The factory expansion of 500,000 sq Ft is fully in progress and is due to be completed February 2018. Progressing well, CFL is going through a growth sprint. Reaction of customers to all our new products are tremendous ! We can not be grateful enough to our worldwide partners !!
Read story on floor covering weekly
We held the ceremony on December 1st in its headquarters in the presence of over 300 people, including top international and local government officials.
It was a great opportunity to have our partners come visit our facilities and experience first hand our ambitious expansion plans for 2017.
The expansion will consist of a $20 million investment in new buildings at our headquarters. The facilities will add half a million square feet of new production space, and a new R&D center with focus on continuing to lead the development of waterproof flooring and take the category to a new level.
Thomas Baert – Co-founder : “Our new buildings will allow us to have the most professional Research and Development center in the country, and will include an independent accredited laboratory to be able to guarantee the highest quality standards. CFL has applied and received over 20 patents in the last several years. We strongly believe that innovation is the heart of the success of our company, and it will continue to be our focus thanks to these significant investments”
We are excited to announce that CFL Flooring is a proud co-founder of the newly established Multilayer Flooring Association (MFA) with Mr. Barron Frith (CEO CFL North America) appointed Executive Vice President. Other MFA members include six leading flooring companies: Armstrong, USFloors, Metroflor, Mannington, Novalis and Torlys.
Multilayer hybrid floors is a new category of floor coverings introduced in 2013. In just a few years it has seen a massive growth in popularity.
The MFA has been formed to serve the North American floor covering industry with the goal to establish necessary product standards and ensure a stable sector growth.
Read the news on Floor Covering Weekly
Read the news on FloorDaily.net
The next official MFA meeting will be held in January at Surfaces 2017 in Las Vegas.
Come and see our newest innovations at the show, booth 1109.
For more information email us at marketing@CFLflooring.com
MFA BOD (from left to right): Barron Frith (Vice President, CFL Flooring), Harlan Stone (President, Halstead Corporation/Metroflor), Jamey Block (Secretary, Armstrong Flooring, Inc.), Philippe Erramuzpe (Membership Chairperson, USFloors).
CFL group of companies has gone through a name change to better reflect the existing situation of the company : CFL (Creative Flooring Solutions). CFL for years has been on the forefront of flooring innovation and is widely known for being a Creative innovator, providing solutions for its customers to achieve better margins in a competitive industry. CFL has grown into a 200 million dollar sales company with international management teams in different countries.
The company is planning for a major international expansion also exploring opportunities to manufacture closer to its customer base. The name change is preparing for this.
[Zhejiang, China] CFL is a top notch production facility up to Western standards located just outside of Shanghai. Founded in 2004 by European owners, CFL has evolved into one of the leading exporters of flooring from Asia by using a laser-like focus on innovation, quality and service. Their collections of products include laminate, luxury vinyl, wood and, since 2015, WPC.
In the past decade, CFL has brought unique and first-to-market innovations to their U.S. flooring partners. A $5 million capital investment for WPC (Water Proof Core) production was initiated in 2015 and production is now fully on stream. This will be followed by another $9 million investment in 2016 for additional machinery and new buildings.
“We continue to grow quickly,” advised Thomas Baert, co-owner of CFL. “In 2015, we will realize growth of approximately 35 percent over 2014, with global sales now at $160 million with 1,500 employees.”
“We are passionate about bringing new innovations across our product categories allowing our worldwide customers to make premium margins,” continued Baert. “For our new WPC brand of waterproof core flooring, we have made the investments to do the same. We are in a unique position to drive a total new booming flooring category.”
As a company, one of the most interesting aspects of CFL (as well as its biggest strength) is the abundance of western executive management staff at the factory. Key executives from more than 10 countries including the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Belgium, Brazil and others are part of the CFL team. CFL has offices and distribution centers in Belgium, U.K., Russia and the U.S. CFL seems to be able to combine the strengths of the East and West.
“That’s a huge factor contributing to CFL’s success,” commented Perry Coker, CEO of the North America division. “We understand the North America market. We identify marketing opportunities, thus bringing new ideas and creative products to our customers. We understand the distribution channel, and the need to partner with a manufacturer that can provide unique style and design across several categories. And we have the flexibility to support private label.”
CFL invites anyone traveling to Asia to visit their corporate manufacturing facilities. FCW will be hosting a group of leading U.S. buyers to China in March during the Domotex Asia/Chinafloor exhibition: www.domotexasiachinafloor.com. CFL will be hosting the U.S. group and will be able to demonstrate because seeing is believing!
Click here to view the article on Floor Covering Weekly
Big thanks to our international sales team who made the trip to China to join our annual sales conference and to our China team for organizing such great events.
Despite the challenging environment in 2015, CFL as a group has never grown so much in one year!
THANK YOU to all our customers who continue to put their trust in our products & services.
Big things coming up in 2016!
The innovation center of CFL filed 4 additional worldwide patents in 2015 related to new flooring technology, thus confirming our drive to further innovation.
Karel Vervaet and Pieter Vanhulle have taken the lead of CFL’ European sales offices and distribution center in Deerlijk, Belgium.
Karel has been part of the team since 2005. After occupying different positions in business development and operations, he headed the luxury vinyl division out of China and has moved back to Europe in 2014.
Pieter is a new team member and has worked in the floor coverings industry for over 10 years.
In the context of the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan to Belgium, CFL president & co-founder Thomas Baert had the honor of meeting both Mr. Xi as well as the Belgian Royal Couple at the College of Europe in Bruges.
After his meeting with the Chinese president, Thomas Baert, who started working in China 18 years ago and where he co-founded CFL in 2004, was interviewed by the local television channel Focus WTV, mentioning “This is a real coronation for every Belgian person. Today you need to be proud. This is the recognition of the year long cooperation between our province and China. This is a very important moment … the proof of the importance of Bruges and our country.”
Belgium was one of the first Western countries who established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, in 1971.
CFL is pleased to announce the introduction of its WPC line, the next step in rigid Core waterproof flooring.
This new type of resilient hybrid floor is 100% waterproof and extra stable to humidity variations. Made from an extruded thermo plastic core combined with an enhanced urethane wear layer and backed with a hypoallergenic layer of cork, it is the Next Step in Rigid Core Waterproof Flooring.
President CFL Thomas Baert, “We are excited about launching our WPC line to the market during Domotex Asia/Chinafloor (Hall E1, E01) next week. Our new top notch factory is fully on stream and we are proud to be able to offer our customers all legal securities.”
More info at sales@CFLflooring.com
