INVISTA Enters Into Definitive Agreement To Sell Apparel & Advanced Textiles Business

WICHITA, Kan. — October 28, 2017 — INVISTA has entered into a definitive agreement with Shandong Ruyi Investment Holding to sell Invista’s Apparel & Advanced Textiles business, one of Invista’s four major business units.

Completion of the agreement is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory clearances from competition authorities. Closing is expected by mid-2018. The purchase price is undisclosed.

The transaction includes:

  • Invista’s portfolio of apparel-focused fibers and brands including LYCRA® fiber, Lycra HyFit® fiber, COOLMAX® fiber, THERMOLITE® fiber and insulation, ELASPAN® fiber, SUPPLEX® fiber and TACTEL® fiber products;
  • TERATHANE® polytetramethylene ether glycol (PTMEG), 1,4 butanediol (BDO), and tetrahydrofuran (THF) production;
  • Related manufacturing assets, research and development centers, and sales offices around the globe; and
  • All associated technical, operations, commercial and administrative staff (approximately 3,000 employees globally).

“The Apparel business has always been a strategic and valued part of our portfolio,” said Jeff Gentry, Invista chairman and CEO. “We engaged the market because we want this business to be owned by the company that can create the greatest value for customers, employees and stockholders. In this case, we believe that Shandong Ruyi Investment Holding has the knowledge and capability that will enable this business to thrive the most and succeed over the long term.”

Invista will retain ownership of its nylon, polyester, polyols and licensing businesses and related brands. This includes Invista’s world-leading nylon 6,6 intermediates business, its global nylon polymer and fiber portfolio, and widely recognized brands including STAINMASTER® and ANTRON® carpet fibers and CORDURA® fabric. Invista will also retain its intellectual property rights for 1,4 butanediol (BDO), tetrahydrofuran (THF) and polytetramethylene ether glycol (PTMEG) technologies and will continue to license these technologies on a global basis.

“We look forward to intensifying our focus on the nylon value chain,” Gentry said. “For nearly 80 years, we’ve delivered innovations to the nylon industry, including the most advanced adiponitrile technology in the marketplace. We have talented people with decades of know-how and you can count on Invista to continue building on this heritage of leadership and innovation.”

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Invista, and Jones Day is acting as Invista’s legal advisor on this transaction. J.P. Morgan is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Shandong Ruyi Investment Holding, and Latham & Watkins is acting as Shandong Ruyi Investment Holding’s legal advisor on this transaction. J.P. Morgan and Barclays are providing committed financing to affiliate(s) of Shandong Ruyi Investment Holding.

Posted October 30, 2017

Source: INVISTA

EDANA Announce Dates & Locations For Outlook™ 2018 & 2019

BRUSSELS — October 30, 2017 — EDANA today confirmed the dates and locations of OUTLOOK™ 2018 and OUTLOOK™ 2019.

Attracting over 450 senior industry professionals each year, Outlook has established itself as the key industry event for the hygiene and personal care sector, showcasing EDANA’s mission to support the growth and sustainable development of the industry. Outlook 2018 will be held at the Rixos Libertas Hotel in Dubrovnik October 17-18, with OUTLOOK™ 2019 scheduled October 9-11 in Athens at the InterContinental Hotel.

Outlook attendees come from across the entire nonwovens value chain and around the globe. Feedback from participants of all recent events has been overwhelmingly positive, with delegates appreciative of the mix and quality of expert content and opportunities to meet with industry peers, making Outlook a unique must-attend event for nonwoven professionals.

“It has been extremely rewarding for EDANA to facilitate industry dialogue and witness key nonwoven professionals collaborate at our events,” said Pierre Wiertz, general manager of EDANA. “We are very much looking forward to taking this event to Dubrovnik for the first time and to a return to Athens. Ensuring we cover a wide geographical area is of key importance to the ongoing success of Outlook.”

Posted October 30, 2017

Source: EDANA

Cleantech Solutions International Enters Into Sale And Purchase Agreement To Acquire 51% Of Inspirit Studio

HONG KONG — October 27, 2017 — Cleantech Solutions International Inc. today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, EC Technology & Innovations Ltd. has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with the shareholder of Inspirit Studio to acquire 51 percent ownership of Inspirit. ECTI will acquire 51 percent of Inspirit for consideration of 3 million Hong Kong dollars, which shall be satisfied by the allotment and issuance of 85,473 unregistered shares of the Company at a price of $4.50 per share.

