Engineered Floors Focuses on PET Carpet

Dalton, GA, Dec. 12, 2011 -- Engineered Floors has been a success story in the last two years despite a severe downturn in the carpet industry in general.

The firm, founded by Bob Shaw, former CEO and founder of Shaw Industries, has been hiring workers and building new plants, while many carpet firms have been doing just the opposite, according to a story in the Chattanooga Times Free Press. It primarily serves the multi-family housing market.

By the end of next year, the firm should have about 1,100 workers.

One of the keys to Engineered Floors success is that the firm is using new technology that is less expensive to operate, while the competition is generally using equipment from the 1980s and has higher transportation costs.

Shaw built everything from scratch to cut out parts of the manufacturing process that technology has made obsolete, he told the Times Free Press.

Engineered Floors focuses on solution-dyed polyester and makes it at less cost than its competitors.

The polyester fiber is more widely available than the commonly used nylon, which gives Engineered Floors company better buying power and doesn’t force it to compete with larger players for supplies, Shaw told the newspaper.

Shaw, at 80 years old, said he got back into the business because he wants to see North Georgia prosper again.

Print the Article