Environmental Sustainability Of Absorbent Hygiene And Personal Care Products Highlight Hygienix™ Conference Topics This Fall In Houston

CARY, N.C. — June 6, 2019 — Environmental sustainability of absorbent hygiene and personal care products will headline the conference topics for Hygienix™ 2019 coming this fall to the Hyatt Regency Houston Hotel in Houston November 11-14.

Experts will address such pressing industry topics as plastics in the environment, the growing movement of reusable femcare products, the nonwoven industry’s new position statement on plastics, the impact of absorbent hygiene products in landfills, and more. Registration is now open on the Hygienix website.

Hygienix will feature three days of program content devoted to the latest in sustainable technologies, emerging markets, converting challenges, product and technical innovations, and market trends in the absorbent hygiene and personal care industry. More than 530 professionals from 24 countries attended last year’s event to address issues and advances affecting the largest global nonwoven and engineered materials sector.

Compelling Keynotes and Speakers

Hygienix attendees will hear from Dr. Marcus Eriksen, cofounder & research director/board member of 5 Gyres Institute, a conservation nonprofit that empowers action against the global health crisis of plastic pollution through science, education, and adventure.

In his keynote address, Eriksen will share his thoughts on the persistence of plastics in marine environments and address changes that manufacturers can take to correct the situation. He will also talk about the organization’s B.A.N. List 2.0 that reports on the top 20 plastic products found on shorelines in the U.S.

A second keynoter, Suzanne Shelton, president & CEO, Shelton Group, will detail strategic insights from her recent femcare research of millennials and Gen Z — 18 to 24-year olds — and the resultant high-impact ramifications for the category as women move away from disposable femcare products in favor of reusables.

Among other attention-garnering speakers are Svetlana Uduslivaia, Head of Research, Euromonitor International, who will explore megatrends and the global growth of disposable hygiene products marketed as natural or sustainable. Dr. Mary Ankeny, vice president, product development & implementation operations of Cotton Incorporated, will share research on one of today’s most pressing environmental trends, microfiber biodegradability in aquatic environments.

Hygienix Top Draws

Among the anticipated happenings this year are:

  • Awards: The Hygienix Innovation Award™ will be awarded on November 14 to the company that expands the use of nonwovens through product innovation. Last year’s winner was Calla Lily Personal Care Ltd.’s Tampliners®, an organic cotton tampon with a built-in mini-liner. Nominations are open and being accepted until July 15 on the INDA website.
  • The INDA 2019 Lifetime Technical Achievement award will also be presented to recognize an individual with a long-established technical career in the industry that has resulted in new products and processes. Ralph Moody, PE, senior director of R&D, Berry Global Inc. was the 2018 recipient.
  • Education: Global Trends: Diapers, Baby Pants, & Adult Underwear — This intense focused short course will be held on November 11 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. to kick off the learning opportunities. Diaper expert Carlos Richer will teach the workshop covering product characteristic benchmarks, new product features, and launches in baby pants and adult underwear around the world with an emphasis on developments from Mercosur, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, India, and Europe.
  • Networking: Professionals from across the supply chain will have opportunities throughout Hygienix to meet and connect, including a welcome reception (reservations are required), and during the tabletop display exhibitions over two days.

Posted June 6, 2019

Source: INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry

TRSA Warns Of Perils Of Solving Nonexistent Hygiene Problems

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

NCTO, AAFA Unite In Letter To President Opposing Proposed Tariffs On Mexico

WASHINGTON, D.C. — June 5, 2019 — Today, the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) and American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) sent a letter to President Donald J. Trump, opposing the proposed escalation in tariffs for all U.S. imports from Mexico. As the representatives of the apparel and textile supply chain, the organizations represent hundreds of thousands of American jobs dependent on duty-free trade in the North American region.

The full letter can be downloaded here.

Signed by the heads of both organizations, the letter states: “Raising tariffs on U.S. imports from Mexico will hurt U.S. workers. Currently, hundreds of thousands of American workers are deployed in production and other key value chains that depend on the North American trade partnership with Mexico, which is the market for half of all U.S. textile exports.”

“NCTO is joining with AAFA today in urging President Trump to refrain from imposing tariffs on U.S. imports from Mexico, an issue that is critically important to our integrated Western Hemisphere supply chains,” said NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas. “Mexico is the top export market for U.S. fiber, yarns, and fabrics and adding tariffs on Mexican imports of apparel and home furnishings will only hurt the U.S. textile industry’s growth and competitiveness and jeopardize jobs in both countries.”

