Xerium Announces 350 Ton Press Felt Production Expansion
March 27 2013 - 5:25PM
Business Wire
Xerium Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:XRM) a leading global
manufacturer of engineered textiles and roll covers and provider of
mechanical services used in the production of paper, paperboard,
building products, nonwoven materials, and general industry, today
announced a 350 ton global press felt production increase through a
combination of the following actions:
- Equipment investments in base fabric
making, card making, needling and heat setting
- A centerpiece investment in a new,
state-of-the-art DILO needle loom
- Additional production in Xerium’s Asian
and South American plants
Xerium is increasing its capacity in its press felt plants in
response to strong global demand from customers for Xerium’s
high-end surface sensitive press felts. This additional capacity
will be coming on line beginning in Q2 2013 and continue through Q4
2014. Xerium is largely capacity constrained with regards to press
felt sales growth and, therefore, somewhat hampered in terms of
partnering with growing customers, growing areas of the market and
growing regions of the world.
The DILO needle loom is a special machine used in the production
of high-end surface sensitive felts. These products are used on
paper machines, fiber cement machines used in the production of
building products and general purpose industrial textile machines.
The high-speed, high-density needling capabilities of DILO’s
Hyperpunch machine will expand Xerium’s current platform of
needling looms used to manufacture Xerium’s most technologically
advanced press felts. The DILO machine is on order.
“We are excited to be investing for sales growth and expanding
our capacity to make press felts of all types - paper machine press
felts, fiber cement products, nonwoven products, and general
purpose industrial textiles. Xerium’s ability to grow in these
areas has been limited by available capacity. These actions give
our customers and sales teams more flexibility to pursue growth
plans and additional new products. There are many parts to
increasing our global capacity in a high-quality manner and it is a
top priority at Xerium. We are expanding our base fabric
capabilities, our heat setting capabilities, our needling
capabilities, our card making capabilities and our finishing
capabilities,” said Harold Bevis, Xerium’s President and CEO.
“These actions increase our global capacity, lower our costs,
increase our quality, and balance our production more efficiently
to improve our lead times to customers. We are committed to
reducing our total costs, growing our sales and maintaining our
global technology leadership positions. These actions help us
achieve these goals.
We have also reorganized our global machine clothing Operations
team so that Xerium can optimize outcomes and efficiency across all
regions of the world. We have four new leaders in charge of these
matters.
- Jürgen Hartmann – based in Germany, VP
& Global Operations Leader for Forming Fabrics
- Alain Cayer – based in Canada, VP &
Global Operations Leader for Press Felts
- Jürgen Heiss – based in Germany,
Director of Global Planning and Scheduling for Forming Fabrics
- Lynn Height – based in USA, Director of
Global Planning and Scheduling for Press Felts
Proper leadership will make these investments a reality for our
customers and we are proud to announce these four promotions from
within the ranks of Xerium. They are all veterans of our company
and of the industry.”
About Xerium Technologies
Xerium Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:XRM) is a leading global
manufacturer of specially engineered fabrics, belts and roll cover
technology used in the production of paper, paperboard, building
products, nonwovens, and specific industrial processes. The
Company, which operates around the world under a variety of brand
names, utilizes a broad portfolio of patented and proprietary
technologies to provide customers with tailored solutions and
products integral to production, all designed to optimize
performance and reduce operational costs. With 30 manufacturing
facilities in 13 countries around the world, Xerium has
approximately 3,275 employees.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains forward-looking statements involving
risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause
actual results to differ materially from those indicated. These
risks and uncertainties include the following items: (1) we may not
be able to expand production as much or as fast as we anticipate;
(2) our efforts to increase capacity while lowering costs and
increasing quality may not be successful; (3) once operational, the
loom may not increase production as much as we anticipate; (4)
customer lead times may not be reduced as much as we expect; and
(5) the other risks and uncertainties discussed elsewhere in this
press release, our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012
filed on March 11, 2013 and our other SEC filings. If any of these
risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying
assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary
significantly from what we projected. Any forward-looking statement
in this press release reflects our current views with respect to
future events. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation
to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for
any reason, whether as a result of new information, future events,
or otherwise. Copies of our SEC filings are available from the SEC
and in the investor relations section of our website at
www.xerium.com.
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