AmeriPride Earns Another Hygienically Clean Healthcare Certification

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — January 12, 2018 — AmeriPride Services’ Roswell, N.M., laundry is the organization’s latest recipient of Hygienically Clean (HC) Healthcare certification. This designation reflects their commitment to best management practices (BMPs) in laundering as verified by on-site inspection and their capability to produce hygienically clean textiles as quantified by ongoing microbial testing.

The certification confirms AmeriPride’s dedication to infection prevention, compliance with recognized industry standards and processing healthcare textiles using BMPs as described in its quality assurance documentation, a focal point for Hygienically Clean inspectors’ evaluation. The independent, third-party inspection must also confirm essential evidence that:

  • Employees are properly trained and protected;
  • Managers understand regulatory requirements;
  • OSHA-compliant; and
  • Physical plant operates effectively.

AmeriPride now has 13 Hygienically Clean Healthcare certified facilities throughout the United States. In addition to the Roswell plant, these are located in Little Rock, Ark.; Phoenix; Watkinsville, Ga.; Topeka, Kan.; Twin Falls, Idaho; Bemidji and Minneapolis, Minn.; Springfield, Mo.; Omaha, Neb.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Lubbock, Texas. The company’s Canadian Linen and Uniform Service facility in Lethbridge, Alberta, is also Hygienically Clean Healthcare certified.

Certified facilities pass three rounds of outcome-based microbial testing, indicating that their processes are producing Hygienically Clean Healthcare textiles and diminished presence of yeast, mold and harmful bacteria. To maintain their certification, laundry plants must pass quarterly testing to ensure that as laundry conditions change, such as water quality, textile fabric composition and wash chemistry, laundered product quality is consistently maintained.

This process eliminates subjectivity by focusing on outcomes and results that verify textiles cleaned in these facilities meet appropriate hygienically clean standards and BMPs for hospitals, surgery centers, medical offices, nursing homes and other medical facilities.

Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification acknowledges laundries’ effectiveness in protecting healthcare operations through testing and inspections that scrutinize quality control procedures in textile services operations related to the handling of textiles containing blood and other potentially infectious materials.

Certified laundries use processes, chemicals and BMPs acknowledged by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, American National Standards Institute and others. Introduced in 2012, Hygienically Clean Healthcare brought to North America the international cleanliness standards for healthcare linens and garments used worldwide by the Certification Association for Professional Textile Services and the European Committee for Standardization.

Objective experts in epidemiology, infection control, nursing and other healthcare professions work with Hygienically Clean launderers to ensure the certification continues to enforce the highest standards for producing clean healthcare textiles.

“Congratulations to AmeriPride on their certifications,” said Joseph Ricci, TRSA president and CEO. “This achievement proves their ongoing commitment to infection prevention and that their laundry facilities take every step possible to prevent human illness.”

Posted January 12, 2018

Source: TRSA

Rice University Research: Nanotube Fibers In A Jiffy

HOUSTON — January 11, 2018 — The terms handmade and high tech are not commonly found in the same sentence, but they both apply to a Rice University method to quickly produce fibers from carbon nanotubes.

The method developed by the Rice lab of chemist Matteo Pasquali allows researchers to make short lengths of strong, conductive fibers from small samples of bulk nanotubes in about an hour.

The work complements Pasquali’s pioneering 2013 method to spin full spools of thread-like nanotube fibers for aerospace, automotive, medical and smart-clothing applications. The fibers look like cotton thread but perform like metal wires and carbon fibers.

It can take grams of material and weeks of effort to optimize the process of spinning continuous fibers, but the new method cuts that down to size, even if it does require a bit of hands-on processing.

Pasquali and lead author and graduate student Robby Headrick reported in Advanced Materials that aligning and twisting the hair-like fibers is fairly simple.

First, Headrick makes films. After dissolving a small amount of nanotubes in acid, he places the solution between two glass slides. Moving them quickly past each other applies shear force that prompts the billions of nanotubes within the solution to line up. Once the resulting films are deposited onto the glass, he peels off sections and rolls them up into fibers.

“The film is in a gel state when I peel it, which is important to get a fully densified fiber,” Headrick said. “You twist it when it’s wet throughout the cross section of the structure, and when you dry it, the capillary pressure densifies it.”

