Kadant Inc. engages in developing, manufacturing, and marketing equipment and products for the papermaking, paper recycling, and processing industries. The company offers custom-engineered systems and equipments, such as recycling and approach flow systems, and virgin pulping process equipment, as well as individual components, for pulping, de-inking, screening, cleaning, and refining recycled and virgin fibers for preparation for entry into the paper machine. It also provides fluid-handling systems, including rotary joints, syphons, turbulator bars, engineered steam and condensate systems, precision unions, and components and controls that are used primarily in the dryer section of the papermaking process, as well as in the production of corrugated boxboard, metals, plastics, rubber, textiles, chemicals, and food. In addition, the company offers doctoring systems and related consumables for the operation of paper machines; doctor blades for cleaning, creping, web removal, flaking, and the application of coatings; and profiling systems that control moisture, web curl, and gloss during paper converting. Further, it provides shower and fabric-conditioning, formation, and water-filtration systems that are used to clean paper machine fabrics and rolls, drain water from pulp mixtures, form the sheet or web, and filter the process water for reuse. Additionally, the company manufactures and sells biodegradable absorbent granules from papermaking byproducts primarily used as carriers for agricultural, home lawn and garden, professional lawn, turf, and ornamental applications, as well as for oil and grease absorption. It primarily has operations in the United States, China, and Europe. The company was formerly known as Thermo Fibertek Inc. and changed its name to Kadant Inc. in July 2001. Kadant Inc. was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts.