American Fiber Manufacturers Association (AFMA) President Paul T. O’Day recently passed away. Fiercely dedicated to the industry he loved, Paul led AFMA from 1984 to 2017 with a sophisticated wit and a powerful intellect. He was a true gentleman, always gracious and emphatically willing to help others; and his dedication and extraordinary contribution to the industry has been recognized by industry leaders from the United States and across the globe.
“Paul was not only a great man, but he was also a friend and confidant to so many of us in the industry,” said Mark J. Ruday, AFMA chairman, and senior vice president, Fibers, DAK Americas LLC.
“Paul was a pillar of the textile trade community and provided unfailingly wise counsel to U.S. policymakers for many years,” said Bill Jackson, assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Textiles, Office of the United States Trade Representative. “He was also an uncommonly kind man who brightened any gathering with his good humor and deep well of stories. He will be greatly missed.”
“Paul gave a lifetime of service to manufacturing and particularly the textile industry,” saidJay Timmons, president and CEO, National Association of Manufacturers. “Paul left a lasting footprint on the business community, his state and his country.”
“Famously courteous and humble, Paul won heated policy debates through the power of his extraordinary intellect, his expansive institutional knowledge and his total command of the subject matter at hand,” said Auggie Tantillo, president & CEO, National Council of Textile Organizations. “Completely secure in his role and the critical contribution he made to every project, Paul was always quick to defer credit and to shower praise on his colleagues.”
“Paul was highly regarded by all for his knowledge, hard work and professionalism,” said Tom Dobbins, president, American Composites Manufacturers Association. “Personally, he brought joy to everyone who knew him. A great light has gone out of the world and I will always feel that loss.”
“When I was new to the textile industry, Paul welcomed me,” said Jenn Stowe, vice president, Government Relations, The Carpet and Rug Institute. “He was a great source of industry history and knowledge. He was a resource and a role model. He will be sorely missed.”
The AFMA staff would like to thank Paul for his guidance and wisdom, for his strength and tenacity and for the honor and privilege of his leadership and friendship. Paul inspired us all and will be fondly remembered always.
Subject to certain adjustments at closing, Sterling Heights, Mich.-based Key Safety Systems (KSS) — a division of China-based Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp. — will acquire substantially all of the assets of Japan-based automotive safety systems supplier Takata Corp. for $1.588 billion.
Takata’s Kernersville, N.C.-based high-performance and composites manufacturer Highland Industries Inc. is included in the transaction and will become part of KSS. Not included in the deal are certain Takata assets and operations related to the production and sale of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate airbag inflators.
KSS has completed due diligence and additional details about the deal — including plans for a smooth transition to minimize risk and supply chain disruption for Takata’s OEM customers — will be available in the coming weeks.
With the acquisition, KSS will employ approximately 60,000 employees in 23 countries.
“KSS is the ideal sponsor as we address the costs related to airbag inflator recalls, and an optimal partner to the company’s customers, suppliers and employees,” said Shigehisa Takada, chairman & CEO, Takata. “The combined business would be well positioned for long-term success in the global automotive industry. Throughout this process, our top priorities have been providing a steady supply of products to our valued customers, including replacement parts for recalls, and a stable home for our exceptional employees. This agreement would allow that to continue.”
“Although Takata has been impacted by the global airbag recall, the underlying strength of its skilled employee base, geographic reach, and exceptional steering wheels, seat belts and other safety products have not diminished,” said Jason Luo, president and CEO, KSS.
Photograph courtesy of the New Orleans Earnest N. Morial Convention Center
IFAI Expo 2017 heads to New Orleans with a full schedule of events, tours, workshops and meetings geared to the industrial fabrics sector.
TW Special Report
The Roseville, Minn.-based Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) is busy preparing for IFAI Expo 2017, which will be held September 26-29 at the Ernest Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, La.
IFAI Expo serves all aspects of the industry, and highlights segments targeted to specific markets including:
Specialty fabrics — featuring traditional market suppliers from fabric and equipment to hardware and services needed to manufacture end products;
Advanced textiles — covering supply chain relationships in technical textile markets including medical, automotive, wearable, safety/protective, performance wear and aerospace; and
Shade and weather protection — including end products such as retractable awning systems, shade structures, canopies and other weather solutions.
“IFAI Expo represents everything in the advanced, specialty and shade textile industries,” said IFAI President Mary Hennessy. “Attendees looking for high tech or durable textiles, equipment, hardware, findings or services, will find it at IFAI Expo.”
IFAI Expo features a packed educational conference schedule as well as a show floor with more than 400 anticipated exhibitors, equipment workshops and education demonstrations, campfire sessions, the Advanced Textiles Lounge, IFAI Hub/Membership Lounge, Fabric Sourcing Center, testing demo zone, Industry Awards Gallery, open meetings, and a selfie station.
The opening night reception — available to exhibitors and visitors alike — will be held Wednesday evening following the close of the exposition show floor at The National World War II museum. IFAI will arrange a parade from the convention center to the museum for the event. For a complete list of all the events and happenings surrounding the 4-day expo, please see the “Schedule at a Glance.”
New Opportunities In 2017
IFAI has added several new features to the 2017 edition of the show. Of particular note is the Smart Fabrics Program, which focuses on e-textiles and their applications. The program comprises an e-textiles workshop on the show floor with electronics and textile experts, easy to assemble e-textile kits available to all, an e-textiles standards roundtable and e-textile market discussions in an open forum setting; a Smart Fabrics Track at the Advanced Textiles conference; and the e-Textiles Hackathon Design Challenge. The hackathon is a contest created to encourage innovative new e-textile products with commercial value. It’s open to all entrepreneurs, developers, designers, students, engineers, artists, makers and creators who will be assigned to teams and tasked with innovating using only materials found in the e-textiles workshop. The hackathon is a free activity, but interested parties must register for the IFAI Expo/Advanced Textiles Conference badge and fill out the hackathon entry form no later than September 20 to be eligible to participate. Projects must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Thursday, and will be on display at IFAI Expo on Friday. Prizes will be awarded to the first and second place teams.
Both attendees and exhibitors will be able to meet with independent experts at IFAI Expo’s Mentor Meetings. Appointments for the 30-minute meetings are limited and must be scheduled in advance. IFAI has put together a comprehensive list of mentors who will be able to discuss topics from advanced textiles development, e-textiles, environmental regulation compliance, fire protection, intellectual property law, and product and process development, among other topics.
Educational Events, Awards
As in past years, IFAI’s Advanced Textiles Conference and Specialty Fabrics Conference will begin one day prior to the show floor opening, and continue on subsequent days only prior to the show floor opening to avoid conflicts in scheduling.
The IFAI Expo Testing Program, inaugurated in 2016 in partnership with Raleigh, N.C.-based North Carolina State University (NC State), will return to the expo this year and includes two NC State certificate options, testing demonstrations and education, as well as new question and answer sessions.
IFAI will again recognize new and innovative products and services found on the show floor with the Show Stopper program. The annual International Achievement Awards (IAA) — judged by industry experts, editors, architects, educators and design professionals — will honor innovation, technical skill and design excellence. In addition, the four Student Design Competitions sponsored by four IFAI divisions will recognize student talent in Advanced Textiles, Awning and Canopy, Fabric Graphics and Fabric Structures. The Industrial Fabrics Foundation also will present Innovation Awards in six categories with one achievement honored with a top overall prize.
