For Sandler, 2011 was another very successful year. The company achieved a 37-million year-on-year increase in turnover, reaching a total of 240 million Euros. This represents a continuation of the positive development over the past five years, during which the turnover of previously 112 million Euros was more than doubled.

Investments, mostly in manufacturing lines, were the main driver of this development, as was the opening up of new markets and fields of application. During the past five years, the nonwovens producer invested more than 60 million Euros. Early last year, a new nonwovens production line was commissioned in the newly built “plant 4”. Sandler AG runs the largest nonwovens manufacturing location in Europe. Based on the 2010 sales figures, Sandler AG now ranks 10th among the world’s largest nonwovens producers. The company supplies a very wide range of different nonwoven materials, utilised in diverse applications in the hygiene, wipes, automotive, filtration, engineering, and home textiles markets. Each of these market segments also saw a rise in turnover during the past year.

Sandler AG’s success is primarily owed to the qualified and motivated staff. In the past five years, the workforce increased from 460 to 550 employees. Long-standing staff members, who know the company and the products inside out, pass on their experience to younger colleagues and in turn profit themselves from the junior employees’ new ideas and approaches. In this way, Sandler AG emphasizes team work. Staff members from all areas of the company work jointly and successfully on solving various tasks. Owing to flat hierarchies and fast decision-making processes innovations can be turned into products very quickly.

The training of high-school and university graduates and a systematic and continuous further education of the staff enable the company to successfully handle the challenges posed in consumer and supplier markets as well as by competitors.

Sandler AG is planning further investments in new, innovative production lines, information and communications technology as well as the development of new markets in the years to come. With an export ratio of 60 percent the company already supplies high-quality nonwovens to buyers around the globe and is currently opening up the Indian market. Owing to the Bavarian-Indian Centre for Business and University Cooperation at the University Hof Sandler was able to quickly forge the necessary contacts.

Consistent monitoring of existing and new trends in the various markets and the identification of new fields of application for different business segments constitute the starting point for an ongoing process of innovation in nonwovens. The targeted, systematic development of new products and processing technologies is a vital prerequisite in coping with the challenge of increasingly rapid processes of change in innovative areas of application.

The increase in sales volume also brought about higher demands on logistics, with more than 1,500 trucks per month being handled at Sandler AG. The partial shifting of transports from road to rail is a crucial goal for the company. For instance, the container terminal in the nearby city of Hof is already being used to receive raw materials shipped from the port of Hamburg to the company’s location in Schwarzenbach/Saale. Likewise, finished products are being shipped by rail from Schwarzenbach to Hamburg. Transports to the South of Europe are currently still conducted via road traffic. In this respect, the proposed electrification of trains from Hof to the South of Bavaria would increase the possibility for shipping containers via rail. The utilisation of the new large giga-liner trucks would also constitute a great advantage. At a similar transport capacity, these trucks yield a reduction of the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of up to 30 percent compared to currently utilised vehicles. Since January, a field test for these trucks has been conducted in Germany. However, not all states allow these large trucks on their roads which limits the possible applications.


Sustainability has been a topic of interest for the company, among others in product development and the sale of environmentally friendly nonwovens. Predominantly in the manufacturing of wet wipes substrates Sandler applies viscose fibres originating from sustainable, responsible forestry which are certified according to thee PEFC or FSC® standards. These raw materials are used to produce a new, 100 percent biodegradable bio wipe substrate. Moreover, Sandler offers special nonwovens made from polymers based on lactic acid that are also biodegradable. Polyester fibres made from recycled PET bottles are increasingly applied. Sandler produces 100 percent recyclable sound insulation materials for vehicles or household appliances as well as special nonwovens for pipe insulation or hot water storage tanks and materials for roof insulation. Furthermore, Sandler offers a broad range of filtration nonwovens for air and liquid filtration, for example for the separation of fuel and water as well as for ventilation and air conditioning systems also applied in low-energy-houses.

Today, industrial companies are asked to implement a management system furthering energy savings. Apart from an environmental management, a safety management system and a quality management, Sandler AG installed such an energy management several years ago. In all areas of the company, energy consumption is monitored, potentials for energy savings are identified and put into practice, and technologies for energy recovery are applied.

The members of Sandler AG’s management are aware of the increasing responsibility for a company that has grown rapidly during the past five years. The economic development in 2012 is likely to be difficult in the face of the debt crisis as well as fluctuations in raw material prices and exchange rates. Nevertheless, based on last year’s very good result, Sandler AG’s Management Board and the Vice Presidents heading the individual divisions optimistically look to the future.