01.01.03
Location: Bergamo, Italy
Sales: $59 million
Description: Key Personnel
Giovanni Moscheni, chief executive officer; Aldo Ghira, managing director; Mauro Moscheni, marketing and sales director; Gampiero Crotti, plant manager Italy; Mimoun Saim, general manager, Tenotex Nonwovens S.A.
Plants
Terno d’Isola, Italy; Bonate, Italy; Benejama, Spain.
ISO Status
ISO 9001, September 2000
Processes
Carded thermal bonded, resin bonded, spunbonded, SMS, air through bonded, spunlaced
Major Markets
Hygiene, wipes
The reduction of capacity in the carded coverstock business led to a 7.5% drop in sales for Tenotex, Terno d’Isola, Italy, in 2002. Between 2001 and 2002, the company shut down in Italy two of its carded lines in the wake of competition from spunmelt nonwovens, which is making the segment unprofitable for Tenotex. The company expects to recoup this loss in upcoming months when its spunlace line comes fully onstream.
The new line, located in Benejama, Spain, uses a hybrid process configuration blending staple fiber carded webs with airlaid wood pulp to create a product with more value than traditional full staple fibers-based spunlaced material. Currently, two-thirds of the line’s output is qualified with its customers. The line has been operating at a profit since June and is expected to be 100% sold out early in 2004.
“The qualification of products with our customers has taken a considerable amount of time,” explained managing director Aldo Ghira. “In spunlace, qualification efforts go beyond those with traditional nonwovens.”
Tenotex is qualifying its material with small and large size companies and expects to see spunlaced’s contribution to its overall sales increase rapidly in upcoming months. Initial markets for the materials, which will be sold under the brand name TenoLace, include wipes for baby care, industrial, food service and household and surface cleaning applications, but personal care wipes will be explored in the future.
Mr. Ghira is unphased by the rapid rate of investment being seen in spunlaced. “We will suffer from overcapacity but this will be a temporary situation,” he explained. “First of all, wipes growth is high enough to offset a lot of the capacity. Also, the learning curve in spunlace is significant and it takes a long time for new capacity to come on the market. Therefore, there is not as much capacity coming onstream as it seems.”
Tenotex’s other core business, thermal bonding, has been slowing down recently on decreased demand for the material in hygienic coverstock applications. In response to this trend, the company shut down a third line in Spain last year. Currently, Tenotex operates only two thermal bonding lines and three air-through-bonding lines. Mr. Ghira said the output from these lines mainly targets specialty hygiene applications where the softness and quality of thermal bonded outweigh the attractiveness of spunmelt’s pricing levels. These areas include diapers for newborns and feminine hygiene products.
“The use of thermal bonded nonwovens in coverstock materials has been drastically reduced,” Mr. Ghira explained. “In the future, we will really only see it in areas where the possibility of changing fibers easily is needed.”
Despite decreased usage, thermal bonding continues to be an important area for Tenotex, just on a smaller scale. In March 2002, the company added a new thermal bonding/air through bonding line. The processability of this line enables it to produce multilayer products with the alternative or simultaneous use of both thermal bonded and air-through-bonded processes, thus giving the company higher flexibility, according to executives.
Looking even further ahead, the medical market could be an ideal fit for Tenotex because of the rapid acceptance of spunlaced in many applications. Mr. Ghira said he would want the company to fully explore that market and gain technical know-how before any entry would be considered. This is the company’s philosophy whenever entering new areas.
Sales: $59 million
Description: Key Personnel
Giovanni Moscheni, chief executive officer; Aldo Ghira, managing director; Mauro Moscheni, marketing and sales director; Gampiero Crotti, plant manager Italy; Mimoun Saim, general manager, Tenotex Nonwovens S.A.
Plants
Terno d’Isola, Italy; Bonate, Italy; Benejama, Spain.
ISO Status
ISO 9001, September 2000
Processes
Carded thermal bonded, resin bonded, spunbonded, SMS, air through bonded, spunlaced
Major Markets
Hygiene, wipes
The reduction of capacity in the carded coverstock business led to a 7.5% drop in sales for Tenotex, Terno d’Isola, Italy, in 2002. Between 2001 and 2002, the company shut down in Italy two of its carded lines in the wake of competition from spunmelt nonwovens, which is making the segment unprofitable for Tenotex. The company expects to recoup this loss in upcoming months when its spunlace line comes fully onstream.
The new line, located in Benejama, Spain, uses a hybrid process configuration blending staple fiber carded webs with airlaid wood pulp to create a product with more value than traditional full staple fibers-based spunlaced material. Currently, two-thirds of the line’s output is qualified with its customers. The line has been operating at a profit since June and is expected to be 100% sold out early in 2004.
“The qualification of products with our customers has taken a considerable amount of time,” explained managing director Aldo Ghira. “In spunlace, qualification efforts go beyond those with traditional nonwovens.”
Tenotex is qualifying its material with small and large size companies and expects to see spunlaced’s contribution to its overall sales increase rapidly in upcoming months. Initial markets for the materials, which will be sold under the brand name TenoLace, include wipes for baby care, industrial, food service and household and surface cleaning applications, but personal care wipes will be explored in the future.
Mr. Ghira is unphased by the rapid rate of investment being seen in spunlaced. “We will suffer from overcapacity but this will be a temporary situation,” he explained. “First of all, wipes growth is high enough to offset a lot of the capacity. Also, the learning curve in spunlace is significant and it takes a long time for new capacity to come on the market. Therefore, there is not as much capacity coming onstream as it seems.”
Tenotex’s other core business, thermal bonding, has been slowing down recently on decreased demand for the material in hygienic coverstock applications. In response to this trend, the company shut down a third line in Spain last year. Currently, Tenotex operates only two thermal bonding lines and three air-through-bonding lines. Mr. Ghira said the output from these lines mainly targets specialty hygiene applications where the softness and quality of thermal bonded outweigh the attractiveness of spunmelt’s pricing levels. These areas include diapers for newborns and feminine hygiene products.
“The use of thermal bonded nonwovens in coverstock materials has been drastically reduced,” Mr. Ghira explained. “In the future, we will really only see it in areas where the possibility of changing fibers easily is needed.”
Despite decreased usage, thermal bonding continues to be an important area for Tenotex, just on a smaller scale. In March 2002, the company added a new thermal bonding/air through bonding line. The processability of this line enables it to produce multilayer products with the alternative or simultaneous use of both thermal bonded and air-through-bonded processes, thus giving the company higher flexibility, according to executives.
Looking even further ahead, the medical market could be an ideal fit for Tenotex because of the rapid acceptance of spunlaced in many applications. Mr. Ghira said he would want the company to fully explore that market and gain technical know-how before any entry would be considered. This is the company’s philosophy whenever entering new areas.