Segment Information

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2013

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Segment Information

10.   Segment Information

The Company’s reportable segments are Performance Materials, Thermal/Acoustical Metals, and Thermal/Acoustical Fibers. The Performance Materials segment reports the results of the Industrial Filtration, Industrial Thermal Insulation, and Life Sciences Filtration businesses. The Thermal/Acoustical Metals segment reports the results of Lydall’s automotive business which includes metal parts and related tooling. The Thermal/Acoustical Fibers segment reports the results of Lydall’s automotive business, which includes fiber parts and related tooling. Other Products and Services (“OPS”) includes Life Sciences Vital Fluids.

Performance Materials Segment

The Performance Materials segment includes filtration media solutions for air, fluid power, and industrial applications (“Industrial Filtration”), air and liquid life science applications (“Life Sciences Filtration”), and industrial thermal insulation solutions for building products, appliances, and energy and industrial markets (“Industrial Thermal Insulation”). Industrial Filtration products include LydAir^® MG (Micro-Glass) Air Filtration Media, LydAir^® MB (Melt Blown) Air Filtration Media, Lydair^® SC (Synthetic Composite) Air Filtration Media, and Arioso™ Membrane Composite Media. These products constitute the critical media components of clean-air systems for applications in clean-space, commercial, industrial and residential HVAC, power generation, and industrial processes. Lydall has leveraged its extensive technical expertise and applications knowledge into a suite of media products covering the vast liquid filtration landscape across the engine and industrial fields. The LyPore^® Liquid Filtration Media and activated carbon containing ActiPure^® Filtration Media series address a variety of application needs in fluid power, including hydraulic filters, air-water and air-oil coalescing, industrial fluid processes, diesel filtration and fuel filtration.

Life Sciences Filtration products include the LyPore^® and Actipure^® Filtration Media developed to meet the requirements of life science applications, including biopharmaceutical pre-filtration and clarification, diagnostic and analytical testing, respiratory protection, life protection, medical air filtration, drinking water filtration and high purity process filtration such as that found in food and beverage and medical applications. Lydall also offers Solupor^® Membrane specialty microporous membranes that are utilized in various markets and applications, including air and liquid filtration and transdermal drug delivery. Solupor^® membranes are made from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene and incorporate a unique combination of mechanical strength, chemical inertness, and high porosity in a unique open structure.

Industrial Thermal Insulation products are high performance nonwoven veils, papers, mats and specialty composites for the building products, appliance, and energy and industrial fields. The Manniglas^® Thermal Insulation brand is diverse in its product application, ranging from high temperature seals and gaskets in ovens to specialty veils for HVAC and cavity wall insulation. The appLY^® Needled Glass Mats have been developed to expand Lydall’s high temperature technology portfolio for broad application into the appliance market and supplements the Lytherm^® Insulation Media product brand, traditionally utilized in the industrial market for kilns and furnaces used in metal processing. Lydall’s Cryotherm^® Super-Insulating Media, CRS-Wrap^® Super-Insulating Media and Cryo-Lite™ Cryogenic Insulation products are industry standards for state-of-the-art cryogenic insulation designs used by manufacturers of cryogenic equipment for liquid gas storage, piping, and transportation.

Thermal/Acoustical Metals Segment

The Thermal/Acoustical Metals segment offers a range of innovative engineered products to assist in noise and heat abatement within the transportation sector. Lydall products are found in the underbody (tunnel, fuel tank, exhaust, rear muffler, and spare tire) and under hood (engine compartment, turbo charger, and manifolds) of cars, vans, trucks, SUVs, heavy duty trucks and recreational vehicles.

Thermal/Acoustical Metals segment products are stamped metal combinations which provide thermal and acoustical shielding solutions for the global automotive and truck markets. Thermal/Acoustical Metals products include AMS^® shield which is an all metal shield designed to be used in various vehicle applications, and Direct Exhaust Mount Heat shields which are mounted to high temperature surfaces like exhaust down-pipes or engine manifolds using aluminized and stainless steel with high performance heat absorbing metals. The recently developed and patented CLD (constraint layer damped) material used in our heat shields is a lightweight material with characteristics to reduce vibration and parasitic noise on powertrain mounted heat shields.

Thermal/Acoustical Fibers Segment

The Thermal/Acoustical Fibers segment offers a line of innovative engineered products to assist in noise and heat abatement within the transportation sector. Lydall products are found in the interior (dash insulators), underbody (wheel well, fuel tank, and exhaust) and under hood (engine compartment) of cars, vans, trucks, SUVs, heavy duty trucks and recreational vehicles.

Thermal/Acoustical Fibers segment products offer thermal and acoustical insulating solutions comprised of organic and inorganic fiber composites for the automotive and truck markets primarily in North America. Lydall’s dBCore^® composite is a lightweight acoustical composite that emphasizes absorption principles over heavy-mass type systems. Lydall’s dBLyte^® barrier is a high-performance acoustical barrier with sound absorption and blocking properties and can be used throughout a vehicle’s interior to minimize intrusive noise from an engine compartment and road. Lydall’s ZeroClearance^® barrier is an innovative thermal solution that utilizes an adhesive backing for attachment and is ideal for protecting floor sheet metal from excessive exhaust heat. Lydall’s specially engineered wheel wells provide a solution with weight reduction and superior noise suppression capabilities over conventional designs.

Thermal/Acoustical Metals segment and Thermal/Acoustical Fibers segment operating results include allocations of certain costs shared between the segments.

Other Products and Services

The Life Sciences Vital Fluids business offers specialty products for blood filtration devices, blood transfusion single-use containers and bioprocessing single-use containers and products for containment of media, buffers and bulk intermediates used in biotech, pharmaceutical and diagnostic reagent manufacturing processes.

The tables below present net sales and operating income by segment for the quarters and nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, and also a reconciliation of total segment net sales and operating income to total consolidated net sales and operating income.

Consolidated net sales by segment:

	Quarter Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
In thousands	2013		2012		2013		2012
Performance Materials Segment:
Industrial Filtration	$	15,536	$	17,035	$	50,089	$	53,320
Industrial Thermal Insulation		9,877		10,647		26,612		30,497
Life Sciences Filtration		2,447		3,128		7,610		8,604
Performance Materials Segment net sales		27,860		30,810		84,311		92,421
Thermal/Acoustical Metals Segment:
Metal parts		32,910		31,347		101,976		104,893
Tooling		2,939		5,249		14,995		11,501
Thermal/Acoustical Metals Segment net sales		35,849		36,596		116,971		116,394
Thermal/Acoustical Fibers Segment:
Fiber parts		26,642		23,484		80,884		69,821
Tooling		4,533		146		6,177		891
Thermal/Acoustical Fibers Segment net sales		31,175		23,630		87,061		70,712
Other Products and Services:
Life Sciences Vital Fluids		4,114		4,326		12,684		12,306
Other Products and Services net sales		4,114		4,326		12,684		12,306
Eliminations and Other		(1,003)		(1,195)		(2,952)		(3,377)
Consolidated Net Sales	$	97,995	$	94,167	$	298,075	$	288,456

Operating income by segment:

	Quarter Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
In thousands	2013		2012		2013		2012
Performance Materials	$	2,419	$	3,325	$	6,967	$	10,427
Thermal/Acoustical Metals		3,742		2,612		11,191		11,729
Thermal/Acoustical Fibers		5,206		3,445		16,792		9,056
Other Products and Services		112		354		593		874
Corporate Office Expenses		(4,093)		(4,536)		(12,119)		(12,741)
Consolidated Operating Income	$	7,386	$	5,200	$	23,424	$	19,345