The Netherlands-based Teijin Aramid has announced plans to increase capacity for its Twaron® para-aramid high-performance yarn by more than 25 percent within the next five years. The company has a goal of growing the aramid business at a rate of 8-percent per year to meet future market demand. Teijin Aramid reports it has successfully increased production capacity for Twaron by 130 percent since 1999.
“This new investment in increased capacity will help us, as market leader, to meet market demand, anyplace and anytime,” said Gert Frederiks, CEO and president, Teijin Aramid. “It’s our strategy to continuously invest in both optimizing our production facilities and in increasing our Twaron capacity. This will enable us to provide our customers with best-value products, in the right quantity, the right quality, and at the best price.”
Taiwan-based Far Eastern New Century Corp. (FENC) has acquired the former Mossi & Ghisolfi (M&G) polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in Apple Grove, W. Va., as well as a research facility in Ohio for approximately $33.5 million. M&G entered backruptcy in 2017, and motions were filed late last year to begin the sales process for some of its assets including the PET plant in Apple Grove, as well one in Corpus Christi, Texas.
FENC is one of the top five global PET producers in terms of capacity. The Apple Grove facility adds approximately 360,000 tons of annual capacity and is FENC’s first production site in the United States. The company’s decision to acquire a U.S. production facility was based on several factors including proximity to clients, increasing non-tariff barriers to trade for imports into the United States, lower energy costs and the appreciation of the Taiwan dollar against the U.S. dollar.
With plans already made to attend CAMX, the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, Textile World asked me to provide coverage of the show, originally scheduled for last October in Orlando, Fla. Unfortunately, that original schedule also coincided with the arrival of Hurricane Irma, which put everyone’s plans into the spin cycle. For obvious reasons, CAMX organizers rescheduled the show and the new date was December 12-14.
The CAMX tradeshow focuses specifically on all aspects of the composites industry — raw materials and fabric manufacturers, molders, an assortment of other support companies along with a vast array of applications with markets ranging from sporting goods to wind energy, aerospace and various forms of transportation. Its focus and execution is governed by the collective efforts of the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) and Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE). “CAMX is definitely the number one composites show for us in the Americas,” said Daniel Stumpp, global marketing manager, SAERTEX GmbH, a show exhibitor. “It’s just a shame that the hurricane caused the show to be rescheduled.”
Despite the mid-December date, the rescheduled CAMX saw a good crowd at the opening welcome reception.
Rescheduling a popular industry tradeshow is never an easy endeavor, but when the best option for new dates happens to be in mid-December, expectations definitely change. Typically, end-of-year activities create some of the busiest times for companies trying to close out the old year strong at the same time making preparations for the start of a new one, not to mention the personal challenges typically associated with the holiday season. CAMX organizers tried to put a positive spin on the situation and make the most of it, but most participants realized the show would see lower attendance levels than originally expected and the feel of the show would be very different.
Tradeshows Still Matter
In a discussion with a buddy at CAMX, the topic of tradeshows and the TW article and how best to write about the show came up. The friend thought about things for a moment, then said simply, “tradeshows still matter.”
I realized he was absolutely correct, and concluded that CAMX, even though it was rescheduled, was a fine example of why tradeshows in fact do still matter.
I have to admit — I like tradeshows and pretty much always have. I remember the first one I went to, long ago with my father. It was a sports industry show in Chicago and I was ecstatic to say the least. I was in my teens, so just traveling with my father when he was on business was great. But I couldn’t believe all the stuff at the show — not just the booths and sporting goods, but the knick-knacks and giveaways too. I was in heaven and remember returning home with two shopping bags stuffed full of handouts and what can best be described as a little bit of everything.
Attendees were able to watch live demonstrations at the Huntsman booth.
Changing With The Times
Of course, tradeshows have changed quite a bit in the years since my first experience at one, or maybe more appropriately, they have evolved with the times and must continue to do so. Originally, tradeshows were the place where all the exhibitors showed their newest, latest and greatest products — the best they had to offer — to all the prospective customers that might wander by the booth. Trade shows were the great industry gathering event. But trade shows began to change as more and more competitors from near and far came booths to take lots of pictures and make notes. This high-level of interest inevitably resulted in conspicuously similar products of questionable origin being offered by other companies, generally at lower prices. This practice, in turn, began the trend of companies limiting product offerings at shows and highlighting just enough interesting items to draw curiosity. Sections of the booth space seemed to evolve into restricted or private meeting areas. Potential customers were drawn in by the interesting items and then essentially vetted. Those deemed worthy were brought to the restricted areas to be shown the real new items. Skip to the present with our fast-paced culture with everything online, and given the advent of mobile phones with all kinds of apps and access to more intelligence at our fingertips than the computers that were used to put a man on the moon years ago, and the evolution continues. Tradeshows have taken on yet another purpose.
