NASHVILLE, Tenn. – December 14, 2018 – Genesco Inc. announced today that the company has entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of the Lids Sports Group for $100 million in cash subject to adjustment for a normalized level of working capital to FanzzLids Holdings, a holding company controlled and operated by affiliates of Ames Watson Capital LLC. Ames Watson is the owner of Fanzz, a specialty retailer of officially licensed sports apparel. Fanatics Inc., a leader in sports licensing and ecommerce, will make a minority investment in FanzzLids Holdings in connection with entering into a commercial arrangement with that holding company. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is currently expected to be completed at the end of Genesco’s current fiscal year.
Genesco Chairman, President and CEO Robert J. Dennis said, “We are pleased to have reached an agreement to sell the Lids Sports Group to a buyer with experience in the licensed sports industry. Under new ownership, the very talented team at Lids will continue to have the opportunity to realize the potential in this business. We look forward to closing the transaction and devoting the full attention of Genesco’s management team to the opportunities we see in a footwear-focused company.”
Genesco expects that cash proceeds net of taxes and transaction-related costs, including a tax benefit estimated at approximately $29 million, will be used to repurchase shares of the company’s common stock.
The company also announced that its board of directors has increased the Company’s existing authorization to repurchase common stock to $125 million. The number of shares to be repurchased and the manner and timing of purchases will be determined by the company’s management.
PJ SOLOMON served as financial advisor and Bass, Berry & Sims PLC acted as legal advisor to Genesco with respect to the transaction.
BÖNNIGHEIM, Germany – December 14, 2018 – Today, Hohenstein is pleased to announce it is joining the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme and in doing so, supports the Programme’s vision of widespread implementation of sustainable chemistry, driving innovations and best practices in textile, apparel and footwear industries to protect consumers, workers and the environment.
Hohenstein commits to working collaboratively on this task and towards the milestones set in the Programme’s Joint Roadmap through active engagement with other brands, retailers and stakeholders.
Hohenstein is proud to be joining over 20 leading brands working together to drive industry-wide change in responsible chemical management, and commits to working on this task in a collaborative and open manner.
With around 1,000 employees in more than 40 branches and contact offices worldwide, Hohenstein is an international accredited testing laboratory, services provider and research partner in the textile industry. Its work first and foremost involves the testing and certification of textiles. One of its core competencies is research and development for all kinds of applications and textile products. It also offers a number of advanced training services for companies along the entire textile production chain, among others.
BRUSSELS – December 11, 2018 – With 222 delegates from over 100 companies in attendance, FILTREX™ Asia was again confirmed as a key industry event for the filtration sector, showcasing EDANA’s mission to support the growth and sustainable development of the industry throughout the region.
The event, run in conjunction with the 7th Filtration & Separation Asia (FSA) event (the largest filtration exhibition in Asia), was co-organized by the China Filtration Society (CFS), China Nonwovens Technology Association (CNTA) and UBM China.
The conference examined the latest market trends and technical developments in the field of filtration and allowed extensive opportunities for attendees to network with industry peers and sector experts. Feedback from participants throughout the event emphasized satisfaction with the mix and quality of expert content and the many opportunities to meet with industry peers.
“We, at EDANA, are honored to have been chosen as a partner by CFS, CNTA and UBM China to hold our conference for the first time alongside the successful Filtration & Separation Asia event, the largest exhibition of its kind” said Pierre Wiertz, EDANA’s general manager, in his opening statement.
Professor Ji of The China University of Petroleum congratulated the organizer on the success of FILTREX Asia “thank you for organizing this excellent event. Inspired by China’s actual demand for filtration technology, the conference topics focused on advanced filtration materials, filtration technology, testing and practical applications. I am glad to see high-level technical experts from Europe, America, and Asia gathering together at the conference. The event provides a perfect platform for communications between filter media manufacturers, filtration testing instruments manufacturers and related R&D institutes.” Joerg Sievert, COO, Freudenberg Filtration Technologies, agreed that the event was a great success with “two intensive days where 27 presentations were given about new technologies, testing techniques and standards. Filtration follows the global mega trend for cleaner air and cleaner water and has the social responsibility to improve the quality of life. This is a great chance for the industry to support global sustainability.”
