Berry Global Group Inc. Announces Agreement to Acquire Clopay Plastic Products From Griffon

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — November 16, 2017 — Today, Berry Global Group Inc. announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Clopay Plastic Products Co. Inc., a subsidiary of Griffon Corp., for $475 million in cash on a debt-free, cash-free basis.

Clopay is a global supplier of printed breathable films as well as an innovator in the development of elastic films and laminates with product offerings uniquely designed for applications used in a number of markets including; hygiene, healthcare, construction and industrial protective apparel. Clopay has nearly 1,500 employees with a footprint serving markets across the globe with locations in the United States, Germany, Brazil, and China. Clopay delivered $461 million in sales and $53 million in operating EBITDA for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2017. We expect annual cost synergies to be approximately $20 million. The purchase price, including our expected cost synergies along with the tax basis step-up value, represents an adjusted EBITDA multiple of below 6 times.

“The proposed acquisition of Clopay is directly aligned with our fundamental strategic initiatives,” said Tom Salmon, CEO, Berry. “We are extremely excited with what Clopay’s global capabilities and unique technology platform will add to our organization. The combination of Clopay with Berry’s Health, Hygiene, and Specialties division broadens our position within the faster growing health and hygiene markets. Clopay will bring Berry new capabilities in the production of technical films, where they are a known innovator with patent protected breathable hygiene films.”

Select Benefits of the Transaction

  • Complementary products. Together we will be able to optimize complementary production capacities, reduce material and conversion costs, and better serve customers from an expanded global footprint with a portfolio of products that is one of the most comprehensive in the industry.
  • Faster growing markets. Increases Berry’s position within the faster growing health and hygiene markets using innovative patent protected technologies.
  • Significant, clearly identifiable cost synergies. Berry expects to realize cost synergies in line with previous Berry acquisitions of a similar nature.

Approvals, Closing, and Funding Considerations

The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2018, subject to customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals. Berry intends to fund the acquisition with existing liquidity or additional debt offering.

Berry is committed to its mission of ‘Always Advancing to Protect What’s Important,’ and proudly partners with its customers to provide them with value-added customized protection solutions. The Company’s products include engineered materials, non-woven specialty materials, and consumer packaging. Berry’s world headquarters is located in Evansville, Indiana. With net sales of $7.1 billion in fiscal 2017, Berry, a Fortune 500 company, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BERY.

Posted November 16, 2017

Source: Berry Global Group

Rice Researchers Use 3-D Printers To Turn Century-Old Math Theory Into Strong, Lightweight Structures

HOUSTON — November 16, 2017 — Rice University engineers are using 3-D printers to turn structures that have until now existed primarily in theory into strong, light and durable materials with complex, repeating patterns.

The porous structures called schwarzites are designed with computer algorithms, but Rice researchers found they could send data from the programs to printers and make macroscale, polymer models for testing. Their samples strive to use as little material as possible and still provide strength and compressibility.

The results reported in Advanced Materials are works of art that may someday lead to nanoscale electronic devices, catalysts, molecular sieves and battery components, and on the macroscale could become high-load-bearing, impact-resistant components for buildings, cars and aircraft.

It may someday be possible, they said, to print an entire building as one schwarzite “brick.”

Schwarzites, named after German scientist Hermann Schwarz, who hypothesized the structures in the 1880s, are mathematical marvels that have inspired a large number of organic and inorganic constructs and materials. The discovery at Rice of the Nobel Prize-winning buckminsterfullerene (or buckyball) provided further inspiration for scientists to explore the design of 3-D forms from 2-D surfaces.

Such structures remained theoretical until 3-D printers provided the first practical way to make them. The Rice lab of materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Campinas, São Paulo, investigated the bottom-up construction of schwarzites through molecular dynamics simulations and then printed those simulations in the shapes of polymer cubes.

“The geometries of these are really complex; everything is curved, the internal surfaces have negative curvature and the morphologies are very interesting,” said Rice postdoctoral researcher Chandra Sekhar Tiwary, who led an earlier study that showed how seashells protect soft bodies from extreme pressure by transferring stress throughout their structures.

