Asten and Sitos join AstenJohnson, offers expanded product line

Subject: Asten and Sitos join AstenJohnson, offers expanded product line
Contact: Rebecca Harper, Communications Manager
Date: October 29, 2007

Asten and Sitos, both manufacturers of paper machine clothing and filtration fabrics in Europe, are now operating under the AstenJohnson global brand name, announces AstenJohnson's President and CEO Daniel D. Cappell.

Asten and Sitos have been valued suppliers in the paper industry since 1885 and 1919, respectively. While Sitos joined the company in 2005 and Asten in 2000, both have been operating under their respective brand names. This change gives European customers access to an expanded product line, to global research and development efforts as well as to global expertise.

Henry Johnson, vice president – Europe, is leading the European operations. "We have made extensive investments in our European operations over the years to enable us to offer only the highest quality products and services to our customers. As we expand our presence in Europe, we remain committed to continuing to invest more resources to serve the European paper industry."

Jeff Landry, vice president of marketing – Europe, says, "The expanded product line will include AstenJohnson's well known InTegra family of forming fabrics, specialty fabrics and drainage equipment from JohnsonFoils, also an AstenJohnson company."

"Asten has been a long-time innovation leader for dryer fabrics," Cappell says. "This will continue to be a strong focus for us. Our research and development efforts will continue from the Eupen, Belgium, facility in addition to the work being done in our North American facility in Ottawa, Ontario."

Gerschon Stoppelman, European Sales Director – PMC, says, "This change will only enhance our offerings to our customers. They will still work with the same sales representatives and will still receive the same high quality of service and products they are accustomed to getting from our company."

AstenJohnson has 1800 employees globally. In addition to the Belgium and Czech Republic facilities, manufacturing locations include the United States, Canada and China. The company's corporate office is in Charleston, South Carolina. Sales and marketing offices are in Singapore, Charleston and Ottawa, Ontario.



Subject: JohnsonFoils and CoorsTek to form service and technology alliance
Contact: Emmi Chaban, 413-750-4605, Rebecca Harper, 843-202-6228
Date: April 2003

SPRINGFIELD, MA – JohnsonFoils has been appointed the exclusive distributor of the Wilbanks® brand of ceramic products.

JohnsonFoils, a division of AstenJohnson Inc., and CoorsTek Inc. (formerly Wilbanks International) announce plans to combine their mutual strengths to bring an unprecedented level of quality products, services and solutions to the pulp and papermaking industry. This alliance combines more than 80 years of experience serving the pulp and paper industry.

CoorsTek produces high-quality ceramic elements under the Wilbanks name. JohnsonFoils is the recognized leader in water management technology. The two companies complement each other very well.

JohnsonFoils, with facilities in Springfield, MA and LaSalle, Quebec, manufactures application engineered equipment and complete systems for pulp and paper machines.

The addition of the Wilbanks brand of high-quality ceramics will strengthen the already formidable JohnsonFoils' product line of equipment and services. All sales, application advice, service, installation, start-up supervision and other direct customer support for the Wilbanks brand and the newly developed JohnsonFoils/Wilbanks brand will be provided by JohnsonFoils under this exclusive distributorship. JohnsonFoils has expanded its sales force, both domestically and internationally, and has increased its commitment to applications engineering to effectively support this new business initiative.

With solid operations already in place in North America, efforts are underway to continue expanding sales and service capabilities in Asia and Europe. The pulp and paper industry depends on suppliers who offer technical solutions, dependable quality, quick responsiveness and added value. Wilbanks' products and JohnsonFoils' engineering will meet the full range of customer expectations.



Subject: AstenJohnson to close manufacturing plant in Walterboro
Contact: Rebecca Harper, Communications Manager, 843-202-6228
Date: January 15, 2008

CHARLESTON, SC -- AstenJohnson announced today that it will close its Walterboro, SC, dryer fabric operations in 2008. The closure is a direct result of market conditions in the North American paper industry.

AstenJohnson is a major supplier to the paper industry, which during the past decade has undergone many mergers and acquisitions in order to remain competitive in the global marketplace. The impact of lower prices, imports and soaring energy costs has caused paper companies to streamline their operations by closing inefficient mills and machines. The Walterboro closure will better align AstenJohnson’s dryer fabric capacity with market demand.

During the past year, 41 paper machines have been permanently shut down in North America, with more than 100 machines permanently shut down over the past three years. Additionally, dryer fabrics, which are made by AstenJohnson at the Walterboro facility, are running longer than ever – approximately 40 days longer than they ran seven years ago.
The dryer plant has been in operation since 1955. Currently 98 dedicated associates are employed at the facility.

The company will offer outplacement services and workshops to all associates as they prepare to look for positions in the area. Severance packages will be offered to all associates as well.

“This action in no way reflects on the work ethic or performance of our Walterboro associates,” says Ken McCumsey, site leader for the Walterboro Operations. “They are considered the company’s benchmark in safety, have tremendous Lean manufacturing skills and are part of a self-engaged work environment. In 2007, the Walterboro facility received the company’s awards for Lowest Lost Time Incidents and Customer Focus. We have received many firsts for the company over the years.”

AstenJohnson has been heavily involved with Lean manufacturing, and the Walterboro Operations relies on Lean tools to manufacture dryer fabrics. Several Walterboro associates have received Green Belt or Black Belt certification as part of the company’s Lean initiative.

AstenJohnson designs, manufactures and markets paper machine clothing for all sections of the paper machine. Paper machine clothing is a highly engineered textile fabric installed on paper machines to carry the paper stock through each stage of the paper making process. The design and composition of paper machine clothing has a significant impact on the quality of paper products produced and the efficiency of the paper machine on which it is used.

The company also designs, manufactures and markets specialty fabrics to the nonwoven, textile, filtration and food industries as well as paper machine drainage equipment and filaments. Approximately 1,800 people are employed by the company worldwide.