Ammeraal Beltech leads lightweight belting 'renaissance' in US

As most airfaring commuters probably know, major U.S. airports are undergoing major construction.

U.S. food service continues to dominate the lightweight belting landscape.

And as most drivers probably know, the post-modern car wash looks quite a bit different than the conveyor belt-driven tunnel that modular units are replacing.

So what is the common denominator?

All are markets in which Netherlands-based Ammeraal Beltech—a producer of lightweight belting in Georgia and Pennsylvania—is looking to make its mark.

"Food service, distribution, warehousing and packaging ... all of these markets are booming. And there is huge demand at airports, which continue to grow at between 10 and 12 percent CAGR per year," Niels van den Boogert, vice president and general manager for conveying solutions at Ammega, told Rubber News. "Food is tremendous. Think of M&M and the Mars family, Kellogg's ... in the U.S. there is so much food production just in the bakery and confectionary spaces alone."

Ammeraal Beltech, with production sites in Buford, Ga., for PVC- and urethane-based synthetic belting; and in Reading, Pa., for modular belting, is the flagship for Ammega Group and the most vertically integrated segment in the group.

"We are doing a lot of work to keep the standards the same globally," van den Boogert said. "We are doing a lot of testing to make sure our products are the same between Asia and the U.S."

Ammeraal has added a second, 100,000-square-foot facility in Reading, doubling the injection molding equipment there, with a goal of molding between 80 and 90 percent of its sprockets, pins and modular accessories for U.S. demand in Pennsylvania, as opposed Ammeraal manufacturing locations in Denmark.

Megadyne, with manufacturing sites in Buford, Ga. (about three miles from the Ammeraal facility), and Charlotte, N.C. (a sister plant to the Megadyne flagship in Italy), makes power transmission belts and components, or the "guts" of a conveyance system that make everything else move.

According to van den Boogert, achieving success in the larger U.S. markets requires a uniquely local philosophy, a go-to-market tack that is very different from the approach in Europe.

Both Ammeraal and Megadyne—which maintain about equal shares of overall Ammega net sales—are taking this "House of Brands" approach toward what Kyoyul Oh, vice president and general manager, power transmission and fluid power at Ammega, called "an American manufacturing renaissance" in lightweight belting.

"Ammeral has excellent brand awareness in the U.S., known for the quality of product as well as the right variance of product," van den Boogert said. "If you look at the last four years in the U.S., word has gotten out on local manufacturing. Our customers are seeing local manufacturing changing the industry and the space, and it has worked out very well for us.

"Local manufacturing has changed our world."

At the same time, Ammega has 81 service centers in Europe, with vastly different market channels than the U.S.

"Distribution for conveying in Europe does not play nearly as a big a role because countries are half the size of U.S. states," van den Boogert said. "So there, each country has its own service centers.

"But in the U.S., a direct approach can be difficult ... and distribution is really powerful and important in the U.S."

As Ammeraal makes further inroads in the U.S., Ammega Group has adopted the Built American Proud campaign, which is committed to localizing the supply chain and "growing the American work force."

"We are booming in every major lightweight belting market," van den Boogert said, adding that Ammega recently invested in EV belting solutions, specifically in and around the battery space. "We did hire a specialist to focus on the EV market today. We really want to study that market because we see big potential in and around batteries."

As car washes become automated via Ammeraal's Beltech's modular products, Ammeraal itself is investing in automation in its own production process.

"When it comes to automation, we get a budget each year for productivity improvement," van den Boogert said. "What drives quality? How can we fabricate faster, and how can we make more belts, more efficiently?"

For product investments, Ammeraal has launched a lightweight belt in Europe (Belgium), with a planned launch in the U.S. in 2025, that contains a microchip for preventative maintenance, among other analytics.

In July, Ammega released the Ropanol EX (from Ammeraal), and Titanium belt (from Megadyne) that were developed and driven by demand in the logistics space, and can help companies reduce down time as well.

The Ropanol EX belt is intended for use in sortation systems and high-speed automated conveyance units, including airport luggage carriers. Ammeraal uses a proprietary fabric coating on the bottom of the Ropanol EX to minimize noise.

And these sorts of launches are catered toward the legacy lightweight belting industry, which tends to comprise smaller firms, as well as newer startups.

"As manufacturers look to improve efficiency, lower costs and reduce the physical demands on warehouse employees, these needs also translate to conveying equipment. Our goal is to continually support manufacturers, including startups and smaller emerging brands, with solutions to advance their business,'' van den Boogert said.

These investments in process automation and product launches follow an Ammega-wide, $100 million investment made in January, and a $19 million investment in Ammeraal in Georgia in 2021, which has doubled in capacity since then.

And in the first quarter of next year, Ammeraal will move its American headquarters (which also features a fabrication facility) from Skokie, Ill., to a new, 100,000-square-foot facility in Chicago, just outside of O'Hare International Airport.

"We are really excited to open this new fabrication facilty," van den Boogert said.

Investments in the U.S. and North America are not likely to be done, and bolt-on acquisitions have been a bread-and-butter avenue for Ammega.

"From our perspective, what is unique is that both Megadyne and Ammeraal have grown through acquisitions, it's in our DNA," van den Boogert said. "By that I mean we undertand how to make it work."

Ammega closely evaluates both the human talent and technological prowess of each new company, even moving people around to create new careers, employing best practices where those practices best fit.

"And this structure allows our customers to have the best quality and offerings," he said.

Ammega Group employs about 6,200 people worldwide, and Ammeraal employs about 3,000 of those people, van den Boogert said.

Outside of the U.S., Ammeraal Beltech maintains operations in China, the Netherlands, England, Denmark, Switzerland, Mexico (high-volume runs, typically for OEMs) and Canada.

The U.S. sites manufacture lightweight, modular and synthetic belts, while Swiss operations focus on high-performance belts.

Ammega's belting network is split among Ammeraal Beltech, Megadyne and Beacon, N.Y.-based Chemprene, a distinctly American brand of lightweight belting that Ammega acquired following the 2018 merger (and invested $14 million in, in 2021).

Uni and Jason Industrial round out Ammega's brands.