Bondex expands Edgefield County operations
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Bondex, a leader in technical nonwoven manufacturing, today announced it is expanding its Edgefield County operations. The company’s $18.8 million investment will create 13 new jobs.
Part of Andrew Industries Limited, Bondex is an innovative nonwovens and specialty roll goods manufacturer founded in 1997. The company’s products serve growing demand across various markets, including filtration, automotive, laundry felt and more, for customers globally.
The expansion includes a new needlepunch line and increased production capacity for Bondex’s facility located at 2 Maxwell Drive in Trenton.
Operations are already online. Individuals interested in joining the Bondex team should visit the company’s careers page.
QUOTES
“At Bondex, we are proud to deepen our roots in Edgefield County with this expansion. This investment is a testament to our team’s dedication to innovation and to the growing demand for our high-quality products. Our reputation in the area as a great place to work is something we take seriously, and we’re excited to continue building that legacy by creating new opportunities for growth and employment. We look forward to advancing both our capabilities and the local community as we grow in South Carolina.” -Bondex President Brian Little
“Whenever a company decides to expand within our borders, it is a win for South Carolina. We celebrate Bondex’s investment in Edgefield County and applaud its continued commitment to doing business in our state.” -Gov. Henry McMaster
“Bondex’s expansion announcement showcases South Carolina’s commitment to supporting our existing companies. Congratulations to Bondex and Edgefield County on this $18.8 million investment that will create new job opportunities in the local community.” -Secretary of Commerce Harry M. Lightsey III
“Edgefield County Council has worked tirelessly to ensure industry can be successful. Bondex has had several expansions over the last 10 years. This latest expansion is confirmation that they have been profitable and county council’s work is bearing fruit. Congratulations to Bondex and may they continue to be successful.” -Edgefield County Council Chairman Dean Campbell
“Bondex and Edgefield County have had a great relationship for many years. This expansion signifies they make a quality product that is sought after. We are excited about this and are glad we were able to help this expansion become a reality.” -Western SC Economic Development Partnership Chairman Gary Stooksbury
FIVE FAST FACTS
- Bondex is expanding its operations in Edgefield County.
- The company’s $18.8 million investment will create 13 new jobs.
- Bondex is a leader in technical nonwoven manufacturing.
- The company is located at 2 Maxwell Drive in Trenton, S.C.
- Individuals interested in joining the Bondex team should visit the company’s careers page.
Source: https://governor.sc.gov/news/2024-10/bondex-expands-edgefield-county-operations
Bondex Expands Manufacturing Capacity in Trenton, South Carolina
Bondex is excited to announce a major investment in our Trenton, South Carolina facility, with the installation of a new needlepunch line and expanded production capacity. This enhancement will allow us to better serve the growing demand for U.S.-made products across key sectors such as filtration, automotive, laundry felts, and other emerging markets. With this upgraded capacity, Bondex is well-positioned to support customers across North America and globally.
For over 25 years, Bondex has been a leader in technical nonwoven manufacturing and is proud to be part of Andrew Industries Limited, a privately held U.K. multinational with a legacy in the nonwovens industry dating back to 1894. Our mission is to deliver exceptional value through superior service, innovation, and the highest-quality products.
The new needlepunch line, supplied by DiloGroup of Germany, enables Bondex to produce nonwovens over 4.5 meters wide, including scrim-supported and fiber-supported materials ideal for filtration and composite structures. This expanded capability underscores our commitment to providing cutting-edge solutions for a range of industrial applications.
In addition to our core nonwoven technologies, we offer value-added services such as chemical impregnation, heat setting, calendaring, singeing, laminating, and slitting. By combining our technical expertise with advanced manufacturing processes, we empower customers to excel in dynamic, competitive markets.
At Bondex, we are committed to collaborating with our clients to meet their unique needs. Our state-of-the-art technologies can be tailored to fit your specific requirements. Let’s collaborate to align our strengths with your vision. Contact us today to learn more!
Bondex Adds Needlepunch Line in SC
Investment will meet demand for filtration and other industrial applications
TRENTON, SC – March 10, 2021 – Bondex will expand its manufacturing capacity to increase its needlepunch nonwovens output and capabilities thanks to a new investment at its headquarters in Trenton, SC. The new line will be supplied by the DiloGroup in Germany and designed to meet the growing demands of the filtration, PPE and other industrial markets. In addition to needlepunch nonwovens, the company makes hydroentangled and thermal bonded nonwovens for a wide range of applications.
