09.01.11
Tokyo, Japan
www.vilene.co.jp
2011 Nonwovens Sales: $263 million
Key Personnel: Toshio Yoshida, president; Yoshiaki Mizutani, managing director; Yasufumi Matsumiya, director; Masahir Kimura, director
Plants: Shiga and Tokyo, Japan
Processes: Resin bonded, needlepunched, thermal bonded, wetlaid, spunlaced, meltblown, tackspun
Total sales for Japan Vilene for the year ended March 2012 were $568 million, down 4%, while the nonwovens portion of these results were $263 million. According to executives, sales of clothing, medical materials and air conditioning materials have been increasing slowly, while sales in industrial and automotive markets have decreased. Additionally, Japan Vilene’s performance was hurt by currency fluctuations, the European recession and natural disasters, including the major Japanese earthquake and tsunami of 2011 and flooding in Thailand.
Currently, $387 million of sales are conducted in Japan while $127 million are in North America, a 9% decrease) and $47.7 million are in Asia, a 24% increase.
In 2011, Japane Vilene established a new filter company in China and an automotive floor-mat manufacturing site in Mexico called VIAM Mexico.
The Chinese filter company, which Japan Vilene has established jointly with Freudenberg, is called Freudenberg & Vilene Filter Inc. in China, with both companies having an equal share. This company has already manufactured and marketed filters in Suzhou and Changchun, China, and a third production site is being established in Chengdu, in the Midwest region of China, where automotive and industrial markets are growing.
VIAM Mexico, which Japan Vilene owns fully, will begin making floor mats in October to serve U.S. and Japanese automotive makers that have established manufacturing bases in Mexico.
www.vilene.co.jp
2011 Nonwovens Sales: $263 million
Key Personnel: Toshio Yoshida, president; Yoshiaki Mizutani, managing director; Yasufumi Matsumiya, director; Masahir Kimura, director
Plants: Shiga and Tokyo, Japan
Processes: Resin bonded, needlepunched, thermal bonded, wetlaid, spunlaced, meltblown, tackspun
Total sales for Japan Vilene for the year ended March 2012 were $568 million, down 4%, while the nonwovens portion of these results were $263 million. According to executives, sales of clothing, medical materials and air conditioning materials have been increasing slowly, while sales in industrial and automotive markets have decreased. Additionally, Japan Vilene’s performance was hurt by currency fluctuations, the European recession and natural disasters, including the major Japanese earthquake and tsunami of 2011 and flooding in Thailand.
Currently, $387 million of sales are conducted in Japan while $127 million are in North America, a 9% decrease) and $47.7 million are in Asia, a 24% increase.
In 2011, Japane Vilene established a new filter company in China and an automotive floor-mat manufacturing site in Mexico called VIAM Mexico.
The Chinese filter company, which Japan Vilene has established jointly with Freudenberg, is called Freudenberg & Vilene Filter Inc. in China, with both companies having an equal share. This company has already manufactured and marketed filters in Suzhou and Changchun, China, and a third production site is being established in Chengdu, in the Midwest region of China, where automotive and industrial markets are growing.
VIAM Mexico, which Japan Vilene owns fully, will begin making floor mats in October to serve U.S. and Japanese automotive makers that have established manufacturing bases in Mexico.