Applied Felts, Inc.
Applied Felts Maintains World-Class Status with Enterprise Wide Assistance from GENEDGE ALLIANCE

The Company
Founded in 1997, Applied Felts, Inc. has set the industry standard for manufacturing high quality felt liners for use in subterranean utility pipes. The company is ISO 9002 certified and they have experienced continual growth in sales revenue since their facility was commissioned. This growth has been driven, in part, by the firm’s environmentally friendly, cost competitive, and state-of-the-art technology for ensuring that municipal and industrial sewage systems can meet increasingly rigorous standards. In addition, Applied Felts is known for drawing on the expertise of its parent company, W.E. Rawson Ltd., to create the Cured-in-Place-Pipe (CIPP) rehabilitation process that is now used by utility companies around the globe. The Martinsville facility currently employs 70 workers.

The Situation
Applied Felts’ success and growth generated a unique set of challenges that the company’s management wanted to address in a cost effective manner.

The first challenge the company faced was that the facility had outgrown the installed capacity base for the coated felt component of the finished liner that was being imported from the United Kingdom. After exploring many options, key personnel at Applied Felts decided that it would be best to procure and install an extrusion coating line within the Martinsville facility and train its operators to run and maintain the equipment. However, the company did not have the in-house resources to complete this lengthy and technical project.

Additionally, senior management recognized the need to enhance the company’s information management system. At the time, all company data was entered into spreadsheets by separate departments to use for specific tasks. The spreadsheets were limited by the expertise of the user as well as the computing capabilities of the program. Applied Felts realized that it would be very difficult to assemble an unbiased project team to assess all of the current software packages available today.

Recently, Applied Felts had also become aware of slight variation in the construction of its thermoplastic urethane (TPU) encased tubes. Through the investigation of its processes, company experts determined that the variations were occurring during the flame process used to bond felt layers together. The company decided to address this before it lead to problems.

The bonding process that applied a TPU patch over the butt seam of the final layer, the TPU coated tube outer layer, was also targeted for improvement by Applied Felts. In this process, a sealing tape was first applied over the butt splice, which was then covered and sealed by welding the TPU film patch to the TPU coating, using tetra-hydro-furan (THF) solution. Applied Felts wanted to eliminate THF from the process if possible.

The Response
Applied Felts’ General Manager, W. Charles Mattox, partnered with GENEDGE ALLIANCE to address his company’s growth issues.

Bill Donohue, GENEDGE ALLIANCE’s Operations Manager, assisted Applied Felts in the selection and installation of the new extrusion coating equipment. In the first stage of the project, equipment vendors were evaluated and the most suitable primary and secondary vendors were selected from the list. Then, trial coatings of U.S. sourced components were arranged to prove the viability of the chosen vendors. After this step was completed, Donohue assisted Charles Mattox and the entire Applied Felts team in developing selection criteria as well as soliciting bids from the vendors. Project engineering assistance was then provided to coordinate the multiple service vendors for the extrusion coater design and construction, auxiliary equipment design and construction, civil modifications, plant support services, and material handling requirements. GENEDGE ALLIANCE also provided project management for all mechanical, electrical, and power installations required for the new line. GENEDGE ALLIANCE also educated the operators of the new extrusion line to ensure successful runs of the product.

GENEDGE ALLIANCE’s Jim Tate was brought in to assist Applied Felts with software selection. Tate developed a questionnaire about desired software capabilities and distributed it to the Applied Felts management team for completion. Next, the software specifications were developed and a computer analysis of the hundreds of different software packages took place to determine the ten (10) best possibilities for the company. After a detailed report was presented to key company personnel, GENEDGE ALLIANCE assisted in the scheduling and evaluation of software demonstrations and the selection of the new software package.

Working in conjunction with Charles Mattox, Mark Sanders, and other staff, GENEDGE ALLIANCE provided the necessary engineering and technical expertise for the company to determine, evaluate, develop, and design suitable new bonding processes to reduce variations and the risks associated with THF. GENEDGE ALLIANCE also supervised the chosen subcontractor, Virginia Tech, and the principal investigator. Work is still in process to develop an alternative to THF.

The Results
As a result of the new extrusion coating line, plant capacity has increased by 10% for bottom-line savings of $400,000/year. The company has also seen a reduction in errors related to job cost data and physical inventory due to the implementation of the new computer software program. Financial information is also more timely, the company has seen a reduction in rework due to errors, and scheduling and production activities have improved. The development of a new structural tube bonding process is expected to reduce variability and increase employee safety.

Management’s Comments
"GENEDGE ALLIANCE has provided Applied Felts assets, which as a small company we do not have in-house. GENEDGE ALLIANCE’s staff covers all areas of manufacturing and their extensive knowledge base has helped our company broaden our technology base, improve our productivity and efficiency. We have used their capabilities on a number of occasions and we view them as a partner in their efforts to support our company."

"As an organization providing direct support to small businesses in the State of Virginia, GENEDGE ALLIANCE has no equal." - W. Charles Mattox, General Manager

View their site! http://www.appliedfelts.com/