Crothall Now Has 15 Hygienically Clean Healthcare Certified Laundries: Emphasis on Process, Third-party Validation And Outcome-based Testing

ALEXANDRIA, Va., November 20, 2017—Crothall Laundry Services’ Manteca, Calif., and Lima, Ohio, facilities are the company’s latest recipients of TRSA Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification, reflecting 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 a laundry’s dedication to compliance and processing healthcare linens and garments using BMPs as described in its quality assurance documentation, a focal point for inspectors’ evaluation of critical control points minimize risk. The independent, third-party inspection must confirm essential evidence that:

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

Crothall now has 15 TRSA Hygienically Clean Healthcare certified facilities. In addition to the newest designee, these are located in Mobile, Ala. (Coastal Laundry); Phoenix, Ariz.; La Mirada and Ontario, Calif.; Lakeland, Fla.; Augusta and Rome, Ga.; Wheeling (Chicago), Ill.; Madisonville, Ky.; Belcamp, Md., Winston-Salem, N.C.; Johnson City, Tenn.; and Milwaukee, Wis.

Certified facilities pass three rounds of outcome-based microbial testing, indicating that their processes are producing Hygienically Clean Healthcare linens and garments and zero presence of harmful bacteria. To maintain their certification, laundry plants must pass quarterly annual 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 laundry 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 TRSA launderers to ensure the certification continues to enforce the highest standards for producing clean healthcare textiles. With 100+ years as the textile services industry’s leading business association, TRSA’s expertise in laundry BMP development is unmatched.

“Congratulations to Crothall on their certifications,” said Joseph Ricci, TRSA president and CEO. “This achievement proves their dedication to building their customers’ confidence that their laundry takes every step possible to prevent human illness.”

Posted November 20, 2017

Source: TRSA

Standard Revisions Clarify Healthcare Laundry Certification Requirements

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — November 17, 2017 — Improvements to the Standard for Producing Hygienically Clean Reusable Textiles for Use in the Healthcare Industry to clarify compliance requirements were made this week by the laundry certification’s Advisory Board. New terminology better identifies mandates, distinguishing them from practices strongly recommended.

Meeting at the TRSA Healthcare Conference in Salt Lake City, the Board eliminated “should” and “may” from references to laundry practices. Now all such stipulations use only “must” (identifying a laundry practice that is required for compliance with the standard) or “shall” (indicating a practice recommended for implementation, but not mandatory). The standard also uses “will,” but only in descriptions of actions that TRSA takes to certify plants, such as inspection procedures.

For example, the standard formerly stipulated that a laundry “should” have documentation of a current integrated pest management program consistent with healthcare-recommended practices with evidence of scheduled treatments. Now a plant “must” have such documentation. Other “should” to “must” changes relate to compiling a plant’s quality assurance (QA) manual and minimizing manual handling of soiled linen.

Most clarifications involved changing “shall” to “must” because the former “shall” clauses had been enforced as mandates, but “shall” isn’t strong enough to convey that compliance with these stipulations is required, explained Angela Freeman, TRSA certification programs manager.

“The changes do not make the standard more prescriptive. Hygienically Clean remains true to its mission of enabling laundries in compliance with best management practices to use their own documented standard operating procedures to achieve BMPs,” she said. The new terminology essentially makes requirements easier to understand so certified laundries consistently produce hygienically clean linen.

Hygienically Clean Healthcare inspectors ensure laundries deploy BMPs grounded in regulations, standards and guidance of OSHA, EPA, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). The Hygienically Clean standard was previously recognized by the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) as a premier and recognized resource dedicated to excellence in patient care.

This year, Hygienically Clean joined with the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology to launch APIC Industry Perspectives, a website that builds clinical knowledge related to infection prevention product usage, the science supporting specific methodologies and best practices to keep patients safe.

Each Hygienically Clean certified laundry’s QA manual documents its complete range of processes. This gives certification inspectors a focal point for evaluating compliance with BMPs. Through the Hygienically Clean Healthcare Users Group, the foremost experts in laundry technology evaluate BMPs to be included in the standard. No other collaboration of launderers matches these certified operators’ knowledge of the complete healthcare textile (HCT) processing cycle.

The Users Group updates the Advisory Board, chaired by Randy Bartsch, CEO, Ecotex Healthcare Linen Service, on current and emerging technologies. Besides laundering, professions represented on the Board include physicians, infection prevention, epidemiology, nursing and more.