Keynote Addresses
IFAI will host two keynote speakers at IFAI Expo 2017. Following the IFAI Annual Meeting, Tuesday’s keynote speaker Derreck Kayongo — a business visionary, Global Soap Project founder and CEO of the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta — will talk about bad life experiences and how they can reveal problems that need to be solved, or can point to a true calling in life. Kayongo will inspire the audience with his own life lessons and experience as a refugee and offer advice on how to stay relevant in today’s marketplace.
Seth Mattison — an internationally renowned expert on workforce trends and generational dynamics, and founder and Chief Movement Officer of FutureSight Labs — will present the keynote speech on Thursday after the awards ceremony. His presentation, titled, “The Future of Work Today: Insights from the New World of Work,” is designed to help leaders prepare to navigate a new business landscape where the pace of change is elevating and collaboration is the key ingredient to unleashing the innovation required to compete and win.
“We are excited to be back in New Orleans, a great venue for work and for fun. From our Opening Reception at the World War II Museum to our inspiring keynote speakers, networking opportunities and education on the show floor, IFAI Expo delivers the best and biggest annual event for manufacturers of textile products,” Hennessy said.
For more information about IFAI Expo 2017, please visit ifaiexpo.com.
INDA’s RISE conference focuses on connecting emerging technologies with real-world applications.
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The next gathering on the busy events calendar of the Cary, N.C.-based Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) is RISE® — The Research, Innovation & Science For Engineered Fabrics Conference, to be held September 12-14, 2017, at the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel, Raleigh, N.C. September marks the seventh edition of the conference, which focuses on innovations in global plastics extrusion, multifunctional fabric technologies, innovative apparel manufacturing and disruptive engineered materials with the aim of connecting innovations with real-world applications.
Over the three-days, a broad range of industry experts will give more than 25 presentations on 10-different topics covering manufacturing technologies, moisture management and wetlaid nonwovens and 3-D nonwoven structures among other topics.
INDA has lined up four keynote speakers for the conference. Dr. Bernd Kunze, CEO, Reifenhäuser Reicofil, will talk about expanding conceptual planning with the latest predictive analytical techniques from the perspective of a global machinery manufacturer. Keith Hoover, vice president, Material Process & Color Innovation, Under Armour, will discuss the global manufacturing landscape and new manufacturing models for apparel creation. The keynote presentation by Dr. Yoel Fink, CEO, Advanced Functional Fabrics of America; and director, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will focus on the leading edge multifunctional fiber devices that are extending the frontiers of fiber materials. The topic of potentially disruptive material science technologies and key areas of materials research will be presented by Dr. Behnam Pourdeyhimi, associate dean for Industry Research and Extension, and William A. Klopman Distinguished Professor, North Carolina State University; and director, The Nonwovens Institute.
INDA also will announce the winner of the annual RISE Innovation Award, which recognizes innovations in new durable products featuring nonwoven fabrics used in a way that expands the use of such fabrics. Products considered for the award also must use advanced science and engineering principles to deliver unique solutions. Eligible durable product categories include geotextiles, automotive applications, long-life filter construction, furniture and durable household products. RISE Innovation Award finalists will present their technologies to conference attendees prior to the award presentation.
“The RISE conference embraces INDA’s mission to stimulate, recognize, and reward innovation in fiber technologies, material science, and engineered fabric solutions,” said Dave Rousse, INDA president. “We are delighted to host these inspiring trailblazers at this year’s conference and offer attendees the chance to have one-on-one conversations with technology innovators and business leaders. It is appropriate that the event is held in the acclaimed Research Triangle, as Raleigh is the named home to a broad range of high-tech companies and educational resources.”
For more information about RISE® — The Research, Innovation & Science For Engineered Fabrics Conference, please visit inda.org/events/rise17/.
Messe Frankfurt organized a special exhibition in cooperation with ESA and the German Aerospace Centre that illustrated a wide variety of applications for technical textiles in relation to space travel.
The recent collocated Techtextil and Texprocess shows held in Frankfurt showed growth in both exhibitor and visitor numbers.
By Rachael S. Davis, Executive Editor
The collocated Techtextil 2017 and Texprocess 2017 shows recently took place in Frankfurt under the theme “Living In Space.” Organizer Frankfurt-based Messe Frankfurt reported the largest number of exhibitors for the event to date with 1,789 total exhibitors at both shows, which represented an increase of 7 percent over the 2015 edition. In 2017, 1,477 exhibitors from 55 countries participated in Techtextil; and 312 exhibitors from 36 countries presented at Texprocess.
“We will open the biggest Techtextil ever this year,” said Detlef Braun, member of the board of management, Messe Frankfurt GmbH, at a press conference held prior to the show’s opening. “The high number of exhibitors reflects the outstanding dynamism amongst the producers of technical textiles, who enjoy continuing growth. The multifaceted range of applications to be seen at Techtextil, from products for the automotive industry to those applied in architecture, medicine, clothing and sports stands for the innovative power of the textile industry.”
Techtextil also continues to increase in internationality. Some 71 percent of exhibitors — a total of 1,054 — came from outside of Germany in 2017. The five largest exhibitor nations were Italy, China, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Three new nations — Lebanon, Mexico and Vietnam — each were represented at the show for the first time with one exhibitor from each country participating.
The largest exhibitor nations at Texprocess were Italy, China, Turkey, Taiwan and Poland.
Messe Frankfurt reports approximately 33,670 visitors from 104 countries attended Techtextil, up from 28,491 visitors in 2015. More than 7,091 visitors registered for the concurrent Texprocess show and both shows benefitted from the synergy of visitors.
The continued growth and success of Techtextil is supported by figures that illustrate the growth of the global technical textiles industry. Figures compiled by Commerzbank and shared in its “Technische Textilien” study published in 2015, predict the market for technical textiles will grow to $160 billion by 2018. This figure does not include composites or nonwovens. The same report estimates the worldwide share of technical textiles production is 27 percent of overall textile production. Messe Frankfurt reports turnover for Germany-based manufacturers of technical textiles is approximately 13 billion euros per year.
Former European Space Agency astronauts Dr. Ernst Messerschmid (below) and Dr. Reinhold Ewald (above), spoke at Techtextil about the applications for technical textiles in space exploration.
Living In Space
Dr. Reinhold Ewald, a former astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA) and professor for Astronautics and Space Stations at the University of Stuttgart, was a guest of honor at Techtextil. Ewald’s presentation at the opening press conference focused on the significance of and need for advanced and high-performance materials to enable space travel, as well as the impact that such materials make in everyday life as they are developed into consumer products. “High-tech materials based on fibers are essential in space travel when it comes to reducing the weight of space capsules,” said Ewald. “Every additional gram increases costs. Furthermore, textiles also save lives. Just think about astronaut suits. At the same time, materials that have been developed for space travel often find their way into daily life.”
To complement the “Living in Space” theme, Messe Frankfurt organized a special exhibition in cooperation with ESA and the German Aerospace Centre. The exhibit illustrated a wide variety of applications for technical textiles in relation to space travel and exploration including several space suits and a Meteron Eurobot rover. A Material Gallery highlighted textiles and technologies from exhibitors that were related to space travel. Visitors also could experience a journey through space to Mars in a virtual reality interactive area.
