Leesona

What Leesona does

Leesona is a privately held U.S. manufacturer of precision textile winding machinery, founded in 1893 as Universal Winding Company and headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina. With products installed in more than 50 countries, the company builds take-up winders (Models 740, 840, 940, 966, 967, 968 HS, 968 HD, 982), general-purpose and tow winders (Models 861, 868, 859), large-capacity winders (Models 929, 949, 989) handling packages up to 500 kg, rewinders, spooling and traverse winders, unrolling creels, godet/pull-roll stands, winders for coated products, and composite-application winders such as the multi-spindle Model 995. Underlying technology centers on programmable, digitally controlled precision winding with touch-screen operator interfaces, electronic wind-ratio control, and engineered control of fiber tension, pressure, wind angle, and winding speed.

The company monetizes primarily through B2B direct sales of capital equipment, supplemented by a recurring aftermarket: approximately 26,000 SKUs of replacement parts (with most critical wear items shipped within 24 hours), factory repair and refurbishment services with a 7-10 day turnaround, engineered upgrade parts for legacy machines, and technician training programs. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; blanket ordering arrangements support the replacement-parts stream. Customers are enterprise industrial buyers concentrated in technical-textile verticals including aerospace-grade fibers, fiberglass and composites, technical textiles (carbon, aramid, glass, coated, medical), filament yarn production, and via the FIBClean sub-brand, food and pharmaceutical packaging environments.

Leesona distributes exclusively through direct factory sales supported by an in-house engineering team in Burlington, NC, with a second manufacturing location on Tucker Street for the FIBClean product line. Marketing relies on direct outreach, a LinkedIn corporate presence, and participation in JEC World, Techtextil, China Composites Expo, and K 2025. In 2019 the company merged with Lohia Corp of Kanpur, India, broadening the product portfolio in woven-fabric, packaging, and extrusion machinery while Leesona continued to operate independently. The company is led by President Jim Arrington and Chairman Sanjay Gupta, and presently operates with a small workforce (11-50 employees), implying the bulk of activity centers on the installed-base aftermarket rather than high-volume new-equipment throughput.

Name

Leesona

Legal name

Leesona

Website

https://leesona.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1893

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Leesona is a 130-year-old U.S. manufacturer of precision textile winding and take-up machinery, headquartered in Burlington, NC, serving fiber producers and processors in aerospace, technical textiles, composites, and food/pharmaceutical packaging across 50+ countries via direct B2B sales, a 26,000-SKU parts aftermarket, and the FIBClean bulk-bag cleaning sub-brand.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Burlington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Textile Machinery Sales: Sale of precision winding equipment including take-ups, winders, rewinders, spooling winders, large capacity winders, and specialty machinery for composite applications
2. Replacement Parts: Sale of approximately 26,000 replacement parts for all models of Leesona equipment. High usage parts can be dispatched within hours of order. Blanket ordering available for best pricing.
3. Repair & Refurbishment Services: Factory repair service for drive boards, transducers, transformer boxes, counters, sensor cards, motors, and other electronic components. Turnaround typically 7-10 days. Equipment refurbishment includes complete strip-down, bearing and belt replacement, repainting, with new machine warranty.
4. Technical Training & Service: Factory-level training for winder technicians on Leesona winders and take-up machines, including disassembly, reassembly, adjustments, troubleshooting, and package formation problem solving
5. Upgrade Parts: Engineered upgrade parts for older machines including state-of-the-art electronic drives, self-adjusting dampening devices, OSHA/EC compliant guards and covers, pneumatically controlled tension systems

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Leesona manufactures precision textile winding machinery — including take-ups, winders, rewinders, and specialty machines — used by fiber producers to wind, unwind, and package yarns and technical fibers. The company sells new equipment, replacement parts, and on-site field services directly to industrial buyers, and also produces ancillary products such as the FIBClean sanitary bulk bag for food and pharmaceutical handling.

Product overview

Leesona offers a comprehensive portfolio of precision textile winding machinery as one of the largest textile machinery manufacturers in the United States. The product lineup includes Take-Ups (Models 740, 840, 940, 966, 967, 968 HS, 968 HD, 982) for fiber take-up operations at various speeds; Winders (Models 861, 868, 859) for general-purpose and specialty winding; Large Capacity Winders (Models 929, 949, 989) for double and single-deck high-volume winding; Rewinders (Model 966-1004) for delicate material handling; Spooling & Traverse Winders (Model 944); Winders for Coated Products (Models 991/966, 993/966/987, 994/966/987); Unrolling Creels (Model 987); Godet/Pull Roll Stands (Model 979); Machinery for Composite Applications (Models 859, 868, 995); and FIBClean, a specialized sub-brand for cleaning bulk bags in food and pharmaceutical applications. The company also provides services including replacement parts, technical training, repair & refurbishment, and upgrade parts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FIBClean: A line of machines designed to thoroughly clean FIBC Bulk Bags for contaminant-free reuse in food and pharmaceutical applications.

