SOLON, Ohio — January 31, 2019 — Tarkett, a worldwide supplier of innovative and sustainable flooring and sports surface solutions, has launched the Woven Fringe Collection. As is the case with most of the world’s greatest innovations, the Woven Fringe Collection is the result of a happy accident. When the team set out to create a refined matte, flatweave surface, they were challenged to eliminate uneven color streaks, and looked for ways to diffuse or mask this undesired visual.

During early production trials, they were pushing the loom wire mechanism to its limits, and caused the wire repositioning to misfire. Though the result was unintended, its visual stopped them in their tracks. The misfiring wires created a line of long, uncut face fiber — or fringe — across the weft. This effect mirrored the fringe selvedge edge that a velvet weaving loom produces on every carpet it weaves — and became a source of inspiration the design team has used as a muse for years.

Though the visual was inspiring, they struggled to reproduce its effect in a predictable, safe way. Finally, after multiple trials, they have honed this technique and discovered a way to safely recreate the fringe effect in a consistent manner — paving the way for Velvet Fringe broadloom. Complementary pattern Velvet Line is a more streamlined, coordinating version to complete the series. Made with solution-dyed yarn to conserve water, the collection is well suited for workplace and hospitality environments.

Tarkett believes in placing people in the center of every space. As part of Tarkett North America’s sustainability measures and commitment to people-friendly spaces that perform and inspire, the Woven Fringe Collection is:

• Fluorine free: using Eco-Ensure (C2C Gold Material Health certified as a stain resistant treatment)
• Recyclability: recyclable through the ReStart® reclamation program
• Eliminated all X-RED (hazardous) Dyes and Chemicals in yarn dying process and replaced them with more eco-friendly alternatives
• LEED v4: meets new requirements for indoor air quality credit on low emitting flooring (CRI Green Label Plus) and low TVOCs

More information about all of Tarkett’s products can be found at www.tarkettna.com. High-resolution product images available upon request.

Posted February 12, 2019

Source: Tarkett

EVERBERG, Belgium — February 12, 2019 — Global chemical company Huntsman today revealed that it has completed a series of equipment investments to boost the research and development (R&D) services it offers to footwear producers and their manufacturing partners, worldwide.

Huntsman is a leading developer of innovative polyurethane and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) materials for the footwear industry. Throughout Asia, the Americas and Europe, the business has a number of technical centers that can provide specialist support to the footwear industry. Part of a much larger global network of Huntsman innovation and customer care centers, these footwear hubs offer design, prototyping, testing and technical support services to some of the world’s most well-known footwear brands.

To enrich its work across the entire footwear value chain and create fully equipped testing and prototyping environments in all three regions, Huntsman has recently purchased machines that give it extra technical support capabilities in the field of polyurethane casting; direct-on production; multi-section injection molding; and TPU injection molding. In the last year the business has also set up a Technical Service and Development Center in Vietnam to complement its existing facility in Thailand, which supports customers in South-East Asia.

Jim McCloud, Americas Footwear sales manager at Huntsman, said: “Many of the footwear companies we work with are big global brands. These companies want their material suppliers to have a similar geographic footprint – not just in terms of people, production and supply, but also for the delivery of innovation services and technical support. Our recent investments have been made with the needs of these customers in mind. Standardizing the equipment we have in place, across all three regions, gives our customers – large and small – peace of mind that we can replicate their manufacturing set up anywhere in the world and get new collaborative projects up and running, quickly and efficiently.”

Details of Huntsman’s equipment investments were announced ahead of the company attending SIMAC – the international exhibition for footwear machinery and materials. If you’d like to meet the Huntsman team at SIMAC, head to Booth A44 in Hall 14 at Fiera Milano, Milan, Italy, from Wednesday 20 to Friday 22 February. ”

Posted February 12, 2019

Source: Huntsman

SAINT-CLOUD, France — February 11, 2019 — Elis — an international multi-service provider, offering textile, hygiene and facility services solutions across Europe and Latin America — is continuing its expansion strategy in its key markets with the signing of an agreement to acquire 100 percent of Carpeting Entrémattor i Stockholm AB (Carpeting Entrémattor) in Sweden. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory conditions and is expected to occur before the end of Q1 2019.

Carpeting Entrémattor is a family business, located in Stockholm, whose activity is exclusively dedicated to rental-cleaning of mats for clients of all sizes operating in a broad range of sectors.