Many Techtextil exhibitors also embraced the Living In Space theme. In particular, Germany-based Brückner Trockentechnik GmbH & Co. KG invited guests to the company’s booth to hear a presentation about technical textiles in aerospace given by Professor Dr. Ernst Messerschmid, a former German astronaut with ESA.
Other Events
The French Textile Machinery Manufacturers Association (UCMTF) hosted a press conference featuring member companies N. Schlumberger, Laroche, Superba and Dollfus & Muller that discussed collaborative developments with customers. These France-based companies recently worked on projects with their customers where they had to identify technology needs and then design and develop innovative solutions to fulfill those needs. Pascal Denizart, CEO of the five-year-old France-based European Centre of Innovative Textiles (CETI) also gave press conference attendees some insight into the disruptive textile innovation and applied research center. According to Denizart, CETI is “a place to design, prototype, experiment new products or material for the global textile chain.”
“Innovation comes both from new technologies and the market’s demands,” said Evelyne Cholet, secretary general, UCMTF. “We are proud of our strategy to offer customized solutions and not only off the shelves machinery, to focus R&D on our customers’ requirements, to offer cost effective, reliable and environment friendly machines.”
Exhibitor, Visitor Comments
“The show has been extraordinarily good,” said Jutta Stehr, senior marketing manager, Trützschler Nonwovens & Man-Made Fibers GmbH. “The first day was a little slow, but the second day was overwhelmingly busy with customers from all corners. Voith and Trützschler Card Clothing also report it has been a good exhibition.”
Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG Vice President Klaus A. Heinrichs mentioned that technical textile applications are a growing market for Monforts. “Business for technical textiles for Monforts is about one-third of our overall business, and we are moving more and more into technical textiles applications,” Heinrichs said. “High-tech machinery is the strategy for the future of the company and Techtextil is the show for technical textiles. The first day we did not see the number of visitors we expected, but the quality is good. We saw visitors from Pakistan, Spain and France. We have visitors scheduled from the United States who have many projects to discuss.”
“The market for man-made fibers is very strong, especially in China,” said André Wissenberg, vice president, head of marketing, corporate communications and Public Affairs, Oerlikon Textile GmbH & Co. KG. “There is BCF investment also for carpet yarn in the United States. The second day of the show was very busy, which we didn’t expect.”
Corry Manderson, business development manager, Innovation, Chicago-based Lawter, was a first-time attendee at Techtextil in Frankfurt. “The show was very impressive in its scale and diversity,” Manderson said. “In particular, I appreciated the segmentation of the exhibition into local categories: the manufacturers were grouped into one hall, and the value chain was grouped methodically with the yarn, fabric, and garment companies typically grouped into clusters. As a visitor looking to make the most of a limited amount of time, this was a very efficient way to organize my potential networking opportunities. I was able to meet with not only companies from European Union countries, but also had great meetings with companies from India, Turkey, Taiwan and Japan. Overall, I found the balance between the size of the trade show and the user friendliness of the experience to be remarkable, and I plan to attend the next edition.”
The next collocated Techtextil and Texprocess in Frankfurt will be held May 14-17, 2019, at the Messe Frankfurt fairgrounds.
The next Techtextil North America will be collocated with Texprocess at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, May 22-24, 2018.
New technologies are positioned to become potential market leaders in the increasingly sophisticated world of textiles.
By Edward C. Gregor
The history of textiles began in unrecorded history, when animal skin and vegetation were likely the only available materials according to anthropologists. Fast forward to today, and the world of textiles is well-established, generally sophisticated with a large variety of fibers and constructions routinely sold, and expanding globally in recent years. A view from a high-level perspective finds both commodity and specialty materials — produced as woven, knitted and nonwoven fabrics in forms from natural, synthetic, inorganic, including bio-polymer materials — now emerging. Tweaks in construction by some are considered and promoted as advancements in the state-of-the-art. Other times, wholesale new ideas — some revolutionary, others evolutionary — from thinkers, entrepreneurs and others in R&D and product development, create new entrants. In time, a few of the better tweaks and innovative new technologies will penetrate existing markets and applications displacing incumbent materials. This article highlights several advances, and attempts to sort through the clutter and identify a few technologies positioned to become potential market leaders.
Roller shades made using PAL…the Clean Plastic from Dynamic Modifiers LLC
Non-Toxic FR Alternative To PVC
Fire resistance (FR) and intumescent materials are a “hot” topic and receive lots of visibility in many markets including protective apparel, mattresses and contract fabrics — areas where the public gathers indoors.
Atlanta-based specialty plastic compounder Dynamic Modifiers LLC has developed highly-sustainable, lightweight and non-toxic FR compounds and concentrates able to pass NFPA-701 and Cal 19 testing. When used to produce fibers, yarns, films or sheets, PAL…the Clean Plastic does not carry a flame and produces minimal quantities of smoke, therefore creating time to escape from a closed environment. The material can be extruded, calendered or molded into virtually any configuration. “With PAL…The Clean Plastic product line of custom formulated compounds, we believe we offer customers a versatile range of properties and performance often associated with flexible PVC [polyvinyl chloride],” said Howard Bradshaw, president, Dynamic Modifiers.
The company also offers light-weight intumescent low-toxicity compounds and concentrates, but these products require a sheet thicknesses of at least 0.020 inches to be effective. However, the company is working toward versions that will be effective when turned into a thinner sheet.
Wicking And Stain Resistance
Founded in 1993, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Crypton LLC is widely known for its stain-resistant upholstery and the Nanotex® technology. In expanding the company’s reach, Crypton has upped the stakes with a new performance technology called Wick+Block® for apparel. This fabric enhancement is a relatively new offering and an example of a company extending its fundamental technology into new markets to broaden its core competency. Wick+Block is a wicking and stain-blocking treatment for nylon or polyester apparel that rapidly moves moisture away from the wearer, while also adding perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)-free stain-resistant properties to a garment. Early uses have included National Football League and college football uniforms that provide players with a fresh clean garment after each and every laundering. A second line extension from Crypton is Nanotex® DRY INSIDE technology for cotton, the result of collaboration with Cary, N.C.-based Cotton Incorporated. Dry Inside is designed as a moisture-management system that rapidly pulls moisture away from an athlete’s body to the outside atmosphere with high-efficiency. “The marketplace for apparel companies is as competitive as ever, so each player is looking for the next technology that will provide an edge,” said Hardy Sullivan, vice president, Market Development. “We want Nanotex to be the go-to innovator for product differentiation.”
A unique ceramic fiber product is offered by CerX Filters LLC, Johnson City, Tenn. Traditional ceramic filters are tubular in shape and produced from sintered ceramic powders. They are costly and heavy featuring poor flow rates because of minimal porosity for liquid or air flow.
Pleated ceramic nonwoven filters from CerX Filters LLC
CerX has changed the paradigm, using robust pleated ceramic fiber filtration media with much lighter weight, lower-cost, higher surface area and flow rates, and higher porosity than traditional ceramic filters. These filters operate at temperatures of up to 1,000°C at any pH during extreme conditions. “Low backpressure/high temperature opens many new opportunities for filtration applications,” said Dick Nixdorf, chief technology officer, CerX.