“We are very excited to join the Cleantech Solutions group to further develop and enhance our community courier solutions,” said Kurt Tam, CEO, Inspirit Studio. “We have already made plans to enhance our solutions, cover a broader market scope, and allow more people to join as both users and service providers.”

“We are happy to welcome Inspirit and Anyway to the Cleantech Solutions network,” said Parkson Yip, COO of Cleantech Solutions. “The sharing economy is growing around the world. We strongly believe Anyway will penetrate everyday life, allowing people to serve each other more easily. By integrating the Anyway business model and the user groups, Cleantech Solutions will be better able to grow our community sharing concepts. We expect to increase active service providers in Hong Kong from 2,000 to 120,000 and expand into other regions in the next 12 months. We look forward to acquiring more sharing economy related businesses as we continue to pioneer the global growth of sharing economy markets.”

According to iimediaResearch, the number of users participating in the peer-to-peer delivery sharing market in China has grown from 124 million in 2014 to 231 million in 2016, and experts expect it to grow to 353 million by 2018. Approximately 1.4 billion transactions were recorded in the first quarter of 2017.

Cleantech Solutions, through its affiliated companies, designs, manufactures and distributes a line of proprietary high and low temperature dyeing and finishing machinery to the textile industry.

Posted October 27, 2017

Source: Cleantech Solutions International

In Partnership With Cobra And Neilpryde, Chomarat Receives A JEC Innovation Award In Seoul With C-Ply™, For A Windfoil Board With A New Carbon Look

LE CHEYLARD, France — October 27, 2017 — At JEC Asia 2017 (November 1-3), the international textile group
 CHOMARAT will receive a JEC Innovation Award in the Sports & Leisure
 category for its C-PLY™ Hexagonal with visual & structural stitching.

“Chomarat provided NEILPRYDE and COBRA with its C-PLY Non-
Crimp Fabric (NCF) technology to help them manufacture an innovative windfoil board, and we are very proud to be rewarded with our partners”, says Pascal Joubert Des Ouches, Sports Equipment market director, Chomarat.

C-PLY Hexagonal Combines New Carbon Look And Performance

The unusual stitching of this carbon multiaxial NCF reinforcement combines visual appeal and mechanical performance. C-PLY Hexagonal is an innovative carbon NCF with a unique stitching yarn designed to be visible within the resin and to capture resin colour pigments. The stitching yarn also improves fracture toughness compared to standard NCF.

“We researched the right stitching yarn among multiple options before coming up with a tailor-made yarn solution. C-PLY Hexagonal provides a unique honeycomb carbon design that appeals to end users”, added Philippe Sanial, R&T Director at Chomarat.


A Wide Range, From Aeronautics And Automotive To Sports & Leisure Applications

Originally dedicated to the design of aerospace and automotive parts, the concept is now successfully applied to the sports & leisure sector. In this innovative windfoil board construction, tows are spread to create thin plies, which are then stitched with precise ±45° angles. The C-PLY NCF structure respects the fiber alignment and is optimized in terms of fiber angles and ply weights, thanks to unique spreading technology. The result is a leading-edge carbon NCF reinforcement allowing structural design benefits, premium surface quality and overall parts cost savings. “Bringing a new carbon visual signature for our high-performance C-PLY range of NCF is a key to boost retail sales in the whole sports & consumers product industry”, concludes Joubert Des Ouches.

Posted October 27, 2017

Source: Chomarat

2017 Nonwovens Innovation Academy — Another Successful Gathering Of The Nonwovens Research Community

BRUSSELS — October 27, 2017 — EDANA is pleased to announce that once again the Nonwovens Innovation Academy (NIA), held from October 25-26 at STFI — Sächsisches Textil Forschungs Institut — in Chemnitz, Germany, delivered on its promise to help connect the industry and the nonwovens centres of excellence, from Europe to the Middle East, India and North America.

More than 100 R&D and innovation managers, product developers, researchers and students, all part of the broader nonwovens community, gathered to share knowledge and seek inspiration to contribute to the effort of the nonwovens industry in creating new solutions and improving current applications.

The first day started with a visit of the STFI research facilities in small groups to foster interactions and dialogue. Omar Hoek, executive vice president Ahlstrom-Munksjö, opened the conference with an inspirational talk, encouraging the research community to focus on the primary innovation mindset by getting out of their comfort zone and answering the tough question: “What are we really trying to solve?”.