“Further, these planned tariffs disrupt and distract congressional passage of the pending U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a key administration priority, which not only strengthens the textile industry’s existing supply chain and our free trade partnership with Mexico, but also helps to expand it,” Glas added. “We urge the administration to support American workers by not imposing tariffs on U.S. imports from Mexico and helping get USMCA over the finish line.”

“AAFA and NCTO often have different ideas when it comes to trade policy, however we are totally united in opposition to the proposal to add tariffs on our products,” said Rick Helfenbein, president and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association. “Potential tariffs on Mexico are an unwelcome and unnecessary tax on American workers and consumers at a time when we should be focusing on the ratification of the USMCA. Mexico is the eighth largest supplier of apparel and seventh largest supplier of footwear to the U.S. market, with 35 percent of men’s and boy’s jeans and 15 percent of work boots coming from south of the border. This move threatens our trade relationship with Mexico and the competitive advantage that supports hundreds of thousands of American jobs in the apparel, footwear, travel goods, and textile industries. We do not believe that immigration policy and trade policy should be cut from the same cloth.”

Posted June 5, 2019

Source: The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO)

Park Electrochemical Announces Appointment Of Steven L. Peake As Vice President Of Technology

MELVILLE, N.Y — June 4, 2019 — Park Electrochemical Corp. announced the appointment of Steven L. Peake as vice president of technology. Peake will report to Mark A. Esquivel, Park’s executive vice president and COO.

Peake previously held various senior technical, product development and technical marketing positions at Park between 2001 and 2010.  Prior to rejoining Park, he was director of research & development for Magnolia Advanced Materials Inc., a manufacturer of composite adhesive and other products, since 2015. From 2010 until 2015, Peake served as technical director – Composites at SAATI S.p.A., a manufacturer of fabrics and chemicals for industrial use. Between 1979 and 2001, he held various technical and research and development positions at Cytec Industries Inc., which has since been acquired by Solvay S.A., a large advanced materials and specialty chemicals company. Peake received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Texas and a Doctorate degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin.

Posted June 5, 2019

Source: Park Electrochemical Corp.

True Religion Appoints Farla Efros As Interim CEO

LOS ANGELES — June 5, 2019 — True Religion’s Chairman Gene Davis and Interim CEO Chelsea Grayson today announced that Farla Efros, a consultant to the company, will assume the role of interim CEO. Efros succeeds Grayson, who is resigning to pursue other opportunities.

As president of HRC Retail Advisory, a North American retail consulting firm, Efros has worked closely with True Religion’s leadership team in recent months. Efros has more than 20 years of experience working with retailers and CPG companies, including almost 10 years at HRC Retail Advisory and its predecessor firms. She will continue in her capacity as resident at HRC Retail Advisory while serving as True Religion’s interim CEO.

“On behalf of True Religion, I thank Chelsea Grayson for her vision and significant contributions and wish her the very best as she moves on to new endeavors,” Davis said. “At the same time, we are pleased to have Farla stepping in as interim CEO to enhance our strong team,” Davis said. “Her proven operational and financial expertise are valuable assets and advantages that complement our iconic brand.”

True Religion also is conducting a search for a permanent CEO to lead it in pursuing its significant opportunities in streetwear, as the True Religion brand continues to celebrate the values of diversity, freedom, and authenticity. The company noted that it has experienced positive comps and trends this year in direct-to-consumer and ecommerce sales, and that it is seeing continued growth in international markets, including the United Kingdom, Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Asia.

“I am honored to assume this new role,” said Ms. Efros. “I look forward to working closely with the Board and the rest of the management team as we continue to drive performance and enhance True Religion’s brand and value.”

Born and raised in Los Angeles, True Religion has been a leader in streetwear and premium denim since 2002. Over its seventeen-year history, the brand has been adopted by many subcultures — each genre leaving its unique imprint on the brand as it exists today. As a lifestyle brand with a worldwide view, True Religion continues to embrace those individuals who are shaping the culture of today.