Potential applications reduce particles in diesel engine exhaust and biomass syngas, as well as pre-filtering for catalytic oxidizers. The filters can trap particles, such as lint or carbon fibers, then safely be taken to a high-temperature periodically using a dual-chamber system to cleanse itself in-situ for nearly continuous 24-hour operation.
Performance Knit Fabrics
Malibu, Calif.-based Fabdesigns Inc. is a developer of prototype knit fabrics for use in performance applications. Many of the world’s leading companies seeking to set themselves apart from competition contract to develop new products with Fabdesigns. Because of confidentialities with clients, release of company names, products and insights are restricted.
However, Fabdesigns was permitted to mention one recent non-confidential development, namely a fully-integrated knitted net pocket used in Warrior®-brand lacrosse stick baskets. The 3-D knitted nets are said to provide an accurate feel and control in the throat, pocket and head. The product features a longer channel for reduced friction and a more precise release with a design branded Warp. Examples of other well-known specialty products in Fabdesigns’ past have included one-piece athletic shoes, military applications, medical products, aerospace parts and personal protection garments.
Let There Be Light!
France-based Saint-Gobain S.A. has been making its SHEERFILL® architectural membranes for more than 40 years. Over these four decades, it has developed and introduced new products to meet the changing needs of the structural membrane market. These innovations include membranes in different weights and strengths to better suit the demands of various structures; acoustical membranes for interior applications to reduce noise and reverberation; mesh materials for breathable façades; and even true self-cleaning action with the advent of EverClean® photocatalytic topcoat, which incorporates titanium dioxide to reduce nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide pollution while keeping the surface clean and bright.
Saint-Gobain has introduced Sheerfill Illuminate, a range of watertight membranes for roofing and façade applications where high light transmission is desired. Using the same proven materials long incorporated into Sheerfill — fiberglass reinforcement encapsulated with polytetrafluoroethylene — Illuminate products provide a high-strength-to-weight ratio, can be used as single layer tensile membranes, and provide the same peace of mind when it comes to safety with a Class A fire rating.
The Illuminate membrane will open a world of possibilities for architects and designers. The product can be varied to create options not seen before in the structural membrane market such as colored fabric with clear light transmission, different light transmission options — all with the design freedom possible only with reinforced membranes.
Saint-Gobain is working with several companies to realize some near-term projects, with plans to have a full launch during the second half of 2017. “Sheerfill Illuminate allows for increased light transmission to improve the comfort and sustainability of new structures of all types,” said Michael Lussier, global market leader, Saint-Gobain.
Automotive Composites
Composites are arguably the fastest growing segment of the textile market by percentage in emerging specialty applications, which include carbon fiber to reduce weight in the Boeing 787 aircraft, to various sporting goods from hockey sticks to golf equipment and even bicycles and wheelchair frames using resin, along with molded boat hulls. This market has the potential to explode if two things happen. First, if the Trump administration does not reduce current regulations that require automotive companies selling cars in the United States to average a minimum of 54.5 miles per gallon in 2025. This protocol termed lightweighting includes material offered by steel and aluminum producers and others who are diligently developing stronger lighter-weight metals as well as others who are introducing reinforced resins and plastics, some of which are already in production.
A second caveat is that carbon fiber, a rather modest sized market, is able to price its products in the $5- to $6-per-pound range — or perhaps even lower, depending on future lower-cost developments of alternative or in-kind materials. Watch these developments closely, as the final outcome could dramatically move companies and technologies. Man-made, inorganic bast fiber-textiles, including nonwoven fabrics are all widely used in composites for many other applications at hundreds of suppliers worldwide. Even if carbon fiber cannot match the price of other materials used in mass applications in automotive, other market segments are sure to grow at rates beyond gross domestic products over the next 15 to 20 years and perhaps longer, while providing handsome returns to many suppliers.
“While the composites industry has always been inextricably linked to lightweight parts, this year’s show was keen to highlight that high-volume composite parts aren’t a pipe dream, but a production-ready reality,” said Justin Cunningham, editor, Engineering Materials, reporting from the 2016 JEC show in Paris. “The question remains whether the technology is affordable and how long it will take to tool part suppliers for automotive.”
High-Performance Textile Finishes And Coatings
Whitford Corp., Elverson, Pa., is best known as one of the largest global suppliers of engineered coatings including sol-gel based coatings that provide lubrication and release for cookware and bakeware, as well as coatings for many industrial markets. Less well known to the textile industry is Whitford’s success in providing polymeric finishes and coatings to improve the performance and extend the life of fibers, yarns and technical textiles. “These emerging technologies are making a big difference in the properties and longevity of specialty use and technical textiles” said Spencer Siegel, global textile business manager.
Whitford’s custom technical textile finishes and technologies are used to improve the performance and greatly extend the life of automotive timing and conveyor belts, cargo nets, commercial marine and other high-performance rope applications. The company now offers BlisterGuard®, a range of low-friction yarns for athletic and military socks to reduce blisters, chafing and hot spots, while enhancing overall the wearer’s comfort.
Bio-Polymers Continue To Grow
Ingeo® polylactic acid sustainable polymers produced by Minnetonka, Minn.-based NatureWorks LLC are used to manufacture fibers for a wide variety of textile and nonwoven applications. As customers increasingly seek sustainable products, a large and growing number of global fiber, yarn and nonwoven fabric producers now offer materials for many end-use applications from filtration media to medical fabrics and apparel, as well as a broad range of packaging applications. NatureWorks offers a portfolio of Ingeo polymers that enhances the performance and sustainability of a broad range of fibers and fabrics. Companies are finding many of the unique and inherent properties such as wicking, breathability, skin comfort and ease of processing are valuable attributes for more sustainable offerings with improved performance. “The portfolio of fiber grade resins in the NatureWorks 6 Series are designed for processes from mono to multifilament as well as spunbond and meltblown products,” said Robert Green, global business director, Fibers/Nonwovens, NatureWorks.
Antimicrobial Medical Garments
Many antimicrobial textile technologies claim to reduce bacterial contamination on fabrics and use laboratory test results to infer effectiveness during actual use. Companies and brands can have their carefully built reputations ruined overnight and customers can be put in danger when products do not perform in real life.
To assist hospitals in their evaluation and decision making, American Hospital Association (AHA) Solutions Inc. conducted a thorough, proprietary due-diligence process review of antimicrobial solutions for the healthcare apparel market. AHA Solutions used evidence-based research to evaluate and document the effectiveness and safety of the products studied, and awarded its exclusive endorsement to VESTEX® Active Barrier Apparel produced by Orlando, Fla.-based Vestagen Technical Textiles Inc. The endorsements typically last for one to three years, and assist hospitals in making well-informed decisions about the most effective products to use.
Vestex differs from other antimicrobial apparel technologies. By incorporating a dual mechanism of action with fluid resistance in addition to an active antimicrobial with a rapid onset of action and a proprietary method of application, Vestex achieves enhanced effectiveness and comfort, according to the company.
