Erie, Pa.-based Eriez® has introduced two metal detector/magnetic separator Double Team Systems for protection against ferrous and nonferrous metal contamination.
The first system partners a Magnetic B Trap with an Xtreme® Liquid Line metal detector. The magnet removes the ferrous contamination from pumped liquid, while the metal detector focuses on detecting and rejecting non-magnetic tramp materials including aluminum and stainless steel.
The second system features a Magnetic Grate-in-Housing with an Xtreme Gravity Drop
Vertical metal detector. The magnet is responsible for removing ferrous contamination from gravity-dropped material, and the metal detector detects and rejects non-magnetic tramp materials.
In both systems, the metal detector and magnetic separator work together to produce as close to perfect a product yield as possible, according to Eriez. The new systems were designed to meet common application challenges, but experts from Eriez can work with customers to design systems for all application needs.
Ken Barron was promoted to purchasing manager – North America for Tulsa, Okla.-based Clear Edge Filtration. Barron’s territories include Minneapolis, Tulsa, and Monterrey, Mexico.
Fred Adams recently was named market development manager — Textiles for Richmond,
Va.-based Fi-Tech Inc.
Kubo (left) and Görder
Tim Görder has been named global director of Solution Partner Support at Jowat SE, Germany, effective June 1. He replaces Manfred Kubo who is retiring after 17 years with the company. Görder will be responsible for coordinating support offered to solution partners globally.
4M Carbon Fiber Corp., Knoxville, Tenn., has named Rob Klawonn CEO. He will lead the company as it commercializes its carbon fiber production technology.
Custom-made menswear producer J. Hilburn, Dallas, has named Andy Janowski CEO.
The Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI), Roseville, Minn., has announced Steve Schiffman will succeed Mary Hennessy as IFAI president and CEO. After serving the organization for six years, Hennessy is set to retire June 1.
Hrdlick
John Hrdlick has been promoted to president and COO of INX International Ink Co., and Bryce Kristo was named executive vice president and CFO. To ensure a smooth transition, Rick Clendenning will continue as CEO for the remainder of 2018.
Terri Kelly, president and CEO, W.L. Gore & Associates Inc., Newark, Del., has been named the 2018 Executive of the Year by Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business. She was presented the award at a luncheon honoring her proven performance and global leadership in a team-based, highly collaborative culture.
The Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) has renamed its annual AATCC Foundation University of Rhode Island Scholarship after Professor Dr. Martin Bide. The newly named AATCC Foundation Martin J. Bide University of Rhode Island Scholarship honors Bide’s distinguished career, which includes research into sustainable textiles and biomedical materials.
Link (left) and Wermelinger
Switzerland-based Loepfe Brothers Ltd. has named Daniel Link CEO. He replaces Maurizio Wermelinger who has retired.
The Board of Directors of Raleigh, N.C.-based SPESA — the Sewn Products Equipment & Suppliers of the Americas — recently approved the hiring of Michael McDonald as executive director. McDonald will work closely with current president Benton Gardner and managing director Dave Gardner until their retirement at the end of 2018. McDonald will assume full management responsibilities for the organization in January 2019.
Richard Altice has joined Minnetonka, Minn.-based NatureWorks LLC as president and CEO. He replaces Marc Verbruggen who recently retired.
Valdese, N.C.-based Valdese Weavers has promoted Ann Reynolds to vice president of design. She will oversee the styling of multiple product lines including Circa 1801, Valdese Weavers Residential, Dicey Fabrics, as well as the new Inside Out and Sustain performance brands.
Delta Galil Industries Ltd., Israel, has named Tim Baxter CEO of Delta Galil Premium Brands, responsible for 7 For All Mankind® and Splendid®.
Nike Inc., Beaverton, Ore., has named Rosemary St. Clair vice president, general manager of Global Women’s; and Cesar Garcia vice president, general manager, Global Running.
Greensboro, N.C.-based VF Corp. has appointed Steve Murray to the newly-created position of vice president, Strategic Projects. Murray is part of the company’s Senior Leadership Team and reports to VF’s Chairman, President and CEO Steve Rendle.
Charlotte-based American Dornier Machinery Corp. is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The subsidiary company of Germany-based Lindauer Dornier GmbH has serviced more than 240 customers and delivered almost 8,500 weaving machines since it opened its doors in 1978.
“In 1978 when we moved into the 900-square-meter premises on Performance Road in Charlotte, North Carolina, there were nine of us,” said Hans Geiger, president of the U.S. branch for 23 years.
The company underwent expansions in 1984 and 1998 to become the modern facility it is today housing mechanical and electronic workshops, training rooms for customers and a space to run weaving trials. The company managed to weather the economic trials faced by the U.S. textile industry during the 2000s, and reports it saw a renewed interest in its machinery beginning in 2014.
Currently, the company estimates 80 percent of Dornier weaving machines are used to produce technical fabrics such as airbags, high-tech sun protection fabrics, carbon and glass fabrics, filters, and tire cord, as well as high-quality upholstery fabrics.
SAHM, Fountain Inn, S.C., is celebrating 40 years in the United States. “After 40 years in the USA, our commitment to this market is stronger than ever,” said Angelika Huemer, owner of Sahm’s parent company Austria-based Starlinger Group. “With our recent investment in a top-of-the-line facility our promise of unmatched service remains true as much today as it has in the past.”