CAMX featured a poster session showcasing graduate student work.
An Atmosphere Of Conversation
A wise man once told me: “More business at tradeshows is conducted during meals, at the after-parties and in the bars, than on the show floor. It’s where the actual conversations take place.” From what I’ve seen over the years, he was obviously correct and tradeshow organizers have begun to acknowledge this as well. Recent incarnations of tradeshow floor layouts have incorporated more meeting spaces and communal areas for people to gather. This allows attendees — both exhibitors and those wandering the show floor — the opportunity to have genuine, bona-fide actual face-to-face conversations with one another without the need for a cell phone. “Of course, digital media becomes more and more important for our marketing activities, but it´s the special environment of tradeshows that you cannot find via the Internet,” offered Stumpp. “Tradeshows generate an atmosphere of conversation that becomes the basis for new ideas. Face-to-face conversations not only generate new contacts, they also help to improve the relationships we have with existing suppliers and customers.”
This year’s CAMX show proved to be a great example of conversations improving relationships. Several attendees appeared to relish the extra time available to simply talk with others in attendance, whether it be a new or current customers, suppliers and even possible competitors. “The show floor wasn’t overly busy given the approaching holidays and year end, but the people who were at the show were here for a reason,” stated Jeff Thompson, director of sales, basalt yarn producer Mafic North America, Shelby, N.C. “So, we had more time for real, more in-depth interactions with customers and potential customers that we hope become quite valuable. I prefer this to the more hit and run type of communications that inevitably happen when the show floor is very busy. You just gain so much more out of real conversations.”
You Just Never Know What You May Learn Or Who You May See
Another reason tradeshows are great, is they present an opportunity similar to that of going to a flea market or yard sale. One truly never really knows what one might find or whom you might run into. Maybe seeing one product or technology sparks an idea for a new product or better way of doing something. And there’s always the chance to run into old friends or colleagues you haven’t seen in years. At CAMX for example, I was able to talk to several different companies and gained ideas on new products and processing technologies that may lead to improvements in our productivity. I also ran into a colleague who I hadn’t seen in almost 20 years. It was a complete surprise for both of us, and really nice to catch up.
Everyone who exhibits or attends tradeshows has their own agenda and opinion of the show’s worth and will weigh the associated costs. However, some in the industry have said in recent years that tradeshows are no longer worth the cost or effort, and I respectfully disagree. Granted, tradeshows used to be the primary source for finding new products, but now with the advent of the Internet, new products are found everywhere. Today, tradeshows present an opportunity and atmosphere to forge relationships and renew personal connections, which may have been misplaced as a result of the fast-paced Internet, mobile phone, information overload world we all live in. It really does take only one enticing introduction, stimulating conversation or a new nugget or two of information to reinforce the belief that tradeshows really do still matter. The recent CAMX show certainly strengthened this belief for me.
PFÄFFIKON, Switzerland — February 28, 2018 — This year again, the Dhakatex organizers could, after a less frequented opening day, register a satisfying number of visitors to the trade fair held from February 8-11 in Dhaka. Thus the importance of this trade fair has once again been underlined.
Many investors and weavers demonstrated their interest in Stäubli automatic weaving preparation solutions and shedding solutions for frame and Jacquard weaving which they could discover at several places on the fairground. “The high interest in our products does perfectly reflect the ongoing prosper investment activity in the country”, says Fritz Legler, sales & marketing manager of the weaving preparation solutions at Stäubli.
At the Spintex Technology SA (Stäubli agent) booth visitors could learn more about Stäubli values, and especially our aim to make customers getting out the maximum of their machinery, our tailor made trainings, technical support and the availability of our spare parts even years after purchase.
They could experience the latest generation of automatic drawing-in machines of the SAFIR line as well as the TOPMATIC 201 warp tying machine processing a cotton warp for denim, installed on its solid TPF tying frame. This proven ensemble offers long service lives and leads with its precise operation to short idle times during the warp change and to more meters of first quality fabrics. At the same booth a Stäubli cam motion could be seen. Weaving with this kind of cam motion assures gentle warp treatment, and the fully integrated levelling device prevents from overstretching the warp and avoids start-up marks, thus weavers can easily produce high quality fabrics.
