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August 2010
BROOM, BRUSH & MOP
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company is only 10 years old and we have some people who have been here 7 or 8 years. It certainly helps to have these veteran employees on our staff.” Another positive for the young company has been its website, www.libertybrush.com. The website has attracted enough interest that the company is planning an upgrade in the near future. While automation is an important aspect of Liberty Brush’s manufacturing process, it is only one of the keys to the company’s success, along with quality products, customer service and dedicated knowledgeable employees. “Automation is important. It is something that we are working on, but it is not our top priority. As we continue to upgrade our business, it is definitely something that we keep in mind. However, we are not building our business around automation. Everything we do is staple set. It is all done by machines, but we are not going robotic or anything like that,” Bjornberg said. Moving forward in today’s uncertain economy, there are chal-
lenges to overcome. One issue that Bjornberg said he worries about is the possibility that outsourcing may become more prominent. Thus far, Bjornberg reported, this has not been a serious problem. More immediate challenges the company faces are those associated with the trend of vendors to consolidate. “Also, raw material costs have gone up and lead times are a problem, especially in the nylon market,” Bjornberg said. “Challenges notwithstanding, Liberty Brush and the industry as a whole are in a good position to grow. The economy will pick back up. It appears that manufacturing jobs are what is needed to boost the economy right now, and our industry is in a position to grow and provide those types of jobs.” Contact: Liberty Brush Manufacturing, LLC, 1475 Maras St. S, Shakopee, MN 55379. Phone: 877-275-2500; Fax: 952-402-9449. E-mail: info@libertybrush.com. Website: www.libertybrush.com.
Fiber/Filament
inside of roofing, snow and railroad brooms. “More than likely, you wouldn’t find (palmyra) in a broom bought in a store unless it was a specialized type of store for contractors,” Caddy said. In terms of total units shipped, he added the vast majority of broom corn bales from R.E. Caddy is delivered to commercial broom makers, but there are plenty of people who still make handmade craft brooms as well. “Classes are taught at various places around the country. People are always learning how to make brooms,” Caddy said. Demand for natural broom making materials on the commercial side is greatest during the summer, although business is conducted throughout the year. On the craft side, most customers seek supplies from March through October, although this too is a yearly business for R.E. Caddy. Along with fiber, the company provides other supplies to help its customers produce various types of brooms — as well as brushes and mops. This includes steel wire, which is used to either wind brooms and mops, or under special applications, to staple set brushes. R.E. Caddy also supplies nails, either for nail machines or to be used when making brooms by hand; polyethylene sewing twine for stitching brooms; broom knives and a variety of other tools used in the craft broom industry. “Those in the craft trade like a variety of knives, hand sewing needles and all kinds of threads and twines. It’s quite a variety of supplies,” Caddy said. “The bulk of our sales comes from commercial factories, however, so for those customers it’s confined to broom corn, yucca and palmyra fiber, wood handles, steel wire, nails — these are the main components that we supply.” Caddy described the fiber business for his company as being good of late, especially when considering the fragile U.S. economy experienced in many regions of the country. “Customers who are commercial broom manufacturers are still keeping busy in the retail sector, while sales from customers catering to jan/san distributors have been very strong,” Caddy said. “On the craft broom side, I had one customer who felt there was less traffic last year at craft markets, but this seems to have picked up a bit in 2010.” R.E. Caddy & Company was incorporated in 1958 by the late
Continued From Page 16 according to Crawford. Among the synthetic filament product mix available from Monahan Filaments are nylon 6, nylon 6.6, nylon 6.12, polyester (both PBT and PET), polyethylene, PPS and polypropylene. These filaments can be used for the production of staple set and strip type brushes found in industrial, oral care, paint, construction and automotive markets. “We are constantly evaluating new materials and new sources of raw material,” Crawford said. He added that overall demand for the type of filaments provided by the company has been strong as of the middle of July. “The year started strong and continues, with new inquiries and new applications for filaments coming in,” he said. “Lead times have been reduced by working with customers on forecasting, combining orders, consolidating product offerings and holding stock where it makes sense to do so.” Monahan Filaments continues to operate with both direct sales people as well as representatives who are technically knowledgeable in brushmaking and materials, Crawford explained. Contact: Monahan Filaments, 215 Egyptian Trail, Arcola, IL 61910. Phone: 217-268-4957 or 800-451-3448. E-mail: info@monahanfilaments.com. Website: www.monahanfilaments.com.
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hen it comes to natural broom production materials, R.E. Caddy & Co., supplies both broom corn hurl and insides as well as yucca and palmyra fibers. The vast majority of these natural fibers is grown and imported from Mexico. For the past 52 years, the Greensboro, NC, company has worked with many commercial and craft broom makers to help supply their needs. R.E. Caddy & Co. President Richard Caddy explained that broom corn and yucca fiber can be used together for making brooms. This is called a blended broom as opposed to an allbroom corn broom. Palmyra stalks, meanwhile, are used in the production of certain types of commercial brooms. Some broom manufacturers use these stalks as stiffeners that are placed in the