Billy Hidjaja, CEO of Hadtex and Chairman of the Indonesian Nonwoven Association, said he found it “a very good idea to combine European and Chinese experts and stakeholders. We were able to compare and cross-check the different perspectives, test methodologies, production knowhow and etc from two major filtration industry areas. The number of attendees is vivid proof how successful this event is. Well done!”
WINTERTHUR, Switzerland – December 14, 2018 – The Rieter Group has completed the acquisition of a 25 percent stake in Electro-Jet S.L. on December 14, 2018, upon approval by the Spanish antitrust authority.
On July 18, 2018, Rieter signed a contract to acquire 25 percent of Electro-Jet S.L., thus strengthening the ring spinning system. The company, based in Gurb, Spain, generated annual sales of around 25 million euros in 2017 and employs around 135 people. The joint development of innovative products is also planned as part of the strategic partnership.
By Lukas Lechthaler, Christoph Peiner, Marie-Isabel Popzyk, Thomas Gries
In Germany, approximately 10 percent of the workforce is exposed to high temperatures in the workplace — including workers in metal, glass, ceramics and steel production, as well as forges, foundries, fire brigades [TÜV16]. At these workplaces, employees are subjected to extreme heat stress because of working and environmental conditions. In addition to heavy physical exertion, an increased ambient temperature can lead to an increase in body temperature from a normal 37°C ± 0.5°C/98.5°F ± 1°F to life-threatening heat shocks above 40°C/104°F. This danger can be countered with the use of suitable protective clothing. [Ate15; KSC+07; NN15]
In conventional protective clothing, protection mainly is provided by the outer layers of the clothing. In contrast, a current research project named “Development of heat-exposed textiles for occupational safety” known as HEATex, focuses on the deeper layers of clothing. Usually, conventional cotton underwear is used here to absorb moisture, while the outer layers protect against heat radiation and burns. The cotton lies directly on the skin and can absorb and store large amounts of moisture from the body because of its good absorption behaviour. The stored moisture can be warmed up by external heating, which is not absorbed by the outer layer of the protective clothing. This can lead to scalding and overheating due to the body’s own perspiration. Pressure-loaded areas, in particular, are critical, as they impede air circulation and thus a possible cooling effect. If the clothing layers are compressed due to the pressure load, the skin comes into direct contact with the underwear so that moisture is prevented from being transported away and scalding occurs more frequently.
Functionalized 3D Textile With Load-Suitable Reinforcement Structures
The proportion of all accidents at work caused by overheating and scalding is about 50 percent for heat-exposed workplaces in Germany. The aim is to reduce this proportion to 10 percent by using a new type of functionalized 3D underwear. The solution to this problem is to apply underwear specially designed and developed for high temperatures. A locally reinforced 3D spacer fabric is used. On the one hand, scalding is prevented by avoiding direct skin contact and on the other hand, moisture is removed to protect against overheating. Pressure-loaded areas in particular are locally reinforced in order to reliably prevent contact between the skin and the layer of protective clothing above it.
Figure 1: Cross section of a spacer fabric using a) a rigid monofilament and b) a puffy multifilament as a pile thread
The layers of 3D spacer fabric are designed, manufactured and validated. Spacer fabrics generally consist of two parallel fabric layers which are kept at a distance by a third layer of thread. The distance is caused by a so called pile thread. Pile threads are usually rigid monofilaments, that ondule between the two parallel layers of the spacer fabric to maintain the distance. As an alternative, puffy multifilaments can be used, which cause the distance between the two parallel layers by puffing. The multifilaments are fixated by chambers that are stitched through the whole spacer fabric. Figure 1 shows the cross section of a spacer fabric using rigid monofilaments (a) as a pile thread as well as puffy multifilaments (b).