“Schwarzite structures are very much the same,” he said. “The theory shows that at the atomic scale, these materials can be very strong. It turns out that making the geometry bigger with polymer gives us a material with a high load-bearing capacity.”

Schwarzites also displayed excellent deformation characteristics, he said. “The way a material breaks is important,” Tiwary said. “You don’t want things to break catastrophically; you want them to break slowly. These structures are beautiful because if you apply force to one side, they deform slowly, layer by layer.

“You can make a whole building out of this material, and if something falls on it, it’s going to collapse slowly, so what’s inside will be protected,” he said.

Because they can take a variety of forms, the Rice team limited its investigation to primitive and gyroid structures, which have periodic minimal surfaces as originally conceived by Schwarz. In tests, both transferred loads across the entire geometry of the structures no matter which side was compressed. That held true in the atom-level simulations as well as for the printed models.

That was unexpected, said Douglas Galvão, a professor at the University of Campinas who studies nanostructures through molecular dynamics simulations. He suggested the project when Tiwary visited the Brazil campus as a research fellow through the American Physical Society and Brazilian Physical Society.

“It is a little surprising that some atomic-scale features are preserved in the printed structures,” Galvão said. “We discussed that it would be nice if we could translate schwarzite atomic models into 3-D printed structures. After some tentatives, it worked quite well. This paper is a good example of an effective theory-experiment collaboration.”

The researchers said their next step will be to refine the surfaces with higher-resolution printers and further minimize the amount of polymer to make the blocks even lighter. In the far future, they envision printing 3-D schwarzites with ceramic and metallic materials on a grander scale.

“There’s no reason these have to be blocks,” said co-author and Rice graduate student Peter Owuor. “We’re basically making perfect crystals that start with a single cell that we can replicate in all directions.”

Rice research assistant Seyed Mohammad Sajadi is lead author of the paper. Co-authors are Rice senior Steven Schara, Associate Research Professor Robert Vajtai and Jun Lou, a professor of materials science and nanoengineering, all of Rice; and postdoctoral researcher Cristiano Woellner and Professor Varlei Rodrigues of the University of Campinas. Ajayan is chair of Rice’s Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Engineering and a professor of chemistry.

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research and its Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, the São Paulo Research Foundation and the Center for Computational Engineering and Sciences at the State University of Campinas supported the research.

Posted November 16, 2017

Source: Rice University

Scaling New Heights: Vast Terrain Launches New Innovative American Made Premium Brand For Activewear Enthusiasts of All Types

TAMPA, Fla. — November 16, 2017 — Driven to provide the high performance activewear they desired, but couldn’t find for their own outdoor adventures, Vast Terrain co-founders Carrieann and Carl Gillert are launching a new innovative premium brand for all types of activewear enthusiasts, defined by its motto and tagline: “An American Brand…A Different Approach.”

Having climbed some of the world’s tallest peaks, including Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mount Elbrus in Russia, the married couple are now seeking to scale the highly competitive activewear industry through delivering its affordable high-performance activewear directly to consumers via its website at up to 20 percent less than its competitors.

“Vast Terrain is changing the approach to traditional activewear,” said Carl Gillert. “Our key differentiators as a brand include: using only proprietary technical fabrics that we develop with our partners, our products are wholly manufactured in the U.S., while we provide supply chain transparency, and we sell solely direct to the consumer without retail markup. Our love for sport is only equaled by our desire to build a truly American brand. We’re offering something different.”

Vast Terrain’s activewear can be worn for a variety of sports, including running, trail running, yoga, outside activities and for the gym, and features the company’s proprietary fabrics.

These include:

  • XeroHydro® — This new innovation provides superior moisture management properties to keep you cool and dry during long workouts. Uniquely shaped fibers in the fabric yarn help to transport moisture away from the body.
  • Mollia® — Its signature legging fabric is lightweight and ultra-soft against your skin. This performance fabric provides just the right amount of stretch while also removing moisture away from your skin.
  • Argentum® — Brings odor control to the next level by killing 99.99% of odor-causing bacteria. This antimicrobial fabric uses EPA registered silver salts that are embedded at the fiber level so that the benefits won’t wash away.