The ranks of Hygienically Clean Healthcare certified facilities recently eclipsed 125; another 40 are in the process of becoming certified. The certification was introduced in 2012.

Posted November 17, 2017

Source: TRSA

Armor Made With Dyneema® UD Shows Potential To Make Dyneema®, The Greenest Strength™ Even Greener

GELEEN, The Netherlands — November 17, 2017 — Continuing its ‘Greenest Strength’ mission, DSM Dyneema will at Milipol in Paris November 21-24 provide an example of a creative way to re-use material from out-of-service soft armor vests.

Dyneema® UD (Uni-Directional bullet resistant sheet) is a key ballistic ingredient for best-in-class life protection applications like vests, helmets, and inserts, protecting soldiers and law enforcement officers. Compared to alternative materials, Dyneema fiber offers today the lowest carbon footprint per unit of tenacity. Since solutions with Dyneema UD require less material to achieve a given performance and have a high durability and long service live, a lowest carbon footprint in application lifetime is the result. Over the last years DSM Dyneema has further improved its environmental footprint in amongst others its manufacturing processes and is committed to continue the path.

DSM Dyneema is now also examining ways for body armor manufacturers and end-customers to reduce waste from end products made with Dyneema UD material. Waste material from ballistic sheets is generated in two ways. One is the off-cuts from Dyneema UD sheets when making the end-products like a vest. The other is when the protective article is taken out of service.

For the concept presented at Milipol, DSM Dyneema worked together with Marc Meijers, designer at DenimX. This resulted in prototype design table made with a combination of re-used Dyneema UD sheets and DenimX. DenimX has a process that converts used clothing, such as combat uniform and textiles into thin sheets.

Making the table involved shredding the used ballistic soft armor panels and offcuts, then pressing the material into flat sheets. This material is then used as input into an alternative value chain.

“By breathing new life into used vests, we can support and encourage a circular economy,” said Dirk Louwers, global marketing director Life protection at DSM. “By seeking ways to re-use ballistic protection materials into new applications, vest manufacturers and end-users such as the police or military may avoid having to dispose of offcut waste or used vests.”

“The table follows the re-using principle, using panels made of shredded Dyneema UD finished with blue or desert camouflage fabric,” says Marc Meijers, DenimX. “It’s a perfect illustration of potential of re-using Dyneema UD into a new product, and will help inspire more designers to explore alternative ideas.”

Looking ahead, DSM Dyneema aims to build on the success of this finished prototype of re-used Dyneema UD. The company is inviting interested parties to work with them in further develop opportunities to take re-use to the next level. “Our first objective is to work with partners to achieve a scalable process. The technical feasibility is proven.” says Dirk Louwers. “By involving partners and customers in this effort, we will discover new ways to breathe new life into what are already solutions with Dyneema UD that demonstrate the Greenest Strength™ in materials used for body armor.”

Posted November 17, 2017

Source: DSM Dyneema

Teijin’s New SOLOTEX® THERMO Thermal Retention And Insulation Fabric

TOKYO — November 17, 2017 — Teijin Frontier Co. Ltd., the Teijin Group’s fiber-product converting company, announced today that it has developed SOLOTEX® THERMO, a polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) fiber offering excellent thermal retention and insulation. Teijin Frontier envisions a wide range of promising applications for Solotex Thermo, including jeans, pants and bottoms, and for more than just outer materials.

Solotex Thermo offers high comfortability thanks to its softness, form-suitability and strechability. It absorbs near infrared sunlight and converts it to heat efficiently due to carbon-based inorganic particles mixed into the fiber’s monocular structure. Compared to conventional polyester fiber, it raises the wearer’s wind-chill factor by 5℃, as demonstrated in a sunlight heat-storage test conducted by Boken Quality Evaluation Institute.

Teijin Frontier is now exploring marketing opportunities for Solotex Thermo mainly for outerwear. Annual sales are expected to reach 500 tons by the fiscal year ending in March 2021.

Posted November 17, 2017

Source: Teijin Frontier

SPGPrints To Demonstrate The Power And Potential Of Its Archer® Technology And Inks For Digital Textile Printing At ShanghaiTex 2017

BOXMEER, The Netherlands — November 16, 2017 — The quality and flexibility of SPGPrints’ powerful Archer® technology for digital textile printing, featured on a JAVELIN® inkjet printer running live, plus a comprehensive range of inks, will be the highlights of the company’s stand at ShanghaiTex 2017 — Booth number W5B60, November 27-30, Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre, Shanghai Pudong, China.

