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Lydall, Inc.
The Lydall Story
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150 Years of Industry Experience..

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Until 1986, Lydall's Lydall & Foulds Division, founded in 1879 in Manchester, Connecticut, held the honor of being the oldest operating unit of the Company.  The Manning Nonwovens Division now has that distinction, having been founded in 1846.

1846

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In 1913, the owners of Lydall & Foulds, a boxboard manufacturer, established another company, Colonial Board, to produce binder board used in book bindings.  Lydall Express, organized in 1951 as Norfould, Inc., was part of the original Colonial Board.  It now contracts with outside companies and hauls freight between Lydall locations and its customers.  Over the years, Colonial's product line grew and it became a leader in the fiberboard industry with a dominance in footwear.

1913

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In the early 1960's, a new mill was built in Covington, Tennessee which was the most modern fiberboard mill in the world at the time.  Today, Colonial Board is known as the Composite Materials Division of Lydall.  The Hoosick Falls, New York plant of CMD was purchased in 1980 is now the division's headquarters.  The CMD product line has expanded to sophisticated fiber composites used in critical applications such as industrial gasketing and thermal insulation.  CMD is also responsible for developing a composite from post-consumer newspapers and cardboard which is a wood-like material used to make the ECOwriter™ pencil.  Lydall & Foulds still operates in Manchester and is one of the largest boxboard suppliers in the Northeast.

1960

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In 1969, Colonial and Lydall & Foulds merged with the Superior Steel Ball Company to form Lydall, Inc.  Superior was sold in 1984.  In 1970, the Fiber Process Division was started in Rochester, New Hampshire.  Today it is known as the Technical Papers Division (TPD) Lydall.  They manufacture high-performance, engineered filtration, thermal insulation and friction media.  TPD media are found in such applications as high-efficiency air filtration in clean rooms, combination thermal/ filtration media in automotive airbag inflator assemblies, and as high-temperature insulation in refractory furnaces.

1969

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In 1977, Lydall merged with Logistics Industries thereby doubling in size and becoming listed on the American Stock Exchange.  Lydall's Southern Products Division (SPD) in Richmond, Virginia, which manufactures laminated kraft paperboard used principally as slip sheets which replace wood pallets, became a part of Lydall as a result of the Logistics merger.  In 1994, SPD purchased a facility located in Jacksonville, Florida, which added to the slip sheet business making Southern the largest U.S. producer.

1977

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Also in 1977, Lydall acquired the Scott/Chatham operation which was a joint development effort between Scott Paper Company and Chatham Manufacturing.  Today this plant in Hamptonville, North Carolina, is Lydall's Westex Division which produces needle-punched, non-wovens for such applications as medical filters and thermal barriers sold to the automotive market.

The Manning Nonwovens Division was purchased in 1986 from the Hammermill Paper Company.  Manning produces thermal and flame barriers, electrical insulating materials, and cryogenic super-insulating media.

1986

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In 1988, Lydall was restructured, and a group of elastomer product businesses and an equity investment in a defense electronics business were spun off into a separate public company called Corcap, Inc.  Lydall thus became entirely focused on expanding its position as a major manufacturer of technologically advanced engineered materials for demanding applications concentrating on air and liquid filtration, thermal barrier applications, electrical insulating, and materials handling.

1988

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In 1989, the Company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (LDL), and in 1991 Lydall acquired its first operation overseas.  The Axohm Division in France is principally a nonwovens manufacturer and fabricator of battery separators.  Axohm also manufactures filtration and thermal products.

1989

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In  1991 and 1994, respectively, the Westex Division acquired two operations from Standard Packaging, Inc., the Rockwell Operation in Rockwell, North Carolina, and the Columbus Operation in Columbus, Ohio.  Both are fabricators of thermal and acoustical insulation products which are sold to the automotive market.

1994

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