ALEXANDRIA, Va — November 15, 2017 — Visits to four industry facilities distinguish the agenda for TRSA’s Production Summit and Plant Tours, February 21-22, 2018, in Anaheim, Calif. Now in its fifth year, the twice-yearly Summit enables linen, uniform and facility services operators to take home a wealth of ideas for improving performance and production management by meeting with peers and viewing high-productivity plants,.

Three of the four facilities to be visited are on the same site: Magic Laundry Services’ 7-acre campus in Montebello, where these operations, each with washer-extractors and tunnel washers, share newly expanded loading docks. Otherwise the three are separate operating plants, dedicated to distinct workflows for hotels’ customer-owned goods (COG). Summit attendees whose companies serve any market (F&B, healthcare, hospitality, industrial) will recognize how wider use of such “cells” might more effectively address the industry’s ever-growing number of textile products requiring separate processing.

The other destination will be the MODRoto manufacturing plant in La Mirada, where you’ll get acquainted with the variety of molding techniques that distinguish cart designs as MODRoto personnel describe and demonstrate processes. You’ll see how carts are engineered to pack big loads with minimal tare weight and provide other ergonomic benefits.

Summit general sessions and breakouts examine current industry productivity trends and help attendees hone management and technical skills. These presentations and lessons learned from plant tours enable you to improve everyday production management decisions immediately following your Summit participation.

Meeting agenda highlights include a keynote presentation by Lisa Rosser, a military hiring and retention strategist, providing techniques and tips to attract veterans with valuable skills and training. A retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, her military career spanned 22 years (active and reserve) including roles in performance management, recruiting, staffing, training and skills development.

Other topics to be presented:

How Certification Inspection Assesses Hygiene. You’ll become familiar with the checklist for Hygienically Clean certification, learn to identify critical control points throughout the laundry process and prepare to upgrade plant quality management documentation.

Contributing to Positive Company Culture. Speakers presented by TRSA’s Women in Textile Services Committee will discuss how to foster your company’s core values and develop your team around them, a must for creating shared and personal accountability for achieving department and corporate goals.

Preventive Maintenance to Protect Your Bottom Line. Tactics will be shared to improve PM to generate significant savings, including best practices for plants of all sizes, communication tactics that keep PM on schedule, and guidelines for Production’s role in PM.

Breakout sessions on the Anaheim agenda include:

• Effective Inventory Control for Production Departments
• How Smart Phone Apps Enhance Your Business
• Maximizing Return on TRSA’s Apprenticeship & Internship Programs
• New OSHA Fall-Protection Rule Compliance

Designed to offer the greatest benefits to general, plant and production managers, engineering and maintenance personnel as well as others responsible for production supervision, inventory control and product quality, the Production Summit and Plant Tours series maximizes participants’ continuing collaboration with experienced professionals from TRSA member companies, the industry’s most productive and profitable organizations. One hundred percent of the attendees who evaluated the October 2017 Summit indicated they would return to another Summit.

Posted November 15, 2017

Source: TRSA

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. — November 14, 2017 — In an organizational first, ASTM International announced today that it will establish a center of excellence in the field of additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing. The organization called for industry-university proposals aimed at creating a global innovation hub that advances AM technical standards, related R&D, education and training, and more.

“Over the last decade, hundreds of the world’s top experts in additive manufacturing have pioneered the development of new standards through ASTM International,” said Katharine Morgan, the organization’s president. “We are thrilled to take this next bold step to bridge standards development with R&D, while also meeting the growing demand for related services in this field.”

The center will be supported with up to $250,000 annually for up to five years, provided from funds and in-kind contributions. In-kind support could increase the award amount beyond $250,000.

Letters of intent are due Nov. 24 with full proposals due shortly thereafter on Dec. 15. The winning proposal will be announced in early 2018.

The new center will serve as a focal point for standards-related R&D activities, helping address pressing industry needs and gaps. It will also be a global hub for innovation, with capabilities that support testing, education and training, and more. In addition, the center will serve as a consortium in attracting stakeholders from the aviation, automotive, medical, and other industries that are increasingly engaged in AM applications.

Applicants are expected to emphasize approaches that maximize coordination and collaboration among academia, industry, and governments.

ASTM International’s committee on additive manufacturing technologies (F42) was formed in 2009. The committee, in conjunction with the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) Technical Committee 261, has worked and continues to work closely with the Additive Manufacturing Standards Collaborative to identify and fill a variety of gaps across multiple industry sectors.

ASTM International could select up to two awardees as part of this initiative.

Posted November 14, 2017

Source: ASTM International

LAS VEGAS — November 14, 2017 — Cotton & Care is the newest brand to enter the growing online direct-to-consumer bedding market, but with a notable difference. Using premium cotton that is grown in California, spun to yarn in the South, then woven, cut, and sewn in the Carolinas, Cotton & Care’s product line is made entirely in the USA.

The brand was formed earlier this year in Las Vegas by business partners with a background in consumer banking. Co-founder Evan Feldman explains: “It was important to build a brand that we could be proud of. To us this meant going with the ethical choice each step of the way. Understanding the differences in labor conditions and environmental standards between the United States and abroad, we knew that manufacturing here was the way to go. We found that this also gave us the ability to have increased oversight into the quality and authenticity of our product. With recent testing showing that much of the Egyptian cotton bedding on the market is truly mislabeled, poor quality substitutes, this was another key advantage.”

While American-made apparel has gained attention in the last few years, American-made bedding is practically non-existent. Worse, it’s missing from the shelves of the big box stores entirely; if you want Made in USA bed sheets, the only option is online retailers like Cotton & Care.  However, as Feldman points out, “even the high-end internet bedding labels that have been gaining popularity are manufacturing in India, Europe, or South America, and still charging steep prices for their products.”

Cotton & Care’s initial product line consists of a sheet set or pair of pillowcases made of ultra-premium Supima® cotton, the US-grown equivalent of extra-long staple Egyptian cotton. The color selection is currently limited to classic white, though expanded options are slated for next year. Prices for the complete sheet set start at $119 and Cotton & Care pledges to donate 50 percent of its profits to a worthy cause.

Posted November 14, 2017

Source:  Cotton & Care