CW Top Shops 2022: Recognizing composites industry leaders

B&T Composites

Response from Kosmas Tiriakidis, production manager

Location: Florina, Greece

Date founded: 2006

Facility size: 53,000+ square feet

Materials: Carbon, glass, basalt, aramid/Kevlar fibers

Processes: Filament winding, vacuum infusion, wrapping, hand layup

End markets served: Mostly industrial and wind; also marine, aerospace, energy storage

Reflecting back on 2022, what was your company’s biggest achievement or strength? “2022 indeed was a very strange year. We had an increase in revenue of about 28%, but at the same time we had to face challenges as a result of the post-COVID and war situations. Our first and most important achievement in 2022 was the final acceptance of the IPCEI project for developing innovative energy storage systems based on production for high-pressure vessels for hydrogen. We are one of the first companies in Europe and one of only two in Greece [in this market]! The second biggest achievement of our company was that we were flexible enough in order to take quick and strategic decisions to maintain good delivery times during this strange year.”

What goals does your company have going into the new year? “We are going to start the IPCEI project during this year, building a brand new factory in our area for producing high-end hydrogen energy storage systems. Secondly, we have established a totally new laboratory for photonics applications. We are already using this technology for our products at the prototyping scale and the first goal is to be on the market this year with some patented products.”

How does sustainability factor into your facility’s operations? “Installing smart energy sensoring systems, we are able to measure and control the consumption of energy. Moreover, recycling as much as possible — our scrap is 100% recycled. We also have two solar parks of 100 kilowatt-hours each installed in our facilities, and use mirroring systems that allow us to use sunlight for 90-95% of our light demands. We have also installed high-performance water heating systems [that use sunlight] in order to reduce the consuming energy for heating as well.”

Photo Credit: B&T Composites

Champion Fiberglass Inc.

Response from Goran Haag, president

Location: Spring, Texas, U.S.

Date founded: 1988

Facility size: 120,000 square feet

Number of employees: 155

Materials: Fiberglass; epoxy, phenolic, SMC, vinyl ester

Processes: Filament winding, compression molding, vacuum infusion

End markets served: Infrastructure, industrial, marine

Reflecting back on 2022, what was your company’s biggest achievement or strength? “Phenomenal growth. Our business increased 56% organically.”

How does sustainability factor into your operations? “We have a major investment this year to implement environmental equipment that will decrease our solid waste more than 80%. We also installed a water purification unit in 2021 that has reduced water disposal significantly. We are working on reducing our overall water usage as well.”

How does your company emphasize employee safety, and/or what is your top advice regarding best practices? “We are constantly striving to increase safety. In 2021, we received ISO 45001 certification by DNV which was a major accomplishment and was very well received by OSHA. We are already ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified, so we are now one of the few companies in the U.S. that has all three certifications.”

Photo Credit: Champion Fiberglass

Compotech Inc.

Response from Paul Melrose, president

Location: Brewer, Maine, U.S.

Date founded: 2011

Facility size: 20,000 square feet

Number of employees: 30

Materials: Carbon fiber, fiberglass, Kevlar, balsa, foam, ceramic, steel, stainless steel, aluminum, coatings

Processes: VARTM, LRTM, hand layup, fabric and core kitting, CNC turning, CNC milling, CNC routing, automated finishing, robotic welding and robotic processing

End markets served: Defense, aerospace, marine

What goals does your company have going into the new year? “In addition to Compotech Inc.’s plans to double its revenue in 2023 and onboard 20 new employees, we plan to commission a new production line to develop and support our defense technology. Our use of automation in our manufacturing operations differentiates our company from competitors. For example, we have combated labor shortages through robotic automation capable of performing repetitive tasks like sanding and grinding fiberglass.”

How does sustainability factor into your operations? “At Compotech Inc., scrap materials are minimized and reintegrated as frequently as possible to optimize sustainability during manufacturing. Often, we can use scrap from larger jobs to produce parts for smaller jobs or prototypes. Our preferred manufacturing method is light resin transfer molding [LRTM], which reduces the amount of waste compared to VARTM manufacturing techniques.”