Headrick was dissatisfied with the reproducibility of his initial experiments and discussed the procedure with his father, Robert, an amateur woodworker. The elder Headrick quickly came up with a simple device to support the slides and control the shearing process.

The dried nanotube fibers are about 7 centimeters long; the electrical performance is equivalent to long fibers created by the original spinning method but even more dense with a tensile strength up to 3.5 gigapascals (GPa), better than spun fibers. The researchers expect that nanotubes 50,000 to 70,000 times longer than they are wide will produce fibers of 35 to 40 GPa, about the strength of an individual carbon nanotube.

“We can process all kinds of nanotubes the exact same way so we get optimal fiber structures and properties,” Headrick said. “It speeds things up and allows us to explore nanotubes that are only available in small quantities.”

Pasquali said the process reproduces the high nanotube alignment and high packing density typical of fibers produced via spinning, but at a size sufficient for strength and conductivity tests.

“We now use this as a quick lab test to assess new materials and to create target properties for the large-scale method,” Pasquali said. “We’ll know in advance what the material can deliver, whereas before, we could only infer it. This could be especially important for carbon nanotube producers who want to change their reactor conditions to give them quick feedback or for quality control, as well as for testing samples that have been sorted by metallic versus semiconductor type or even helicity.”

Co-authors of the paper are Rice alumni Dmitri Tsentalovich, now of DexMat Inc., and Julián Berdegué and graduate student Amram Bengio; Matthew Lucas of the Universal Technology Corp. and Air Force Research Laboratory, Dayton, Ohio; and students Lucy Liberman and Olga Kleinerman and Yeshayahu Talmon, a professor emeritus of chemical engineering, of Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Pasquali is a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, of materials science and nanoengineering and of chemistry, and chair of Rice’s Department of Chemistry.

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Robert A. Welch Foundation, the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation and a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship supported the research.

Posted January 12, 2018

Source: Rice University’s Office of Public Affairs

New York & Company Announces Addition Of New Independent Director Miki Racine Berardelli To Its Board

NEW YORK CITY — January 12, 2018 — New York & Company Inc., a specialty apparel chain with 459 retail stores, announced the appointment of Miki Racine Berardelli as an independent director to its Board of Directors, effective January 3, 2018. Berardelli brings to the Company’s Board significant experience in digital marketing and commerce in the apparel retail industry. The background of Ms. Berardelli builds upon the talents of the existing Board members, which now includes eight independent members.

Berardelli, 47, has served as CEO of Kidbox, a fast-growing start-up digital commerce business selling children’s apparel and accessories, since 2016. Before joining Kidbox, from 2014 to 2016, Berardelli served as president, Digital Commerce & Chief Marketing Officer of Chico’s FAS Inc. From 2009 to 2014, she  served as Chief Marketing Officer of Tory Burch LLC, and from 2002 to 2009 she served as senior vice president of Marketing and in a number of other senior-level marketing positions for Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. From October 2013 to August 2014, Berardelli was a member of the board of directors of Sport Chalet Inc., a specialty sporting goods retailer. She holds an M.S. from Northwestern University and a B.A. from the University of Iowa.

New York & Company’s Non-Executive Chair of the Board of Directors Grace Nichols stated: “We are excited to welcome Miki to our Board of Directors and look forward to benefiting from her strong background in brand building, digital and social marketing and e-commerce, demonstrating our ability to grow our Board with the talented people who possess the skills and expertise to assist us to achieve our goals. Her deep knowledge and proven track record will be highly valuable to our Company as we look to more closely connect with our consumers to further increase brand awareness, consumer loyalty and drive sales across our brick-and-mortar and digital channels. We are proud to have a diverse Board which is now comprised of eight independent directors, five of whom are women who have a special appreciation for how the New York & Company brand makes women look great and feel good.”

Posted January 12, 2018

Source: New York & Company

Shanghai International Digital Printing Industry Fair presents interview with EFI Reggiani

SHANGHAI — January 12, 2018 — The 9th Shanghai International Digital Printing Industry Fair (TPF 2018) will be held April 19-21, 2018, in Shanghai New International Expo Centre. TPF 2018 is organized by UBM China and SUNEXPO. As one of the most influential digital textile printing fairs in Asia, TPF is keeping a close eye on the market trend and technology development.