“The trademarked fabrics that go into our activewear are developed by us in partnerships with the best specialty American factories and mills. These fabrics are not available anywhere else,” said Carl Gillert. “Certain types of yarn in the fabric set it apart. It is high performance. It is the kind of activewear we couldn’t find for our own outdoor activities.”

“We spent a lot of time studying other brands and the market overall,” he said. “It took almost two years to develop the fabrics and to put this supply chain together. Carrieann Gillert made hundreds of calls to different little mills across the United States just to find the right partners to make our products.”

For their next adventure … entrepreneurship. Vast Terrain has launched a Kickstarter campaign introducing five initial new products including:

  • Women’s Excel 7/8 Legging;
  • Women’s Perpetual Motion Capri;
  • Women’s Infinity Technical Tee;
  • Men’s Elevate Technical Tee; and
  • Men’s Endurance 7″ Short.

Posted November 16, 2017

Source: Vast Terrain

Bio-Based Industries: Potential For Sustainable European Growth

BRUSSELS — November 16, 2017 — In Europe every year, millions of tonnes of sugar beet pulp are only re-used as low-value products like animal feed and fertilizer, or are processed into green gas. However, thanks to new cutting-edge extraction techniques, this pulp can now be transformed into high-value components used in sports equipment, automotive parts or even in the aviation industry, increasing its current worth by up to 50 times! This is not a distant dream, but the concept of the very real PULP2VALUE project: 1 of 65 highly innovative projects funded by the 3.7 billion-euros-worth Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking, aimed at a more sustainable, environmentally friendly growth.

At a time when demands for greener products and a more circular economy are ever growing, bio-based industries in many ways hold the key to the European future. Not only will they massively contribute to decarbonisation and reduction of the fossil-based dependence through a better and more efficient use of local natural resources; in doing so, they also hold a vast economic potential. In 2014, the bio-based industries already employed 3.3 million people in Europe, a number set to grow even further with the expected creation of an extra 400,000 skilled jobs by 2020 – 80 percent of which will be in rural areas! On top of that, the exploitation of by-products and crops like thistles, dandelions and flax will allow farmers across Europe to diversify and grow their income, as well as boost the development of local economies.

“As confirmed in the independent interim evaluation report produced by an independent group of experts for the European Commission, the BBI JU is successful in bringing together actors from different countries and different sectors, combining knowledge and joining forces to attract consistent private investment”, Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking Executive Director Philippe Mengal declares. “By the end of 2016 already, every euro invested by the EU was leveraging 2.6 euros of private investment: proof that the BBI JU is actively boosting European economy.”

The BBI JU was created with the aim of acting as a catalyst for the development of a bio-based European economy. Central to this is the biorefinery — scaling up novel bio-based processes to treat all kinds of organic waste and side-streams & transforming them into high value products and ingredients. In order to fulfil its mission, it is crucial for the BBI JU to keep promoting research and innovation across whole value chains, overcoming fragmentation and bringing together key stakeholders to further de-risk investment, ultimately establishing and organizing new value chains and allowing for the creation of innovative and new sustainable business models.

“We are key to shaping the bio-based sector as a business community which provides the basis for a strong bio-based economy in Europe. At our Stakeholder Forum in The Square Brussels Meeting Centre on 7 December, we will bring that community together to share best practices, look towards the next phase in the initiative and witness the work of the projects already begun.”, Philippe Mengal concluded: “It is only by joining public and private forces that we will be able to turn Europe not just into a pioneer but the worldwide leading player in all things bio-based, allowing us to conquer a global market share… On the way to creating sustainable competitiveness for Europe, and value for its citizens.”

Posted November 16, 2017

Source: BBI JU

Customer Data Heralds New Opportunities For Fashion Industry

PARIS — November 16, 2017 — Lectra the French business school ESCP Europe and their joint ‘Fashion & Technology’ Chair examined the multiple ways the fashion industry’s ecosystem can use customer data, during a recent round table event at the start of the fifth Fashion Tech Week in Paris.