Important presence of Stäubli shedding solutions at the fairground
The S3060 electronic rotary dobby, part of the latest S3000/S3200 series was presented in operation. Worldwide this machinery series is renowned for its reliability and adaptability. It is compatible with weaving machines made by all the major makers. Weavers can choose among several models the one perfectly adapted to their requirements.
Jacquard weavers could discover the SX electronic Jacquard machine (format 2688 with 2340 hooks) performing on a rapier weaving machine producing labels. Adaptable to all types of air jet, rapier, and water jet machines, the SX Jacquard machine produces excellent results in the form of flat, terry or technical fabrics, in formats up to 2688 hooks.
In a total, trade fair visitors could get a nice overview on must-haves of the Stäubli product range, which can support them facing the challenging market demands thanks to more productivity and longevity.
Rotary textile printing has a long history as the industry standard for high-output printing plants. The process is specialized and capital intensive. It demands a fabric inventory, screen inventory, an accurate color shop with formulations per pattern and colorway, and in most cases, a finishing department, inspection area and quality control lab.
The process of turning a design into a print involves the studio where artists turn designs into printable patterns. From there, the designs are engraved on rotary screens, one screen per color. There is a lot of time, energy and capital tied up before the printer prints the first yard.
For years, the promise of digital textile printing teased the industry as it slowly developed. For some time, digital printing was a sample and development tool for designers in a preproduction environment. It was expensive technology that found a niche in commercial printing in banner and signage businesses.
Then it happened — printhead development brought speed into the equation; dyes, inks and substrates improved; and the color gamut available to the printer increased. Scanning technology and computational power also expanded capabilities.
Today, digital printing technology has transformed the textile printing business and has expanded the business model. The technology is transformational enough to make traditional printers consider the technology, and reinvest out of rotary production to increase productivity, and reduce operating costs and industrial footprints.
Digital printing also is making its way into non-traditional manufacturing areas like apparel, where it is being adopted as part of an operation for both samples and production runs.
The entire process has changed. Simple concepts like design repeat — the design was engineered to fit around the circumference of the screen in a continuous manner — no longer are necessary in some forms of digital printing, and this provides a great deal of freedom for designers. Direct-to-garment printing reduces inventories and adds production flexibility.
Many textile processes have evolved through the years — think of when the loom became the weaving machine. Rotary still has its place, but new choices are making printers and non-printers evaluate how transformative technologies are impacting their businesses. Sometimes making obsolete, and other times offering opportunity.
The marketplace is responding with new shows and conferences to make the technology more accessible. In this issue, Executive Editor Rachael Davis presents a digital printing technology roundup, and she will cover the inaugural InPrint Industrial Inkjet Conference previewed in this issue. For printers and non-printers alike, digital printing could become an important part of your business.
One final note: TW editors would like to thank Janet Bealer Rodie for her many contributions to the magazine over the years. In particular, “Quality Fabric of the Month,” written by Janet for many years now, has long-been a reader favorite. Thank you, Janet, and enjoy your retirement.
GRAZ, Austria — February 28, 2018 — ANDRITZ has received an order from Manifattura Fontana — based in Valstagna, Italy, and part of the Belgian technical textile company Sioen Industries — to supply a neXline needlepunch eXcelle line for the production of geotextiles. Start-up of the line is scheduled for October 2018.
The scope of supply includes all of the machines from opening and blending to an automatic packaging system. The line incorporates cutting-edge Andritz technologies and equipment, such as:
a TCF-X high-capacity chute feed capable of processing long staple fibers;
an eXcelle card with 3.5 m working width;
the state-of-the-art ProDyn and Isolayer systems for weight evenness; and
high-speed needlelooms with the innovative Zeta drafters to fine-tune tensile strength parameters and boost the production capacity for lightweight fabrics.
For the first time in Italy, the line will feature air-through bonding capabilities in combination with calendering. It is targeted to become the most productive line in Europe.
Manifattura Fontana joined Sioen Industries, a publicly listed Belgian company specialized in technical textile solutions, in 2016. It has been manufacturing nonwoven geotextiles from synthetic fibers for nearly 50 years and is developing new solutions and improved products for separation, filtration, protection, drainage, and reinforcement. Manifattura Fontana is a leading company in the global geotextile markets and provides its customers with added-value geotextiles for many applications, such as the construction of roads, railways, reservoirs, dams, and tunnels, as well as for earthworks, foundations, erosion control, drainage, waste disposal, or containment.
Singapore-based Huntsman Textile Effects has added HIGH IQ® Lasting Color, High IQ Lasting Color Eco and High IQ Lasting White products to its High IQ performance assurance program. Lasting Color protects textiles from dulling over time, and Lasting White features fluorescent whitening agents and stain management technologies to keep white bright and stain-free.