On November 27, 2017, Electronics For Imaging Inc. presented the EFI™ Reggiani VOGUE to the public in Shanghai, a new industrial textile printer designed for superior-quality direct-to-textile printing in fashion applications. It prints at resolutions up to 2,400 dpi with 16 printing heads and 4- to 72-picolitre drop sizes.

Whether it is for apparel and accessories, sportswear or footwear, the EFI Reggiani VOGUE can handle it,” according to EFI Reggiani Vice President and General Manager Adele Genoni. “The new printer, along with the entire EFI Ecosystem of products including Optitex 2D/3D design software, Reggiani digital printers and inks, and our newest Fiery® proServer bundle, create an effective, more-efficient manufacturing model for the fashion space.”

On November 29, TPF interviewed EFI Reggiani VP/GM Adele Genoni and Sales & Marketing Director Michele Riva. The full interview is below.

TPF: We are a little curious about the name of your new printer, VOGUE. Why Vogue?

Adele: Because it’s targeting fashion. VOGUE for us is an evocative word, which is easily associated with fashion. Digital printing is the fastest growing printing technology in the textile market. And digital is at this time about 3 to 4 percent of all printed textiles consumed by the Fashion industry, reaching about 13 percent in the Fast Fashion, according to our research.

TPF: Speaking of fashion, we know that your customers in fashion are printing for top brands in the traditional fashion space as well as top fast fashion brands. Are the printing requirements different between top brands and fast fashion brands?

Michele: First of all, there is a common requirement, no matter what the quantity of the production order is. The environment is very important to all of the brands, and digital printing is the solution to meet that common requirement. For high end brands, the environment is probably even more important than other factors.

Adele: I agree. Having an environmentally friendly process is important because it’s a part of the vision of social responsibility, which is becoming more common. On the other hand, they do have different needs. For fast fashion, the main need is to be fast, which means typically this type of account wants to have a place in the world where it is possible to build up a collection, do sampling and spread work around to all of the brand’s factories or printing partners with the same level of quality. Fast fashion brands really need to have the same level of quality everywhere around the world. It is also very important for them to control the total cost of everything, not only the cost of investment in machine. But for high end top brands, the thing they want most is super high quality. For example, they often require a very deep black color, which is something you achieve only with a very high end machine. In addition, in fast fashion, it’s important to have the integration with purchasing online, so actually, companies in fast fashion are really looking to us as a strong provider of integrated solutions from 3D design moving to digital printing. Think about the possibility that when you look at the customer the camera on her computer: you can see the image, the shape and the size of the garment required and then you can give a suggestion on the type of dress that is more suitable to the body shape to optimize the look. The fast fashion brands are asking us for an integrated technology to allow them to be better in online purchasing. It is very important for fast fashion brands, but less so with premium brands – consumers’ experience with top brands is more about going to the brand’s boutique store and not as much about buying online.

Michele: It’s correct but on the other side for example, even for top brands it is also important to have 3D technology to design a garment, then optimize the design. So for different solutions, they can use the same advantage 3D offers.

Adele: Though we have talked a lot about fashion, we are not only in fashion, we are also working with customers in the home design and signage segments, printing for very important brands. Their requirements are very high. To them, only quality matters, and we help them get the best results.

TPF: EFI Reggiani is from Europe. What do you think of the Chinese market?

Adele: Europe is far more consolidated and mature compared to Asia and China and the requests are much more sophisticated. The customers are really willing to have the best, in terms of innovation and technology, quality and performance. The green requirements came earlier than in China. But China is far more serious, stricter now. From the technology perspective, I think in Europe only the medium-high end and high-end solutions remain, and we see higher-level requests for technology and investment. Regarding the ink, there’s strong pressure on price, especially on reactive ink. There is a high demand for pigment – pigment with a short process. That means no pre-treatment or post-treatment. But as far as I know, there is not a competitive solution in the market to deliver that exactly. We are working on it but we don’t have a solution ready to be launched.

TPF: As you said, the Chinese market is not as mature as Europe. Are the innovative technologies of EFI Reggiani well accepted in China? Are customers willing to pay more for state of art technologies?