Posted June 5, 2019

Source: True Religion

FDA Issues Clearance For The ReStore™ Exo-Suit, The First Soft Robotic System For Stroke Therapy

MARLBOROUGH, Mass./YOKNEAM ILIT, Israel — June 4, 2019 — ReWalk Robotics Ltd., a manufacturer of robotic medical devices for individuals with lower limb disabilities, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the company’s ReStore soft exo-suit system for sale to rehabilitation centers across the United States. ReStore is the only soft exo-suit with FDA clearance, and is intended for use in the treatment of stroke survivors with mobility challenges. Stroke is a leading cause of disability, which affects approximately 17 million people worldwide each year1, and as many as 80% of people who have had a stroke will suffer from gait impairments.2

“The exo-suit achieves our commercial goal to offer a functional and affordable system that can be utilized in the ‘Main Street’ clinics in every community,” said ReWalk CEO Larry Jasinski. “With a launch price of $28,900 as well as leasing options, ReStore offers cutting edge innovation with features that redefine therapy at a price that is accessible for a broader range of clinics than existing robotic technologies. The current gait training reimbursement codes enable immediate penetration and sales growth as part of our pathway to become a break even and profitable company.”

In 2018, ReWalk launched a multi-center clinical study of the ReStore system across five of the country’s leading rehabilitation centers. This data was submitted to the FDA in ReStore’s 510(k) submission, and ReWalk expects to publish the results of the clinical study later this year.

“We are very encouraged by our initial experience and positive impact of ReStore in gait training for persons with stroke residual disabilities,” said Moss Rehab’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Alberto Esquenazi, who was one of the investigators in the multi-center trial.  “By training the patient walking pattern in a more correct way, the expectation is that the brain will re-learn and better restore the walking function lost after a stroke.”

The patented soft exo-suit technology was originally developed at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering where it also underwent initial clinical testing that demonstrated its potential to improve walking for stroke survivors. ReWalk and the Wyss Institute entered into a multi-year research collaboration agreement in 2016 which provides ReWalk access to future innovations that emerge from this collaboration and may be relevant to additional stroke products or other therapies.

“The idea of anchoring the body with textiles and flexible soft components is a fundamentally new way of applying assistance with a wearable robot,” said Conor Walsh, a Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the John A. Paulson Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and a Core Faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, who led a multi-disciplinary team to develop the soft exo-suit technology that has the ability to apply force to the body, but not restrict how a person moves. “This technology has broad potential, and we are currently testing additional concepts which can be applied to provide therapy and/ or mobility assistance for individuals with other diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, and also potentially be used by a person at home and in their community,” Walsh continued.

How it works: The ReStore system is comprised of a soft, garment-like design which connects to a lightweight waist pack and mechanical cables that help lift the patient’s affected leg in synchronized timing with their natural walking pattern. The system provides targeted assistance to the patient during forward propulsion (plantarflexion) and ground clearance (dorsiflexion), two key phases of the gait cycle. The device also provides the physical therapists with extensive data during gait training with ReStore to inform strategies to optimize a patient’s treatment and progress using real-time analytics.

ReStore is ReWalk’s second major market segment, joining the ReWalk Personal 6.0—a robotic exoskeleton for home use by individuals with paralysis from a spinal cord injury—and the ReWalk Rehabilitation system, which allows for multiple patient uses through height and weight adjustments. “We believe the expansion to soft exo-suits gives ReWalk a diverse offering of innovative technologies and expands the Company’s impact to millions of patients worldwide,” added Jasinski. ReWalk intends to leverage its existing sales, training and service teams to commercialize the ReStore system. To date, ReWalk has placed nearly 550 exoskeletons in 26 countries and trained more than 270 rehabilitation clinics to conduct exoskeleton training worldwide.

1 https://www.stroke.org.uk/sites/default/files/the_burden_of_stroke_in_europe_-_challenges_for_policy_makers.pdf

2 https://synapse.koreamed.org/pdf/10.12786/bn.2017.10.e9

Posted June 5, 2019

Source: ReWalk Robotics Ltd.

Clear Automation Names Mark Cloutier As Director Of Project Management

SOUTHINGTON, Conn. — June 5, 2019 — Clear Automation announced the appointment of Mark Cloutier as director of project management, effective April 8, 2019. Mark will be responsible for improving the organization’s ability to execute large projects, driving process standardization initiatives, and coordinating resource allocation efforts. Mark is also involved in strategic planning as part of the Management Team and leverages his experience in KPI development and teambuilding to improve communication across departments.

Mark has 28 years of manufacturing experience, including 11 years developing automated workcells for a major golf ball manufacturer. He also managed large projects with companies in the energy industry. His professional background evolved from mechanical engineer, to project and program management, to managing teams at the director level. Mark earned his MBA from Western New England University, and a Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Clear Automation CEO John DeBlasio said: “I’m very excited to have Mark as an asset on the Clear Automation team. Project Management is our core operational functional area and his leadership will be critical to helping drive Clear Automation’s strategy to become a leader in custom automation for the cosmetic and life sciences industries.”