The research efficacy of Vestex is reinforced by successful adoption and implementation by major health systems such as Northwell, Baptist, HCA Florida and overwhelming hospital staff satisfaction. “Based on effectiveness and safety, the American Hospital Association selected Vestex as the first and only apparel they have ever endorsed,” noted Ben Favret, president, Vestagen.
Editor’s Note: The author can be reached at Ed Gregor, Edward C. Gregor & Associates, LLC 803-431-7427 or by email ecg@egregor.com.
NC State Senior Design project studied the design and construction of the wildland fire shelter.
By Nathan Wintermute
Wildland fires burned more than 10 million U.S. acres in 2015. These fires can be dangerously volatile, sometimes trapping firefighters among the flames, so since 1977, firefighters in the field have been required to carry emergency fire shelters with them at all times. These last resort shelters have saved many lives, but their performance can always be improved. One group of students at Raleigh, N.C.-based North Carolina State University’s (NC State’s) College of Textiles recently made it their mission to improve the seaming of the shelter to provide better protection.
Overview
Through a yearlong capstone course, seniors majoring in both Textile Engineering and Textile Technology have the opportunity to participate in real-life product development for companies and organizations to solve real-world problems or achieve existing goals. Students Cody Brown, Katavia Teachey, and Nathan Wintermute spent their 2016-2017 academic year working on a project sponsored by the Textile Protection and Comfort Center (T-PACC) to augment the design and construction of the wildland fire shelter to improve the safety of wildland firefighters. They were awarded a NC Space Grant to support their senior design project.
The T-PACC team described the project as follows:
“These shelters are currently a two-layer system where the outer layer is an aluminized silica fabric and the inner layer is an aluminized fiberglass fabric and they are folded into a small brick shape and vacuum-sealed to reduce overall package size. The current shelter fails during direct flame contact situations, particularly at the seams. Ongoing research being performed by T-PACC is finding new materials and layering concepts for these shelters for improved fire blocking performance and are looking for senior design students to incorporate these new materials/layers with innovative designs, constructions, and packaging that minimizes overall weight and minimizes heat transfer to the firefighter inside.”
As part of a larger project, T-PACC is conducting research to develop better fire-blocking materials for wildland fire shelters. It tested the prototype fireshelters in a unique shelter testing chamber over the past several years, and found that a recurring issue is the tendency of seams to fail before the body of the shelter. In fact, video taken during this testing shows the flames entering the shelter at lines that match the seam locations (See Figure 1). If these seams can be improved to last longer, then the overall duration of shelter protection can be improved. A primary goal of the project was to empirically prove that the seam of the shelter has a significant effect on the overall heat transfer.
Ideation
The students began the process by thoroughly researching the existing fire shelter, including history and development. The standard fire shelter was under constant redesign to improve its functionality; many different shapes were attempted until 2002, when the current capsular design — roughly the appearance and shape of a foil-wrapped baked potato — was selected. The group used the “U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Specification: Shelter, Fire, M-2002 (5100-606C)” as a guide to understand which design choices were made and why. Based on this standard and direction from T-PACC, the team attempted to improve the shelter with as little change as possible to the component materials, in order to prevent any substitutions or additions from releasing toxic fumes when burned, and also to ensure the results of testing would be directly related to the change of the seam rather than a change in material.
The team focused its research on joining methods. The standard shelter uses sewing as its primary means of joining. Sewing, by its nature, pierces a piece of fabric to pass the thread through, and the team wanted to find methods of joining that would eliminate these punctures from contributing to the heat transfer. Unfortunately, it was quickly determined that typical alternatives to sewing, including thermal bonding, ultrasonic bonding and adhesives, do not perform well at wildfire temperatures, which may reach as high as 1800°C. Concept selection was narrowed down to a seam redesign that changed the pattern of folds within the seam, but did not change the material.
Figure 2: Final fire shelter prototype with altered seams
Fabrication
Prototyping centered on the fabrication of four seams, identified for their theoretical low heat transfer and compatibility with the two-layer system. The team produced small scale sample sizes, rather than full shelters, to allow bench scale testing and conservation of materials. They used an industrial sewing machine to construct the seams in order to easily adjust the needle size, stitch density, loop size and tension, and designed prototypes to be tested for one of three variables: tensile strength; radiant heat exposure; or convective heat exposure.
After the production of small seam samples, the team constructed 25-percent scale model fire shelters and finally a full-scale fire shelter incorporating a redesigned seam (See Figure 2). They used the highest performing prototype to sew the three body-arc seams of the shelter’s dome area, which forms the majority of the shelter’s body, and used a quadruple stitch pass to fasten the cross lapped design that joins the material.
Figure 3: Testing apparatus used to isolate seam properties
Testing
During the process, the team used several methods of analysis based on shelter performance. Due to ease of access, tensile strength was tested first, then radiant heat exposure testing using a team-designed apparatus (See Figure 3) to isolate a seam’s heat transfer. Finally, a flame was used to conduct convective heat exposure to confirm and expand upon the radiant testing results.
Conclusions
Testing showed that a seam redesign could provide at least 10 percent convective heat transfer reduction across the seam region; radiant testing of the original shelter seam showed visible scorching and degradation of the material occurred at around 370°C. The redesign did add around 0.25 pounds, but it markedly increased tensile strength, with the highest performing prototype passing the original shelter’s strength by approximately 55 percent.
The team was successful in developing and implementing a new seam design for the wildland fire shelter and testing it using a personalized method of seam region isolation. The test results show that this seam redesign significantly reduces heat transfer into a fire shelter, potentially saving wildland firefighter’s lives.
Editor’s Notes: Nathan Wintermute graduated from NC State Spring 2017 with a B.S. in Textile Engineering.
For more information on this project, please contact the T-PACC sponsor Dr. Roger Barker, rbarker@ncsu.edu; and John Morton-Aslanis, jmorton@ncsu.edu.
For more information on the NC State Senior Design Capstone Program, please contact the program directors: Russell E. Gorga, regorga@ncsu.edu; and Jesse S. Jur, jsjur@ncsu.edu.
Before a single pound of yarn can be spun or a yard of fabric can be woven, a capital investment must be made to secure the means of production. In a positive sign, capital investments by America’s textile industry have surged during recent years, driven by growing demand for innovative textile products, expanding exports and greater recognition of the added value of domestic sourcing. In the most recent government statistics, annual capital investments by U.S. textile mills reached nearly $1.7 billion in 2015, a 75 percent increase from $960 million in 2009.
National Spinning Co. Inc. — a Washington, N.C.-based, employee-owned company founded in 1921 — is one such example of how demand for technically advanced textiles is driving capital expenditures in America’s textile industry. Nonwovens are textiles made from long fibers, bonded together by chemical, mechanical, heat or solvent treatment instead of being woven or knitted together. In 2012, National Spinning identified this market as a growth opportunity to complement its long-held leadership in specialty yarns.
To execute its strategy, National Spinning acquired a nonwoven fabric manufacturer in Lincolnton, N.C. Soon, the company was supplying a wide range of innovative fabrics for the automotive, home appliance, construction, noise abatement, insulation and bedding markets from its Carolina Nonwovens division. Its entry into the nonwovens business was so successful that National Spinning had to quickly consider expansion options.