Michele: Our goal is to increase the knowledge in digital printing sharing our experience and supporting our customers. The idea is to create a different mentality which looks to digital as a big advantage. EFI Reggiani products are designed and manufactured to the highest standards and to simplify textile production across a wide range of industries.The digital experience has been built on more than 70 years of Reggiani product innovation and implementation for leading-edge textile printing technologies.

Adele: What we have done in terms of technology has been done to meet customers’ environmental needs. We also provide reliability, which means higher productivity and fewer stoppages. In terms of quality, we are the customers who are going to buy and we are becoming more and more demanding. So I think there is a strong trend to have a good finished garment. Also our customers – printing factories – need to have higher quality as well. We help customers to save money. For example, our innovative recirculating system, for the ink, makes our printheads more reliable, which means our customers need to substitute the heads less frequently, resulting more cost-effective printing. The machine is more tolerant to the temperature of the environment, so you do not need to switch on air-conditioning with higher temperatures, and that saves money on cooling costs and is better for the environment. The technology we have put into EFI Reggiani printers provides solid benefits to customers. I haven’t talked yet about the Fiery, it really saves time which means saving money for designers, allowing them to make more things and to have more space in creativity. In the end, they can achieve more in their businesses.

TPF: Have you heard about Imprintable?

Adele: From my point of view, what consumers are looking for with imprintable garments reflects what can also be delivered by purchasing garments online with high level of customization. This is a technology that we can offer. With our acquisition of Optitex, a company we acquired approximately one year ago. This gives the possibility to the software to make thousands of different things, all customized to the end customer.

TPF: You mentioned at the press conference that reshoring and near-shoring is a trend in textile industry. How does it happen?

Adele: In the past, there was a big movement of textiles in Asia, particularly from the US. A lot of American textile companies closed down and moved to Asia. In Europe, several still remain but they are more medium-high end. With the new digital revolution of the textile market, where everything needs to be fast and the customer wants the printed garments in a few days, you need to have your factories close to the market so there’s a trend of reshoring, from Asia back to the market close to the consumer. There is a push, especially in the US to develop more printing and production operations. This also is happening in Europe but less than in the US because the US closed down more garment operations than Europe. In China the environment is so important now and pressure is huge. In this case, factories are asked to close down if they are not in line with environmental regulations. There’s going to be a trend of companies closing down in China and opening in nearby countries because of regulations and because of rising labor costs in China. However, large companies will invest in environmentally friendly solutions so they will stay in China to serve the Chinese market.

Michele: The trend is more in garments. More production of garments moves from China to Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar. Businesses, especially large ones, are seeing the opportunity, to invest complete product lines with digital printing. They are also making those investments because of the environment and labor costs.

TPF: Would you like to share some suggestions on choosing inks?

Adele: It’s very important that ink is compatible with the head system. We are producing our own ink on a reactive side, and this is a perfect combination. It is an optimized solution with our machine and also the compatibility with all the materials within the machine that encounter with the ink. So we strongly recommend to buy the ink tested and developed with the machine in order to have an optimized and effective solution. In this way, we can ensure the warranty for the system. Otherwise it’s very difficult to provide a warranty because we don’t know what is the ink and if the heads break down, it will not be included in the warranty.

TPF: What’s EFI Reggiani’s vision and what’s your next move to influence the industry?

Adele: Our vision is to continue to innovate to sell higher standard, productive, user-friendly, eco-friendly products.  It’s a strong vision and we are demonstrating it every day. Our next move is the single-pass, which we expect to launch worldwide at the end of 2018.

Posted January 12, 2018

Source: UBM China

EDANA Launches Call For Papers For FILTREX™ Asia 2018

BRUSSELS  — January 11, 2018 — EDANA has opened the call for papers for the 11th edition of FILTREX™.

The event will run in tandem with 10th China Filtration & Separation Exhibition and the 7th Filtration & Separation Asia (FSA) event (the largest filtration exhibition in Asia) and is co-organised by the China Filtration Society (CFS), China Nonwovens Technology Association (CNTA) and UBM China.

The conference will feature presentations on the latest market trends and technical developments and processes in the field of filtration and ensure opportunities to network with industry peers and sector experts.

Delegates will be able to combine their participation with a visit to the exhibition.

EDANA is now inviting papers on the following topics:

  • Innovative filter media technologies;
  • Automotive filtration (oil, fuel, engine, cabin);
  • Air filtration;
  • Liquid filtration; and
  • Filter testing and standards.

