WASHINGTON — May 11, 2017 — Four U.S. textile trade associations — the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), American Fiber Manufacturers Association (AFMA), Narrow Fabrics Institute (NFI), and United States Industrial Fabrics Institute (USIFI) — outlined causes of the $95 billion U.S. trade deficit in textiles and apparel and suggested remedial actions for the Trump administration to boost U.S. production and jobs in joint comments submitted to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) on May 10, 2017.

In addition, NCTO’s Upholstery Fabrics Committee (UFC) submitted a separate statement detailing the reasons for the U.S. trade deficit in upholstery fabrics, focusing on the imbalance with China particular.

“A trade deficit study like this should have been initiated years ago,” said NCTO President and CEO Auggie Tantillo as he praised President Trump for ordering the review.

“If America is to reverse its trade-related red ink and create more jobs, policymakers must have a better understanding of the policies and economic factors responsible for driving production offshore,” Tantillo added.

The joint NCTO, AFMA, NFI, and USIFI comments as well as the separate UFC statement were submitted in response a notice for public comments issued by the DOC and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) pursuant to Executive Order 13786 signed by President Trump on March 31, 2017.  The order directed those agencies to prepare an omnibus report on significant trade deficits.  The Federal Register notice for public comments is at 82 FR 16721 and is dated April 5, 2017 (DOC 2017-0003).

NCTO, AFMA, NFI, and USIFI also were signatories to comments submitted by the Manufacturers for Trade Enforcement (MTE) to DOC urging the United States to continue to treat the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a nonmarket economy (NME) country under U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty law.

“China’s widespread use of nonmarket economic activities is one of the biggest drivers of America’s trade deficit,” Tantillo said.

DOC’s notice for the NME comments (ITA-2017-0002) was issued as part of the its less-than-fair-value investigationof certain aluminum foil imports from the PRC.

For more information about the U.S. textile industry, please consult the 2017 State of the U.S. Textile Industryaddress delivered by 2016 NCTO Chairman Robert “Rob” H. Chapman, III at NCTO’s 14th Annual Meeting on March 23, 2017 at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC.  Chapman’s speech outlined (1) U.S. textile supply chain economic, employment and trade data as well as (2) the 2017 policy priorities of NCTO members.

Posted May 11, 2017

Source: NCTO

FRANKFURT, Germany — May 9, 2017 — EFI Optitex, a provider of an integrated 2-D and 3-D CAD/CAM apparel platform, announced the launch of O/Cloud Collaborate, the first web-based Software as a Service (SaaS) solution offering visual collaboration specifically geared to the fashion industry. The product leverages a photorealistic 3-D viewer and streamlines collaboration across the global supply chain.

Through a secure, cloud-based environment, O/Cloud Collaborate allows designers, technical designers, pattern makers and other stakeholders at brands, vendors and sourcers to share and visually collaborate on product development samples and related documents and images. This enables retailers, brands and vendors to dramatically shorten their product development calendar, make product decisions earlier and develop better products, as more design iterations can be made in a fraction of the time.

Having an updated, centrally stored SVOT (single version of the truth) for product development, along with a photorealistic digital view of how garments will look and act, allows users to easily identify issues. It also gives them the ability to address and implement design ideas before physical samples are ever produced.

“Brands in the apparel industry have been seeking tools and methodologies to shorten the ideation, development and approval workflows for new garments. Most often, the parties involved in the design and development process are scattered around the world, making the meeting of tight timelines a particular challenge,” said Asaf Landau, EFI Optitex’s vice president and general manager. “This new visual collaboration platform cuts development times by many weeks, allowing the world’s leading retailers and brands to design better products, faster.”

Guy Alroy, EFI Optitex’s head of products, added that “having this platform directly integrated with the CAD authoring tools allows users to be incredibly efficient in exchanging ideas and comments, speeding up the decision-making process and thus the time to market.”

EFI Optitex will be presenting O/Cloud Collaborate and other solutions in its Innovation Corner at this week at Texprocess in Messe Frankfurt (Hall 4.0, booth # B41). Since 1988, EFI Optitex solutions have enabled apparel and soft good companies to create better products and save valuable time, money, and resources in their core product development, production, merchandising, and marketing processes.

EFI fuels success

EFI develops breakthrough technologies connecting the online world to the physical one, providing the industry’s largest portfolios for the textiles, signage, packaging, ceramic tiles, personalised documents and corrugated segments. EFI Optitex software is the world’s leading provider of an integrated 2-D/3-D platform that enables users to quickly create true-to-life 3-D digital garments, empowering apparel and soft goods companies to revolutionise the way they develop, produce, and market their products. Visit www.efi.com/optitex for more information.

Posted May 9, 2017

Source: EFI Optitex

WASHINGTON — May 9, 2017 — TRSA’s Executive Management Institute (EMI) and Production Management Institute (PMI) will be held concurrently at the University of Maryland, August 6-10. The combination provides unique opportunities for information-sharing and socializing among established and upcoming leaders in the linen, uniform and facility services industry as attendees will share free time, meals and evening outings.

As an incentive for companies to place staff in both programs, TRSA is offering a future TRSA event credit worth $500 for companies who register a first-time participant in both. An additional discount is available for enrolling three or more employees from a single company in either program. Learn more, view brochures and access registration at www.trsa.org/emi or www.trsa.org/pmi.

EMI has a 50-plus-year tradition of providing attendees with the latest in management techniques to aid them in tackling high-priority tasks and long-term workplace challenges specific to the industry. In classes led by academics and consultants experienced with the industry, participants complete EMI by returning for a 4-day program once a year for the next three years.

The first year offers practical insight that can be immediately applied to motivate and inspire co-workers and employees to streamline production, improve productivity and increase profitability, including:

• Developing effective communications skills
• Managing innovation and change
• Reducing conflict

EMI attracts attendees from all segments of the textile services industry, from independent companies’ owners, executives and next-generation leaders to chains’ headquarters (including HR/administration) and plant- and depot-based management (GMs, branch and department heads). TRSA member associates attend as well. Individuals who have achieved TRSA’s Certified Professional Laundry Manager (CPLM) certification receive 31 credit hours toward recertification by attending EMI.

PMI, now in its 28th year, consists of two 4-day programs one year apart, featuring classroom settings where attendees learn from each other as well as industry experts who instruct. First-timers take the PMI Production curriculum, which includes fundamentals of laundry production and operations, emphasizing key principles of productivity, quality, safety and sustainability. Over the next year, students will participate in a series of self-paced, online modules on topics such as human resources, communications, finance, time/project management and business ethics.

PMI Production participants will return the following August for PMI Management, another four days of interactive sessions that further refine their production and laundry-specific management skills. Upon completion of the classroom and online training, students are tested and can earn the CPLM designation, the baseline of knowledge for all graduates.

PMI features group exercises that take advantage of attendees’ collective talent and require participants to devise solutions collectively to real-world scenarios presented as case studies. Visits to nearby laundries are part of the curriculum as well; this year, the destination will be the 120,000-square-foot Alsco plant in nearby Lanham, Md. Opened in 2016, it processes 120,000 pounds of laundry daily.

This August, PMI participants will be among the first recipients of Laundry Operations and Management, TRSA’s new 300-page text on production management orientation and training, providing enrichment and review of what was learned onsite during PMI.

Posted May 9, 2017

Source: TRSA