Hexcel
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Industrial materials, aerospace, defense, recreational equipment |
| Predecessor | California Reinforced Plastics |
| Founded | 1948 |
| Founder | Engineers from the University of California at Berkeley |
| Headquarters | Stamford, Connecticut , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Tom Gentile (CEO), Colleen Pritchett (President - Aerospace Americas) |
| Products | Advanced structural materials including carbon fiber composites, honeycomb materials, thermoplastic tapes |
Hexcel Corporation is a publicly traded American company specializing in industrial materials, with its headquarters located in Stamford, Connecticut. The firm designs and produces advanced structural materials that cater to commercial, defense, and recreational sectors. Hexcel's product range supports applications in commercial and military aircraft, space launch vehicles, satellites, wind turbine blades, sports equipment, and automotive industries. Major customers include Airbus Group and The Boeing Company. Since 1980, Hexcel has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker HXL.
1948–1970s
Established in 1948 as California Reinforced Plastics by engineers from the University of California at Berkeley, the company initially concentrated on producing honeycomb materials for military radar dome applications. In 1954, it adopted the name Hexcel Products, Inc. to highlight its proprietary hexagonal honeycomb technology.
Throughout the 1960s, Hexcel broadened its product offerings to include aluminum honeycomb and pre-impregnated fiberglass materials. It supplied pioneers such as Hubert A. Zemke and Dave McCoy for ski manufacturing. Additionally, Hexcel contributed honeycomb components used in the lunar module landing pads during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.
In 1970, Hexcel obtained a license for ski designs from McCoy but soon divested this segment to Hanson Boots to refocus exclusively on aerospace markets.
1980s–2000
During the 1980s, Hexcel grew its international presence by acquiring Stevens-Genin S.A., a French producer of glass-fiber and woven industrial fabrics. In 1981, the company supplied composite materials essential to critical parts of the Space Shuttle Columbia. By 1986, Hexcel provided most of the materials used in the fuselage and wings of the Rutan Voyager, which achieved the first nonstop global flight on a single fuel tank.
2000–2024
In 2017, Hexcel secured a major agreement with Airbus to supply composite materials for the fuselage structures and rotor blades of the H160 helicopter. That same year, it expanded its aerospace portfolio by acquiring Oxford Performance Materials’ aerospace and defense division, incorporating carbon fiber-reinforced 3D printed components for commercial and defense aviation sectors.
The company enhanced its manufacturing footprint by inaugurating a facility in Casablanca, Morocco, in 2018, dedicated to converting lightweight honeycomb materials into engineered core parts for aircraft structures. Additionally, Hexcel entered into a strategic partnership with Arkema in France to develop carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic tapes aimed at producing lightweight aerospace components; this collaboration was supported by a joint research and development laboratory.
Further extending its global operations, Hexcel launched a carbon fiber manufacturing plant at the Les Roches-Roussillon Chemicals Industry Platform in Isère, France. Its composite materials were also utilized in cutting-edge marine applications such as the design of boats competing in the Tour de France à la voile.
In July 2018, Hexcel opened an integrated production facility near Lyon for polyacrylonitrile (PAN), a precursor material used in carbon fiber manufacturing, complementing an existing plant located in Decatur, Alabama.
In December 2018, Colleen Pritchett was appointed President - Aerospace Americas, strengthening Hexcel’s executive leadership team.
On May 1st, 2024, Tom Gentile succeeded Nick Stanage as CEO following Stanage’s retirement, ushering in a new chapter of strategic leadership and business expansion for Hexcel.
Financial data
| Yearly Financials | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 1.99B | 2.19B | 2.37B | 1.51B | 1.32B |
| Cost of Sales | 1.42B | 1.61B | 1.72B | 1.26B | 1.07B |
| Gross Profit | 572M | 581.7M | 650.5M | 243.3M | 248.9M |
Hexcel provides more than 80% of the carbon fiber used by Airbus and serves as the leading carbon fiber supplier to Safran, particularly for the fan blades of the CFM LEAP engine.
The company is developing a new research and development center located in Les Avenieres, near Lyon, concentrating on out-of-autoclave manufacturing techniques like resin-transfer molding and resin film infusion to decrease production expenses for Airbus's upcoming single-aisle aircraft models. In partnership with Arkema, Hexcel is advancing thermoplastic resin technologies designed to speed up assembly processes, cut manufacturing costs, and reduce the weight of structural components.
Acquisitions
- 1996 – Ciba Composites
- 1996 – Hercules Composites Products Division
- 1997 – Fiberite satellite prepreg business
- 2017 – Oxford Performance Materials Aerospace & Defense Business
- 2017 – Structil SA
- 2018 – ARC Technologies