Figure 2: Modification of the pile material to create pressure-resistant zones in heat-protective underwear
The inclusion of air between the top and the bottom layer of the spacer fabric creates an insulating layer. In order to counteract scalding, this insulating layer must be maintained throughout the entire service life. In highly stressed areas such as knees, elbows, shoulders or the back, local reinforcements must therefore be used (See Figure 2). The reinforcement is achieved by using either stiffer monofilament as a pile yarn or a puffier multifilament to keep the distance. According to the current state of research, there is no possibility of changing the stiffness of the pile yarn during the ongoing process.
Figure 3: principle sketch of the splice system
For this purpose, a splicer was developed within the scope of this project. Using the splicer, different yarns can be connected online and during the knitting process in order to change the pile yarn material. Splicing is a permanent and non-detachable connection of two yarn ends and is mainly used to repair a yarn breakage. Depending on the splicing concept, different yarns can also be connected to each other, for example to change the functionality of a textile. Various basic principles can be used for this purpose. The pile yarn is changed in the running process via the splicing system and thus the distance stiffness of the structure is specifically adjusted (See Figure 3).
The challenge developing this splicing system is to ensure the proper knitting process, which must not be interrupted or disturbed during pile yarn change. On the one hand, the connection of different pile yarns must take place within a few seconds without yarn breakage. On the other hand, the change between the pile yarns must be coordinated in such a way that the correct pile yarn is used at the correct position in the knitted fabric. For example, the stiffer or puffier pile yarn should be used at the location of the local reinforcement. The yarn infeed quantity and pattern must also be matched to each other. Therefore, a communication between the splicing unit and the knitting machine is necessary.
Figure 4: Schematic structure of heat protection textiles with effective heat flows
Approaches
The basic concept chosen is a four-layer structure consisting of a spacer fabric, a latent heat accumulator and a reflective layer. An exemplary concept is shown in Figure 4, where the spacer fabric is used within the layers I and II, the latent heat accumulator is layer III and layer IV is used as a reflective layer.
Layer I must transport water absorbed by the body, sweat, to the outside (high diffusibility) without absorbing water itself or conducting too much heat to the skin (low heat conductivity). Here, there is a conflict of objectives between a high contact surface textile/skin — better moisture removal, but also higher heat conduction — and a lower contact surface — better insulation effect, but lower moisture absorption. Layer II must have a large cross-section and an open mesh structure for good ventilation and diffusion properties. In addition, the high resilience of the spacer fabric reliably suppresses contact between layer II and the skin. Layer III provides shielding of layers I and II from the heat radiation of the heat source via a low degree of transmission and a high degree of reflection. Also, a latent heat accumulator based on a phase-change material (PCM) can be installed in layer III to compensate the heat input into the deeper layers I and II. Layer IV is an additional reflective layer which reflects heat radiation and thus absorbs less heat overall. The optimum layer structure is determined using heat conduction simulation software. Only the optimum layer structure will be tested on a heat conducting test bench, using different types of spacer fabrics and investigate on the effect of different amounts of absorbed humidity on heat conductivity.
Figure 5: CAD drawing of the designed circumferential splicer unit featuring two grippers and a cutter unit
As possible process variants of splicing to change the pile thread in the process, bonding, welding and circumferential splicing are investigated. The most important parameters on the basis of which the decision for one of these processes is made are the spliceable material spectrum, the investment costs, the splice duration as well as the mechanical properties of the splice site. Since all processes have similar investment costs and the achievable mechanical properties differ only slightly, the focus when selecting a process is on the material spectrum that can be processed and the process time required for splicing. In contrast to adhesive bonding and welding, circumferential splicing can also be used to splice foreign materials together. In addition, there is a temporal advantage over gluing and welding in the case of downwind splicing due to the lack of curing and cooling times. In the further course of the project, therefore, circumferential splicing is favoured. Within the scope of this project a circumferential splicing unit was designed and constructed (See Figure 5).
