4 What do you see as the main dangers facing DSF as it changes its capacity over the next five or six years? DSF is a small but technically successful company in the man-made fibre industry. The company is heavily dependent on the sales of Britlene, a product it developed itself, which accounted in 1996 for some 95 per cent of total sales. Britlene is used mainly in heavy-duty clothing, although small quantities are used to produce industrial goods such as tyre cord and industrial belting. Its main properties are very high wear resistance, thermal and electrical insulation.

In 1996 the company developed a new product, Britlon. Britlon had all the properties of Britlene but was superior in its heat-resistant qualities. It was hoped that this additional property would open up new clothing uses

(e.g. a substitute for mineral wool clothing, added to nightwear to improve its inflammability) and new industrial uses in thermal and electrical insulation. By late 1996 the major technical and engineering problems associated with bulk production of Britlon seemed to have been solved and the company set up a working party to put forward proposals on how the new product should be phased into the company’s activities.