“We weren’t able to expand at the existing location, and we couldn’t find a suitable existing building within a 20-mile radius, which was essential because we were committed to keeping our existing employees onboard with the expansion,” said Jim Booterbaugh, president of National Spinning. “That’s when we decided to go ‘greenfield’ and build a new plant on an 11-acre site nearby in Maiden, N.C.” By designing a new manufacturing center from the ground up, National Spinning built a facility tailored to its nonwovens business. The new facility emphasized a simplified workflow, enhanced flexibility, improved quality, increased efficiency, space for ancillary services and a positive work environment. Grand opening festivities for the $12 million, 92,000-square-foot manufacturing center — projected to create 65 new jobs — were held in July 2016.
Technology A Major Factor In Capital Investments
Continual innovations in textile equipment and processes also are driving capital investments by U.S. textile companies as illustrated by a recent expansion by Wichita, Kan.-based INVISTA, an international leader in the production of nylon, spandex, polyester and specialty materials.
In August 2016, Invista announced a $30 million expansion of its fiber manufacturing plant in Camden, S.C. This investment represented the industry’s first one-step, small-lot capability specifically for solution-dyed nylon 6,6 — a form of nylon with superior resilience and stain resistance for carpet.
“Our mill customers and the design community rely on Invista to offer a palette of hundreds of solution-dyed nylon 6,6 colors for each of their unique design preferences,” said Marc Ahrens, vice president of Invista’s specialty flooring business. “The new technology is expanding our capability to offer sophisticated color families while improving service.”
Invista developed its new, proprietary small-lot technology by working closely with Germany-based equipment supplier Trützschler GmbH & Co. KG, which supports manufacturing and customer service sites all around the world. The variety of small-lot nylon 6,6 fibers are initially being offered under Invista’s Antron® Lumena™ brand to serve expanding global markets.
Perceptions Shifting Toward Domestic Sourcing
Yet another factor favoring capital investments by the U.S. textile industry is a growing recognition that sourcing offshore is not always as profitable as sourcing regionally or even locally for brands and retailers. While conventional wisdom has long held that clothing and home furnishings must be sourced from Asia to be price-competitive, recent research illustrates that certain initial cost advantages can quickly disappear due to the inherent disadvantages of sourcing overseas.
“Sourcing products from Asia requires long lead times, which can result in a mismatch of production and consumer demand,” said David Sasso, vice president of sales for Buhler Quality Yarns, Jefferson, Ga., a producer of luxury-branded yarns made using Supima cotton. “When a brand orders so far ahead of the market, it can easily order too much product, which results in heavy discounting, or it can order too little, which means it won’t meet demand. The goal of our industry is to help brands document the real costs of sourcing abroad.”
To create greater efficiency and speed-to-market in the apparel supply chain, Buhler Quality Yarns is one of many advocates for an interactive cost-calculating tool innovated by MIT’s Sloan School of Management. By working with the National Cotton Council and others who specialize in supply chain processes and technologies, Buhler is using the tool to deepen the apparel industry’s understanding of how to more accurately value the time and risk involved with offshoring.
“This new tool enables brands to analyze the variables that can turn an initial price advantage from Asia into money left on the table because of having to order several weeks ahead of the market,” Sasso said. “We also emphasize to our customers the risks involved in international shipping and the potential loss of intellectual property when working with non-domestic sources.”
For Sasso, one of the strongest arguments for domestic sourcing is the opportunity for brands and various elements of the textile supply chain to collaborate in creating value-added products that will inspire consumers to buy.
“When the supply chain starts thinking like a consumer, we can come up with so many ideas that can help designers create better products that improve margins for everyone,” he said. “We know that by sourcing domestically, this type of collaboration is far easier and far more effective.”
Editor’s Note: This article appears in Textile World courtesy of the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) as part of the “American Textiles: We Make Amazing™” campaign. NCTO is a trade association representing U.S. textile manufacturing. Please visit ncto.org to learn more about NCTO, the industry and the campaign.
The entrance to Pailung’s Open Innovation Lab — the fabric candy store
Pailung sought to gain understanding of fabrics and fabric construction to enhance its technology offerings for manufacturers.
By Jim Kaufmann, Contributing Editor
You may not have heard of the Pailung Machinery Mill Co., but if you are involved with weft knitting in any way, you really should get to know them. Pailung — based in New Taipei City, Taiwan — is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of circular and flat weft knitting machines. Literally, thousands of its machines are in use throughout the world, producing weft knit fabrics for a multitude of industries and applications. However, if you speak with Pailung’s Chairman and Principal Owner James C. C. Wang, he will tell you simply that, “it’s really all about the fabrics.” This philosophy, which evolved out of a specific conversation years ago, has become one of the guiding principles propelling Pailung to become not only a leading weft knitting machine manufacturer, but also a valued solutions provider to the textile industry.
Wang’s father and two uncles founded Pailung in 1977. The company began making circular knitting machines in a small factory not far from its current headquarters. Those machines were sold primarily to fabric producers in Taiwan and China. Wang joined the company in the mid-80s after earning a degree in Electronic Engineering and fulfilling a two-year commitment to the military in Taiwan. He worked in different areas throughout the company eventually becoming chairman in 2013. Pailung has experienced consistent growth and prosperity under Wang’s direction. In 2009, the company acquired a majority stake in Vanguard Supreme, the only remaining U.S.-based manufacturer of circular knitting machines, located in Monroe, N.C. “We’ve learned so much from Pailung,” said Bill Moody, president, Vanguard-Pailung. “They’ve been a good partner and their focus on innovation and the customer has helped us to expand our presence as well.”
It was a comment from a customer years ago that prompted Wang to reexamine Pailung’s business philosophy and future direction. During that iconic discussion, “The gentleman looked at me and said ‘you’re just a machine builder, what do you know about fabrics?,’” recounted Wang. “At that moment, I realized that if Pailung was ever going to be the premier weft knit machine supplier to the world, we needed to have a complete understanding of fabrics and the techniques and technologies involved in making them. How can we expect to build better machines if we don’t completely understand the fabrics that we can make on them?” That specific customer exchange led directly to a fundamental change in business philosophy, which included the creation of Pailung’s Open Innovation Lab, the expansion and diversification of its machine offerings and a new emphasis on all aspects of the weft knit supply chain. The results of these efforts have positioned Pailung as a global leader in weft knitting technology.
James C. C. Wang, chairman ,and principal owner Pailung Machinery Mill Co.
Innovator And Solutions Provider
The Open Innovation Lab is a cornerstone to Pailung’s ambition to be a textile industry solutions provider. It was originally created as a vehicle to drive innovation within Pailung and to understand what types of fabrics its growing line of machines could produce, but has evolved into much, much more. “We now develop fabrics to inspire the markets to inspire the customers” said Wang, who challenges the lab’s fabric designers to create at least 200 new knit designs each year, with 20 or more of them expected to be so unique that they haven’t been seen before. Wang stressed that “developing better fabrics helps us to develop better machines and more accurately anticipate customer’s needs.”
