His company’s key differentiators? “Quality products, support and responsiveness,” he said. “Spare parts and technical service, along with the ability to understand how we can solve issues and capitalize on opportunities at hand, set us apart. Excellent response times and continued long-term relationships with remaining customers allow us all to continue to adapt to the ‘new norm.’ "

 

McCoy Machinery has survived by reinventing itself through adding contract warping and knitting and through redefining its offerings in the marketplace, Ahlstrom said.

 

“We offer a superior re-conditioned warping systems at a fraction of the cost of a new one, and far-superior-to-the-average used equipment found in the market, which has proven to be quite popular and successful for us and our customers,” he said. “We also recondition drive and control systems for any type of equipment as well as provide new and reconditioned tension control systems to give our customers the edge in performance, and a noted reduction in the bottom line. We’re now designing specific equipment for the carbon fiber and composites industries that will target pre-preg, coating, weaving and filament winding across the entire composite industry.”

 

The balance of the year looks “very promising,” he added.

 

“Composite weaving activity is high, as well as pre-preg creel requests,” Ahlstrom said. “We also have several complete warping systems coming in the next two quarters, so the outlook is bright.”

 

Beyond the company’s outlook, he said he sees a bright future for the industry, too.

 

“It appears that there are several companies reviving products and processes, as well as a few newcomers that are adding fuel to the ‘textiles are coming back’ fire,” Ahlstrom said. “Technical and specialty products and processes will be the future for those of us left in the industry, and our evolution and ability to endure the past several years will serve us well moving forward.”

 

For more information, visit McCoyMachinery.com.