Dear Valued Customer,
It is with great pleasure for me to have the opportunity to lead our organization into its next phase of success for 2019. The past year was marked by the hard work and dedication our staff had put forth in supporting our mission. Undoubtedly, 2018 was another year of many achievements and accomplishments. As other markets mature, and competition increases, we believe that beyond our services, becoming more efficient in everything we do will differentiate us from our competition. I am pleased to announce to you that we continue to respond to the challenges in the Global markets and ended the year with excellent results. I am also happy to report that last year we were able to capitalize with more modern equipment in order to increase better efficiencies and enhance product quality. Today, I am proud to report that all aspects of the company continue to trend favorably due to the hard work performed from our sales and engineering teams in solving industry needs particularly, in the railway transportation industry both domestically and internationally.
Crystex Composites LLC continues to establish solid, constructive, working relationships with international partners in the European Union, South Africa, Japan, South Korea, China, and many others. These new ventures have resulted in more tax paying jobs here in the U.S.A. Opportunities with these international partners have brought additional revenue to Crystex in the last few years and will continue in years to come.
With 2018 behind us, I think it is important to spend a few moments reflecting on the accomplishments of the past few years and the challenges that still lie ahead.
2017 and 2018 highlights, the past two years were marked by many achievements that have allowed Crystex to expand its product lines, provide better service and enhanced quality. These will continue to provide opportunities for more growth.
Capital and New Product Development
In response to domestic and international market demands. Crystex continues to develop a range of other high voltage stand-off insulators for the railway industry. These parts will meet all the required regulations and offer enhancements over traditional designs that have been used for many decades. The new parts were developed to meet current and future demands of the users. Additional parts will be added in 2019. These products are completely lead-free, RoHS compliant and have a maximum working temperature of 450 degrees C.
- Development of other studs and brush holders insulators for railway traction motors.
- In order to meet just on time delivery requirements for customers all over the world, Crystex has a large warehouse that is stocked with parts.
- Purchased more new CNC milling centers, and more CNC turning lathes along with the estate of the art Coordinate Measuring Equipment.
- Replaced and updated all hydraulic systems on all high tonnage transfer mold presses in the molding department to assure better mechanical and dielectric strength and production efficiencies. Roughly two million dollars investment.
- Crystex continues to be a lead-free facility, completely green RHOS compliant.
- After an extensive ISO audit, Crystex received the new ISO 9001/2015 certification from an accredited French agency in Paris (AB certification.)
- Ongoing commitments to continue the modernization of our equipment and buildings.
Financial and Operating Performance
- Strengthen the Company’s balance sheet
- Remained profitable while absorbing capital and modernization costs
- Up-dated our enterprise resource software (Mass 200) to provide a better foundation for reporting, analysis, and integration.
- Our new Crystex website will allow Crystex to have an online presence to establish the credibility of our products.
Summary:
In closing, our top priority for 2019 is to continue to expand the breadth and depth of our products and to raise the company’s visibility whilst continuing to enhance quality and more revenue. We will continue to transform our business model to compete on a broader scale. Our main philosophy is to strive for operational excellence in a culture focused on innovation to meet and exceed our customer’s expectations for service and quality, which underscores the Company’s dedication to continued success in the years ahead.
I appreciate your continued interest and support of our Mykroy/Mycalex products and look forward to reporting to you our continued progress throughout the next coming year. As always, I would also like to extend a sincere thank you to our customers and our employees whose contributions to our efforts create the opportunity to deliver a higher quality product and outstanding customer service. Best wishes to all of you for a successful 2019.
George Flores
President & CEO
Crystex Composites LLC. 2019