The group generated revenues of c. 3.5 million euros in 2018.

Commenting on this announcement, Xavier Martiré, CEO of Elis, declared:

“The acquisition of Carpeting Entrémattor enables Elis to further expand the density of its existing network in the mats segment, which is very dynamic in Sweden. The family shareholder will stay for the integration period, which will enable the transfer of best practices.”

Posted February 11, 2019

Source: Elis

DALTON, Ga. — February 11, 2019 — Shaw Floors’ LifeGuard® Spill-proof Backing is a finalist for the 2019 Edison AwardsTM in the consumer goods — home solutions category. This distinction demonstrates Shaw Floors’ commitment to creating innovative solutions to address consumer needs in an ever-evolving marketplace.

Inspired by Thomas Edison and his revolutionary product development methods, the American Marketing Association established the Edison Awards in 1987 to honor innovation, recognize achievement and celebrate innovative success from organizations across the globe.

“Consumers have high expectations for how their carpet should perform,” said Tim Baucom, executive vice president of Shaw Industries’ residential business. “Shaw Floors’ blue LifeGuard spill-proof backing allows us to provide the ultimate accident protection, offering unprecedented assurance to consumers that their carpet will keep its beautiful, new carpet look for years to come. This innovation emphasizes Shaw Floors’ leadership in the soft surface category.”

LifeGuard Spill-proof Backing answers the need for a worry-free carpet experience. The patent-pending backing provides a moisture-resistant barrier, keeping 100 percent of spills and pet messes contained. With LifeGuard, consumers no longer have to worry that an accident will permeate the carpet or pad to the subfloor, where it is unreachable and can result in lingering, odor-causing damage. Carpet backed by LifeGuard is unequivocally the cleanest carpet for healthy living.

New for 2018, Shaw changed the backing of LifeGuard from grey to blue, letting consumers know at a glance they’re getting the leading accident protection — they’re ‘Backed by Blue’. Consumers can protect the investment they make in their home and live confidently with carpet backed by LifeGuard.

“Creating industry-disrupting products is critical to our success,” Baucom continued. “We seek to provide flooring solutions that exceed the performance expectations of our consumers. As the Edison Awards recognize the world’s best products and services, we are honored to be among the finalists for this prestigious award.”

Winners will be announced at the 2019 Edison Awards ceremony on April 4, 2019. Previous winners include SC Johnson, Nike, Wayfair, and Nissan, and nominees are judged on four criteria: Concept, Value, Delivery, and Impact.

Posted February 11, 2019

Source: Shaw Industries Group

WASHINGTON — February 11, 2019 — Imports at the nation’s major retail container ports have dipped since peaks seen last fall but remain at higher-than-usual levels as a possible increase in tariffs on goods from China approaches in March, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

“With trade talks with China still unresolved, retailers appear to be bringing spring merchandise into the country early in case tariffs go up in March,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “We are hopeful that the talks will succeed, but until the trade war is behind us, retailers need to do what they can to mitigate the higher prices that will inevitably come with tariffs.”

U.S. tariffs of 10 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods that took effect last September are scheduled to increase to 25 percent on March 1 unless negotiations that began in December are successful.

U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.97 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units in December, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was up 8.8 percent from November and 13.9 percent year-over-year. That brought 2018 to a record 21.8 million TEU, an increase of 6.2 percent over 2017’s previous record of 20.5 million TEU. A TEU is one 20-foot-long cargo container or its equivalent.

January was estimated at 1.83 million TEU, up 4.1 percent from January 2018. February is forecast at 1.78 million TEU, up 5.7 percent year-over-year; March at 1.6 million TEU, up 3.8 percent; April at 1.76 million TEU, up 7.7 percent; May at 1.89 million TEU, up 3.4 percent, and June at 1.86 million TEU, up 0.3 percent. That would bring the first half of 2019 to 10.7 million TEU, up 4.1 percent over the first half of 2018.

“U.S. containerized imports continue to be robust with retailers and other businesses trying to beat potential tariff increases in March,” Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. “The problem is that warehouses and storage facilities are running out of space.”

Global Port Tracker, which is produced for NRF by the consulting firm Hackett Associates, covers the U.S. ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Port of Virginia, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades, Miami and Jacksonville on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast.

Posted February 11, 2019

Source: The National Retail Federation (NRF)