The gilded age. (Editor's Page).

From its beginning until well into the 1990s, the nonwovens industry saw a tremendous period of growth and innovation, which included new technologies, markets and applications. As we begin a new century, some of this growth and innovation has leveled off, leaving many key executives fearful for the future of the industry.

Part of this trend can be blamed on market maturity. Key markets for nonwovens are well understood and served, leaving less room for growth and innovation. However, lack of innovation can also be attributed to a failure among both industry leaders and newcomers to nonwovens to dedicate their resources to the future of the industry.

The onset of turnkey lines has allowed anyone with the necessary capital to enter the industry. For several million dollars, a company interested in giving nonwovens a try can purchase off-the-shelf technology and begin developing "me-too" nonwovens for commodity applications. This has created an overcapacity situation in several key nonwovens technology segments. On the surface, the addition of new players and increased capacity might signal industry health. After all, won't the arrival of new companies and new machines lead to new markets for the industry? Not necessarily. Instead, they have created a situation where the company that can manufacture its material at the lowest price is the most successful, leaving out room in many companies' profit margins for research and development. Without these research and development dollars, the nonwovens industry will have a difficult time finding the new markets and applications it so desperately needs to continue the growth levels it registered in the past. In sh ort, there has been little investment in the future of nonwovens.

In these troublesome times, the companies that will rise to the top of the heap will do so by focusing on innovation to make products that differentiate themselves from the competition. The only way to improve margins is to offer value added products that customers won't mind paying for. I hope your company is up for the challenge.

Karen Bitz

Editor

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