Posted June 5, 2019

Source: Clear Automation

Fashion Technology Solutions Provider Tukatech Opens European Headquarters In Madrid

MADRID — June 5, 2019 —  Tukatech has expanded its global presence, opening a European headquarters in Madrid, Spain. Tukatech Europe is located in the heart of Madrid on Calle De San Bernardo, and led by José A. Jiménez, director – Europe; and Antonio González Quirós, director – Spain.

“I’m excited to expand Tukatech throughout Europe. There is no other solution provider in the industry offering this caliber of software, machinery, and support. Tukatech is now more accessible to European apparel companies who are interested in end-to-end fashion technology,” González Quirós said.

Tukatech Europe’s multi-lingual team consists of experts in the fields of fashion design, product development and garment manufacturing. The team will implement, install, support, and train with Tukatech systems within Spain and throughout Europe.

“The Tukatech European Headquarters team is a wealth of industry experience. José and Antonio understand our vision of providing powerful solutions and unlimited support,” said Chris Walia, COO, Tukatech.

“Antonio and Jose are seasoned apparel industry veterans. Each has decades of experience using and implementing a broad range of fashion CAD systems. They know the difference between these systems and what Tukatech offers. By establishing a European headquarters, we will better serve our current partners. We will also provide solutions to European companies who are seeking disruptive fashion technology,” said Ram Sareen, chairman and CEO, Tukatech.

Sareen continued: “Hundreds of European fashion companies have other CAD systems, yet pattern-makers are still working with paper. This is an opportunity for us to introduce true end-to-end solutions. We were the first to bring digital pattern-making to many countries. We will do the same for the apparel industry in Europe by providing valuable, user-friendly fashion technology in their native languages.”

Posted June 5, 2019

Source: Tukatech Inc.

KARL MAYER’s Software Startup KM.ON GmbH Is Setting Up Subsidiaries In China And Hong Kong

OBERTSHAUSEN, Germany — June 5, 2019 — KARL MAYER is continuing along its path of digitization, and is focusing on expansion and globalization. From June 2019 onwards, KM.ON will be present in key markets with subsidiaries in China and Hong Kong.

This software startup offers a broad portfolio of digital solutions under the KM.ON brand. The company was set up in Frankfurt in 2017 as the KARL MAYER Digital Factory, and now operates under the uniform name of KM.ON GmbH.

In addition to Warp Knitting, Warp Preparation and Technical Textiles, KMO.ON is also one of KARL MAYER’s business units and has a corresponding focus. “With this international setup, we are following KARL MAYER’s strategy of being close to our customers. Our local presences enable us to focus our solutions for important sales regions even more specifically on the particular requirements of our customers there,” said Antonia Gottschalk, who heads KM.ON GmbH together with Maximilian Kürig.

Both managing directors expect that globalization will also provide impulses for the entire product portfolio. “The adaptation rate of software and digital solutions is enormous here. The heart of digitisation is beating strongly in China. With these new locations, we have our finger firmly on the pulse of a period of great change,” said Kürig.

Posted June 5, 2019

Source: KARL MAYER Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbH

Toray’s New Nylon Textile Offers Improvements In Water Repellency And Durability With A Lower Environmental Burden

TOKYO — June 5, 2019 — Toray Industries Inc. announced that using a proprietary composite spinning technology called NANODESIGN®, Toray Industries has created a new nylon textile, one that delivers high water repellency despite using a DWR treatment with a lower environmental cost.

The textile’s structure has microscopic slits running lengthwise on the yarn. Water repelling treatments fill these slits below the outside diameter of the yarn, also making the treatment more abrasion-resistant. This results in two benefits:

  • The construction enables the textile to use C6 water repellents, which are normally insufficient for outdoor sports; and
  • The textile provides more resistance to abrasion, which is a leading contributor to diminishing DWR performance.

Despite the slits, the textile has the strength and abrasion-resistance of other yarns and is processed the same way.

Fluorine-based water repellents used in the past do not easily decompose naturally because of its stable chemical structure. It also contains perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) — also known as C8 — which could accumulate in the human body and remain in the natural environment. Recent years have witnessed increasing environmental consciousness and there are growing needs for materials using water repellents with low environmental burden such as C6 water repellents do not contain PFOA.

Toray plans to market the textile in fall 2020, as a material variation of the existing textile brands Airtastic®, ENTRANT® and Dermizax®. Leveraging the textile’s high water repellant properties, Toray will target the active outdoor sports and skiing markets, as well as athleisure.

In North America, Toray International America Inc. will provide the new textile.

Posted June 5, 2019

Source: Toray Industries, Inc.

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