NEW YORK CITY — June 6, 2019 — Set for July 22-24, 2019, the Home Textiles Sourcing Expo will welcome exhibitors and buyers at a brand new location at the Javits Convention Center. For the first time in history, the show will take place in bustling main level exhibition halls. As a long-term joint venture partnership between Messe Frankfurt and CCPIT-TEX, the show is the only trade event in North America to focus solely on home textiles and finished soft goods for all home applications. Home Textiles Sourcing Expo has become a go-to event for manufacturers, retailers, and designers searching for the perfect fabric or manufacturing resources for their next home collection. The 2019 edition will showcase home products in over nine categories including bed, bath, table linen, floor coverings, window, fabric, kitchen linen, walls, and design and technology.

Home Textiles Sourcing Expo Summer 2019 takes place alongside Texworld USA and Apparel Sourcing USA and will feature a wide variety of exhibitors and countries including China, Korea, Turkey, Hong Kong, and India. Among many others, this year’s show also welcomes Poland and Turkmenistan for the first time. “As a global leader in the home textiles market, we’re excited to highlight a diverse mix of countries in this show. U.S. consumers demand both local and outside representation when it comes to industry trade shows, and we’re thrilled to share that a record number of exhibitors across the globe are participating in the 2019 Home Textiles Sourcing Expo” said Jennifer Bacon, show director.

In addition to the ever-popular complimentary educational seminars taking place at Texworld USA, attendees will also have access to discussions that cover a variety of different topics relevant to the home textile industry. These topics include: the current state of the home textile business as global trading challenges arise and shopping patterns change led by industry experts, along with the re-shaping of the textiles supply chain led by Home Textiles Today.

Kicking off the show with a compelling line up on Monday, July 22, textile industry experts will share the hard truths about the soft home textiles business state in America in a thorough panel discussion. Then, on Tuesday, July 23, Home Textiles Today will lead two discussions addressing the bottom line questions of how to remain sustainable in the textiles supply chain and how to prepare companies to adapt. In a deep discussion, the expert panelist will share insight on consumer hot-button issues, how consumers are integrating sustainable products into healthy lifestyles, how leading suppliers are addressing the changes, and much more.

Finally on July 24, leaders from Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) will share their perspective on how to validate organic claims while meeting corporate social responsibility goals. Attendees can learn about U.S. regulations for organic textile labelling and how to use the GOTS to substantiate organic claims and retain customers’ trust.

Home Textiles Sourcing Expo welcomes an impressive list of global visitors from a product and sourcing destination perspective. Attendees will be able to source home textiles and finished goods from established and new suppliers.

Registration is open for Home Textiles Sourcing on July 22-24, 2019. The Home Textile Educational Discussions, along with the Lenzing Fibers Seminar Series, Textile Talks programming is open to all registered Home Textiles Sourcing Expo, Texworld USA and Apparel Sourcing USA attendees. Seating is available on a first-come-first-served basis.

Posted June 6, 2019

Source: Messe Frankfurt Inc.

CHICAGO — June 6, 2019 — From June 16-26, 2020, more than 250,000 visitors, 1,800 exhibitors and just as many journalists from more than 180 countries will participate in drupa, a trade fair for the printing, media and packaging industry.

Since drupa 2016, 3D printing has been one of the six highlights in the trade show program. In addition to its own exhibition area, drupa 2020 will again dedicate a touchpoint 3D fab+print to this future technology. For the first time, the VDMA Additive Manufacturing Association will be responsible for the content and implementation of the ten-day lecture program. A total of 80 specialist lectures are planned, which will be spread over two two-hour blocks every day.

Additive Manufacturing at the interface to printing and paper technology

With a view to the trade fair’s target group, the focus will be on applications in printing and paper machinery manufacturing as well as applications for media and packaging. The spectrum will range from additive-manufactured machinery components, prototyping, on-demand spare parts supply for printing presses to the use of additive processes for manufacturing individual advertising products and unusual packaging solutions.

