German nonwovens producer Sandler AG said it has had a successful 2015, with its sales totaling to €288 million and the Sandler team growing to 710 staff members.

“With the expansion of the Schwarzenbach location and the contract conclusion for a new nonwovens production site in the USA, 2015 marked the start of a new chapter in Sandler’s company history,” it stated in a press release.

“Nonwoven innovations, the expansion of the Schwarzenbach plant and the establishment of a manufacturing location in the US will be the engine of further growth in the years to come,” the company added.

Among innovations in 2015, the company introduced self-supporting nonwovens for office acoustics, utilised as partition walls or in acoustic furniture.

Sandler also supplies durable and efficient filtration nonwovens and according to Sandler, its synthetic filter media offering, contributes to lowering the energy consumption during the operation of the filter plant.

In 2015, Sandler also introduced composite materials made of nonwovens and fibre reinforced plastic for the automotive industry.

The composites insulate engine and driving noise as well as heat, they are robust, but lightweight at the same time.

“Applied in the underbody, the headliner or even body parts, they support lightweight construction and thus help reduce fuel,” Sandler observed.

At its Schwarzenbach site, a new €17 million production building is taking shape and will house a new production line to expand production capacity for hygiene nonwovens and wipes substrates.

Some members of the Sandler team will also relocate in 2016, but on an entirely different scale, taking up a challenge unparalleled in the company’s history.

In summer, they will put the Sandler Nonwoven Corporation in Perry, Georgia, USA, into operation together with new US colleagues.

“Quite literally, this step represents a departure for new horizons, which allows Sandler to make its ‘Made-in-USA’ nonwovens available closer to American customers,” Sandler informed. (AR)