Presentations that are specifically relevant to Asia’s challenges in air pollution control and indoor air quality are particularly welcome.

Persons interested in presenting are invited to send abstracts in English to giovanna.merola@edana.org or in Chinese to yaogb1941@sina.com. They should include a proposed title, 3-4 bullet points summarizing the presentation, and full contact details of the speaker. The deadline for submission is March 30.

Posted January 12, 2018

Source: EDANA

Two Senior Appointments At MagnaColours®

BARNSLEY, England — January 11, 2018 — MagnaColours® has made two senior appointments to strengthen its team in two newly created roles. Ivan Cossio has taken the role of business development manager for the Americas, based in California, and Robert Cole has taken up the post of commercial director, based at MagnaColours in the United Kingdom. The new additions to the MagnaColours team will help to cement the business’ position as a leader and innovator within the industry and support its ambitious growth plans.

Cossio has been active within the textile screen printing industry for three decades, and so brings a wealth of experience with him to MagnaColours. He spent 12 years at PolyOne and managed its Wilflex sales in Latin America from 2002-14. For the past three years, Cossio was a regional manager for M&R, selling equipment in parts of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Bangladesh. He has worked in print operations and held sales roles specifically around color and ink room management, which stands him in good stead for his new position. Cossio represents MagnaColours first investment in the Americas and will be key to driving growth and developing further expansion plans in the region.

Cole’s career has seen him work across several industries associated with chemical products, most recently in the digital textile industry in the United States. Magna will benefit from his vast experience in management, marketing, product development, operations, business development and technical services. In his new role, Cole will be responsible for strategic sales management, technical support and marketing activities. His digital experience will be instrumental in helping Magna to explore new avenues in the future.

Helen Parry, managing director of MagnaColours said: “We’re thrilled to welcome both Ivan and Robert, who each bring with them vast yet complimentary experience which will be invaluable in helping drive our business forward and support our expansion plans. With Ivan and Robert on board, we’ll be able to put increased focus on developing our customer base whilst exploring opportunities in the digital sector.

“For four decades, Magna has been championing the use of water-based screen-printing inks, and over the years has led the innovation of products which render the use of chemically harmful inks unnecessary. In joining the team, Ivan and Robert can really contribute to Magna’s goal of encouraging more screen printers to make the switch to water-based inks and promoting the MagnaColours brand.”

MagnaColours strives to provide environmentally sustainable water-based alternatives to widely used chemical-based inks traditionally used throughout the screen printing industry. Magna will be showcasing its range at the upcoming ISS Long Beach event January 19-21.

Posted January 12, 2018

Source: MagnaColours®

FilSpec™ Adds Research And Development Assistant

SHERBROOKE, Canada — January 11, 2018 — FilSpec™ is pleased to welcome Martin Forest to its team as a research and development assistant.

Forest holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the Université de Sherbrooke and a Master’s degree in Environment. Forest will work closely with Sebastien Couture, our research and development director, to develop innovative solutions for technical textile yarns.

Specifically, Forest will participate in new product development sessions either internally or with the client, as well as participate in brainstorming sessions on other potential uses of already developed innovative yarns. He will also carry out a technological watch, analyze and present the main results of reports from the independent laboratories to the R&D director, as well as draft the technical documentation of research projects.

Forest will therefore be an important asset for FilSpec in the development and creation of innovative yarns for smart textile projects. Through his high-level scientific background, he will help FilSpec’s team develop new technologies and scientific concepts for our projects. FilSpec aims for more and more sophisticated product development and Forest will become a key resource for the company.

From a more personal point of view, MarForesttin is a music lover and a bassist and co-composer for a rock band. He has a great dry sense of humor that sometimes disarms the less aware of his colleagues … to the delight of others!

Posted January 12, 2018

Source: FilSpec™

Italian Textile Machinery A Major Player At Techtextil Russia

MILAN, Italy — January 11, 2018 — ACIMIT, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, and the Italian Trade Agency for the promotion and internationalization of Italian businesses abroad, will be organizing an exhibition space at the upcoming edition of Techtextil Russia, the specialized trade fair dedicated to technical textiles and nonwovens, slated to be held in Moscow March 20-23, 2018.