The conference programme was divided in to five sessions, addressing the industry’s topical issues and questions of our time:

  • Saving time and resources in product development by modelling and predicting new fabric properties first, rather than building and testing prototypes upfront;
  • Biopolymers’ real benefits?;
  • New process developments saving energy and improving performances;
  • Lightweighting, recycling and their limitations; and
  • Better understanding medical nonwovens for the benefit of both manufacturing and clinical practice.

“As ever, the value of the Nonwovens Innovation Academy lies in sharing perspectives of various aspects of nonwovens with fellow researchers and industry representatives from across Europe and indeed beyond” said Steven Russell, director, Nonwovens Research Group, University of Leeds.

A key feature of the event was The Poster Competition for which students and researchers from a number of centres of excellence were selected to present their latest work within the broad range of topics. The academic posters displayed in the NIA networking area, provided stimulating interactions between the students and the conference participants.

“Subjects presented in the poster session were largely very topical and ultimately of real societal value, from cleaner air filtration, to regenerative spinal cord media, and improved fire protective wear to self-learning optimization processes that can be used to optimize multiple process operations” said Eamonn Tighe, business development manager, at NatureWorks.

The NIA reception was the occasion for EDANA to congratulate and praise Wolfgang Schilde, Head of the Centre of Excellence in Nonwovens at STFI, for his 40 years of invaluable contribution to the nonwovens industry.

Posted October 27, 2017

Source: EDANA

Wrangler® Partners With Texas Alliance For Water Conservation

GREENSBORO, N.C. — October 27, 2017 — Iconic denim brand Wrangler® and The Texas Alliance for Water Conservation (TAWC) today announced a partnership to promote best-in-class techniques and technologies for efficient water use among cotton growers.

Under a memorandum of understanding (MOU), TAWC will serve as advisors to Wrangler’s U.S. sustainable cotton program, and Wrangler will help raise awareness for best practices produced by TAWC’s on-farm research.

Based at Texas Tech University, TAWC is a partnership of producers, technology firms, universities and government agencies working to extend the life of the largest subterranean aquifer in the U.S. Stretching from the Texas panhandle in the south to the northern boundary of Nebraska, the Ogallala Aquifer lies beneath one of the most important agricultural regions in the U.S. Weather patterns and increasing water demands have depleted the aquifer in recent years, threatening the viability of crops and population centers as witnessed during the historic drought years of 2011-2012.

“Our mission is to conserve water for future generations by identifying agricultural practices and technologies that reduce the depletion of ground water while maintaining or improving agricultural production and economic opportunities,” said TAWC Project Director Rick Kellison. “Through a focus on soil health, Wrangler’s U.S. cotton program is aligned with our mission, and working with the well-known brand will add credibility and awareness to our work.”

About 50 percent of the cotton in Wrangler’s products is grown domestically, and the brand is committed to working with U.S. growers to maintain the profitability of the industry, while improving its resilience and reducing environmental impacts. Wrangler has formed a coalition of industry, academic and nonprofit partners (including TAWC) that is focused on soil health practices as the key to producing more sustainable cotton in the U.S.

“Healthy soil is a common denominator for farmer profitability and sustainable cotton production,” said Roian Atwood, sustainability director, Wrangler. “However, soil types are different from farm to farm. The expertise and technical assistance TAWC provides for comparing cropping and livestock systems is invaluable for Texas growers, and we’re glad to be working with them.”

The MOU between Wrangler and TAWC focuses on sharing best practices for efficient water use and the building of healthy soils, which contributes to water retention, higher yields, fewer agricultural inputs, and other long-term environmental and social benefits. Wrangler is scheduled to participate in TAWC’s Water College, an educational event for Texas growers, scheduled for January 24, 2018, at the Lubbock Civic Center in Lubbock, Texas.

Cotton is the largest agricultural crop in Texas, and Texas is the nation’s leading cotton state — producing approximately 25 percent of the entire U.S. cotton crop annually. Cotton is studied intensively at Texas Tech research labs, where the crop is even represented in the university seal. Founded in 2005, TAWC’s early focus included creating technology solutions to accurately measure and track water application. Since then the organization has expanded it’s work to include test sites throughout nine cotton-growing counties in Texas.