Elise Beuriot, senior category leader, EU Luggage, Amazon, Olivier Dancot,
 vice president of data, Lectra, Fabrizio Fantini, founder and CEO, Evo Pricing, and
 Gulnaz Khusainova, founder and CEO, Easysize, agreed straight away on one key point: the analysis of customer data lends itself to limitless applications along the entire fashion value chain. Its impact is immense, whether in terms of customer satisfaction, competitiveness, revenues or waste limitation.

As early as the design phase, a wealth of data offers many sources of inspiration for stylists. For teams in charge of collections, “complex models allow the analysis of data like online traffic and purchase history in order to design and offer the products that consumers expect, which is a priority for a company obsessed by the customer, like Amazon,” stated Elise Beuriot. For sales, “decisions based on data trigger millions of orders. The impact on the inventory is enormous,” she added.

“Fashion is an industry where unsold items generate a lot of waste. Algorithms and big data analysis can reduce left-overs by anticipating demand several weeks ahead in order to optimize the price and replenishment,” observed Fabrizio Fantini. “Fashion companies who exploit data to inform their decisions become more efficient. They are better armed to protect their margins, but can also sell for less, and potentially reach a larger number of consumers.”

Other IT models aggregate customer data in real time ‘to determine, among hundreds of factors, those which have the biggest influence on buying decisions. Value doesn’t necessarily lie in the volume of data but in the depth of the analyses,’ claimed Gulnaz Khusainova. Easysize is careful that collected data is anonymous, she underlined, because ‘consumers need to keep control of their data, and know how it is used’.

For editors of software dedicated to fashion businesses, and suppliers of cutting machines designed for the clothing industry, “analyzing usage data from our solutions enables the offer to evolve, making each step in the value chain more efficient and perfectly adapted to the needs of the brands, retailers and manufacturers. What is at stake is better quality products, placed on the market as quickly as possible and at a reduced cost,” explained Olivier Dancot.

“It is easy to collect data, but difficult to extract actionable information. Everything hinges on data analysis,” concluded Céline Abecassis-Moedas, professor and co-scientific director of the ‘Fashion & Technology’ Chair and moderator of the round table. “Due to its emotional dimension—from the stylist’s inspiration to the consumer’s desire to buy—fashion is not an industry like others. However, all the components that make up its ecosystem can truly benefit from the judicious exploitation of customer data. Examples discussed this evening illustrate the diversity of what is possible.”

Posted November 16, 2017

Source: Lectra

IRONCLAD Performance Wear Announces Today That It Has Been Acquired By Brighton Best International, Inc. Through An Asset Purchase

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas — November 15, 2017 — IRONCLAD Performance Wear Corp., announced today that it has been acquired by Brighton Best International Inc. (BBI) through an asset purchase.

Eric Jaeger, one of the original Ironclad employees commented: “The entire Ironclad team is excited to work with our new owners. BBI will help us accelerate our growth in the marketplace by bringing fresh capital and broader access to the market.”

Jun Xu, president, BBI stated: “Bringing together BBI’s distribution and logistics capabilities with Ironclad’s strength in product design and marketing for gloves, BBI sees the best of both companies being able to work together to create something that is greater than the sum of its parts.” Jun and the entire IRONCLAD team wish to express their appreciation to customers, suppliers, and employees for their continued support and promise to keep BBI and the IRONCLAD brand successful as we move forward by combining the strengths of each organization.

Posted November 15, 2017

Source: IRONCLAD Performance Wear Corp.

Student Teams Design Efficient And Satisfying Use Of Small Living Spaces For The Fall 2017 Integrated Product Development Trade Show

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — November 15, 2017 — The University of Michigan’s Tauber Institute for Global Operations presents the Fall 2017 Integrated Product Development Trade Show, featuring innovative products created by art & design, business, engineering, and information students.

Event:  Fall 2017 Integrated Product Development Trade Show

When:  Wednesday, December 6, 6:30-8:30 pm

Where:  U-M STAMPS Gallery, 201 Division St., Ann Arbor, Mich.

Who:  Free and open to the ublic

Taught jointly by faculty of the Ross School of Business and the Stamps School of Art & Design, the annual Integrated Product Design course challenges cross-disciplinary student teams from the College of Engineering, Ross School of Business, Stamps School of Art & Design, and School of Information to design, build, and market a brand new product, and then to face free market competition through the IPD Trade Show.

