01.01.05
Location: Atlanta, GA
Sales: $139 Million
Description: Key Personnel
Mike Burandt, president, consumer business, North America; Bill Shultz, president, European consumer business; Paul Farren, vice president & general manager Nonwovens; Remi Perin, sales manager, French Operation; Massimo Conforti, sales manager, Italian Operation; Mike Sprangers, sales manager, North America; Tom Kalupa, senior sales representative; John Rank, sales representative
Plants
Green Bay, WI (two facilities); Glen, France; Avigliano, Italy
ISO Status: Both U.S. plants ISO 9002 certified; Italy plant ISO 9002 certified; France plant ISO 9002 certified
Processes
Airlaid, carded
Brand Names
Airtex, Dritex
Major Markets
Baby wipes, industrial and food service wipes, feminine hygiene, absorbent core, tabletop, medical, moist toilet tissue, meat packaging.
A slight bump in U.S. sales brought total nonwovens sales to $139 million for Georgia-Pacific. The Atlanta, GA-based airlaid maker has been working hard on lowering costs, increasing volumes and boosting profitability, said vice president and general manager of nonwovens, Paul Farren. “One thing we have really been doing is working closely with raw material suppliers to minimize our risk and hedge our bets against raw material prices,” he said.
Meanwhile, from a customer standpoint, G-P has been focusing on quality, dependability and the forging of strong relationships. “It sounds like a lot of general stuff but those fundamentals have helped us be successful,” Mr. Farren added.
A large part of G-P’s success has come through the development of market segments that are relatively new to airlaid. While Mr. Farren would not reveal specifics on these new markets, he did admit that they were born out of difficult situations. As high penetration levels have impacted airlaid’s growth in many of its key markets including wipes and feminine hygiene items, companies like G-P have been forced to look elsewhere for new opportunities.
One area Mr. Farren would discuss is the commercial wipes market where new substrates—both airlaid made in house and others purchased externally—are strengthening its business. “This isn’t really impacting our roll goods business because a lot of the substrates are bought on the outside,” Mr. Farren explained.
Currently, G-P’s nonwovens business comprises only airlaid and carded technology but as its use of other substrates in its consumer and commercial businesses broadens, a future investment could follow, Mr. Farren admitted. “G-P is a $20 billion business with a $8 billion consumer products segment and to think that it is not going to put resources into the nonwovens business would be wrong,” he said. “When a market requires an alternative technology, you can’t be a one-trick pony and still be really effective.”
For now, however, the company is focused on making sure its current equipment, both in Europe and the U.S., is state-of-the-art and operating at full efficiency. “We could grow our capacity by 25% just by improving the equipment we already have,” Mr. Farren explained. “Adding a whole new line brings with it debt and high costs, which can be tough to absorb if a market isn’t growing rapidly.”
Despite his company’s interest in alternative substrates, Mr. Farren dismisses the notion that airlaid is down and out and said projections indicated 5-8% annual growth. “I hope that people have gotten past that thinking, especially as airlaid continues to be used in more applications.”
Based on natural ingredients, airlaid has escaped many of the raw material challenges impacting nonwovens made from polypropylene and polyester and continues to be a cost efficient alternative to spunlace in the wipes market. As more spunlace capacity comes onstream in North America, increasing competition and driving prices lower, airlaid could lose some of this advantage.
“I am a little concerned that even slight price increases could bring the price of airlaid closer to spunlace,” Mr. Farren said “Also, with all of this new capacity coming onstream in the spunlaced market, prices there could dip. This price dip could threaten us.”
G-P will continue to benefit from its role as a consumer products company. With 30% of its 40,000 tons of airlaid material being consumed by this business, the company will continue to base future plans-whether they include joint ventures, acquisitions or capital investments—on activity witnessed on the consumer side. “We are already organized to grow through multiple technologies,” Mr. Farren said. “It’s just a matter of determining in which direction we want to go.”
Sales: $139 Million
Description: Key Personnel
Mike Burandt, president, consumer business, North America; Bill Shultz, president, European consumer business; Paul Farren, vice president & general manager Nonwovens; Remi Perin, sales manager, French Operation; Massimo Conforti, sales manager, Italian Operation; Mike Sprangers, sales manager, North America; Tom Kalupa, senior sales representative; John Rank, sales representative
Plants
Green Bay, WI (two facilities); Glen, France; Avigliano, Italy
ISO Status: Both U.S. plants ISO 9002 certified; Italy plant ISO 9002 certified; France plant ISO 9002 certified
Processes
Airlaid, carded
Brand Names
Airtex, Dritex
Major Markets
Baby wipes, industrial and food service wipes, feminine hygiene, absorbent core, tabletop, medical, moist toilet tissue, meat packaging.
A slight bump in U.S. sales brought total nonwovens sales to $139 million for Georgia-Pacific. The Atlanta, GA-based airlaid maker has been working hard on lowering costs, increasing volumes and boosting profitability, said vice president and general manager of nonwovens, Paul Farren. “One thing we have really been doing is working closely with raw material suppliers to minimize our risk and hedge our bets against raw material prices,” he said.
Meanwhile, from a customer standpoint, G-P has been focusing on quality, dependability and the forging of strong relationships. “It sounds like a lot of general stuff but those fundamentals have helped us be successful,” Mr. Farren added.
A large part of G-P’s success has come through the development of market segments that are relatively new to airlaid. While Mr. Farren would not reveal specifics on these new markets, he did admit that they were born out of difficult situations. As high penetration levels have impacted airlaid’s growth in many of its key markets including wipes and feminine hygiene items, companies like G-P have been forced to look elsewhere for new opportunities.
One area Mr. Farren would discuss is the commercial wipes market where new substrates—both airlaid made in house and others purchased externally—are strengthening its business. “This isn’t really impacting our roll goods business because a lot of the substrates are bought on the outside,” Mr. Farren explained.
Currently, G-P’s nonwovens business comprises only airlaid and carded technology but as its use of other substrates in its consumer and commercial businesses broadens, a future investment could follow, Mr. Farren admitted. “G-P is a $20 billion business with a $8 billion consumer products segment and to think that it is not going to put resources into the nonwovens business would be wrong,” he said. “When a market requires an alternative technology, you can’t be a one-trick pony and still be really effective.”
For now, however, the company is focused on making sure its current equipment, both in Europe and the U.S., is state-of-the-art and operating at full efficiency. “We could grow our capacity by 25% just by improving the equipment we already have,” Mr. Farren explained. “Adding a whole new line brings with it debt and high costs, which can be tough to absorb if a market isn’t growing rapidly.”
Despite his company’s interest in alternative substrates, Mr. Farren dismisses the notion that airlaid is down and out and said projections indicated 5-8% annual growth. “I hope that people have gotten past that thinking, especially as airlaid continues to be used in more applications.”
Based on natural ingredients, airlaid has escaped many of the raw material challenges impacting nonwovens made from polypropylene and polyester and continues to be a cost efficient alternative to spunlace in the wipes market. As more spunlace capacity comes onstream in North America, increasing competition and driving prices lower, airlaid could lose some of this advantage.
“I am a little concerned that even slight price increases could bring the price of airlaid closer to spunlace,” Mr. Farren said “Also, with all of this new capacity coming onstream in the spunlaced market, prices there could dip. This price dip could threaten us.”
G-P will continue to benefit from its role as a consumer products company. With 30% of its 40,000 tons of airlaid material being consumed by this business, the company will continue to base future plans-whether they include joint ventures, acquisitions or capital investments—on activity witnessed on the consumer side. “We are already organized to grow through multiple technologies,” Mr. Farren said. “It’s just a matter of determining in which direction we want to go.”