Bouckaert Industrial Textiles (BIT), a roll goods producer of diverse nonwovens to the thermal and acoustical insulation, equestrian, automotive, specialty filtration, vibration dampening, green-roof and industrial markets announced today that it has acquired a new, 3.4 meter wide, airlay line from Laroche S.A. and TechnoPlants srl. The line is due to be delivered starting in January and be online in the beginning of the second quarter of 2017, making material primarily for the thermal and acoustical insulation markets with additional capacity being geared towards specialty filtration and conveyor belting.

At over $3 million, projected to manufacture 8 to 10 million lbs of material per year, and adding 15 new specialized manufacturing jobs, this is the largest such purchase in Bouckaert’s 28 year history. When asked “Why now?” for such a purchase BIT’s President, Max Brickle (also President of the parent company The Brickle Group), stated “We originally looked into bringing on this capacity due to our current client’s growing business and requests for material we could not supply with our current lines. It was this desire to support our client’s needs that really made the decision.”

Bouckaert has confirmed that their new line’s capacity has already drawn a lot of attention from various industries and companies. Many of these companies are looking to leverage Bouckaert’s extensive record on capability and quality control with its geographical position in the US northeast, allowing them to reduce shipping costs while increasing the quality and consistency of their products.

When asked “What’s next for Bouckaert after getting this line up and running?” Mr. Brickle just smiled and said “The future. Give us a call if you want to discuss it.”