A total of 22 companies will be on hand at Italy’s exhibition space, including the following ACIMIT associated members: Beta, Bombi, Bonino, Cibitex, Cognetex, Durst, Fabotex, Fadis, Ferraro, Guarneri, Mcs, Cosmatex, Pugi, Ratti, Reggiani, Salmoiraghi, Sariel, Santex Rimar Group, Smit, Sicam, Tessil Gomma.

The trade fair event arrives at a time of growth for Russia’s textile sector. Indeed, the Russian authorities have initiated pilot projects specifically targeting the modernization of existing technology in the textile sector, and increasing the supply of local products on the Russian market. The production of technical textiles, in particular, is deemed by competent Government authorities to constitute a driver in reviving the fate of Russia’s textile industry.

As ACIMIT president Alessandro Zucchi explained: “This restructuring phase provides an opportunity to further strengthen existing relations between Russian textile manufacturers and Italian technology suppliers, which are already in good stead thanks to the promotional initiatives launched by ACIMIT and the ICE-Agency over the past few years.

“The result of this interaction between Italy’s textile machinery manufacturers and Russian producers,” added Zucchi, “is the Russian market’s constant presence among primary destinations for Italian exports of textile machinery.” In 2016, Italy exported 22 million euros worth of textile machinery to Russia, whereas figures updated to the first seven months of 2017 show a 51-percent increase compared to the same period for 2016, for a corresponding value of 11 million euros.

Posted January 11, 2018

Source: ACIMIT

Ultimate Yarn Evenness Testing And More – With The Total Testing Center

USTER, Switzerland — January 11, 2018 — Only two years since its launch, the ground-breaking new USTER® TESTER 6 is making a significant impact in Bangladesh. Ambitious and quality-conscious spinners are eager to participate in the rapid growth in export sales by the country’s textile producers. Uster Tester 6 is more than the ultimate evenness tester: it is also the gateway to wider potential benefits for mills, integrating data from other Uster quality measurement sources to create a real Total Testing Center.

Bangladesh mills have been quick to recognize these extended advantages, and several Uster Tester 6 units are already in operation in Bangladesh, as well as in the rest of South East Asia, following its global launch at the Milan ITMA in 2015. The forthcoming DTG exhibition is likely to stimulate even greater interest among visitors to the Uster booth.

At the 15th Dhaka International Textile and Garment Machinery Exhibition, to be held in city’s Bangabandhu International Conference Centre February 8-11, Uster experts will provide visitors with first-hand information on the Uster Tester 6. Ahead of the exhibition, existing customers from the Bangladesh spinning sector here provide detailed feedback on their experiences to date.

The best in testing

The sheer speed of the Uster Tester 6 — without compromise on quality — is hailed by all the spinners. The test speed of 800 meters per minute (m/min) also provides highly reliable and extremely accurate results, thanks to the new Capacitive and Optical Sensors. Abdul Latif, deputy general manager of Divine Spinning Mills Ltd., said: “Hairiness testing at high-speeds of 800 m/min — also now including Hairiness Length Classification — requires relatively much less time for testing.”

Companies also report increased efficiency in quality management, with feature such as the graphical presentation of timeline reports — analyzing the product with a long-term perspective and providing quality data over a predefined time. “We are able to analyze the product at a single glance,” said Khorshed Ali, senior manager, Quality Control, Pahartali Textile & Hosiery Mills. Another well-appreciated quality analysis shows the total of pre-defined imperfection classes (neps, thin and thick places) graded by standard and sensitivity level, making it a valuable quality management tool.

In fact, the Uster Tester 6 can provide essential data for any parameter describing yarn appearance — taking in well over a hundred different factors — using its inbuilt yarn testing functions, as well as through connections with other Uster testing and monitoring systems. This totally-integrated facility leverages the value of the information and provides practical insights into the entire yarn production sequence and downstream processes.

This enormous mass of data requires built-in intelligence to transform it into quick and easy-to-follow guidance for the spinner. Quality alerts provide an early warning of potential issues, allowing spinners to identify and remedy any faults likely to cause second-quality material. Objective guidance helps spinners to categorize quality levels, using the so-called yarn grades, while critical questions about a yarn’s performance in subsequent processes are answered by intelligent forecasting of fabric appearance, pilling resistance and overall weavability.