The Fall 2017 IPD challenge: Efficient & Satisfying Use of Small Living Spaces

In addition, the student-designed household product must be suitable for use by people living, studying and working in a hyper urbanized environment that enables more efficient and satisfying use of their living spaces; and be profitable at a consumer cost of less than $250.

Members of the University of Michigan community and the general public are invited to meet the student design teams, test out prototypes of their new household products, and vote for the “best of the best” at the Fall 2017 Integrated Product Development Trade Show, December 6 at the new U-M STAMPS School Gallery in downtown Ann Arbor.

The Tauber Institute for Global Operations is a joint venture between the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and the College of Engineering, working together with industry partners to facilitate cross-disciplinary education in global operations management.

Posted November 15, 2017

Source: The University of Michigan’s Tauber Institute for Global Operations

Texworld USA Returns To The Javits Convention Center In January 2018 With More Than 240 Exhibitors From Around The Globe

NEW YORK CITY — November 2017 — After the success of Texworld USA in July, the important global sourcing show will be returning to the Javits Convention Center January 22-24, 2018. Texworld USA is a dynamic industry event and business platform bringing together the best apparel fabric, trims and accessory suppliers in the heart of New York City from around the world. Over its 10-year history, Texworld USA continues to provide industry experts, designers, fabric buyers, merchandisers and sourcing professionals a unique opportunity to meet directly with a wide range of manufacturers and global suppliers from Asia, the Middle East and North America.

Texworld USA is where professionals and experts come for affordable apparel fabrics, trims and accessories for every product line for today’s modern consumer  women’s, men’s, juniors and childrenswear. The fair showcases textiles of innovative structures, material mixes and surprising color palettes across 14 product categories.  Attendees and visitors stay updated on the latest trends in textiles, and have an exclusive opportunity to network and meet designers and suppliers from around the world while taking advantage of complimentary educational seminars, all under one roof.

“It’s no secret that consumer buying patterns are changing quickly and that the customer is looking for more value than ever when purchasing apparel.” said Jennifer Bacon, show director, Fashion & Apparel. “This is impacting brands and our buyers and therefore, we are focused on curating a group of exhibitors that offer a wonderful product at a great price. Ultimately, our buyers can visit other textile or apparel shows to network and get inspiration on trends, but Texworld USA is the show to find in-demand, on-trend fabrics at realistic and affordable prices. We’re an order writing show, now more than ever.”

More than 240 exhibitors and new manufacturers will be showcasing their latest fabrics for Texworld USA’s Winter Edition 2018 in NYC. The show floor will feature exhibitors specializing in cotton, denim, embroidery, lace, functional fabrics and more.

Texworld‘s educational seminar series, organized by Lenzing Fibers will return for Winter 2018 featuring sessions hosted by curated panels of industry experts, discussing the global textile and sourcing landscape. Be inspired as Texworld USA’s trend display area will feature fabrics from over 14 product categories. Visitors will also have the opportunity to take a peek at the newest color and textile offerings for spring/summer 2019.

Last winter’s Texworld USA show boasted over 225 exhibitors representing 12 countries, including: Canada, USA, Colombia, India, United Kingdom, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and more. Turkey, Korea and Taiwan returned with dedicated country pavilions. The Lenzing Pavilion also returned to the show floor with 17 exhibitors focused on integrating sustainable fibers into a wide range of product categories. From cotton to functional fabrics and knits to lace, Lenzing Pavilion exhibitors showcased the best use of TENCEL® and Lenzing Modal®.

Apparel Sourcing USA Winter 2018, occurring in conjunction with Texworld USA, will say hello to exhibitors specializing in womenswear, menswear, children’s, accessories, etc. and will spotlight a true style icon: denim.  As one of the only events on the east coast to focus on sourcing finished apparel, contract manufacturing and private label development, Apparel Sourcing USA is a long-term joint venture partnership between Messe Frankfurt and CCPIT-TEX and provides attendees direct access to suppliers all over the globe. The January 2017 show showcased 107 suppliers from 9 countries including: China, Hong Kong, India, Myanmar, Taiwan, USA and Sri Lanka. In addition, Mexico and Peru represented western hemisphere sourcing options with 12 suppliers present on the show floor.

