Tex Tech Industries, a Portfolio Company of Arlington Capital, Closes the Acquisition of Highland Industries’ Coating, Laminating and Defense Business

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May 2, 2019–Tex Tech Industries, Inc. (“Tex Tech” or the “Company”), a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners (“Arlington Capital”), successfully completed the acquisition of the coating and laminating operations (“Coating Business”) and U.S. defense-related operations (“Defense Business”) of Highland Industries, Inc. The acquired businesses will be renamed Tex Tech Coatings, LLC (“Tex Tech Coatings”) and will operate as a division of Tex Tech.

Tex Tech Coatings, headquartered in Kernersville, NC, is a leading supplier of coated and laminated products across a variety of end markets including aerospace & defense, industrial, and medical. Acquiring Tex Tech Coatings will enhance Tex Tech’s capability set to include differentiated formulations and processes to address the most demanding heat, strength and chemical performance needs of its clients. Tex Tech Coatings will continue to provide the same superior service that they have provided for existing customers for over 30 years. Tex Tech Coatings will be led by the existing management team, including Scott Burkhart as President of Coatings, Kelly Moore as VP of Finance, and Justin Barnett as Director of Coatings Sales.

“We are excited to welcome Scott and his team into the Tex Tech family. Over the past 30 years, Tex Tech has continually innovated and invested in world-class R&D capabilities to remain on the cutting edge of industry innovation and technology to best service our customer needs. The acquisition of Tex Tech Coatings is an extremely exciting opportunity for the Company and fits squarely into our strategic roadmap of adding high value-add manufacturing capabilities,” said Ciaran Lynch, CEO of Tex Tech.

Peter Manos, a Managing Partner at Arlington Capital, said, “We are extremely excited to begin our partnership with Scott and the entire Tex Tech Coatings team. Acquiring coating and laminating capabilities has been Tex Tech’s top priority since Arlington Capital’s initial investment as it allows the Company to vertically integrate its manufacturing processes and become an end-to-end materials science supplier. We plan to continue to augment Tex Tech’s portfolio of capabilities through both organic investments and strategic acquisitions.”

Erica Son, a Vice President at Arlington Capital said, “As an industry leader for decades, Tex Tech Coatings possesses proprietary and difficult-to-replicate manufacturing processes and entrenched customer relationships that span over 30 years. Going forward, we are very excited to enhance these strong customer relationships through the combination of Tex Tech’s world-class R&D capabilities and Tex Tech Coatings’ differentiated manufacturing processes and new development pipeline.”

About Arlington Capital Partners

Arlington Capital Partners is a Washington, D.C.-area private equity firm that has managed $2.2 billion of committed capital via four investment funds. Arlington Capital focuses on middle market investment opportunities in growth industries, including: aerospace/defense, government services and technology, healthcare, and business services and software. The firm’s professionals and network have a unique combination of operating and private equity experience that enable Arlington Capital to be a value-added investor. Arlington Capital invests in companies in partnership with high quality management teams that are motivated to establish and/or advance their companies’ position as leading competitors in their field. To learn more about Arlington Capital Partners please visit http://www.arlingtoncap.com.

About Tex Tech

Tex Tech is a leading global designer, engineer, and manufacturer of high-performance, specialty materials for diverse and niche customer applications. The Company manufactures and provides mission-critical materials and products to various OEMs and end users across four primary end markets including aerospace & defense, personal protection, high performance, and sporting applications.

Belcotex Products by Tex Tech

Belcotex manufactures sustainable, environmentally friendly fibers that deliver reliability and versatility in numerous applications. These noncombustible fibers are designed for use with high operating temperatures up to 1050° C. Belcotex’s fibrous materials provide protection, insulation, sealing, filtering, and strengthening.

Tex Tech Industries utilizes Belcotex fibers in our high-end, woven, and nonwoven textiles, selected for the distinct advantages they deliver in a broad range of applications. Our proprietary Tex Tech Woven Style 10089 is composed of Belcotex fibers, providing unmatched benefits in the applications they serve.