The splicer unit consists of the circumferential splicer itself, two grippers and a cutter unit. The circumferential splicer is driven by a gearwheel and synchronized by planet gears for defined positioning of the splicing wheel. This is necessary to ensure the gap of the splicing wheel is at the top when the pile yarns are inserted. The pile yarns are moved by the grippers, while the insertion of the pile yarn is achieved by moving the splicer up. After splicing the yarn is cut off by the cutter unit and the splicer is moved down again.
Conclusion
As part of the HEATex research project, a functionalized, 3D undergarment is being developed that can be worn under conventional protective clothing at workstations exposed to heat. The protective clothing consists of a four-layer structure, with each layer performing a separate function. Layers I and II are spacer fabrics. The protective effect of this spacer fabric is based on the one hand on the avoidance of skin contact with the layers of protective clothing lying above it, in order to prevent scalding caused by one’s own body sweat. On the other hand, a cooling effect is created by moisture removal. Both effects are achieved using a spacer fabric which has locally different spacer stiffness. The spacing stiffness is achieved using pile yarns of different stiffness, which can be changed flexibly during the process. The flexible changing of the pile yarns is carried out via a circumferential splicer module, with which also pile yarns of other types can be connected in a few seconds. In addition to the spacer fabric of layers I and II, a lateral heat accumulator is installed in layer III, which prevents and delays the heat input into layers I and II. Layer III as well as layer IV are additionally reflective layers which can reflect the heat radiation.
References
[Ate15] Atemschutzunfälle: URL: http://www.atemschutzunfaelle.de/unfaelle/eu/ Zugriff am 01.09.2015
[KSC+07] Kales, S. N.; Soteriades, E. S.; Christophi, C. A., Christiani, D. C.: Emergency Duties and Deaths from Heart Disease among Firefighters in the United States The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 356, no. 12; 22. März 2007
[NN15] NN: Unfallstatistik der Feuerwehr-Unfallkassen FUK Mitte und HFUK Nord Der Sicherheitsbrief, 37, H.1/2015, S. 6-8
[TÜV16] TÜV Rheinland: Hitze-Check am Arbeitsplatz H.E.A.T Analyse – Objective Klimamessung nach DIN EN 27243 und Beurteilung der Hitzebelastung am Arbeitsplatz URL: http://www.presseportal.de/pm/31385/2279470 Zugriff am 24.11.2016
Editor’s Note: Lukas Lechthaler, Christoph Peiner, Marie-Isabel Popzyk, Thomas Gries are based at the Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. The research project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi) within the framework of the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (ZIM) on the basis of a resolution of the German Bundestag. Within the framework of this project, the ITA thanks its research partner STS Textiles GmbH, Grünbach, for their constructive cooperation.
GASTONIA, N.C. – December 14, 2018 – Circular knitting company Beverly Knits Inc. recently filled key positions in its knitting and finishing operations.
Jason Defilippis is Beverly Knits’ manager of product development and design. In this position, Defilippis manages and coordinates product development projects; evaluates and resolves technical feasibility, design optimization, and production issues; and researches and monitors industry developments. Defilippis previously worked as a supplier quality engineer at W. L. Gore & Associates; fabric engineer at Target; and senior process engineer at Springs Global, U.S.
“Jason has brought an immense amount of talent to Beverly Knits,” said Ron Sytz, owner and president of Beverly Knits. “Since he has joined the team, he has streamlined many of our processes and identified multiple product development opportunities. We are excited about the new ideas Jason continuously brings to the table.”
As president of Altus Finishing, a division of Beverly Knits, Kenny Golden leads the team in planning, operations and future growth of the company. Golden’s extensive experience includes working as director of manufacturing at Polartec Tennessee Manufacturing and United Knitting as well as general manager of manufacturing, director of dyeing/wet finishing and multiple other roles at Dyersburg Fabrics.
Also joining the leadership team at Altus Finishing is Plant Manager Jackie Tweedy. She oversees the daily operations, quality and scheduling. Tweedy’s past experience includes operations manager at Lava Textiles and plant manager at Colortex USA.