The multi-pass Javelin printer and the PIKE® single-pass printer can meet the demands of today’s markets with short lead times, and exacting quality requirements for both short and long production runs. In regular live demonstrations of the Javelin, visitors will gain a first-hand appreciation, in real-time, of the technology’s ability to deliver optimum saturation, precision and speed, on a wider range of fabrics. SPGPrints’ digital solutions for outstanding print quality, with a comprehensive ink offering, deliver an extended colour gamut, greater operating flexibility, and a productive, waste-free environment

Both printers use SPGPrints’ unique Archer technology, with the company’s own inks developed specially for this technology, as well as Fujifilm Dimatix Samba print heads to fire variable drops of ink from 2 to 10 picoliters from a distance of up to 4 millimeters on to the substrate. This can achieve a color gamut that is wider than the high-definition (HD) gamut of other digital textile printing solutions. Adding to SPGPrints’ value proposition, the Archer Print Head Program offers a 2.5-year warranty on print heads, in combination with use of accredited inks, significantly reducing running costs.

The JAVELIN is a digital production scanning printer ideal for companies taking the first step into digital printing, or supplementing an existing digital capability. With output up to 367 linear meters per hour, JAVELIN is designed for textile printers requiring up to 2 million linear meters per year. For larger volumes, the SPGPrints PIKE, is a single-pass, high-speed production printer that can print cost-effective long runs.

Also highlighted on the stand are SPGPrints’ inks for digital printers using Kyocera print heads. Acid, reactive, disperse and sublimation inks are all manufactured by SPGPrints at its newly expanded 1000 square meter ink production facility, located at the company’s Boxmeer global headquarters. Working in close conjunction with leading print head manufacturers, SPGPrints has developed inks that ensure smooth running, wide colour gamuts, outstanding quality and low maintenance.

Rotary screen solutions

Information and samples demonstrating SPGPrints’ continued commitment to the conventional rotary screen sector will also be on display and available for inspection. SPGPrints offers high-accuracy and high-productivity screen-imaging solutions to meet the requirements of all textile printers. The SPGPrints bestLEN direct laser engraver can image screens in as little as half an hour without films, chemicals or exposing and washing processes. The smartLEX laser imaging system uses multi-beam diode technology for fast, precise screen imaging.

SPGPrints expands its customer base in China

In China, a number of textile printing facilities are benefiting from the fast lead-times, high productivity and extended colour gamut brought by SPGPrints’ inkjet machine systems. Since installing a PIKE printer in July 2017, Dongheng Group, Changzhou, Jiangsu, has been able to meet the high-volume demands of global brand owners, with the ability to offer lead times of less than one week for orders exceeding 100,000 meters. The company is currently producing up to 30,000 meters per day, in one shift, with the PIKE.

Several more SPGPrints Javelin printers are set to go into production at Chinese textile printers during the final quarter of 2017.

With the support of its expanding Chinese subsidiary, SPGPrints Printing Systems Wuxi Co., and the testing and trialling facilities of the new Experience Center at the global headquarters in The Netherlands, SPGPrints is enabling its Chinese customers to transfer smoothly to the Archer technology and gain the most from their investment. SPGPrints is supporting Dongheng with the integration of the Pike printer into the company’s workflow. The technical training, support and assistance with colour management is enabling Dongheng to supply a major fashion brand.  Additionally, SPGPrints’ technical sales team in Boxmeer is providing remote support and consultancy.

Denis Jahic, sales manager, digital textile, SPGPrints) commented: “Time to market is most important for gaining business from the global brand owners, and in these situations the single-pass Pike provides the necessary productivity. As a result of the installation, Dongheng is working closely with a major fast-fashion retailer, enabling it to get large quantities of orders on the market in South East Asia as well as in the United States.

“The regional Chinese fashion market is growing fast. They, too, are seeking a similar delivery model of shorter product cycles, and substantial volumes delivered at short notice. Furthermore, with labor costs rising, and stricter government environmental legislations, Chinese manufacturers must find ways to control costs and eliminate waste as well as emissions. The Pike and Javelin printers, with their simple workflows, low manpower requirements and uninterrupted production, are strong propositions to meet these challenges.

“In an increasingly service-driven industry, we are committed to providing the highest level of long-term support. Our Wuxi subsidiary has hired new technical and application staff to ensure our growing customer base can achieve maximum uptime, print quality and productivity,” Jahic concluded.

Posted November 16, 2017

Source: SPGPrints

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

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