About Tex Tech Woven Style 10089

Tex Tech Woven Style 10089 is a high-performance fabric that features quality construction with the following specifications:

• 100% Belcotex fibers, free from organic binders
• Shot-free (Fiber Index 100)
• Non-respirable
• 2×2 basket weave
• 30×15 warp/picks per inch

Tex Tech Woven Style 10089 features superior thermal properties, with a melting range greater than 1500° C. This fiber is designed for long-term continuous use at temperatures up to 1050° C, making it an ideal selection for a range of high-temperature operations and purposes. Mechanical properties of the TexTech Woven Style 10089 include:

• Weight of 15.7 OPSY
• 04” thickness
• 2% shrinkage at 475° F over two hours
• MD breaking strength of 121.67 lbs.
• CMD breaking strength of 62 lbs.
• 7 Mullen burst (lbs./in²)
• Superior drapability
• Very soft hand

Woven fibers are available for combination with non-woven fibers. Virtually any woven fiber can be used, including popular options such as:

• Pre-ox pan
• Para-aramids
• Meta-aramids
• SiO2 fibers
• Pre-ox pan and para-aramid spunlace

Applications & Benefits

Tex Tech’s Woven Style 10089 is ideally suited for use in high stakes industries such as:

• Aerospace
• Defense
• Automotive
• Industrial/construction

With the use of Belcotex fibers, the Tex Tech Woven Style 10089 delivers distinctive benefits and capabilities.

• Protection

Belcotex fibers are used to protect people, capital goods, and the environment. You’ll find these fibers in non-toxic, life-saving systems; fireproof endothermic acoustic insulation and fire blocker; as well as passenger seats on airplanes; efficient automobile emission control; and heat shields and insulation within passenger vehicles.

• Insulation

Belcotex fibers are used as insulating materials for the purposes of saving energy and other resources while reducing emissions, supporting efficient emission control within the automotive industry, and in a range of industrial applications.

• Sealing

For heat and fire safety, Belcotex fibers deliver high-temperature heat sealing. These fibers are trusted in airplane passenger cabins, automobiles, and in a wide range of industrial applications.

• Filtration

Belcotex fibers are used to filter gases and fluids used in life-supporting systems, such as those found in passenger aircraft.

• Strengthening

Belcotex’s lightweight construction technologies and fiber-reinforced composites provide strength to improve the durability and reliability of the products and components in which these fibers are used.

Learn More About Belcotex Products from Tex Tech

Belcotex fibers offer superior qualities that allow Tex Tech to produce high-performance, reliable materials for clients, serving a range of industries and applications. These superior fibers can be combined with other fiber material to create custom solutions offering the properties required to meet the needs of any application.

Learn more about how Tex Tech Industries uses Belcotex non-woven fibers to create superior textile options for a wide range of industries. Contact us today.

Benefits of 3D Woven Components in Aerospace Applications

Advanced composite fabrics are seeing more widespread use in industries that require strong, lightweight materials. The versatility of advanced composites makes them an ideal alternative to metals in a wide array of applications, ranging from ship building to pressure tanks to corrugated steel structures. As manufacturing methods for 3D fabrics improve, they continue to become more cost competitive with metals and other traditional building materials, and more cost effective in general.

Benefits and Features of 3D Woven Components

3D woven fabrics offer many unique features and benefits over competitive materials. Some of these benefits include:

• Strength

3D orthogonally woven fabrics are stronger than previously used 2D laminates, due the lack of crimp of the yarns in the fiber architecture. Many available designs are also comparable in strength to competitive metals.

• Lightweight

Advanced composites weigh significantly less than traditional metals used for crafting components, which makes them ideal for applications where weight is a factor. The lighter weight may also significantly reduce secondary costs, such as transportation.

• Corrosion-resistant

Advanced composites are not subject to corrosion in the way that metals are, making them excellent for use in harsh or rugged environments.

• Durable

2D advanced composites were subject to delamination, where layers crack and separate. This problem has been eliminated in the through thickness fiber reinforcement of composites based on advance 3D woven fabrics.

• Reduced labor costs

Making composite parts with 3D woven fabrics require much less labor than their 2D predecessors, making them more cost-effective. The combination of 3D fabric reinforcements and resin infusion may reduce production time and costs as much as 25%.

3D Woven Fabrics in the Aerospace Industry

In the aerospace sector, 3D woven components have become a popular and innovative alternative—in many cases replacing steel and aluminum alloys. Materials used in the aerospace industry are subject to a variety of special considerations. They must be fail-proof, lightweight, and contribute to maximum fuel efficiency. Additional requirements may include RFI and EMI safeguards, and lightning strike protection.