“Kenny and Jackie both have strong backgrounds in textile finishing services,” Sytz said. “With Kenny’s technical expertise and operations knowledge and Jackie’s organizational skills, Altus Finishing will continue to offer our customers top quality services.”
Textile brands around the world are at risk — but many don’t even know it. Unfortunately, the supply of counterfeit components — distributed under the trademarks of reputable industry suppliers — is all too common. Now more than ever, it’s critical for apparel, footwear and home textile brands to verify the authenticity of the raw materials they use in their products. To help global partners in this effort, Microban has taken an aggressive stance against companies who illegally sell products under the company’s trademarks.
Microban is pleased to announce that it continues to win trademark disputes against Greenchem International Company Ltd. for the fraudulent use of the company’s AEGIS antimicrobial trademark. Since 2013, Greenchem International has illegally used the AEGIS brand name to distribute its own antimicrobial finishes. Microban has won 10 trademark disputes to date, across Asia Pacific, related to Greenchem’s activities.
With a proven track record in textiles and footwear, AEGIS is a trusted and effective odor control antimicrobial on the market today. Renowned for its performance and versatility, AEGIS branded products are incorporated into fabric, fiber, and foam products around the world.
Millions of dollars have been invested in the Aegis technology — since its introduction — to ensure customers receive a high-quality antimicrobial product solution. Inauthentic products, distributed illegally under the AEGIS mark, aren’t subject to the same quality standards as the original chemistry. Textile articles treated with these counterfeit materials are, therefore, at higher risk of performance failure. These failures can damage a brand’s reputation with the global consumer.
In addition to quality risks, use of counterfeit antimicrobials can have significant legal consequences. That’s because antimicrobials are regulated in many countries. This includes the U.S. where the EPA regulates products under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and Europe where products are controlled under the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR). Use of unregistered antimicrobials can result in large penalties, fines, seizure of illegally treated end-products and public disclosure of regulatory violations.
Antimicrobials are proven functional finishes capable of improving a product’s bottom line. Insure your brand is seeing the best possible return by working with industry leaders who provide authentic technologies.
Editor’s note: Brian Aylward is Microban’s senior director of Global Textiles.
Granules, fibers and dyed fabrics of flame-retardant polyamide Source: DITF
A new class of textiles combines high flame retardancy with improved physical properties
TW Special Report
The burner flame approaches the tissue. But instead of suddenly flaring up, the textile sample only hesitantly begins to melt. First the tissue only contracts, then dark polymer drops fall off only later.
“What we see here in the combustion chamber is the result of a new type of flame retardant for polyamide textiles,” explained Dr. Georgios Mourgas. As a scientific staff member at the DITF Denkendorf, he is in charge of a project aimed at incorporating flame retardant compounds into polymer compounds in an entirely new way.
“Flame retardant phosphorus compounds are usually added to the polymers as additives,” said Dr. Mourgas. “However, large quantities of phosphorus compounds are required to achieve a good fire protection effect. And this usually occurs at the expense of the physical and physiological properties of the textiles.” Dr. Mourgas lets plastic granulate trickle through his hands. It consists of a polyamide that has been chemically modified in the DITF laboratories. In contrast to the usual method of adding phosphorus compounds to the polymer as an additive, these could be incorporated directly into the polymer chains in low concentrations. This occurs during polycondensation, i.e. the synthesis of the plastic in reactor vessels. This chemical process is usually designed to produce molecules with as long a chain as possible, i.e. polymers with a high molecular weight. This is a precondition for the subsequent ability to spin the polymer granulate into textile fibers.
New Process For Lower Phosphorus Content Levels
But that is also where the difficulty lies: When added in large quantities as an additive, these phosphorus compounds prevent the formation of long molecular chains and thus act as chain breakers. The resulting plastic cannot be processed into fibers at all or only with great difficulty, and the additive leaks from the fibers over time as a result of ageing and washing processes.