Wrangler also has a long-term focus on water conservation. Last year the Greensboro, N.C.-based apparel brand passed a milestone of more than 3 billion liters of water saved since 2007, and announced a goal to reduce water usage at its facilities by 20 percent by the year 2020.

Posted October 27, 2017

Source: Wrangler®

Dempsey Facility Certified For Food Service Laundering

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — October 27, 2017 — Dempsey Uniform and Linen Supply Inc.’s Sunbury, Pa., facility has earned the Hygienically Clean Food Service designation, 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 Sunbury facility joins Dempsey’s Jessup, Pa., location in meeting the standards for this designation.

The certification confirms the laundry’s dedication to compliance and processing linens and garments using BMPs as described in its quality assurance documentation, the focal point for Hygienically Clean inspectors’ evaluation of critical control points (CCPs) that minimize risk. The independent, third-party inspection must confirm essential evidence that:

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

In addition, the Dempsey Uniform and Linens Supply facility passed three rounds of outcome-based microbial testing, indicating that their processes are producing Hygienically Clean garments and linens and zero presence of harmful bacteria. To maintain their certification, laundry plants must pass quarterly testing to ensure that as laundry conditions change, such as water quality, textile fabric composition and wash chemistry, laundered product quality is consistently maintained.

This process eliminates subjectivity by focusing on outcomes and results that verify textiles cleaned in these facilities meet appropriate hygienically clean standards and BMPs for full- and limited-service restaurants and other food service operations.

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) practices are examined in the Hygienically Clean Food Safety inspection process, evaluating the plant’s techniques for:

  • Conducting hazard analysis;
  • Determining CCPs, monitoring their control, correcting them if not under control;
  • Validating and verifying HACCP system effectiveness; and
  • Documenting and record-keeping to show ongoing conformance.

Inspections also evaluate practices relevant to handling and processing textile products used in food manufacturing/processing establishments for adherence to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) directives. Introduced in January 2016, Hygienically Clean Food Service brought to linen and uniform service laundering in North America the international cleanliness standards used worldwide by the Certification Association for Professional Textile Services and the European Committee for Standardization.

“Congratulations to Dempsey Uniform and Linen on their certification,” 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 October 26, 2017

Source: TRSA

EFI Reports Third Quarter 2017 Results

FREMONT, Calif. — October 26, 2017 — Electronics For Imaging Inc., manufacturer of customer-focused digital printing innovation, today announced its results for the third quarter of 2017.

For the quarter ended September 30, 2017, the company reported record third quarter revenue of $248.4 million, up 1 percent compared to third quarter 2016 revenue of $245.6 million. GAAP net income was $1.9 million, down 89 percent compared to $17.7 million for the same period in 2016 or $0.04 per diluted share, down 89 percent compared to $0.37 per diluted share for the same period in 2016. Non-GAAP net income was $22.7 million, down 18 percent compared to non-GAAP net income of $27.6 million for the same period in 2016 or $0.48 per diluted share, down 17 percent compared to $0.58 per diluted share for the same period in 2016. Cash flow from operating activities was $3.4 million, down 86 percent compared to $24.0 million during the same period in 2016.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the company reported revenue of $724.1 million, down 0.2 percent year-over-year compared to $725.4 million for the same period in 2016. GAAP net income was $9.4 million or $0.20 per diluted share, compared to $25.0 million or $0.52 per diluted share for the same period in 2016. Non-GAAP net income was $74.0 million or $1.57 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income of $80.5 million or $1.68 per diluted share for the same period in 2016. Cash flow from operating activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, was $42.4 million, down 24 percent compared to $55.8 million during the same period in 2016.

“We are clearly disappointed in the third quarter results, which fell below our expectations largely due to delayed deals in our direct business,” said Guy Gecht, CEO of EFI. “To reaccelerate growth, we are reallocating budget and talent toward our largest opportunities, in textile and packaging, along with making organizational changes and adding senior positions to improve focus and execution.”

Posted October 26, 2017

Source: EFI

Nanotube Fiber Antennas As Capable As Copper: Rice University Researchers Show Flexible Fibers Work Well But Weigh Much Less

HOUSTON — October 23, 2017 — Fibers made of carbon nanotubes configured as wireless antennas can be as good as copper antennas but 20 times lighter, according to Rice University researchers. The antennas may offer practical advantages for aerospace applications and wearable electronics where weight and flexibility are factors.