Posted November 15, 2017

Source: Messe Frankfurt

EPIC Brands Acquires Sport Science — Industry Veteran Kevin Williams Named CEO

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — November 16, 2017 — EPIC Brand Management Group LLC has announced the acquisition of Sport Science LLC, a performance wear company known for activewear engineered with a unique polyester blend that delivers superior moisture management in a fabric that looks, feels and wears like cotton. Kevin Williams, president of EPIC, has been named president & CEO of Sport Science, while Sport Science founder Neal Caplowe, will become executive vice president, Business Development & Sales.

“Sport Science is known in the active wear industry because of its unique combination of superior performance management and wearability,” commented Williams. “We’re excited to bring EPIC’s skills and resources in strategic brand building, e-commerce, merchandising, and sales expertise, to focus Sport Science’s participation within the running market, where the brand is strongest.”

Williams said they will retain the Sport Science brand.

Caplowe started Sport Science in 2005 after seeing a need for both performance and comfort in active wear made in the United States.  “I didn’t believe you had to sacrifice one for the other when it came to performance wear, so we engineered a unique fabric that doesn’t short-change either. That’s been our value proposition all along,” Caplowe said.  “Now with EPIC’s leadership, vision and resources, we’re well positioned for growth in our core markets.”

Sport Science has a long history of providing custom graphic-design and printing services for retailers, manufacturers and performance-related events.  A recent example — and in a related announcement — the company was named the Official Finisher Shirt for the Indie 5K®, held in Austin, November 30th, during The Running Event 2017®, the premiere conference and trade show for the independent running specialty channel.

Together, the leadership team of Williams and Caplowe have more than a half-century of experience in the apparel and performance wear industry. Prior to founding EPIC, Williams held executive positions at CovilleBrands, Coville Inc., and several independent marketing and sourcing consultancies. He is currently the President of the America Apparel Producers Newtork (AAPN). Prior to Sport Science, Caplowe founded Coming Attractions Inc., a leading graphic-design tee-shirt and performance wear concern.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The company will be headquartered in Winston-Salem. NC, home of EPIC Brands.

Posted November 16, 2017

Source: EPIC Brand Management Group

Pendleton® Partners With PFSweb’s LiveArea To Build And Launch Its New eCommerce Site

ALLEN, Texas — November 15, 2017 — PFSweb Inc., a global commerce service provider, was engaged by Pendleton Woolen Mills, an American apparel and home products brand, to build its new eCommerce site — www.pendleton-usa.com — on Salesforce Commerce Cloud.

Founded in 1863, Pendleton is a family-owned company with a healthy respect for the past and an innovative approach to the future. Known for their woolen products, the company specializes in creating quality apparel for men and women, home and accessories. Their products are distributed through 41 Pendleton retail stores, selected department and specialty stores, and their direct-to-consumer website and catalog.

Pendleton was looking to upgrade its online shopping experience for today’s multi-device shoppers and enable its team with new tools to help it grow its online business. After choosing Salesforce Commerce Cloud, they quickly began looking for the right implementation partner to help achieve these goals.

“We needed a provider that could build our new site quickly so we could compete in today’s marketplace,” commented Jane Brisby, vice president, Marketing, Pendleton. “We had an aggressive timeline and are thrilled with the results that the LiveArea team delivered. We look forward to a continued successful partnership.”

Under the agreement, PFSweb’s LiveArea professional services team provided user experience design services along with technology services for the development and creation of the new Pendleton site.

“It is exciting to see another successful site launch from our Commerce Cloud practice,” said Mike Willoughby, CEO, PFSweb. “Complex integrations along with the aggressive timeline set this project up to be a great case study on our capabilities as a leading eCommerce systems integrator.”

The new Pendleton site went live in October 2017. This client was previously disclosed on PFSweb’s Third Quarter Earnings conference call.

Posted November 15, 2017

Source: PFSweb

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