Lasting Color is based on NOVACRON® dyes; and the Lasting Color eco program centers on AVITERA® SE reactive dyes, which can reduce water and energy consumption by up to 50-percent compared to best-available technologies, according to the company. High IQ Lasting White features UVITEX® chemistry with environment-friendly fluorinated or non-fluorinated stain repellents and releases.
In order to participate in the High IQ program and use High IQ hang tags as for point-of-sale branding, mills must meet high-level requirements set forth by Huntsman. The program aims to help manufacturers produce high-performance textiles in bright whites and colors that last that also feature enhanced comfort, sun protection, reduced friction and water repellence.
“With our High IQ Lasting Color and High IQ Lasting White programs, we offer brands, retailers and mills a way to achieve better economic and environmental sustainability,” said Lee Howarth, Global Marketing Manager, Huntsman Textile Effects. “In today’s competitive global market, this means being able to cost-effectively produce fabrics that delight consumers with brilliant whites and vivid colors that stay and won’t wash away, backed by an assurance that they conform to stringent environmental standards.”
Belgium-based Devan Chemicals has relaunched its known quat-silane antimicrobial product as BI-OME®. The rebranded line is multifunctional and is available in several combinations with other functional finishes to impart additional properties using one product. Bi-Ome Quick Dry combines the antimicrobial with a moisture management finish; Bi-Ome Stretch offers antimicrobial and stretch recovery properties; and Bi-Ome AV, is an advanced product featuring the antimicrobial properties as well as an antiviral component. According to Devan, Bi-Ome is both Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR)- and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-compliant, and Oeko-Tex® and bluesign® registered.
In other Devan news, the company has developed a line of patented encapsulation revitalizing agents to impart health and wellness functions to textile products. R-Vital is focused on anti-oxidants — such as ubiquinol — to boost protection against free radicals, ageing, pollution and ultraviolet rays. According to the company when added to textiles, the agents enter the skin and are then transported throughout the body. The products are environmentally safe and skin friendly.
Switzerland-based Archroma has added Smartrepel® Hydro AM, a universal water repellent suitable for all fiber types, to its Smartrepel Hydro range of non-perfluorocarbon (PFC)-based products. According to the company, Smartrepel Hydro AM’s advanced formula is based on a microencapsulated, highly-biodegradable technology that imparts breathable, durable and effective protection to outdoor and sportswear products. The product may be applied using both pad and exhaust processes.
“This advanced version of our Smartrepel technology combines, into one product only, two benefits that are sought after by outdoor brands and retailers: a nature-friendlier
chemistry, together with long-lasting, efficient water repellency for all fibers,” said Georg Lang, global head of Product Marketing Finishing, Textile Specialties, Archroma. “Smartrepel Hydro AM brings onto the market a positive alternative to conventional fluorocarbon-based water repellency products.”
In related news, Archroma reports its Ultraphor® KCB optical brightening agent is finding use in a carbon dioxide (CO2) dyeing process used by Tong Siang, Thailand, to produce white, high-performance sportswear. Tong Siang, a member of the Yeh Group, is using The Netherlands-based DyeCoo Textile Systems B.V.’s water- and process chemical-free patented technology in its dye house. Fabrics produced using this CO2 dyeing process are branded DryDye® fabrics by Tong Siang.
“While humans have used water to dye fabrics for more than 2,000 years, today water is an increasingly scarce resource that needs to be conserved,” said Andrew McDonald, global head of Business Development, Synthetic & Wool, Archroma’s Brand & Performance Textile Specialties Business. “DyeCoo’s CO2 dyeing process offers an important step forward, and we at Archroma are pleased to be able to help advance broader use of this eco-friendlier approach.”
LEXINGTON, N.C. — February 28, 2018 — Navis TubeTex, a provider of high technology finishing machinery to the global textile industry, announced its purchase of Consultex Spray Systems and Tandematic.
Consultex produces a proprietary, patented spray system used in the textile, film, nonwoven, paper, and battery industries. Its roto-sprayers accurately apply chemicals to a multitude of products with unequaled precision. Consultex President, Arne Niemann, will remain an integral part of the business.
Tandematic is the world leader of low tension feeding systems and tenter auxiliaries. For more than 45 years, the Tandematic brand has been the industry standard for unique, innovative solutions for web guiding, trimming and selvedge decurling.
Will Motchar, president and CEO, Navis TubeTex, commented: “we are very excited to add these companies and their great products to our group. They are perfect complements to our product line providing unique technologies and services that enhance customers’ operations.”
