in 2001, and sales growth is expected to continue throughout 2002 as the company moves into its second full year of production on its thermal bonding line in North America. The world hygiene market is growing steadily, and nonwovens are expected to remain an important element of the next generation of disposable products. The challenge for Freudenberg and for the hygiene industry as a whole is to provide differentiated products, according to the company.
Another business segment that has escaped the ill effects of a soft economy is filtration. Growth in this segment has primarily stemmed from higher demands for fine filtration products created by increased environmental concerns, health awareness, stringent limit values for pollutants and the sick building phenomenon. This trend of increased filtration requirements led Freudenberg to expand its product portfolio in the area of ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Condition Engineering) filters and media containing activated carbon for the adsorption of odors. Filters for odor removal are available for general HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) applications, industrial process and cabin air filtration for automotives. To reaffirm the importance of filtration as a strategic business, Freudenberg is investing more than E15 million in new base and converting lines in Kaiserslautern. These new production lines will significantly increase the manufacturing capacity for filters and will help Freudenberg better service its customers in the area of industrial air filtration, liquid filtration and cabin air filtration, according to executives.
Freudenberg’s fifth core segment, Technical Nonwovens, has been restructured to include its shoe components business and also comprises the company’s battery separators, cable wrappings and electrical insulation segments. The consolidation of this business segment has allowed Freudenberg to act globally in all of its essential market segments.
The year 2001 was also marked by divestments for Freudenberg. The company’s synthetic leather production was brought to a close and its abrasive business was sold. In order to compensate for sales lost through the closure of these two businesses, Freudenberg has been focusing more closely on the strength of its nonwovens business, a measure that has already generated higher sales.
In terms of product development, one area of continuing interest for Freudenberg is Evolon, a continuous filament spunlaced material featuring good drapability, soft feel, high tensile strength, excellent comfort properties and good launderability. These features can be can be further enhanced by a variety of finishing treatments—impregnating, coating, printing, dyeing, embossing, brushing, buffing, calendering, flocking and laminating. Since its introduction in 1999, Evolon technology has expanded and the material is now available in weights ranging from 100-170 gpsm. Company executives expect technology development to continue, eventually making Evolon available in weights as low as 60 gpsm. These lower weights will ultimately lead to more market potential for Evolon.
Freudenberg can produce about 1500 tons of Evolon per year on one line in Colmar, France and is presently working on debottlenecking that line to increase its capacity. Once this project is complete, a second Evolon-producing line, called Evolon II, will be commissioned. “A new Evolon company has been founded and will be fully responsible—besides production—for generating sales in the various markets,” Mr. Josefiak said. “We are convinced that Evolon will continue to grow and will sell into different technical applications during the course of the next year.”
Another area of interest for Freudenberg is its joint venture agreement with Japan Vilene, Tokyo, Japan. Named Freudenberg Vitech, the venture targets the automotive headliner facing market in North America. The company recently completed construction on a line capable of producing 16 million square meters of needlepunched materials in Hopkinsville, KY. The added capacity responded to a growing demand for needlepunched materials in the North American automotives market, where nonwovens continue to replace other materials.
In addition to its roll goods business, in December, the Freudenberg Group established a venture to recycle PET beverage bottles with the Rethmann Group, Selm, Germany, a deal that will ultimately strengthen its nonwovens business. The venture will recycle beverage bottles to produce PET for Freudenberg’s nonwovens production at the company’s plants in Italy and Rethmann’s facilities in Taiwan and the Netherlands as well as at a new facility in Kaiserslautern, Germany. During the process, the bottles are reduced to flakes by means of washing, shredding and sorting, and the flakes can be extruded to form chips by putting them through a further process. In this way, high quality raw materials are created, and Freudenberg will subsequently use them to manufacture nonwovens for carpet backing, roofing sheets, shoe insoles, car headliners, vehicle engine insulation and filters. The new company employs 200 people and is expected to achieve sales of E65 million.
In the future, Freudenberg will continue to provide innovative products and solutions to its customers by concentrating solely on their core requirements. It is this strategy that has allowed Freudenberg to be a nonwovens leader in the past and it is this strategy that will guide it in the future. “Within the divisions, innovation will be the main driving force behind growth in the future,” Mr. Josefiak said. “Cost leadership arising from our reorganization will also help us to expand our market shares.”
Freudenberg Politex
Unfavorable conditions caused by a slowdown in the economy were reported by Freudenberg Politex, Novedrate (CO), Italy. These conditions caused difficulties in both Freudenberg Politex’s main businesses, roofing and waddings. These difficulties included weakened demand as well as increased competition. Despite these conditions, the company was able to maintain 2000 sales levels in 2001.
The roofing business expanded its sales in emerging markets to offset weakened demands in developed markets such as Western Europe and North America. Other positives included increased penetration in the U.S. market for fiberglass reinforced nonwovens for roofing applications.
The waddings business was characterized by a market slowdown begun during the second half of 2001, which led to reduced sales volumes in both Italy and Poland, the two areas where the group has operations. In response to the slowdown in traditional markets, Freudenberg Politex looked to expand into new market areas. Among these efforts was the promotion of a sound absorbing product, which has found several applications in the construction market. Additionally, a new padding material for the garment industry was launched in Spring 2002.
In terms of investments, Freudenberg Politex has been focusing on innovating its manufacturing process. To achieve this, the group added a line in Colmar, France and converted a line in Pisticci, Italy in 2001. Both lines produce spunbonded nonwovens with fiberglass reinforcements. In the U.S., Freudenberg Politex constructed a high speed line for the production of glass reinforced staple nonwovens at its Macon, GA facility in April 2002.
Looking ahead, Freudenberg Politex will continue to focus on developing products with superior technical quality as well as expansion into emerging markets. The development of new polyester products to replace traditional backings as well as investment in qualified products for demanding markets are two key strategies that are expected to benefit the group in the future. “For the long term, within a presumable framework of persisting strong competition and price pressure, Freudenberg Politex is expected to grow as a consequence of the projected investments in the expansion of production capacity and the development of new innovative products,” predicted chairman Riccardo Sollini.