Immediate help for users in case of a quality problem on a spinning machine is provided by the Knowledge Based System (KBS). A single click on a spectrogram display — with no need for additional settings or inputs from the machine supplier — brings up the defective component on screen.

Extended support possibilities

Assistant Q is compared to an additional employee arriving in the mill with Uster Tester 6. He is on duty 24/7, embodying 65 years of Uster application experience. He checks every measurement — whether from the laboratory and the online instruments. Where quality issues arise, Assistant Q offers a checklist of actions to solve the problem. “Assistant Q gives us a lot of ideas to solve any problems,” said Khorshed Ali at Pahartali Textile & Hosiery Mills.

The Uster Tester 6 is the key to accessing the Total Testing Center. As each additional Uster measuring system is connected to the Total Testing Center, the depth of knowledge and expertise held by Assistant Q increases. A major benefit already results from the integration of in-process information from the Uster Quantum 3, which monitors 100-percent of production at the winding machines. The Total Testing Center then takes spinning mills to the next stage, with detailed analysis of all the data and expert interpretation — giving practical advice and options for specific improvements. This allows quality and productivity criteria to be balanced, so that mills can make informed and risk-free decisions on every aspect of the yarn manufacturing process.

It is clear that spinning mills in Bangladesh are already well aware of the massive possibilities these benefits offer: “To us, the Uster Tester 6 is the best evenness tester ever and we intend it to become our Total Testing Center in future,” said Shafiqul Islam, Manager Quality Control at Akij Textile Mills Ltd. Other Bangladeshi spinners have also indicated that they plan to connect fiber testing systems and yarn clearers in future.

At DTG 2018, spinners can assess their options for a future with the Total Testing Center — or simply experience the world’s best evenness tester — on the Uster booth in hall 6, booth 606. “The possibility to manage the spinning mill with quality in mind, the range of new and unique features on top of unmatched reliability and accuracy of all functions as a yarn testing system will convince all our customers of the value of Uster Tester 6,” says AFM Zubair, director within New Asia Ltd., Uster’s agent for laboratory systems and yarn clearers

Posted January 11, 2018

Source: Uster Technologies

VF Corp., NC State Announce A Strategic, Multi-Year Partnership

RALEIGH, N.C. — January 11, 2018 — VF Corp. and North Carolina State University (NC State) today announced a collaborative, strategic partnership that will support student development at NC State and advance apparel and textiles innovation within VF.

“VF is proud to partner with NC State University, one of the world’s top universities and home to the only college in the United States devoted entirely to textiles,” said Steve Rendle, chairman, president and CEO, VF. “Through our shared expertise in research and consumer insights, we aim to stimulate apparel innovation while also developing a consistent pipeline of exceptional leaders for our company.”

The College of Textiles and VF have a long-standing relationship. Under this new multi-year agreement, the partnership is further strengthened by NC State’s Poole College of Management, which brings particular expertise in business analytics and supply chain management. The new partnership adds structure to existing collaborations and creates new opportunities for students in both Colleges. The partnership will:

  • Offer a variety of undergraduate and graduate education and training activities for students within the Colleges, including internships, student projects and competitions;
  • Facilitate industry-leading research that will elevate apparel and textile products and experiences;
  • Provide executive education opportunities for VF associates; and
  • Establish a VF presence on Centennial Campus, NC State’s nationally recognized research campus.

“With many College of Textiles alumni working and thriving at VF, we could not be more pleased to be building on our partnership,” said David Hinks, dean at the College of Textiles. “The addition of VF on campus and the ability of students and faculty from both the College of Textiles and Poole College of Management to work shoulder-to-shoulder with VF personnel will bring new avenues to advance textiles, apparel and footwear.”

“Together with the College of Textiles, we are uniquely positioned to partner with a market leader like VF to expand professional development and research in the world of textiles,” said Annette L. Ranft, dean and Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Chair at Poole College. “We are also excited about the potential of this partnership to bring meaningful experiences to NC State students.”

“VF’s presence on Centennial Campus will create a collaboration space where students, faculty and VF employees can come together to solve challenges and accelerate innovation,” said Dennis Kekas, associate vice chancellor of partnerships and economic development at NC State.

Today’s announcement begins a long-term engagement between VF and NC State, with more initiatives to be announced.

Posted January 11, 2018

Source: NC State University

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