Products and services

• Precision Take-Up Machines Industrial take-up machines used by fiber and yarn producers to wind filament, spun, and technical fibers onto packages with controlled tension, traverse, and wind ratio. Sold to textile mills, technical-fiber producers, and aerospace manufacturers worldwide.
• Precision Winders Winders for industrial yarn and fiber processing lines, used to produce uniform cross-wound or parallel-wound packages. Designed for textile and technical-fiber producers requiring high throughput and consistent package build.
• Rewinders Rewinding machines that transfer yarn or fiber from one package format to another, used by textile producers for quality re-packaging, dyeing preparation, and downstream converting.
• Specialty Winding Machines Custom-engineered specialty winding machines built for specific customer applications, including non-standard traverse patterns, unusual package formats, and integration into existing production lines. Sold to technical-fiber and aerospace customers with specialized requirements.
• Replacement Parts OEM replacement parts for Leesona and legacy Universal Winding/Leesona machines, supplied factory-direct to support the installed base across 50+ countries and minimize customer downtime.
• Field Service & Technical Support Factory-direct field service, installation, and technical support for Leesona winding equipment. Provided globally to industrial customers to support commissioning, troubleshooting, and modernization.
• FIBClean Sanitary Bulk Bag Sanitary flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC) designed for food and pharmaceutical handling applications, addressing contamination risk and regulatory requirements in bulk packaging.
• Machine Modernization & Conversion Kits Modernization kits and conversion upgrades that retrofit installed Leesona and legacy winding machines with current-generation controls (e.g., Digital Wind Ratio Control, programmable systems) to extend equipment life and improve performance.

Quantifiable outcome

• Most replacement parts shipped within 24 hours due to significant inventory of critical wear parts
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Lohia CorpcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019In 2019, Leesona merged with Lohia Corp, a machinery manufacturer located in Kanpur, India. Lohia is a global supplier of machinery for end-to-end solutions for the woven fabric industry used in packaging systems for solid bulk materials and infrastructure applications. The integration combines Leesona's precision winding technology with Lohia's tape stretching lines, circular looms, tape winders, extrusion coating lines, bag conversion lines, spin-draw-wind extrusion systems, and other low-speed winders. The combined technologies broaden the entire product range and significantly expand market reach. Leesona continues to operate as an independent company.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Picanol: Belgian manufacturer of weaving machines and textile machinery components. Serves overlapping man-made fiber and technical textile producers, broader scope than Leesona but comparable customer verticals.
• Rieter: Large Swiss textile machinery group covering spinning systems and downstream yarn processing. Overlaps with Leesona on the fiber processing and winding side but operates a much broader product portfolio across the textile value chain.
• Trützschler: German textile machinery leader focused on spinning preparation, carding, and nonwovens. Adjacent to Leesona's downstream fiber processing focus and serves overlapping man-made fiber producers.

Direct peers

• Saurer: Global manufacturer of textile machinery, including winding and twisting solutions for staple and filament yarns. Directly competes with Leesona in precision winding and twisting for man-made fibers and technical textiles.
• Oerlikon Barmag: Supplies machinery and systems for man-made fiber spinning and take-up processes, including winding solutions for filament yarns. Highly comparable to Leesona's synthetic fiber winding equipment serving textile and industrial yarn producers.
• SSM (Schaefer Spezialmaschinen): Swiss manufacturer specializing in precision winding, rewinding, and unwinding equipment for technical yarns, textiles, and industrial applications. Closely comparable niche focus and customer overlap with Leesona.
• Murata Machinery (Muratec): Japanese manufacturer of textile machinery, including automated winding and processing equipment for spinning mills. Competes with Leesona in yarn winding for textile and technical applications.

Regional players

• Itema: Italian manufacturer of weaving machines (rapier, air-jet, projectile) for industrial and technical fabrics. Comparable as a textile machinery OEM serving man-made fiber and industrial textile customers, with overlap via the Lohia merger footprint.
• Lakshmi Machine Works: Indian textile machinery manufacturer specializing in spinning machinery. Comparable as a South Asian textile machinery peer relevant to Leesona's post-Lohia India footprint and textile manufacturing customer base.

Others

• Lohia Corp: Indian machinery manufacturer and Leesona's 2019 merger partner, supplying tape stretching lines, circular looms, and woven packaging machinery. Strategically linked rather than competitive; relevant for combined-product positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/leesona-corp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Leesona