“Since our trade fair participation at drupa 2016 met with a very positive response, it made sense to expand our commitment at drupa 2020 and contribute our know-how,” explained Dr. Markus Heering, Managing Director of the VDMA Additive Manufacturing Association and also the VDMA Printing and Paper Technology Association.

In the five years of its existence, the working group has grown to around 150 members. These include leading suppliers of additive manufacturing production technology for processing metals and plastics, suppliers of components, software, automation technology and materials as well as industrial users from various industries and leading research institutes. “Many of our members have been pioneers in industrial 3D printing for many years. They bring concentrated practical and theoretical know-how that we want to show visitors at touchpoint 3D fab+print,” added Dr. Heering.

Variety of applications from press construction to packaging

Rainer Gebhardt, Project Leader of the working group will be responsible for the content planning of the conference: “It is important for us to address the drupa visitors at their current status of additive manufacturing”. Therefore introductory lectures on technical processes within additive process chains and insights into current and future applications in the printing, packaging and media industries are planned.  “Additive design and manufacturing create scope for creativity in many industries. From this point of view, the technology also fits in perfectly with  drupa.”, emphasized Rainer Gebhardt.

Due to its broad membership spectrum, which includes drupa exhibitors, users from many other industries and leading international researchers, the working group is able to offer the highest thematic diversity.

Rainer Gebhardt is also inviting drupa exhibitors to address the working group with their own lecture topics: “We are open to suggestions and will find opportunities in the ten-day program to provide a forum for additive manufacturing applications from the traditional print and packaging industry.” A broad mix of topics is important to him so that the trade fair visit is worthwhile both for experts and for all those just leaning about the 3D printing potentials in the printing and media industry.

Posted June 6, 2019

Source: VDMA Additive Manufacturing Association

BÖNNIGHEIM, Germany — June 6, 2019 — The 2019 published DIN SPEC 60015 “Quantitative measurement of the evaporative heat loss of smart textile materials for work, sports/outdoor and leisure” defines the measuring procedure and requirements for textiles and clothing that claim to have a cooling effect. This already offers a market compliant standard. The next stage is to convert the method into an ISO standard.

WATson is the only device worldwide that can quantitatively measure the evaporative cooling ability of a textile or textile system — for example during activity — and is already well received in the performance apparel and home textiles industries. It measures the dynamic interaction of textiles and human thermal regulation with customizable climatic conditions and sweat rates. Only a 25×25 centimeter fabric sample is required for the WATson test, which provides data on average cooling power, cooling power over time, fabric response and dry time. The data is used for product development, benchmark comparisons, quality assurance and verified marketing claims. In addition to the measurement scenarios defined in DIN SPEC 60015, WATson’s setup can be tailored to meet specific requirements.

Posted June 6, 2019

Source: Hohenstein

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — June 5, 2019 — Citing the Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification program’s 8-year history of standards and microbial testing for healthcare textiles in North America, the Hygienically Clean Healthcare Advisory Board and TRSA Healthcare Committee have overwhelmingly rejected the Association for Linen Management’s (ALM’s) claim that they have taken “the first step to identify microbial levels present on healthcare textiles in the U.S. today” and their self-characterization as “the textile industry’s best resource.”

The Advisory Board and Committee consist of representatives of TRSA’s operator membership, which processes more than 90 percent of North American reusable healthcare textiles (linens, uniforms, scrubs, other garments and more) and associate membership, which provides textiles, machinery, chemicals and other products and supplies for such processing. The Advisory Board also includes professionals in medicine, microbiology, epidemiology and other healthcare and industry professions. Both TRSA groups have overseen the development of hundreds of articles and resources on healthcare textile hygiene, including best practices, training materials and forums for information-sharing such as the annual CEO Roundtable and Healthcare Conference.

TRSA President and CEO Joseph Ricci, CAE, observed that ALM’s plans to conduct research on microbial testing ignore well-established internationally developed and recognized standards and measurements, including Hygienically Clean Healthcare.

ALM’s research plans are grounded in its study published in the May 2019 edition of American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) that begins with nearly 800 words tying linen to healthcare associated infections (HAIs), although this article notes there have only been 12 cases of HAIs indirectly linked to linens worldwide over the past 43 years; only three in the United States.