The aerospace sector has seen the following benefits from 3D woven fabrics:

• Fuel efficiency

3D woven fabrics contribute to overall lighter equipment weight, which is a primary driver of fuel efficiency in aerospace applications.

• Impact resistance

The increased impact resistance of 3D woven fabrics offers significant advantages over 2D laminates and some metals, making them an ideal material for aerospace equipment.

• Design versatility

Complicated designs can be produced in near net shape with 3D weaving. Fibers from a wide range of materials can be easily incorporated to add additional properties, such as ballistic or fire resistance. Variation of the types of fiber and their alignment in the 3D woven fabrics provide for strength and stiffness only where you need them, making these composites superior to many metals when realizing sophisticated component designs.

• Cost effective

The advanced weaving methods used to create 3D woven fabrics produce high-quality, low-cost parts and components, helping engineers stay within strict R&D budgets.

Tex Tech is an industry leader in high performance advanced composites, as demonstrated by more than 80 papers we have published on the subject. Our in-house team of experts can help with prototyping, custom designs, and short-run testing services to help you develop tough, lightweight components that meet the specific needs of your operation or design.

Tex Tech’s 3D woven fabrics have endless applications across a wide range of industries and verticals. To find out more about the most recent developments in 3D woven fabrics, download our 3D Woven Components eBook.

What You Need to Know About Meeting the Rigorous New NIJ Standards

To meet the mandates of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) sponsors the Standards and Testing Program. This is part of a broader research effort that determines the needs of justice system agencies and sets minimum performance standards that must be met in order for commercially available equipment to qualify for purchase consideration.

Manufacturers voluntarily submit laboratory testing and evaluation figures to show that they meet these standards and can reliably meet specific agency needs. The NIJ standards help protect buyers, ensuring that they know the quality of the armor they are provided. Maintaining the NIJ seal is also important for manufacturers, as it allows them to qualify for grant funding.

The standards are not regulatory in nature; rather, they articulate best practices. NIJ standards are also subject to change as continued research and development (R&D) efforts allow for industry driven improvements based on environmental shifts in agency operations. Put simply, this means that the NIJ reserves the right to modify their existing requirements to ensure they’re addressing any perceived weaknesses in different body armor designs.

With this in mind, it’s critical that body armor and tactical gear manufacturers carefully consider how to best comply with evolving NIJ standards.

Changes to the NIJ Standards

In the summer of 2017, the NIJ introduced Standard-0101.07, which will replace Standard- 0101.06 in late 2018. In this interim period, ballistic armor manufacturers have a head start to begin developing their products to the new standards.

Changes to the standards include the following:

• Higher test-round velocity standards

The test-round velocity for conditioned armor will be the same as that for new armor during testing. For example, for 06 Level IIIA the .44 Magnum round is currently shot at 1338FPS for conditioned armor and at 1430FPS for new armor. For the NIJ Standard-0101.07, the velocity for both conditioned and new armor will be the same, raising the bar for body armor manufacturers to keep their armor performing at a high level in an austere environment.

COREMATRIX Technology has been tested and successfully proven to be a superior material in post-conditioned ballistic testing.  With increased post-conditioned velocity testing requirements, we expect COREMATRIX to meet or exceed the requirements of the stringent NIJ 07 standards.

• New threat level definitions

The previous Roman numeral designation system has been eliminated entirely. The lowest soft armor threat level was also removed, raising the minimum standards for soft body armor; II and IIIA have been changed to HG1 and HG2 for handgun threats, while hard armor levels III and IV have been replaced by RF1 and RF3 for rifle threats.

In addition, an RF2 median level was added to the new standard, specifically dedicated to high-performance 5.56 mm ammunition and non-armor piercing 7.62 mm ammunition, bridging a previously existing gap between threat levels for “rifles” and “armor-piercing rifles.” These new definitions will not only allow for more accurate testing, but also give the end-user a better idea of exactly what kind of protection they are wearing.

• Gender-based armor fitting

NIJ-0101.07 standards recognize that body armor fits men and women differently, and as such, releases new testing standards for women’s body armor. New standards require additional test shots in the area around the armor’s bust cups to ensure that armor specifically designed for use by females offers the same ballistic protection.