The Open Innovation Lab is available to collaborate and cooperate with all tier levels of Pailung’s customer base. It has grown to become a resource for brands hoping to create a new edge, designers and manufacturers searching for inspiration or a different look and feel, innovators hoping to prove a new concept and others simply looking for that intangible spark. As a result, the Open Innovation Lab has evolved into a repository containing a wealth of information. All around — on shelves, tabletops and racks — are untold numbers of knit samples created over the years on Pailung equipment. In addition, there are between 6,000 and 7,000 rolls of different fabrics in storage that customers can choose samples of, compare to others or simply gain motivation from. And for customers who aren’t able to visit the Open Innovation Lab frequently enough, Pailung now sends out swatch books with new and varied fabric designs quarterly to provide inspiration. A variety of dedicated sample machines staffed with talented technicians can turn around customer samples within two to six weeks depending on the level of complexity. As fashion product cycles continue to change faster and with customers looking for more turnovers, seasonal or otherwise, the resources provided by the Open Innovation Lab quickly become invaluable to those who are able to use them.
However, the Open Innovation Lab is not only dedicated to the fashion industry. New applications and endeavors outside of the traditional textile industry are being created on a more frequent basis as the industry continues to evolve into new frontiers. Currently 70 percent of Pailung’s weft machine customers are in the apparel and fashion industry segment. Wang believes this percentage will drop over the next five years to 40 percent with the remaining 60 percent comprised of industrial, technical, smart textiles and unknown new sectors. “We want to help define, redefine and create new product categories for the textile industry. The Messe Frankfurt-owned trade fair Techtextil currently identifies 12 sectors. We want to help define and create what comes next — it’s a natural progression,” Wang professed. The resources available through the Open Innovation Lab certainly present nothing to contradict this notion, nor does Pailung’s research and development philosophy.
Company Culture
Pailung approaches each market segment and, in fact, every country they sell products to individually, complete with separate strategies. Wang’s perception is that: “Every segment is different and views their products as such. So, you have to respect that and modify your sales efforts to also respect each perspective.
“When we go into a new industry, we have to treat it as a blank sheet of paper and we’re at the start of writing a new story,” Wang said. “We have to understand the customer’s needs and not have any pre-conceived notions of what they need. We must be a sponge and have a humble attitude in order to receive, understand and absorb as much as we can. We need to live for that learning.” For example, Pailung is working with several different companies to create weft knit uppers for running shoes. “If we want to deal with the shoe industry effectively, we have to understand what it takes to make shoes,” Wang said. “And the same goes for any other industry we may enter.”
Like other successful companies, Pailung’s employees are the driving force to its culture. “Teamwork is the key,” Wang said. “Getting all the different mindsets, creative fashion designers, engineers, programmers and workers on the shop floor, to work together as one is critical to our success. Effective communication between departments is a must.” Continuous efforts to train every Pailung employee is an ongoing process that never stops. “We have to control our own future, so we will always spend on training our employees, especially those new to the company, so we always have a new breed in the offing ready to go” Wang said. Every employee at Pailung is encouraged to learn through the training programs provided by the Open Innovation Lab, many of which are also offered as a service to Pailung’s customers.
The intricacies of a Pailung circular knitting machine
Machines
Pailung is a leader in weft knit technology and continues to spend aggressively on research and development. Its machine offerings are virtually unlimited, which include up to 85 different circular weft machine configurations from very basic to extremely complex. Pailung manufactures approximately 60-percent of each machine’s components in house, including critical items such as cams, carriers and cylinder boxes. The rest are purchased from approved suppliers, many of whom have established long-term relationships.
“All of the machine technology is 100-percent Pailung technology,” said Mason Chao, Pailung’s sales representative for flat knitting equipment. “The customers always want more and we strive to provide it.”
Pailung added flat knitting machines to its lineup a few years ago because it felt weft knit technologies could be transferred between flat and circular configurations to produce even more interesting fabrics. One of Pailung’s new flat knit machines is capable of knitting spacer fabrics where the in-line spacing can vary in thickness from 3 millimeters (mm) to more than 15 mm should the application call for it.
Weevknit technology blurs the lines between knit and woven fabrics.
As fabric preferences change, the machines used to make those fabrics also need to change. Pailung has seen significant growth in the sports, exercise and outerwear markets — including the recent efforts to create knit shoe uppers — and has created machine characteristics to address the specific needs of these areas. Home textiles markets — including mattress ticking, blankets and the upholstery markets — also show great interest for the new WeevKnit line of circular and flat knitting machines recently developed by Pailung. WeevKnit fabrics exhibit the look and feel of wovens, but maintain many of the characteristics recognizable in knits, which Pailung believes will help interior designers by allowing for better contours and curves. In automotive applications, Honda now uses WeevKnit fabrics in some sport utility vehicles, and Hyundai incorporated WeevKnit fabrics into the Sonata’s upholstery.
MultiFleece™ is another example of machines changing to meet the designer’s needs. Pailung’s MultiFleece machine technology incorporates jacquard needle selection capabilities on both sides of the fabric. This allows a designer the freedom to create completely different patterns on the front and fleeced sides and fully integrated into the fabric construction. Pailung also has developed new and improved techniques to allow for inverse plating with smooth intarsia color transitions, virtually seamless reverse plaiting techniques and exponentially increased patterning effects and color change capabilities. Textiles are about look, touch and feel and Pailung’s advances in weft knit technology and techniques appear to broaden and in many cases blur these boundaries.
There was a big trend and push a few years ago for seamless garment technology, but according to Wang, after looking at the data, there was not a real cost or performance advantage for seamless garments in most applications when compared to traditional circular knits with cut-and-sew processing. So, efforts to create knitting machines in this area were reassigned to other applications viewed as more probable opportunities.
“You have to adapt to the industry needs, wherever they may lead,” Wang professed. However, as the number of diverse machines and differences in each grow, they still need to be serviced and maintained. Pailung’s machine designers have learned to standardize, modulize and simplify the machine designs wherever possible to keep service and parts supply needs to a minimum.
“Competition is always there,” Wang said. “Cheaper labor countries are always there. We’re not concerned about this because they’ve always been there. We have to control our own destiny. Organizationally, we need to remain flexible and adapt as necessary. For example, if a new technology takes off, how do we manage and keep it, as well as everything else, on track? It’s not easy, but we need to do it to continue to grow,” Wang added. It helps as Wang noted to have a: “customer base that is very critical, which helps us to stay focused. They expect functionality, reliability and productivity and we must deliver all three!”
Latest Developments
Pailung’s Spinknit technology — a new circular weft machine concept to be introduced this year, which allows sliver to be directly fed into the knitting machine where it is first drafted into yarn then knit into fabric via one continuous process — is one example of the need for this adaptive approach. “Customers for this technology may be fiber and yarn spinners,” Wang said. “We’ve never sold to spinners before. What is their mindset? How are they different from our traditional customers? How do we adapt to meet their needs?” Wang inquired.
Adapting to meet the needs of a constantly changing marketplace is at the root of Pailung’s success. Remaining interested in any and all opportunities certainly has played a large role as well. “I’m optimistic that knits can be used almost anywhere,” Wang said. “We’re still young, interested and growing and want to have a larger role in the industry as a textile player to contribute our results to other industries wherever useful.” After all, it is all about the fabrics.
DuPont™ Sorona® contains 37-percent renewable plant-based ingredients and is used in a variety of applications across the apparel industry.