The discovery offers more potential applications for the strong, lightweight nanotube fibers developed by the Rice lab of chemist and chemical engineer Matteo Pasquali. The lab introduced the first practical method for making high-conductivity carbon nanotube fibers in 2013 and has since tested them for use as brain implants and in heart surgeries, among other applications.

The research could help engineers who seek to streamline materials for airplanes and spacecraft where weight equals cost. Increased interest in wearables like wrist-worn health monitors and clothing with embedded electronics could benefit from strong, flexible and conductive fiber antennas that send and receive signals, Pasquali said.

The Rice team and colleagues at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed a metric they called “specific radiation efficiency” to judge how well nanotube fibers radiated signals at the common wireless communication frequencies of 1 and 2.4 gigahertz and compared their results with standard copper antennas. They made thread comprising from eight to 128 fibers that are about as thin as a human hair and cut to the same length to test on a custom rig that made straightforward comparisons with copper practical.

“Antennas typically have a specific shape, and you have to design them very carefully,” said Rice graduate student Amram Bengio, the paper’s lead author. “Once they’re in that shape, you want them to stay that way. So one of the first experimental challenges was getting our flexible material to stay put.”

Contrary to earlier results by other labs (which used different carbon nanotube fiber sources), the Rice researchers found the fiber antennas matched copper for radiation efficiency at the same frequencies and diameters. Their results support theories that predicted the performance of nanotube antennas would scale with the density and conductivity of the fiber.

“Not only did we find that we got the same performance as copper for the same diameter and cross-sectional area, but once we took the weight into account, we found we’re basically doing this for 1/20th the weight of copper wire,” Bengio said.

“Applications for this material are a big selling point, but from a scientific perspective, at these frequencies carbon nanotube macro-materials behave like a typical conductor,” he said. Even fibers considered “moderately conductive” showed superior performance, he said.

Although manufacturers could simply use thinner copper wires instead of the 30-gauge wires they currently use, those wires would be very fragile and difficult to handle, Pasquali said.

“Amram showed that if you do three things right — make the right fibers, fabricate the antenna correctly and design the antenna according to telecommunication protocols — then you get antennas that work fine,” he said. “As you go to very thin antennas at high frequencies, you get less of a disadvantage compared with copper because copper becomes difficult to handle at thin gauges, whereas nanotubes, with their textile-like behavior, hold up pretty well.”

Co-authors of the paper are, from Rice, graduate students Lauren Taylor and Peiyu Chen, alumnus Dmitri Tsentalovich and Aydin Babakhani, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and, from NIST in Boulder, Colo., postdoctoral researcher Damir Senic, research engineer Christopher Holloway, physicist Christian Long, research scientists David Novotny and James Booth and physicist Nathan Orloff. Pasquali is a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, of materials science and nanoengineering and of chemistry.

The U.S. Air Force supported the research.

Posted October 26, 2017

Source: Rice University

Supreme Corp. Welcomes Drew Watson As Southeast Market Manager For Tuff-N-Lite® Brand

HICKORY, N.C. — October 26, 2017 — Supreme Corp., manufacturer of high-tech personal protective gear, today announced that Drew Watson has joined the company as Southeast Market Manager for its Tuff-N-Lite® brand of Safety Gear and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

In this role, Watson is responsible for supporting existing distributors and growing Supreme’s customer network in the southeast. This region has been rapidly expanding due to the high concentration of Flat Glass and Coated Glass manufacturing, which heavily relies on Supreme’s Tuff-N-Lite® brand of personal safety gear for its employees.

Watson comes to Supreme with more than nine years of experience in sales management, most recently in his role with Versatex PVC Trim as the market development specialist. Prior to Versatex, Watson led a team of 30 store managers as a district manager for Rite Aid Corp.

“Expanding our sales team is a direct response to the high level of growth and innovation that we are achieving with our Tuff-N-Lite® products,” said Matt Kolmes, CEO of Supreme Corp. “Drew brings a knowledge of operational excellence and a focus on building quality customer relationships, that echo Supreme’s vision for growth. Through recognizing and recruiting top-notch talent, we are adding expertise and experience that continue to drive sales and momentum for the years ahead.”

Watson graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Operations Management from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He reports to Kolmes and is based in Nashville, Tenn.

Posted October 26, 2017

Source: Supreme Corp.

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