The company celebrated the anniversary during Techtextil North America held recently in Atlanta. “We wanted to honor those who have made our success here in the U.S. possible — our customers and team members,” said Jimmy Cranford, president, American Starlinger-Sahm.
Allertex of America Ltd., Cornelius, N.C., now represents Italy-based Texnology S.r.l. in the United States, Canada, Mexico and South Africa. Texnology makes nonwovens machinery including crosslapping, needlepunching and web drafting machines, and
can supply partial or full nonwoven lines.
Allertex reports it also recently signed an agency agreement with Bettarini & Serafini S.r.l. to represent Bematic Carding machinery in the United States, Canada and
Mexico.
“I am very excited about the future, having the opportunity to represent two first class machinery manufacturers,” said Alistair H. Deas, CEO, Allertex of America.
Germany-based Mayer & Cie (MCT) reports its Shanghai, China-based subsidiary Mayer & Cie. China (MCN) recently assembled its 1,000th circular knitting machine. Opened in 2012, MCN has managed the final assembly of selected machines as well as machines developed specifically for the Chinese market. The 1,000th machine assembled was
an MSC 3.2 II, which is the best-selling machine in the Chinese product portfolio.
“The assembly of the 1,000th machine at our Chinese works is impressive testimony to the positive progress Mayer & Cie. China has made in recent years,” said Benjamin Mayer, managing director, Mayer & Cie. “Our Shanghai site and our business in China will continue to grow. Our Chinese subsidiary is an important building block for achieving our group objectives in the years ahead.
Switzerland-based Uster Technologies AG reports it has closed the acquisition of Elbit Vision Systems Ltd. The addition of EVS’ automation vision inspection technology expands Uster’s competencies in quality control.
“I am delighted that we are now able to finalize this major milestone, which embodies the strengthening of Uster’s activities across the globe,” said Thomas Nasiou, CEO, Uster. “the access to innovative technology and the enhanced presence will enable us to strengthen our offering to customers and offer new, interesting perspectives to the colleagues of Uster and EVS. The acquisition fits perfectly into our vision to be the world’s leading supplier of quality solutions for the textile industry from fiber to fabric.”
“Now, I am very much looking forward to continue working for EVS, now part of Uster, and combining our offering,” said Sam Cohen, CEO, EVS. “I believe that we will demonstrate the potential to provide our customers with new, innovative products that can address unmet needs.”
The Atlanta-based Americas Apparel Producers’ Network (AAPN) recently held its first ever Carolina Mill Tour. The event was the idea of Ron Roach, AAPN Board Member and president of Contempora Fabrics; and was planned by Roach, AAPN’s Executive Director Sue Strickland and Managing Director Mike Todaro, as well as other AAPN members.
The objective of the tour was to educate brands and retailers on garment production in the United States beginning with fiber and yarn production followed by knitting and finishing.
The emphasis was on the Carolinas and the U.S.-based supply chain. On the tour, executives, managers and staff from Academy Sports & Outdoors, Columbia Sportswear Co., Full Beauty Brands, Haggar Clothing Co., Lacoste, Patagonia, Superior Uniform Group, Target and VF Corp. visited Unifi Inc., Contempora Fabrics, Carolina Cotton Works, Parkdale Mills and American & Efird.
Roach said after the event: “There are really two different educations — education on the details as to how things are made and education on how things get done. My focus was always on how things get made with the goal in mind of teaching, but certainly in all of this is the bigger picture of trust, speed, and ownership. Really nothing happens unless all three are present.”
Computer scientists at Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) have engineered a system that is capable of translating a wide variety of 3-D shapes into stitch-by-stitch instructions that can be used by computer-controlled knitting machines. Researchers in the CMU Textiles Lab have used the system to produce a variety of garments and plush toys. James McCann, assistant professor in the Robotics Institute and leader of the lab, envisions a future where knitting machines are as easy to use as 3-D printers, and will allow machines to manufacture customized pieces one at a time or in small quantities.
“Now, if you run a floor of knitting machines, you also have a department of engineers,” said McCann, who noted that garment designers rarely have the specialized expertise necessary to program the machines. “It’s not a sustainable way of doing one-off customized pieces.”
Further development work is needed to bring on-demand knitting to the market, but advances may happen quickly. “The knitting hardware is already really good,” McCann said. “It’s the software that needs a little push. And software can improve rapidly because we can iterate so much faster.”
Israel-based Kornit Digital reports it has received orders for new Avalanche HD6 systems and upgrades of existing Avalanches totaling more than $5 million. Equipped with Kornit’s HD print engine and NeoPigment™ Rapid Ink, the HD6 can significantly reduce ink consumption and cost per print, according to the company.
“We are exceptionally pleased by the speed and significance of the adoption of our latest innovation,” said Gilad Yron, Kornit Digital’s executive vice president of Global Business.
“We have seen an immediate and clear interest from screen printers in the HD technology, and we see this interest translating into a solid business pipeline at an amazing pace.
Looking ahead to the year, we are optimistic to be able to continue the trend of selling new HD systems as well as upgrades for existing Avalanches — the Avalanche platform represents our high productivity product segment, and globally we are looking at a three-digit number of systems that are suitable for upgrading.”
