Sleep Better leads way in Carpenter build up

By Michele SanFilippo -- Home Textiles Today, 9/19/2003 12:00:00 AM

RICHMOND, VA —

Sleep Better manufacturer Carpenter Co. will nearly triple its capacity this market, after growing at a rate of 40 percent the first half of the year, preceded by double-digit growth in each of the previous four years.

The supplier and manufacturer of bedding products designed to enhance sleep has taken its Sleep Better products to the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Denmark and Sweden.

"We are growing our business in all areas requiring us to increase our capacity for all of our businesses in the consumer area," explained Dan Schecter, vp, sales and marketing at Carpenter. The company is adding a total of eight high-speed quilters and 15 garnets (machines that pull and rack fibers) to its plants and increasing its capacity for form and foam-related products.

Carpenter's most recent expansion in Elkhart, IN, features a full-blown consumer facility for foam and polyester products. "When you consider the demand for our Sleep Better products in the United States and our consumer effort in Europe and the United Kingdom, it is a very exciting time for us," added Schecter, who explained that Carpenter has had a presence in the European marketplace for more than five years.

"We expect great things from our manufacturing arm and our people over the next several years. We've been exporting Sleep Better to most every country in the world, [so] it is time to really drive the business. Our Sleep Better marketing program has provided U.S. customers with an exceptional opportunity to increase margins and [gain] a competitive advantage," said Schecter.

The company has manufacturing facilities in Germany and France for production of visco products, in the United Kingdom for poly products, and in Denmark and Sweden for molding visco items.

In addition, the company just completed the transition to a new operating system that offers more management and manufacturing tools in order to make certain it can provide the best possible service to its customers worldwide.

"We deal in sleep here; we don't just sell pillows and pads," said Schecter, referencing the 14 labs Carpenter has at its tech center in Richmond. "We take all that science and bring it to the basics business. That's how we come up with all the components for our cutting-edge restful sleep products." Carpenter also conducts scientific research for mattress giants such as Sealy, Serta, Simmons and Kings Down.