BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Michigan — July 10, 2017 — The Crypton Companies, a leading provider of performance fabrics in the contract, home furnishings and apparel markets, today announced the expansion of its marketing team. Matt Targett has been hired as Vice President of Marketing for Crypton. This is a new position and he will be based in the company’s Bloomfield Hills office.

Targett joins Crypton after 7 years at La-Z-Boy, Inc. as the Vice President of Digital Customer Experience, where he developed, led and coordinated the cross-functional efforts for all of the brand’s broad reaching digital customer initiatives. Targett earned his Bachelor’s Degree from The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he still resides today.

“Marketing has always been a vital part of our company’s success and it’s critical that we continue to place a high degree of focus in this area to help our company continue its aggressive growth path,” said Randy Rubin, Founder and Co-Chairman of Crypton. “Matt’s proven track record in marketing, brand development, media strategy and team building makes him a natural fit for our growing company.”

His responsibilities at Crypton include working with all aspects of our marketing strategy and building and enhancing partnership relations to advance Crypton’s various products to market. Matt will play a significant role in expanding the reach and awareness of Crypton Home’s product offerings for consumer audiences. Targett will report to CEO Lance Keziah and work closely with Founder, Co-Chairman and Brand Ambassador Randy Rubin.

Targett is the recipient of three ADDY awards, the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, and was named to the 2014 Top 25 Innovators List by iMedia Communications.

In April 2017, Berkley Capital, LLC acquired a majority stake in The Crypton Companies (Crypton LLC and Nanotex LLC). The investment will allow for more expansion in new business lines and applications for both the Crypton and Nanotex businesses.

Posted July 10, 2017

Source: The Crypton Companies

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — July 7, 2017 — Crescent Laundry, Davenport, Iowa, has again achieved Hygienically Clean (HC) Healthcare certification, reflecting their commitment to best management practices (BMPs) in laundering as verified by on-site inspection and their capability to produce hygienically clean textiles as quantified by ongoing microbial testing.

Crescent was first certified in 2014. Recertification confirms the organization’s continuing dedication to infection prevention, compliance with recognized industry standards and processing healthcare textiles using BMPs as described in its quality assurance documentation, a focal point for Hygienically Clean inspectors’ evaluation. The independent, third-party inspection must also confirm essential evidence that:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted July 7, 2017

Source: TRSA

USTER, Switzerland — July 6, 2017 — It all started as three pages in the German textile magazine Melliand in 1957. Today, the global benchmarks known as USTER^® STATISTICS have legendary status throughout the industry as an objective measure of quality. This article marks the 60^th anniversary of Uster Statistics — 6 decades of a unique and free benchmarking service for the textile field. Their development over the decades provides a reliable monitor of how quality demands in textiles have increased. For example, a typical yarn with a 50-percent quality rating back in 1964 would need to register much better evenness to reach the same level half a century later. This comparison is made using Uster Statistics Percentiles for comparing the quality of spinning mills worldwide. Looking ahead, the ongoing expansion of Uster Statistics will continue with the inclusion of many more quality parameters such as Hairiness Length Classification in the 2018 edition.

Spinners themselves were behind the origins of Uster Statistics in the 1950s, as they saw the benefit of benchmarking their yarn quality against competitors in other mills. Uster had earlier introduced the first yarn evenness tester in 1948, and was therefore an obvious choice to answer the spinners’ request. This led to the publication of the so-called Uster Standards, the forerunner of Uster Statistics, which listed only unevenness data as U% and CV figures for carded and combed yarn.

From cotton to blends

Evenness remains one of the essential quality standards for the industry today – although the number of other yarn parameters now measured has grown over time, in line with the launch of further Uster instruments for yarn quality improvement. By 1997, standards for fibers were added, based on the Uster AFIS. The statistical data has also become much more comprehensive, extending to take in a wider range of fiber materials, including wool, viscose, polyester and even blends.

In 1957, Uster Statistics included just three quality parameters, contained in two chapters across only six pages, including six graphs. The latest 2013 edition of Uster Statistics covers 101 quality parameters in 123 chapters, using over 2,500 graphs. “The standards are far more than figures to compare yarn quality around the world,” says Gabriela Peters, Product Manager Yarn Testing within Uster Technologies. “Uster Statistics have become a common language of quality for yarn producers and yarn users.”

The famous red lines…

Uster Statistics Percentiles (USP) were introduced in 1965 — and today everybody in the industry recognizes the familiar red lines, indicating values for a 5%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 95% standard. The USP figure is a rating for a particular parameter, based on comparisons with the quality level being produced by mills worldwide.

Today yarns are often spot-market internet purchases. Missing specifications based upon objective values lead to a serious deterioration in the quality of garments or other textile products that is why also leading yarn traders insist on clear specifications for yarns and Uster Statistics offer the references. The famous red lines show their relevance along the textile value chain. Uster Statistics actually bridges the gap between yarn producers and yarn users, enabling them to talk about quality in a way that is understood by all.

The change in evenness

Standards for evenness testing have been available for 60 years and it is interesting to note how much the values behind this standard have improved. The evenness of yarns has become better and better over the long term. Taking a typical ring-spun yarn of 100% combed cotton, 20 tex (Ne 30), a USP rating of 50% could be achieved in 1964 with a CVm of 15.2. To be at the same level, a similar yarn in 2013 would have required a CVm value of 12.6. This changing requirement is clearly shown by comparing fabrics made from yarn with these parameters. Sample A, with a USP 50% value for CVm in 1964, exhibits a much more ‘cloudy’ appearance than Sample B, which would have rated a USP value of 50% for CVm 49 years later. The fabric in Sample A demonstrates that the yarn used would be regarded as much less acceptable under today’s increased quality expectations.

This trend underscores the fact that customers over the years have become more and more demanding about yarn evenness, in tandem with the quality improvements made possible by the technological progress in spinning machinery. At the same time, the evenness testing instrument has become much more sophisticated — with advanced technology and sensors now providing the most accurate testing results. With the essential support of Uster Statistics as a tool for daily testing routines, the latest-generation Uster Tester 6 is the ultimate in user-friendly and intelligent quality assurance. Its integration of all test data enables the automatic production of quality reports with a clear presentation of the USP values.

The one and only

What makes Uster Statistics unique is the fact that no other company has attempted to establish its own system of collating and publishing textile quality standards. The Statistics will be continuously developed in the future – with an important addition already planned for the next edition in 2018 to include hairiness length values measured by the new HL sensors, launched with Uster Tester 6.

The entire textile chain – yarn producers, their customers downstream, as well as traders and machine manufacturers – acknowledge that Uster Statistics has played a key part in establishing the Uster name as a synonym for quality standards in the textile industry. “I congratulate Uster Technologies on the 60th anniversary of Uster Statistics and I pay tribute to the company’s achievements in setting the standards we all use in our routines,” says S.P. Oswal, Chairman, Vardhaman Textiles Ltd.

Literally, Uster Statistics are the only way to compare yarn quality objectively – and the textile industry can depend on their continued assistance for the next 60 years and beyond.

Posted July 6, 2017

Source: Uster Technologies AG