Ulster Carpets Installs New Patented Technology

Portadown, Ireland, March 6, 2008--Ulster Carpets has completed a $29 million investment in new technology at its Portadown factory, which will enable it to beat cheap competition from the Far East, the company said.

The carpet manufacturer said it has developed a revolutionary weaving system known as PSYLO.

The system changes the traditional weaving system of using 10,000 small bobbins loaded on looms to one involving 1,000 larger cones, leading to a 90 per cent reduction in both set-up time and waste.

In addition, while traditional looms can cope with up to 12 colors, the PSYLO technology allows up to 25.

"Our rivals use technology based on a 200-year-old design, this new system means that we can make carpets of a quality nobody else can match – and the savings we make in efficiency mean that we can beat off competition from the Far East," said Ulster Carpets' managing director Nick Coburn.

The company's new weaving system, which won the Queen's Award for Innovation last year, has been patented world-wide – preventing anyone else from using it.

The movie Ocean's Eleven was based in three Las Vegas casinos – the Mirage, the MGM and the Bellagio – all of which were carpeted by Ulster Carpets.

Top-class hotels around the world carpeted by Ulster Carpets include The Ritz Hotel in London, The Waldorf Astoria in New York, the George V in Paris and the Culloden in Belfast.