“ALM appears to be highlighting and solving a problem that doesn’t exist, while committing resources to develop measurements that already exist,” said Ricci. “U.S. hospital patients’ risk of obtaining HAIs from healthcare textiles over the past 43 years is less than 0.000007 percent, conservatively.” Based on the two cases in the U.S. reported by the CDC in the 2000s, CDC statistics indicate the chance that Americans won’t wake up because their beds suffocated and strangled them to death is 77 times greater than the chance that a U.S. hospital patient will be affected by an HAI transmitted by bed linen.

“Resources would be better spent focusing on real issues such as the hygiene of washing healthcare textiles at home that endangers patients and others, as well as the more than $1 billion in linen loss created by mismanagement and misuse of linens and scrubs,” he added.

TRSA’s Hygienically Clean Healthcare standards and measurements are based on stringent international standards and testing, including the longstanding criteria of the Certification Association for Professional Textile Services (CAPTS), which has 400 members in 15 European countries, Japan, China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). ALM is overlooking the experience of these and other international laundry-related organizations in establishing the worldwide standard, accepted by North American healthcare facilities as the Hygienically Clean Healthcare standard on total microbial content (20 colony forming units per square decimeter of fabric in the RODAC plate test), yeast and mold (same) and absence of specified bacteria. TRSA has used the results of the more than 5,500 independent tests, in correlation with European and other international research complied over the past decade by the laundry industry, to validate these proven, quantitative levels for hygienically clean textiles.

The anticipated outcome of further research is unclear. References in the AJIC research indicating there is no U.S. “standard,” when voluntary, industry guidelines have been in effect for nearly a decade, imply that ALM intends to pursue government regulation and prescriptive processing formulas. Under TRSA’s guidance, the industry recently defeated the pursuit of cleanliness standards in New York City and rewrote California Title 22’s restrictive and wasteful processing requirements, based on the effectiveness of the existing U.S. standard and measurements established by Hygienically Clean Healthcare and HLAC and the lack of any substantive connection between HAIs and healthcare textiles.

The AJIC report contends that further U.S. research is required to validate global protocols in the United States. International standards apply just as well to the United States as anywhere else in the world: essentially the same microbial tests and laundering techniques are used everywhere, observed Ricci. “Processes, equipment, textiles and chemicals used in Europe and internationally are very similar to the processes used in the United States as is the importance of hygiene. Even further, any process differences that may exist are irrelevant if the microbial levels are safe. TRSA is much better positioned to understand these differences based on long-standing research and information-sharing relationships with the global community,” he said.TRSA’s recent alliances include Australian Laundry Association (LAA) and the China Healthcare Laundry Association (CHLA), building on well-established relations with the European Textile Services Association (ETSA) and its respective National Associations. TRSA has supported research by the American Reusable Textile Association (ARTA) that reinforces the case for reusable textiles and supported projects in Europe focused on home vs. commercial laundering of healthcare textiles.

Contrary to ALM’s claim of “overwhelming pleas from healthcare clinicians, microbiologists, and epidemiologists for independent textile research applicable to laundry processing and handling in North America,” TRSA has no evidence of such interest, based on discussions with its members and nearly 1,000 professionals from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), the Association for the Healthcare Environment (AHE) and other healthcare organizations.

TRSA’s Textile Services magazine and newsletters have published hundreds of articles on laundry and linen management practices regarding the proper processing and handling of healthcare textiles. In addition to articles and white papers on this topic and the established quantitative standards set by Hygienically Clean Healthcare, TRSA’s long-standing Healthcare Committee has developed dozens of resources to educate the textile care industry and healthcare professionals including The Six C’s of Handling Soiled Linen in a Healthcare Environment training program that has been distributed on request to hundreds of healthcare facilities. In addition, based on the success of this initiative and requests from members, TRSA recently completed The Six C’s of Handling Clean Linen in a Healthcare Environment, with initial distribution at the June 12-14 APIC Conference in Philadelphia and the June 20-23 Clean Show in New Orleans.

