09.08.22
Weinheim, Germany
www.freudenberg-pm.com
2021 Nonwovens Sales: $2.85 billion
(including Freudenberg Performance Materials, Freudenberg Filtration Technologies and Japane Vilene
Key Personnel
Frank Heislitz, CEO; Thomas Herr, CFO; John McNabb, COO
Plants
Africa: 1; Asia: 7; The Americas: 4; Europe: 21
ISO Status
All locations are ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified; locations serving the automotive industry are TS 16469 certified; all sites are OHSAS 18001 certified
Processes
Drylaid staple fiber, wetlaid, spunbond, meltblown, needlepunch, thermal bond, chemical bond, water entanglement
Brands
Comfortemp, Colback, Colbonddrain, Enka Solutions, Dr!pstop, Evolon, Lutradur, SoundTex, Vlieseline, Terbond, Texbond, Mehler Texnologies
Major Markets
Automotive, apparel, building interiors, building materials, energy, filter media, healthcare, and special applications, shoe and leather goods
Sales increased nearly 30% for Freudenberg Performance Materials in 2021, thanks largely to the full integration of two acquisitions—Low & Bonar and Filc—as well as market recovery in most of its key segments. Together, Low & Bonar and Filc, which joined the company in 2020, represented about one-third of total sales for the business unit. Sales for the unit reached €1.32 billion last year.
In addition to the expanding sales, both acquisitions fill technology gaps in Freudenberg’s nonwovens business, according to CEO Frank Heislitz.
Low & Bonar has a proprietary two-step spunbond process solution, which is adjacent to the company’s existing spunbond technology. It allows Freudenberg to be more flexible and individually tailor products to customer specifications. Through this, the company has expanded its broad product range, particularly in construction, building interiors and automotives, while also targeting new application areas. The acquisition also added production facilities in North America, Europe and Asia.
Freudenberg has proven its confidence in the strength of Low & Bonar’s Enka brand with the construction of a new line to produce EnkaMat products in Changzhou, China. Output from the new line will serve demand for the erosion protection/landfill, green roofs and acoustic segments in the Asia-Pacific region. Production is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.
Meanwhile, the acquisition of Filc earlier in the year, has made Freudenberg stronger in needlepunch technology, broadens its product lineup in roofing and construction and makes it more competitive in automotive. In March 2021, Freudenberg announced it would add a new needlepunch line at its Slovenia production location to meet high demand and to reinforce Filc’s strong market position in the construction market.
“The new line supports Filc’s history of investment and it is allowing us to broaden our offerings,” says Heislitz. “Also, its proprietary design offers high quality and efficient production.”
Within its existing businesses, in early 2021, Freudenberg completed work on a meltblown production line in Kaiserslautern, Germany, which can make base material for FFP1, FFP2 and FFP3 face masks. While the line was initially intended to meet unprecedented demand for face mask materials, Heislitz says the new line is also meet long-term demand for high performance filtration and automotive applications.
Within its apparel business, Freudenberg has made a number of adjustments in response to changes in the European market. Earlier this year, the company began the construction of a competence center for finishing and coating base material for the apparel industry at its site in Sant’Omero, Italy. The site will house two lines formerly located in Weinheim, Germany, as well as a third from an Argentinean operation that was shuttered and disassembled a few years ago.
The company’s interlining base materials business meanwhile will be headquartered in Weinheim, Germany, where the company will continue to develop know-how for the market.
The restructuring will allow customers to enjoy many advantages such as more flexible solutions, faster lead times and swifter delivery. At the same time, they could continue to benefit from the “product originating in Europe” designation.
Even as it adjusts its manufacturing assets to meet the changing needs of traditional apparel markets, Freudenberg has increased its focus on other areas of the apparel market like high performance outdoor items and sportswear. Its comfortemp Lyocell padding, which meets all requirements for high performance thermal insulation for sports and outdoor padding, is the first fully biodegradable padding made from sustainably produced cellulose. In 2020, Freudenberg expanded capacity of its comfortemp technology with a new line in Suzhou, China.
In Nantong, Freudenberg has established an Apparel Technical Solution Center – Asia at its Nantong factory to expand its innovation capabilities. With floor space of 900 square meters, the new center offers unparalleled technical expertise and innovations to apparel customers from nearly all apparel segments in Asia and around the world.
Elsewhere in Asia, Freudenberg completed work on its latest spunlaid investment in Taiwan, the site’s third, in 2021. This new line is the first to feature Freudenberg’s latest spunlaid technology which enhances filament distribution for increased material uniformity, which in turn provides customers with ease of processing the nonwovens for a variety of applications.
In other investment news, Freudenberg is expanding its gas diffusion layer capacity with a €28 million investment in Weinheim, Germany. The investment, which will expand the company’s role in fuel cell technology, follows a €10 million investment two years ago.
“We have been looking at what we can contribute to fuel cell technology for 20 years,” Heislitz says. “But we have seen a lot of traction in this category for the past five years.”
Currently, fuel cell technology is prominent in long haul trucks and fork lifts and other commercial vehicles but experts expect it will expand into passenger vehicles once the infrastructure is in place.
“This will for sure become a global business with the European Union taking a leading role,” Heislitz says. “Already, most major automotive manufacturers have made strong commitments to the technology.”
Earlier this year, Freudenberg introduced battery pack liquid absorbers, which are core elements of mobile and stationary lithium-ion energy storage systems. These absorbers make battery systems safer by capturing and storing unwanted liquids inside the packs quickly and reliably. With adjustable absorption capacity and geometries, battery pack liquid absorbers ensure long-lasting battery packs.
Freudenberg’s Battery Pack Liquid Absorbers are absorbent nonwoven pads endowed with fast liquid take-up and high retention capacity. Even in an emergency, leaking coolants are quickly absorbed and reliably retained.
As one of the biggest recyclers in Europe, Freudenberg continues to focus on way to incorporate PCR and PIR materials into its nonwoven materials. In early 2022, the company introduced a version of its Evolon high performance, continuous filament material using an average of 70% recycled polyester, which the company makes by recycling post-consumer PET bottles in-house. Evolon RE is available for various applications, including high-tech wiping and technical packaging, in weights currently ranging from 80-300g/sqm.
The use of recycled materials in the demanding production of Evolon textiles without sacrificing product performance underlines Freudenberg’s technological know-how, as Heislitz explains: “We have more than 20 years of experience with Evolon technology. Our technical teams are real experts in this demanding process, and it is thanks to their knowledge that we were able to overcome the challenge of integrating recycled PET from post-consumer bottles into our products.”
www.freudenberg-pm.com
2021 Nonwovens Sales: $2.85 billion
(including Freudenberg Performance Materials, Freudenberg Filtration Technologies and Japane Vilene
Key Personnel
Frank Heislitz, CEO; Thomas Herr, CFO; John McNabb, COO
Plants
Africa: 1; Asia: 7; The Americas: 4; Europe: 21
ISO Status
All locations are ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified; locations serving the automotive industry are TS 16469 certified; all sites are OHSAS 18001 certified
Processes
Drylaid staple fiber, wetlaid, spunbond, meltblown, needlepunch, thermal bond, chemical bond, water entanglement
Brands
Comfortemp, Colback, Colbonddrain, Enka Solutions, Dr!pstop, Evolon, Lutradur, SoundTex, Vlieseline, Terbond, Texbond, Mehler Texnologies
Major Markets
Automotive, apparel, building interiors, building materials, energy, filter media, healthcare, and special applications, shoe and leather goods
Sales increased nearly 30% for Freudenberg Performance Materials in 2021, thanks largely to the full integration of two acquisitions—Low & Bonar and Filc—as well as market recovery in most of its key segments. Together, Low & Bonar and Filc, which joined the company in 2020, represented about one-third of total sales for the business unit. Sales for the unit reached €1.32 billion last year.
In addition to the expanding sales, both acquisitions fill technology gaps in Freudenberg’s nonwovens business, according to CEO Frank Heislitz.
Low & Bonar has a proprietary two-step spunbond process solution, which is adjacent to the company’s existing spunbond technology. It allows Freudenberg to be more flexible and individually tailor products to customer specifications. Through this, the company has expanded its broad product range, particularly in construction, building interiors and automotives, while also targeting new application areas. The acquisition also added production facilities in North America, Europe and Asia.
Freudenberg has proven its confidence in the strength of Low & Bonar’s Enka brand with the construction of a new line to produce EnkaMat products in Changzhou, China. Output from the new line will serve demand for the erosion protection/landfill, green roofs and acoustic segments in the Asia-Pacific region. Production is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.
Meanwhile, the acquisition of Filc earlier in the year, has made Freudenberg stronger in needlepunch technology, broadens its product lineup in roofing and construction and makes it more competitive in automotive. In March 2021, Freudenberg announced it would add a new needlepunch line at its Slovenia production location to meet high demand and to reinforce Filc’s strong market position in the construction market.
“The new line supports Filc’s history of investment and it is allowing us to broaden our offerings,” says Heislitz. “Also, its proprietary design offers high quality and efficient production.”
