A tale of two families, 200 years strong.

AstenJohnson’s history in the paper industry dates back to 1790, when the Johnson family opened Manchester Wire Works in Manchester, England. Nearly 100 years later, the Asten family launched V. Asten and Company in Belgium, producing felts for European papermakers. The family then started a separate company Asten-Hill Manufacturing Company in Philadelphia in 1931, thirty years after the Johnsons began operations in Montreal.

In 1999, Asten, Inc. and the JWI Group merged; they acquired Asten AG in Eupen, Belgium the following year. Additional changes and acquisitions quickly followed, including the 2003 addition of a sales and marketing office in Singapore, the 2004 opening of a new PMC manufacturing facility in Suzhou, China, and the 2005 acquisition of Czech Republic-based PMC manufacturer, Sitos.

Today, AstenJohnson products are at work in mills throughout the world. Our products help create all types of paper, including tissue, communications and packaging. Papermakers in 56 countries trust in and profit from our headbox-to-reel understanding of their operations.

Timeline

1790
JWI founded in England as Manchester Wire Works

1852
Johnson Family purchases Manchester Wire Works

1882
Manchester Wire Works becomes C.H. Johnson & Sons Limited

1901
Charles Johnson opens first North American operations in Montreal, Canada

1963
Enters Dryer Market

1966
Enters drainage equipment business

1975
Opens Extrusion Facility in Williston, VT

1981
Enters Press Felt Market

1882
Oscar von Asten cofounds first Belgian-Austrian felt company in Vienna.

1890
Oscar von Asten becomes sole owner of Asten & Co.

1931
Eduard von Asten and Harold Hill open first U.S. dryer felt company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1966
Enters press felt market

1969
Asten-Hill Mfg. Co. acquires Wisconsin Wires, Inc. and becomes total length clothing company

1977
Opens specialty fabrics

1988
Opens extrusion facility in Summerville, SC

1999
Asten and JWI Group merge to become AstenJohnson

2000
Acquires Asten AG in Eupen, Belgium

2003
Opens Sales and Marketing office in Singapore

2005
Opens Dryer Facility in Suzhou, China

2005
Acquires Sitos a.s. in Strakonice, Czech Republic

2007
Opens Forming Facility in Suzhou, China

2009
Opens Press Facility in Suzhou, China

2014
Acquires Eagle Nonwovens in St. Louis, Missouri

2017
Acquires Foss Manufacturing (Northern Division) in Hampton, New Hampshire

2022
Foss & Eagle unite under the name AJ Nonwovens

2023
Opens AJ Nonwovens Facility in Waco, Texas