Carver Non-Woven Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of custom compression molder and compounder, RV Composites, will begin a rolling startup at its new manufacturing facility in Fremont, Ind., on July 1 and by July 15, 2016 will be in full commercial production of single- and multi- material non-woven products for the North American composites industry.
Carver’s products are available as a substitute for lauan in RV components such as floors, walls, side panels and ceilings according to the company.
The new plant is situated on an 18-acre site in a building that is 165,000 square feet in size, providing plenty of room to expand should demand for the new products grow.
Carver said its complete production line is fully automated ― from initial debaling, fiber opening, blending, and carding, all the way through to finished packaging. As a result, Carver is able to produce non-wovens with low-variance weight (density) as well as superior dimensional stability and mechanical properties. This leads to non-wovens that are more consistent and mechanically more efficient (meaning a lower density non-woven can be used in a given composite part without sacrificing tolerances or mass).
This, in turn, can have the follow-on benefits of reducing both cost and mass of finished applications in either thermoset or thermoplastic composites. Furthermore, Carver uses up to three different opening processes during initial fiber handling, which leads to better, more open fibers and more consistent fiber length (owing to less fiber damage) as well as a more homogeneous fiber architecture in the finished composite part.
“We’re very proud of the amount of flexibility, new technology, and custom-modified equipment this new facility represents,” said Mark Glidden, president, R3 Composites and Carver Non-Woven. “To achieve this level of competence right from the start, our organization has made a substantial $13 million dollar investment. If our products really take off the way we believe they will, then our five-year plan calls for us to make an additional $20 million dollar investment to expand our operations.
“Others may say that sounds overly confident, but I can share that for the first time in 35 years of doing business, our company has a letter of intention from an automotive OEM stating that as soon as we’re operational, this company will buy 3-million square meters of product per year from us. We have similar letters of intent from tier suppliers for the RV industry. We are well on our way to filling our capacity for the first phase of our line, and we've just opened the doors.”
For more information, contact Carver Non-Woven Technologies LLC, 706 East Depot Street, Fremont, Ind. 46737- 2119, or email '; // -->.