Within its existing businesses, in early 2021, Freudenberg completed work on a meltblown production line in Kaiserslautern, Germany, which can make base material for FFP1, FFP2 and FFP3 face masks. While the line was initially intended to meet unprecedented demand for face mask materials, Heislitz says the new line is also meet long-term demand for high performance filtration and automotive applications.
Within its apparel business, Freudenberg has made a number of adjustments in response to changes in the European market. Earlier this year, the company began the construction of a competence center for finishing and coating base material for the apparel industry at its site in Sant’Omero, Italy. The site will house two lines formerly located in Weinheim, Germany, as well as a third from an Argentinean operation that was shuttered and disassembled a few years ago.
The company’s interlining base materials business meanwhile will be headquartered in Weinheim, Germany, where the company will continue to develop know-how for the market.
The restructuring will allow customers to enjoy many advantages such as more flexible solutions, faster lead times and swifter delivery. At the same time, they could continue to benefit from the “product originating in Europe” designation.
Even as it adjusts its manufacturing assets to meet the changing needs of traditional apparel markets, Freudenberg has increased its focus on other areas of the apparel market like high performance outdoor items and sportswear. Its comfortemp Lyocell padding, which meets all requirements for high performance thermal insulation for sports and outdoor padding, is the first fully biodegradable padding made from sustainably produced cellulose. In 2020, Freudenberg expanded capacity of its comfortemp technology with a new line in Suzhou, China.
In Nantong, Freudenberg has established an Apparel Technical Solution Center – Asia at its Nantong factory to expand its innovation capabilities. With floor space of 900 square meters, the new center offers unparalleled technical expertise and innovations to apparel customers from nearly all apparel segments in Asia and around the world.
Committed to bringing enhanced technical support and services tailored to customers’ needs, the dedicated Apparel Technical Solution Center – Asia (ATSC) is equipped with cutting-edge technology. This includes a wide variety of fusing and bonding machines, laser and ultrasonic cutters, specialized sewing machines for sportswear applications, fiber filling machines for insulation applications and washing and dry cleaning machines that meet GB and AATCC standards.
The ATSC offers unparalleled technical know-how to help customers design complex apparel solutions. In particular, it furthers Freudenberg’s dedication to joint innovations with sportswear customers and to finding technical solutions for performance applications.
Elsewhere in Asia, Freudenberg completed work on its latest spunlaid investment in Taiwan, the site’s third, in 2021. This new line is the first to feature Freudenberg’s latest spunlaid technology which enhances filament distribution for increased material uniformity, which in turn provides customers with ease of processing the nonwovens for a variety of applications.
In other investment news, Freudenberg is expanding its gas diffusion layer capacity with a €28 million investment in Weinheim, Germany. The investment, which will expand the company’s role in fuel cell technology, follows a €10 million investment two years ago.
“We have been looking at what we can contribute to fuel cell technology for 20 years,” Heislitz says. “But we have seen a lot of traction in this category for the past five years.”
Currently, fuel cell technology is prominent in long haul trucks and fork lifts and other commercial vehicles but experts expect it will expand into passenger vehicles once the infrastructure is in place.
“This will for sure become a global business with the European Union taking a leading role,” Heislitz says. “Already, most major automotive manufacturers have made strong commitments to the technology.”
Earlier this year, Freudenberg introduced battery pack liquid absorbers, which are core elements of mobile and stationary lithium-ion energy storage systems. These absorbers make battery systems safer by capturing and storing unwanted liquids inside the packs quickly and reliably. With adjustable absorption capacity and geometries, battery pack liquid absorbers ensure long-lasting battery packs.
Freudenberg’s Battery Pack Liquid Absorbers are absorbent nonwoven pads endowed with fast liquid take-up and high retention capacity. Even in an emergency, leaking coolants are quickly absorbed and reliably retained.
As one of the biggest recyclers in Europe, Freudenberg continues to focus on way to incorporate PCR and PIR materials into its nonwoven materials. In early 2022, the company introduced a version of its Evolon high performance, continuous filament material using an average of 70% recycled polyester, which the company makes by recycling post-consumer PET bottles in-house. Evolon RE is available for various applications, including high-tech wiping and technical packaging, in weights currently ranging from 80-300g/sqm.
The use of recycled materials in the demanding production of Evolon textiles without sacrificing product performance underlines Freudenberg’s technological know-how, as Heislitz explains: “We have more than 20 years of experience with Evolon technology. Our technical teams are real experts in this demanding process, and it is thanks to their knowledge that we were able to overcome the challenge of integrating recycled PET from post-consumer bottles into our products.”
