LONDON — July 6, 2017 — Greycon were appointed by Tatrafan to implement a trim optimization solution after a careful evaluation of the current slit optimization system at Tatrafan’s plant in Svit, Slovakia. Tatrafan is a BOPP (Bi-Oriented Polypropylene) packaging film producer part of the Terichem Group and produce 17,000 metric tons of packaging film per year.

After a successful pilot where some of the benefits from Greycon’s solution included; reduction of trim waste and optimisation of knife changes. Tatrafan could see the benefits to implementing Greycon’s trim optimisation solution, X-Trim. X-Trim was integrated with Tatrafan’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, SAP.

Jari Kaukiainen, Sales Manager for EMEA states; “Tatrafan represents a great example where the benefits became obvious through a small pilot project before the implementation. This is one of those supercool aspects with the X-Trim solution, as it is possible to run X-Trim as a stand-alone solution for a period and afterwards integrate it seamlessly with SAP, showing Tatrafan a significant improvement almost from day one.”

“We were very happy to continue on from the successful pilot project and move Greycon’s state of the art optimizing tool into daily production at Tatrafan. It is the combination of the various efficiency improvements such as waste minimization, optimization of knife changes, minimization of number of patterns as well as managing different winder types combined with the easy-to-use trim solution which make a difference in Tatrafan’s daily production processes” comments Martin Lach, Managing Director at Tatrafan.

Posted July 6, 2017

Source: Greycon

MASON, Ohio — July 5, 2017 — Downlite — a down and feather processor and supplier of responsibly-sourced performance fills to the outdoor, home furnishings and hospitality markets — has embarked on its latest sustainability program. The company recently engaged an outside organic recycling company to utilize the large waste feathers that traditionally end up in landfill, and instead, treat them for soil compost.

Much of the by-product Downlite’s collaborative recycling company receives for compost is food waste that has a high moisture content. The dry feathers help make the compost more manageable when mixed with other matter. Additionally, feathers have an added pore space that degrade the organic matter of the compost more efficiently. Lastly, feathers are rich in keratin, a protein that slowly releases nitrogen when added to compost. The slow release of nitrogen allows for long-term plant growth stimulation.

Downlite’s composting program is the most recent in a series of ongoing environmental and sustainable initiatives. Last fall, the company installed a waste water recycling system (WWRS) to treat and recycle water used to process down. To date, Downlite’s WWRS has successfully allowed the company to treat and recycle over 20 million gallons of water — exceeding company expectations.

“Our sustainability efforts go well beyond our sourcing and production processes, they also serve as the foundation for new products that we create for our partners,” said Chad Altbaier, vice president, Downlite Outdoor. “To help manage the upward costing pressure down is now facing, we will be introducing exciting hybrid insulations involving natural and recycled materials, which offer the dual benefit of enhancing the performance of the material, while being grounded in our core value of environmental stewardship. We look forward to announcing more information about our performance hybrid fills soon.”

At the forthcoming Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, Downlite will present its new GRS certified re/charged down™, which the company introduced earlier this year. Not only is re/charged down 100-percent recycled, it is also 100-percent post-consumer, thus eliminating tons of material going into a landfill. re/charged down provides unprecedented performance levels for 100-percent recycled down due to its ability to ‘boost’ the down to a higher cluster and resulting fill power. Downlite is proud to have already commercialized this product with its outerwear brand partners for the FW18 season, and will be donating 1-percent of its sales to 1% for the Planet.

Posted July 5, 2017

Source: Downlite

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — June 30, 2017 — Crothall Laundry Services’ Chicago, Wheeling, Ill., facility is the latest recipient of TRSA Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification, reflecting its commitment to best management practices (BMPs) in laundering as verified by TRSA inspection and their capability to produce hygienically clean textiles as quantified by ongoing microbial testing.

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

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

Crothall now has 13 TRSA Hygienically Clean Healthcare certified facilities. In addition to the newest designee, these are located in Mobile, Ala. (Coastal Laundry); Phoenix, Ariz.; La Mirada and Ontario, Calif.; Lakeland, Fla.; Augusta and Rome, Ga.; Madisonville, Ky.; Belcamp, Md., Winston-Salem, N.C.; Johnson City, Tenn.; and Milwaukee, Wis.

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

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

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

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

Objective experts in epidemiology, infection control, nursing and other healthcare professions work with TRSA launderers to ensure the certification continues to enforce the highest standards for producing clean healthcare textiles. With 100+ years as the textile services industry’s leading business association, TRSA’s expertise in laundry BMP development is unmatched.

“Congratulations to Crothall on their 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 June 30, 2017

Source: TRSA