Have labor/skills shortages affected your facility, and if so, what has your experience been like, and what has been your top strategy for overcoming the issue? “Around the country, the available workforce is limited. Compotech Inc. has combated the labor shortages through robotic automation for certain parts of our production line. The robots are capable of performing repetitive tasks like sanding and grinding fiberglass. This automation also helps us create highly adept robotic operator jobs instead of high-turnover jobs. At Compotech Inc., we value good aptitude, a positive attitude and a desire to learn, which help us train people to perform their jobs efficiently. Additionally, having knowledgeable employees and supervisors eager to train new hires have been a key to this system working as well as it has.”

Photo Credit: Compotech

Creative Composites

Response from Jonathan Lindsay, marketing manager

Location: Lisburn, U.K.

Date founded: 2000

Facility size: 150,000 square feet

Number of employees: 200+

Processes: Compression molding (including the U.K.’s two largest compression molding presses at 3,000 tons), SMC, RTM, hand layup

Photo Credit: Creative Composites

End markets served: Automotive, mass transit, construction, housing, medical, renewable energy

Reflecting back on 2022, what was your company’s biggest achievement or strength? “The advancement on new projects with current and developing customers was one of many positives. This saw the company expand its customer sector range into emerging areas, such as renewable energy and EVs [electric vehicles]. In 2022, we saw great achievements in production and output and will continue to set high levels of standards, quality and service in the coming year.”

Photo Credit: Creative Composites

What goals does your company have going into the new year? “Creative Composites aims to continue in the advancement of our technologies, to keep our customers at the leading edge of composites manufacturing. Developing our composites range continues to be a healthy goal, through carbon fiber SMC and greater environmentally friendly materials.”

How does sustainability factor into your operations? “We have signed a Climate Action Pledge to reduce our carbon footprint by 50% by 2030. We have taken several measures such as LED lighting, voltage optimization and variable speed compressors, and have invested heavily in reusable packaging. Externally, we have attended locally arranged resource managing workshops that identify like-minded businesses to exchange waste products for recycling.”

GSE Dynamics Inc.

Response from Anne D. Shybunko-Moore, owner and CEO

Location: Hauppauge, N.Y., U.S.

Date founded: 1971

Facility size: 30,000-square-foot headquarters/manufacturing facility, and a 57,000-square-foot composites/machining center

Number of employees: 80

Materials: Woven/unidirectional carbon fiber, quartz, E-glass, S-glass; toughened epoxy, polyester, cyanate ester, BMI; film adhesives; metallic and non-metallic core; carbon foam

Processes: Prepreg/autoclave, vacuum infusion, adhesive bonding, additive manufacturing, multi-axis machining, assembly, nondestructive testing (NDT), material qualification and quality conformance testing

End markets served: Defense, aerospace

Photo Credit: GSE Dynamics Inc.

Reflecting back on 2022, what was your company’s biggest achievement or strength? “The post-COVID challenges of dealing with the increased strain on the supply chain and workforce were felt through 2022. GSE was able to manage these challenges, and not only maintain the same level of business, but grow as well and meet high levels of quality performance ratings with all of our customers. GSE works closely with our DLA partners to meet urgent requirements and demonstrates quick response rates to our customers to help them meet their challenges. Last year [2022] was the epitome of teaming between suppliers and customers to ensure the requirements were met for our defense industry.”

What goals does your company have going into the new year? “GSE is implementing a new ERP system and looking into getting Nadcap welding certification, which will continue to expand our capabilities for further business development. We have positioned ourselves well to be strong on legacy platforms as well as new platforms and diverse products.”

Have labor/skills shortages affected your facility, and if so, what has your experience been like, and what has been your top strategy for overcoming the issue? “Attracting new talent to the manufacturing sector is an industry-wide challenge. GSE maintains a skill matrix for all disciplines and continuously integrates cross-training and skill expansion into the short-, medium- and long-term expectations for all employees and supervisors. GSE takes pride in our facilities, work environment and culture which provide us with an advantage over our peers with respect to attracting new talent as well as employee retention. GSE has also taken a lead position on a regional and national level of looking at workforce training initiatives to ensure our industrial base can meet the needs of our customers. The ability to train the next-generation workforce has become a national security topic for defense contractors, and GSE is in that conversation, and actively participating to attract talent to the manufacturing sector.”

Photo Credit: GSE Dyanmics

Middle River Aerostructures Systems (MRAS)

Response from Mitchell Smith, composite technology leader, sustainability

Location: Baltimore, Md., U.S.

