Composiflex Expands Manufacturing Capabilities Despite Uncertain Economic Landscape
Composiflex maintains a "vertical integration" strategy to better support customers by minimizing leadtimes and retaining quality control through all stages of production
ERIE, PA (June 1, 2009) - - Other companies may be curtailing capital expenses in light of current market conditions, but not so with Composiflex, a global supplier of highly-engineered composite products. Much to the contrary, Composiflex continues to extend capabilities and improve efficiencies through equipment acquisition and process refinement in order to fuel growth in the face of a sour economy.
Its most recent addition, a CNC panel saw, was brought online just last month. Over the course of the last year, the company has also added a state-of-the-art 5-axis CNC router with large 60"W x 120"L x 48"H machining envelope, as well as a computer-controlled cloth cutter to optimize material use and pattern consistency. Going against today's penchant toward outsourcing, Composiflex views such vertical integration as a competitive advantage. In this way, they avoid the "leadtime stack-up" inherent in moving a part from one to supplier to another in order to execute all necessary operations. Composiflex can also better attest to the ultimate quality of the resulting product when it retains full control through processes certified to ISO9001 and AS9100 quality standards.
In addition to equipment acquisition, Composiflex also pursues continuous improvement of its processes. At the end of this month, the company will launch a thermal fluid consolidation project. The project has several elements focused on increasing energy efficiency and controlling operating costs. First, the current system for heating two mechanical presses as well as an autoclave will be improved by moving electric heaters off-line and utilizing an oil heater fueled by more efficient natural gas to heat all three pieces of equipment. Concurrent with the fluid system consolidation project, the autoclave heat exchanger will be renovated with a projected energy savings of 67%. Composiflex will also add a heat recovery system to supplement heating the building during winter months. Finally, the current cooling tower drive will be replaced by a variable frequency drive which is projected to result in 59% electrical energy savings as compared to the current motor.
Composiflex's customers see the benefit of these actions right now but the improvements also position the company to respond more ably when the economic cycle reverses and growth resumes.
About Composiflex:
For nearly a quarter century, Composiflex has been an innovator in the design and manufacture of advanced high-performance composites. Specializing in custom designs, Composiflex serves the military, aerospace, ballistic protection, medical, industrial, and recreational markets. The company is characterized by its "art-to-part" projects made possible by its knowledgeable engineering staff, broad materials expertise, cost-effective rapid prototyping methods, and range of modern manufacturing technologies. Certified to ISO 9001:2000 and AS9100 standards, Composiflex conducts operations in Erie, PA, USA and is presently expanding its facilities by more than 60%.
Contact:
Marty Matthews
(814)866-8616
martym@composiflex.com
www.composiflex.com
Holly M. English
Composiflex, Inc.
8100 Hawthorne Drive
Erie, PA 16509
814-866-8616, ext. 57
hollye@composiflex.com
www.composiflex.com
