Server: Roxen·Challenger/1.1 Content-type: text/html Last-Modified: Sat, 31 Aug 1996 15:29:33 +0000 Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 01:47:13 +0000 Content-length: 4922 Flanders Filters, Inc. - INVESTOR


Business Summary

Flanders Corporation, based in Washington, North Carolina, designs, manufactures and markets precision high-performance filtration products. Flanders is a vertically integrated company, with a filter assembly plant, metal working facility, and paper mill all at their 220,000 square foot site. The Company's air filtration products are critical to many high-technology industries, including semiconductors, ultra-pure material handling, biotechnology, pharmaceutical production, synthetics manufacturing, and the containment of airborne radioactive particulates in nuclear facilities.

Flanders has a well-established manufacturing operation, with experienced management and production personnel and is one of the oldest companies in the filter industry specializing in high efficiency air filters for ventilation systems in critical industrial and scientific applications. During the last three years, we have experienced substantial growth in both the number of new applications for its products, and increased demand in already-established industrial niches.

History

Flanders was started in 1950 by A.R. Allan, Jr., in Riverhead, New York. From 1950 to 1958, most of the filters sold by the Company were manufactured for use in the ventilating systems of atomic power reactors and nuclear fuel manufacturing facilities. The filters were used primarily as safety devices to remove small irradiated particles (particles carrying radiation) which might be released into the atmosphere. The filters are a key part of the process called "radioactive containment."

During the 1960s, research by film developers determined that using HEPA filters and lower-efficiency filters (now sold as ASHRAE-grade filters) in their facilities could greatly increase the efficiency of their film manufacturing process. To accommodate this market requirement, the Company expanded its filtration product line to include lower-efficiency filters, A-2 and B-2 holding frames which enable filters to be stacked in banks, C-3 side-load housings for holding filters placed in air ducts, and Econocell filters which can be used as pre-filters to extend the life of HEPA filters. Many other industries are currently using these products as part of their standard manufacturing processes, and this market for ASHRAE-grade filters is one of the largest domestic market serviced by the Company.

One of our strategic advantages is the internal production of the high-efficiency paper media used in its filter products. This media consist of a non-woven matrix of glass microfibers formed on a unique paper-making process developed by Flanders. While our competitors still rely upon outside sources for these critical components, we have produced our own media since the mid 1960's.

Flanders moved its entire plant and office from New York to a 65-acre site in Washington, North Carolina, during 1968 and 1969. The move enabled the Company to increase production to accommodate further growth, since its New York facility had reached capacity. The plant in North Carolina was expanded in 1978, and again in 1984, to accommodate increased growth in the filter business, as well as a second paper mill, additional warehouse space, and a new sheet metal work area. We currently own our 220,000 square foot manufacturing plant and offices.

During the past ten years, our customer base has expanded to include high-technology companies in the semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries. Air filtration systems are a key component of a semiconductor fabrication facility, and most of the advances in air filtration technology in recent years have been driven by the demand from semiconductor manufacturers to have increasingly efficient and dependable filters for their manufacturing facilities.

In 1994, we established Flanders Airpure Products, LLC, a North Carolina limited liability company concentrating on general commercial-grade products, including pre-filters, bag housings, and replacement filters for standard commercial and industrial HVAC systems.


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