Date founded: 1929

Facility size: 1.4 million square meters for composites layup and bonding, assembly and office space

Materials: Prepregs

Processes: Hand layup, autoclave or out-of-autoclave (OOA) methods, automated fiber placement (AFP), hot drape forming

End markets: Commercial aerospace, military transport

Photo Credit: MRAS

What goals does your company have going into the new year? “There are significant opportunities in both the civil and military composite markets, and we are starting to see that come into play this year. Our goals are to concentrate on re-engaging the market with focused efforts on developing technologies needed for future platforms. In support of that, we are launching some of our most progressive and advanced technology investments. We want to be an active member of our industries transformation as we move into the next era of advanced composite aerostructures.”

How does sustainability factor into your operations? “As a business, we are 100% committed to developing sustainable solutions for our products and customers. One of our largest initiatives is developing technologies for a sustainable composites system. The scope must reach far beyond recycling carbon fiber or metallics. While these are components of the system and they have a meaningful place in the system, we are not limiting development to those areas.”

How does your company emphasize employee safety, and/or what is your top advice regarding best practices? “We launched a Zero Defect and Injury (ZDI) campaign in the middle of COVID and have been working to change our manufacturing culture to align with that goal. In 2022, we had the lowest number of defects and recordable injuries in the past 20­+ years. This is not something that happens overnight and takes continued promotion and really ‘living it’ on the factory floor.”

Photo Credit: MRAS

Nammo Composite Solutions LLC

Response from Nate Lodder, vice president/general manager

Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.

Date founded: 1991

Facility size: 90,000 square feet

Number of employees: 85

Materials: Carbon fiber, fiberglass, aramid fiber, epoxy

Processes: Filament winding, tri-axial braiding, hand layup, RTM, VARTM

End markets: Defense, aerospace

What were the original goals of the company? “The company started primarily manufacturing filament-wound products for industrial use. Over time, we started producing more components for the aerospace and defense industries. Doing business initially as Composite Solutions, the company was acquired by the Nammo Group in 2009, and the name changed to Nammo Composite Solutions.”

Reflecting back on 2022, what was your company’s biggest achievement or strength? “Over the course of 2022, Nammo Composite Solutions has successfully streamlined several manufacturing processes, reducing costs and production lead time of our products. This achievement has expanded capacity within the factory, affording us opportunity to take on additional business, as well as reaffirming and promoting confidence with our customers.”

How does sustainability factor into your operations? “As a global company, Nammo places a large emphasis on sustainability, with the objective to align with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015. Some key initiatives include using energy-efficient lighting and equipment, as well as ensuring that excess/expired materials are donated to local technical colleges to enhance classroom learning.”

Photo Credit: Nammo Composite Solutions

Shellback Canvas LLC

Response from Nanette Hultgren, owner

Location: Palmetto, Fla., U.S.

Date founded: 1989

Facility size: 1,950 square feet

Number of employees: Two, plus two subcontractors

Materials: Dry carbon fiber braid and unidirectional sleeving

Processes: Patented compression molding process

End market: Marine

What was the original goal of the company? “Originally, Shellback Canvas LLC was a marine canvas fabrication shop. It wasn’t until the last 13 years I started working with carbon fiber. I wanted an alternative tubing other than aluminum or stainless steel for my boat awning shades. The carbon poles on the market were too expensive, so I developed a patented process making my own carbon fiber composite poles.” [Read “CFRP breakdown poles designed for lightweight, long-lasting use in marine applications” for more information.]

What goals does your company have going into the new year? “Eighty percent of my shades and sticks have been custom-made in the previous years. Custom measurements provide the ultimate shade for each individual boat, but it is not cost-effective. Ultimately, OEM work using documented shade patterns for boat manufacturers and stock shades in various sizes for the retail market is the key to increase productivity at a lower cost. In 2023, I have added another two boat manufacturers and I am providing four stock size rocket shades to be put on the market.”

How does sustainability factor into your operations? “My method of manufacturing my carbon fiber poles is low-tech and simple. Simplicity has its benefits with mechanical costs and energy uses. I use a two-part, non-heated compression mold with a patented mold release liner that draws the epoxy over the tube and is held in place until pressure is applied by the clamping of the mold. The epoxy system I use has a low VOC and a range of hardeners that I can blend to cure the sticks in the mold depending on the room temperature. Basically this system can create a strong, lightweight pole without the high energy cost of some of the equipment that is used in the industry, along with an epoxy system that is environmentally friendly.”

Photo Credit: Shellback Canvas LLC