While maintaining its commitment to weighing opportunities to work with reasonable, balanced and valid organizations, TRSA will not participate in ALM’s new research council and will encourage members not to participate. In lieu of the council’s formation, TRSA has proposed inviting Judy Reino, as the operator of a Hygienically Clean Healthcare Certified and HLAC Accredited laundry and President of ALM, to serve on the Hygienically Clean Advisory Board. This would “foster ALM’s understanding of already established standards of hygienically clean linens as a starting point to research instead of starting from zero,” Ricci said.

Hygienically Clean Advisory Board

• Randy Bartsch, CEO, Ecotex Healthcare Linen Service – CHAIR
• Greg Anderson, Executive Chairman, Emerald Linen Services
• Angela Becker, Senior Program Leader, Textile Care NA R&D, Ecolab Textile Care Div.
• Murray Cohen, MPH, PhD, CIH, retired infectious disease epidemiologist, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO)
• Alexis Elward, M.D., Pediatric Infectious Disease, Washington University School of Medicine
• Eoin Flavin, Director, European Operations, WSI
• David Goldsmith, MSPH, PhD, LLC, George Washington & Georgetown Universities
• James Hall, CEO, Northwest Health Care Linen
• Rick Kislia, Chief Operating Officer, Crescent Laundry
• Tony Long, Vice President, Risk Management, Angelica
• Lynn Moreau, Clinical Liaison Manager, RN, BSN, HandCraft Services Inc.
• Michael Potack, Chairman, Unitex
• Robert Raphael, President, Service Linen Supply Inc.
• Liz Remillong, Vice President, Strategic Alliance, Crothall Healthcare
• Charles Rossmiller, Director of Laundry Programs, Textile Sales, Medline Industries, Inc.
• Thomas Smith, Director of Safety & Training, Foussard Montague Associates
• David Stern, President & CEO, Paris Companies
• Douglas Waldman, President, Superior Linen Service

TRSA Healthcare Committee

• Rick Kislia, Chief Operating Officer, Crescent Laundry – CHAIR
• Liz Remillong, Vice President, Strategic Alliance, Crothall Healthcare – IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR
• Randy Bartsch, CEO, Ecotex Healthcare Linen Service
• Angela Becker, Senior Program Leader, Textile Care NA R&D, Ecolab Textile Care Div.
• Jeff Bloom, Vice President, Beck’s Classic Mfg. Inc.
• Scott Delin, Vice President, Sales, Fashion Seal Healthcare, Superior Group of Companies
• Bruce Feldman, President, Economy Linen & Towel Service Inc.
• Patrick Garcia, VP of Finance & ESQ., Division Laundry
• Norbert Gittard, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Jensen
• Jack Heaviside, National Sales & Service Manager-Laundry Group, Sunburst Chemicals Inc.
• Tim Higdon, Regional Manager, Faultless Laundry Co.
• Cecil Lee, Director of Healthcare Laundry Marketplace, Standard Textile Co. Inc.
• Jeff Markman, President, Positek RFID
• JB Marquette, Vice President, Lapauw USA, LLC
• Tim Montague, Executive Vice President, Hospital Cooperative Laundry-Denver
• Keith Nichols, President, HandCraft Services Inc.
• Michael Potack, Chairman, Unitex
• Josh Ramirez, General Manager, Medico Linen Service
• Judy Reino, CEO, Reino Linen Service Inc.
• Daniel Sanchez, Vice President, Corporate Sales, Medline Textiles, Medline Industries Inc.
• John Savage, Healthcare Marketing Director, Cintas Corporation
• Ron Seaman, COO, Florida Linen Services LLC
• Richard Smith, President & CEO, Century Linen & Uniform
• Steven Tinker, Senior Vice President of Research & Development & Marketing, Gurtler Industries Inc.
• Ken Tyler, Consultant
• Bryan Warner, Vice President, Technical Services, Gurtler Industries Inc.
• Jacob Zahler, COO, CleanTex Services

Posted June 5, 2019

Source: TRSA