“As a proud member of Andrew Industries Limited, a privately owned U.K. multi-national manufacturing company, our mission is to bring value to our customers through superior service, innovation and product quality,” says company president Brian Little.
Bondex has been producing technical nonwovens with carded thermal bond technology since 1997, serving markets including reprographics, electrical insulation, filtration, medical and home care. In 2017, Bondex launched its hydroentangled technology, specifically designed to produce heavier weight nonwovens for industrial filtration and other specialty products. Bondex’s Hydrolox® family of filtration media offers the industrial filtration market a new range of performance, which meets the changing needs of today’s industry.
This new line, which is expected to be fully commercial in the fourth quarter of 2021, is designed to run a variety of fiber types, fineness and staple lengths in a large weight range. Its components include fiber opening and blending, carding, crosslapping, drafting, needling and finishing and is meant to be a workhorse producer of needled felts for roll goods up to 90 inches wide in both fiber-supported and scrim-supported products. Innovative solutions are adapted to this efficient and economical production system with an emphasis on the uniformity of fiber distribution as well as material savings effects. Individual customer requirements and applications can be met through this complete in-house nonwoven production process. All components of the line were installed by Dilo as a general contractor and engineered and assembled to suit the high standards of Bondex in order to provide a state-of-the-art, economical production line for high quality nonwoven products, according to the company.
“This investment now gives Bondex manufacturing capabilities of three types of technical nonwoven fabrics including thermal flat and point bond, hydroentangled and needled,” says Ted Andrew, chairman of Andrew Industries. “ In addition to these three nonwovens manufacturing technologies Bondex has peripheral equipment for chemical impregnation, heat setting, calendering, singeing, laminating and slitting as well as extensive laboratory equipment used for quality control and product development activities.”
Bondex Ramps Up Mask Material and PPE Production
April 8, 2020 – To support the industry demand for PPE materials, Bondex, a producer of carded thermal bond, hydroentangled and needlepunch nonwovens, is dedicating a portion of its capacity to produce materials designed for use in N95 mask construction and materials for use in isolation gowns and other PPE applications.
Bondex develops a polypropyelene nonwoven that is used in both mask and isolation gown applications, as well as hydroentangled polyester that is also used in the construction of mask materials.
“We have implemented plans as necessary to continue our supply to our customers though the pandemic crisis,” says Bondex president Brian Little. “We have also recognized the needs in society to help battle this COVID-19 pandemic so we are adding staff in order to supply technical nonwovens for selected PPE applications in order to support these key initiatives.”
Bondex Appoints New Company President, Brian Little
TRENTON, SC – October 7, 2019 – Bondex, Inc. manufacturer of technical nonwovens and custom solutions provider has appointed Brian Little as President, effective October 1, 2019.
“Bondex is poised for growth in the nonwovens industry through our strength in carded thermal bond nonwovens for technical applications, hydroentangled felt technology for filtration markets as well as future investment plans. We would like to thank retiring President, Steve Fransoso, for 23 years with Andrew Industries, including his last five years serving as Bondex President. Going forward, we will continue to lean on the strength of our team here at Bondex to deliver superior customer service and innovation to the markets we serve. As new or existing customers desire to develop unique and exciting new products, we are ready to collaborate with them and our resources at Bondex and Andrew Industries to help us both succeed.”
Brian has over 19 years of experience in specialty fibers and nonwovens industries. Starting in 2016, he held the position of Sr. Vice President Sales and Marketing for Bondex. Prior to joining Bondex, he spent 16 years with DuPont in various technical and marketing leadership roles at DuPont, in both aramids and nonwovens businesses. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech.
Bondex, Inc. is proudly part of Andrew Industries and is a leading manufacturer of carded thermal bond nonwoven fabrics and state-of-the-art heavy weight hydroentangled nonwovens for the industrial filtration industry marketed under the Hydrolox® brand. Bondex offers a wide range of fabric finishing technology including chemical treatments, heat setting, calendering, laminating, singeing, slitting and more from its modern 69,000 square foot factory in Trenton, South Carolina located just outside of Augusta, Georgia. Bondex quality systems are ISO 9001:2015 registered and their nonwoven design capability offers custom fiber blends, various construction techniques, and a range of finishing technology to meet customer needs. For additional information on Bondex, please visit www.bondexinc.com or call (803) 663-1922.
Bondex, of Trenton, SC, is part of the U.K.-based multi-national manufacturing company Andrew Industries. Brian Little, senior vice president, sales and marketing, says Bondex’s parent company has always viewed the filtration industry as a strategic market as the technical and commercial requirements align with its core competencies of quality, service and innovation, and both Bondex and Andrew are witnessing growth in this segment.
“The global economy continues to expand, in part due to growth in industrial production. As manufacturing growth continues, users demand higher performance filtration media which is necessary to meet emissions regulations and productivity goals,” Little says. “Achieving this balance in filtration efficiency and plant throughput is driving growth in pleatable filter media as well as new compositions and consolidation technologies.”
One of the more recent developments from Bondex is a unique process technology that produces its Hydrolox and Hydrolox HCE products. Using ultra-high pressure hydroentangling, Hydrolox represents a new paradigm of mechanically robust felt with finer pore sizes than needle felt which delivers superior filtration efficiency than the incumbent filter felt. Meanwhile, Hydrolox HCE, which stands for “high collection efficiency,” utilizes the Bondex process technology in combination with fine fiber and splittable fibers to deliver filtration efficiency that are equal to membrane laminated needlefelt.
Bondex, which launched Hydrolox in 2017, expanded the Hydrolox portfolio beyond aramid, polyester and PPS to now include blends with PTFE, which will be commercialized this fall. “We anticipate that our aramid/PTFE Hydrolox HCE product will deliver filtration efficiency equal to membrane which can serve a wide variety of applications where membrane laminated needlefelt would otherwise be compromised,” Little says.
Bondex also developed a pleatable polyester Hydrolox product to respond to growing market needs in pleatable filtration media.
“Our market intelligence informs us of the growing needs for superior filtration performance. We have designed Hydrolox to address these needs without sacrificing permeability in a mechanically robust solution,” Little explains. “As industry needs continue to change, the filtration market desires partnerships which can develop innovative solutions in order to deliver growth. We see Bondex and the Hydrolox family of products providing value to customers with these challenges.”
As the market continues to grow, the company continuously makes investments in order to enhance its filtration portfolio. Recently it installed a new Brückner Stentor, and with this Bondex can now offer oleophobic, hydrophobic, acid resistant, and other water-based treatments to its products. The company has also recently added high temperature lamination capabilities to provide ePTFE laminated to woven glass and aramid felt materials.
Bondex introduces Nomex® and Kevlar® spunlace fabrics for industrial applications
TRENTON, SC – September 4, 2018 – Bondex is proud to announce an expansion in our technical spunlace product line to include Nomex® and Kevlar® spunlace materials for a number of industrial applications. DuPont™ recently announced a refined value chain for Nomex® E88, Nomex® E88C and Kevlar® Z11 fabrics, whereby DuPont™ will sell Nomex® and Kevlar® fiber to Bondex to produce products to these specifications for a wide range of applications.
Bondex has developed unique expertise associated with commercial product lines which utilize Nomex® and Kevlar® fibers in other specialty applications. As part of the technology expansion plan, Bondex invested in specialty high temperature calendering which is required to produce the E88C products.
Bondex is positioned to bring value to this previous DuPont™ customer base by offering superior service levels through a streamlined supply chain. We have developed a line of products which meet the specifications of E88, E88C and Z11 which customers have been purchasing direct from DuPont™, and are in position to serve your commercial needs.
Throughout the markets served by Bondex, innovation has proven to be a key differentiator for our products. Due to the agility demonstrated commercially and technically, we invite customers of DuPont™ spunlace to challenge the Bondex team to develop custom solutions which better fit your needs in these applications.
Interested customers can visit our website for more information, and you are also welcome to contact us directly through the team members listed below.
Brian P. Little
Sr. Vice President, Sales & Marketing
2 Maxwell Drive, Trenton, SC, 29847, USA
Office: (803) 663-1922 ext. 204
Cell: (706) 833-3283
brianl@bondexinc.com
Michael Konesky
Vice President, Business Development
2 Maxwell Drive, Trenton, SC 29847
803-663-1922 ext. 228
10.11.17: Hydrolox filter media, available only from Bondex, combines the benefits of needle loom fiber entangling with revolutionary hydroentangling technology to deliver industry leading dust collection performance.
– nonwovensindustry.com
07.29.16: Bondex, Inc. has invested $20 million in an expansion to add hydroentangled spunlace products to their existing portfolio, which currently includes flat and point bonded thermal nonwovens and various laminated and coated products.
– nonwovensindustry.com