The acceleration of bio-based textiles can revolutionize the apparel industry’s future
By Renee Henze
Over the past several years, sustainability has transitioned from a buzzword to a critical part of business operations across sectors and is playing an increasingly significant role in material sourcing. Companies are implementing sustainability initiatives as key components to corporate social responsibility efforts with a focus on truly minimizing the impact made on the environment in the products and services they deliver. More frequently, businesses across industries are realizing both the social and economic impact of their production choices. They are considering the source of materials and exploring and incorporating recycled or naturally derived ingredients — developing consumer products that deliver on consumer performance needs. Private and public sector organizations are embracing their role as leaders, working diligently to create industry-wide policies and programming that embrace set standards for eco-minded products, from life-cycle assessments to eco-labeling. The textile industry specifically has a significant opportunity to reduce its footprint and create a sustainable model of eco-friendly fabrics, with long-term potential to transform the apparel market.
The Need And Demand for Sustainability
The rising use of sustainable materials is a direct result of the increasing recognition by the global community that it needs environmentally responsible products on a mass scale. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs expects that the world population will increase by 33 percent by 2050, reaching nearly 10 billion people.1 Simultaneously, researchers anticipate that global energy consumption will rise by 56 percent by 2040, with fossil fuels continuing to supply nearly 80 percent of world energy demand.2 As a direct result of this population and energy usage growth, the sustainability of the goods and services we consume becomes a critically important consideration. Without a conscious effort to reduce impact, there is the potential for rapidly growing, negative ecological consequences that will affect generations to come.
The negative environmental impacts of the apparel industry are well-recognized. Due in part to trends in style and consumer purchasing habits, the fashion industry ranks as one of the greatest contributors to the pollution of fresh water.3 Fast Fashion — the cultural phenomenon that encourages the purchasing of less durable and often inexpensive trending clothing — results in the mass production of garments that are rarely produced with eco-friendly practices in mind. Furthermore, it has created a throwaway culture where society accepts wearing garments only a handful of times before discarding them. Americans alone throw away 70 pounds of usable textiles per person every year, which equates to a staggering total of 25.5 billion pounds of waste.4 From manufacturing and sale to end of use, it’s abundantly clear that there is a need for a more thoughtful and responsible approach to the textile industry.
Inconsistent with current consumer consumption habits, data suggests that 84 percent of consumers want to purchase sustainable products and 71 percent are willing to pay more for them.5 “Slow fashion,” the growing initiative that aims to encourage consumers to purchase and maintain high-quality clothing with a long-term mindset, is gaining momentum. Many designers and brands also are working to extend the life of garments and recycling materials. Where-based Patagonia, for example, is committed to responsible sourcing across its operations and uses materials such as 100-percent organic cotton, alternative natural fibers like hemp, recycled nylon, polyester and wool.6 Swedish brand Filippa K implements sustainability in several innovative company initiatives with a goal of making its entire collection sustainable by 2030. Its garments are available for rent, offering consumers an approach to sustainable consumption, and it collects old Filippa K products to sell in its own secondhand store or donate to a humanitarian organization.7 High-fashion luxury brands are also adopting more responsible materials with designers such as Stella McCartney utilizing fibers made from plastic objects collected from oceans.8 Despite these strides, more than three-quarters of consumers never actually invest in sustainable apparel, demonstrating the inconsistency between consumer intention and action.9 This disparity can be attributed to consumer concerns about the credibility and performance of the product, signifying a major opportunity in the market to develop eco-efficient products that do not compromise on performance. By creating textiles that meet performance needs, the apparel supply chain can reimagine a more environmentally friendly industry and be the leaders of significant change.
Combining Sustainability And Performance For A Bio-Based Solution
Approaching material development and manufacturing with a smart and mindful eye toward environmental impact can play a fundamental role in increasing the sustainability of the apparel industry. Greater scrutiny and attention across the multiple steps and components of the apparel supply chain has led to environmental and social improvements in the areas of development, processing and finishing. From a fiber standpoint, using recycled fibers and fabrics is gaining traction, while other forms of innovation, such as bio-based textiles, are achieving rapid momentum and adoption. Renewable plant-based ingredients, such as starch or cellulose, make up many bio-based products, offering an alternative to petroleum-based products. As a result, bio-based fibers and fabrics reduce dependence on fossil fuels, also decreasing greenhouse gas emissions during production as compared to traditional man-made materials.
Although bio-based materials have an evident positive impact on the environment, consumers still perceive sustainable products as lacking the performance attributes that they desire. Therefore, to truly capture their attention and interest, naturally derived materials must also offer relevant and lasting performance benefits. DuPont™ Sorona®, for example, contains 37-percent renewable plant-based ingredients, but also elevates the performance of fabrics. Sorona brings stretch and recovery, softness, moisture wicking and durability to a variety of applications and end uses across the apparel industry. The combination of sustainability and performance converge to elevate the standards of the apparel market and help lead the transformation of the textile industry.
The Industry-Wide Opportunity
According to recent research published by Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, bio-based textiles are more frequently entering the design, development and commercial offerings of global apparel brands. With an aim to discover how companies are thinking about and incorporating the use of bio-based textiles into their products, researchers conducted a global study involving stakeholders across the apparel value chain, from raw material developers and fiber spinners to fabric mills and brands and retailers. The study found that 54 percent of respondents cited customer demand as a key driver in their use of bio-based materials. In addition, despite consumer perceptions that eco-efficient products do not perform well, the supply chain understands the sustainability and performance value that these materials can offer with 47 percent of respondents also stating high performance as a primary reason for using bio-based materials rather than non-bio-based ingredients. Consequently, 55 percent of those surveyed along the supply chain said they are looking to increase their use of bio-based materials in the next three years, signifying the potential for both significant growth in products that utilize bio-based ingredients and the sales of those products.10
The Future Of Bio-Based Apparel
Given the environmental need, market demand and real growing interest by the apparel supply chain, the bio-based segment is well-positioned for major advancement. In 2005, bio-based materials, including textiles, accounted for 7 percent of all global sales.11 Specifically within the chemical sector, bio-based materials accounted for approximately $77 billion in value.11 It’s estimated that by 2020, the global market will grow to $250 billion, and by 2030, one-third of chemicals and materials will be sourced from biological ingredients.11 Additionally, global production capacity of bioplastics in the textile market are estimated to rise 169 percent from 2013 to 2018.12
Sustainability-minded fabrics will also continue to gain momentum through the support of major apparel industry initiatives. The San Francisco-based Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) — an alliance for sustainable production across the apparel, footwear and home textile industries — has developed a series of monitoring tools known as The Higg Index to help companies assess sustainability efforts. The Index enables brands, retailers and production facilities to measure their ecological, social and labor impacts and identify opportunities for improvement. Textile Exchange — a global nonprofit driving environmentally responsible practices in the value chain based in O’Donnell, Texas — developed a benchmarking program that seeks to identify fibers and materials that are socially and ecologically progressive. Many companies are also implementing life cycle assessment modeling within their own businesses by analyzing environmental effects across all stages of a product’s life. This includes production, distribution, in-use and end-of-use/life stages.
As renewably sourced textiles become widely explored and adopted, the apparel industry is well-poised to revolutionize fashion by not only reducing its environmental impact today but also creating a more sustainable future.