The process developed at the DITF is more elegant: Only small amounts of phosphorus compounds are required to achieve comparably good flame retardancy. The compounds are chemically coupled to the molecular chains and thus bonded to the polymer much more firmly than would be possible with additive admixtures. “We call these polyamides intrinsically flame retardant,” explained Dr. Mourgas. “This means that the flame retardant is built directly into the polyamide. This allows us to achieve a permanent, long-lasting flame retardant effect”.
By reducing the required flame retardants, the achievable molecular weight can be controlled much better during synthesis. The viscosities of the plastic melt can be precisely adjusted to guarantee the optimum ability to spin the polymer into fibers.
Good Skin Compatibility Of The Polyamides
Laboratory tests have already shown that the flame retardancy is just as good as that of polyamides to which additives were added. In addition, the chemical bonding of the flame retardants to the polymers prevents migration and leaching from the fibers due to ageing, as is observed with the use of additives. Not only does the flame retardancy remain completely intact, but the physiological skin tolerance is also improved: Intrinsically flame-retardant polyamides release virtually no phosphorus compounds. Skin compatibility tests rate this type of polyamide as good.
Finally, the good physical properties of intrinsically protected polyamides should also be mentioned: Dyeing tests with different dyestuffs confirmed good color absorption and light fastness of the textiles. Strength values and friction fastness are in no way inferior to those of commercially available polyamides.
“In their application, textiles made of our intrinsically flame-retardant polyamides show their advantages especially where high flame-retardant requirements are placed on the materials,” Dr. Mourgas describes the practical use of the new polymers. “This is especially the case in the home textile sector with carpets, upholstery and seat covers or curtains.” However, as is often the case with new developments, further fields of application may open up as soon as the product becomes available on the market.
Editor’s Note: This article is courtesy of Germany-based Deutsche Institute für Textil- und Faserforschung Denkendorf (German Institutes of Textile- and Fiber Research). For more information, please contact Dr. Georgios Mourgas, +49-0711-9340-396; georgios.mourgas@ditf.de.
COSELEY, England — December 14, 2018 — Mitsubishi Corp. (MC) has entered into an agreement to acquire 25 percent of shares in ELG Carbon Fibre Ltd. (ECF) from ELG Carbon Fibre International GmbH (ECFI), a subsidiary of ELG Haniel GmbH (ELG) in Germany. The shareholders of ECF will become ECFI and MC. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions.
ECF’s is engaged in reprocessing surplus carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) materials from manufacturing operations and end of life parts to produce and supply competitive, high-quality carbon fiber products to the market. Through its own technology and expertise, ECF is the first company in the world to have established stable commercial production of reprocessed carbon fiber supplying to markets such as the automotive and electronics industries.
Under the agreement, MC will promote the sales and marketing of ECF products through the company’s channels already engaged in the business of plastic resin sales. By uniting ECF’s advanced technology and proficiency in the metals reprocessing industry and Mitsubishi Corporation’s global network and broad interface with different industries, the companies aim to enhance the global business development and reliable supply of reprocessed carbon fiber by ECF.
As is the case throughout the global automotive industry, Japanese OEM’s are seeking lightweight advanced material solutions to reduce emissions from internal combustion engines and increase cruising distance of electrified vehicles. Whilst Japan is a global leader in carbon fiber technology, producing almost 70 percent of the world’s supply, recycling technologies have not developed at the same pace and MC’s partnership with ECF addresses this important barrier to mass adoption in industries where sustainability and environmental impact are important.
Frazer Barnes, managing director of ELG Carbon Fibre, commented: “Both ECF and Mitsubishi Corporation place the highest value on quality products and service excellence. Together we will continue to meet the expectations of our customers and stakeholders and grow our business to generate economic and environmental value. This agreement will also provide resources to support our expansion, whilst strengthening ECF’s access to key transportation markets within Asia and North America”.
Mitsubishi Corp. commented: “Through the acquisition of shares in ECF, MC will be contributing to expanding the stable supply of reprocessed carbon fiber while at the same time continuing to contribute to the sustainable development of industry and the realization of a low-carbon society”.
ELG was advised by the London office of MCF Corporate Finance throughout the transaction.