• More lenient backface standards

The term “backface” refers to the amount of impact the wearer of the body armor experiences. The new proposed standards would allow 2 inches of backface instead of 1.7 inches, which some believe may have a negative medical impact for the wearer. The idea behind loosening this standard, however, is that it will enable the use of lighter materials, which should encourage military personnel and police officers to wear the armor more often.

When body armor manufacturers source, it’s critical that they assess how a certain material or supplier will ensure the end product meets the required standards in order for it to be a viable purchase option. Being able to meet these standards creates consumer confidence and can make all the difference in saving a life.

Exceeding the Standards with Core Matrix Ballistic Material

Core Matrix Technology™ from Tex Tech Industries allows manufacturers to create lighter, flexible, and more comfortable body armor designed to meet all NIJ soft armor standards.

The unique 3D structure of Core Matrix effectively dissipates energy along three separate axes, creating a 360° energy dispersion during a ballistic event. This serves to disperse energy efficiently across three planes so that the energy from an impact moves spherically throughout the entire vest, reliably protecting personnel and ensuring optimal safety on the job.

To learn more about the new NIJ standards or discuss ballistics material options with an expert, reach out to the Tex Tech team today.

A Closer Look at the High-Performance Materials Used for Chlor-Alkali Processing

High-performance materials, specifically high-performance textiles, have a wide range of applications across various industries. Manufactured with the use of traditional fabric-making processes — such as spinning, weaving, and knitting — these engineered fabrics can be designed to meet specific strength and corrosion-resistance requirements and can be made to provide superior protection against natural elements.

These cutting-edge textiles find applications in areas including protective-clothing manufacturing for military and firefighting applications, stain- and moisture-repellent coatings for industrial applications, and corrosion-resistant membranes for corrosive chemical processes. Thanks to this great versatility, the high-performance textile industry is showing sustained annual growth rates close to 20%.

In chlor-alkali processing, in particular, high-performance fabrics play a critical role in ensuring optimal efficiency.

Understanding Chlor-Alkali Processing

Chlor-alkali processing is essentially the electrolysis of sodium chloride (NaCl), allowing for the creation of chlorine and sodium hydroxide, along with hydrogen. All three of these chemicals have many large-scale industrial applications.

The chlor-alkali process makes use of brine and a membrane cell. The anode oxidizes the chloride ion, which loses an electron to become free chlorine gas. The hydrogen ions are pulled from water and reduced at the cathode, forming hydrogen gas. The semi-permeable membrane at the center permits the sodium ions to travel to a second chamber, where they react with water to produce sodium hydroxide.

All of the materials involved in chlor-alkali processing — both raw materials and final products — are highly reactive and corrosive. Therefore, inert materials are essential for successfully carrying out the process.

Tex Tech produces an array of high-performance fabrics specifically suited for such applications. These carbon fiber-based woven materials are resistant to corrosion and can be significantly stretched, improving flexibility and formability. These nonporous woven textile membranes can greatly improve the efficiency of the chlor-alkali process.

Common Applications for Chlor-Alkali Materials

It’s critical to work with a fabric that is compatible with chlor-alkali processing to ensure optimal quality of the resultant chemicals. As mentioned earlier, all three products produced — chlorine, hydrogen, and sodium hydroxide — are widely employed across various industries.

In fact, chlorine is used in roughly 55% of all industrial chemical processes and has applications in the manufacturing of plastics and resins, water purification processes, and the production of pure silicon, which is used in electronic components and solar panels.

Similarly, sodium hydroxide, or caustic soda, is widely used in food manufacturing, aluminum manufacturing, and the textile industry, in addition to serving as a cleaning agent.

Hydrogen, as a combustible gaseous fuel, is used in fuel cells, and in the manufacture of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide.

Learn More

Given the critical nature of chlor-alkali processing and the corrosive nature of the materials involved,  it’s essential to make use of a woven fabric that is completely compatible with the process.

As an industry leader in cutting-edge, high-performance materials, Tex Tech offers a wide range of innovative products to suit all types of industrial needs. With over a century of experience and over 7,000 textile products under our belt, we are uniquely qualified to assist clients in the material selection process.

To learn more about our high-performance textile products, including those for chlor-alkali processing, contact the team today.