MUNICH, Germany/DONAUESCHINGEN, Germany — February 19, 2018 — Sympatex Technologies starts a new initiative on sustainability with its long-standing customer RICOSTA: the ecological alternative amongst functional textile specialists provides the traditional company with completely recycled Symptex lining material for the field of children’s shoes for the next season. Thanks to this agreement, Ricosta is the first manufacturer of children’s shoes which adapts its Sympatex line to completely recycled materials. Thus, Ricosta and Sympatex jointly take the next step in their initiative on sustainability. This measure is completed by a joint POS campaign targeted at playfully teaching children plastic and recycling.

The linings which are recycled of up to 100 percent consist of GRS- (global recycled standard) or bluesign®-certified polyester fibers made out of recycled PET bottles. The life cycle assessment is excellent when comparing the production of 1 kilogram (kg) of used recycled polyester fibers with 1 kg of polyester fibres based on crude oil: 32 percent CO2 reduction, 60-percent energy saving and 94 percent less water consumption. Instead of 60 liters only about 3 liters of the rare resource are used.

In line with this, Sympatex has developed a compact children’s mini-book entitled “Sam and the plastic plan“ easily teaching children the importance of recycling. The booklet has been presented for the first time at ISPO Munich at the Sympatex booth. Next winter season, it will additionally be a supplement to each pair of Ricosta/Sympatex children’s shoes of the brands Pepino and Ricosta as well as provided as a sales document for selected Ricosta distributors.

“We think that the youngest of the next generation must have a say as well in ecological issues,” explained Dr. Rüdiger Fox, CEO, Sympatex Technologies. “Since if we don’t close the plastic cycle as soon as possible, they will already be the next generation which will find more plastic than fish in the oceans when they have become adults. And the textile industry can make a significant contribution.”

Posted February 16, 2018

Source: Sympatex Technologies

COLUMBIA, S.C. — February 15, 2018 — Zeus Industrial Products (Zeus), a polymer extrusion manufacturer and material science innovator, is expanding its existing operations in Aiken County. The company’s $15.7 million investment in Aiken County complements a $15.9 million expansion in Orangeburg County and $76 million expansion in Calhoun County, both of which were announced over the last several weeks. With this project, Zeus is expected to create an additional 51 new jobs in Aiken, S.C.

Founded in 1966, Zeus develops and manufacturers polymer tubing for a variety of industries, including the medical, fluid handling and electrical markets. Zeus works with customers in collaborative relationships to design, engineer and produce fluoropolymer and specialized plastic tubing that delivers the temperature resistance, chemical resistance and high tensile strength demanded by today’s applications.

Located at 9150 Levels Church Road West in Aiken, S.C., Zeus intends to convert its warehousing operations and floor space to manufacturing space in order to increase production of existing products by installing additional manufacturing lines. The plant will also be increasing its product portfolio as several new products and new manufacturing processes are introduced over the next few years.

The initial hiring for these new positions has already begun and will continue into 2019.

The Coordinating Council for Economic Development has approved job development credits related to the project.

“We are truly excited about expanding our manufacturing presence in Aiken,” said John Winarchick, president and CEO, Zeus Industrial Products. “We have been pleased with the community support that we have received since commencing our Aiken operations in 1999. We remain committed to being a good citizen of the county, meeting and exceeding the needs of our customers, and most importantly, providing quality careers for all of our employees in an atmosphere that will allow them to flourish.”

“Today, we celebrate the partnership that exists between Zeus and the Palmetto State,” said Governor Henry McMaster. “I’m thrilled to congratulate this terrific company on their decision to expand operations in three counties, proof positive that South Carolina has a business-friendly climate statewide.”

“Zeus continues to strengthen its commitment to Team South Carolina, and we couldn’t be more proud,” said Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt. “With its third announcement this month, this remarkable company is making a statement about South Carolina and its workforce, letting the world know that our state truly is ‘Just right’ for business.”

“This expansion by Zeus is an affirmation that Aiken County continues to provide an environment for manufacturing growth,” said Aiken County Council Chairman Gary Bunker. “We are excited that this company will add more jobs for our citizens.”

“We are very grateful for this expansion announcement by Zeus,” Economic Development Partnership Chairman Gary Stooksbury. “This is a great win for Aiken County, and we look forward to more growth by Zeus in our region.”

FAST FACTS:

• Zeus Industrial Products is expanding its Aiken County operations.
• $15.7 million investment to create 51 new jobs.
• This project complements a $76 million Calhoun County expansion and $15.9 million Orangeburg County expansion, both of which were announced recently.
• Located at 9150 Levels Church Road West in Aiken, S.C., the company will be converting its warehousing operations into manufacturing space in order to increase production of existing products.

Posted February 16, 2018

Source: South Carolina Department Of Commerce

LONDON — February 16, 2018 — Isovolta selected Greycon to improve its production processes at one of its plants in Barcelona, Spain. After a successful trial, Greycon implemented its world-class trim optimization system (X-Trim).

“The successful trial cemented our decision to work with Greycon. We were very happy with the results that X-Trim produced and are looking forward to reaping the benefits of Greycon’s solution,” commented Xavier Pérez, head of Process Engineering at Isovolta.

Isovolta is a leading international manufacturer of electrical insulating materials, technical laminates and composites with a strong presence in multiple industries ranging from the construction and building material industry, to the solar and energy technology.

The Isovolta plant in Barcelona has six slitters and is dedicated to converting PET films, Papers and Laminates. Some of the challenges Isovolta experienced were two-stage “slitters-secondary slitters” optimization with very narrow order widths and a range of master rolls stock sizes.

Greycon was chosen as the X-Trim system was able to handle this complexity in standard and adding benefits in terms of waste reduction, reducing knife changes and pattern count.

Abder Guezour, Global Business Development manager, said: “We are very pleased about the outcome of this project and the challenge we are helping Isovolta to overcome. We have worked with a number of converting plants like Isovolta; while these plants can be seen as medium size, the planning and the optimization challenge is by no means trivial. We are proud of continuing to serve customers from a wide spectrum of industries and dimensions and consistently achieving quick pay-back for these projects as is the case for Isovolta.”

Posted February 16, 2018

Source: Greycon