UNION GROVE, Wis. — February 21, 2017 — As the industry founding father of Plasma Coatings Release and Traction industrial coatings, American Roller is pleased to announce the release of the Plasma Coatings PC-43000 Series.
This new coating is designed for stationary and rotating parts, including web process industrial rollers. The coating family features new Low COF formulations, and a Smooth, Easy Clean, surface finish. The series includes four different combinations of surface textures and hardness ranges. This coating offers chemical resistance and long-lasting release and clean ability as compared to Teflon® and previous generations of Plasma products.
This scratch resistant coating eliminates attachment sites for microfibers and other fine particles that can cause build up and enhances corrosions resistance properties.
“There are so many opportunities for industrial coating technology to add value in manufacturing processes,” explains John Meggers, product manager. “The performance of PC-43000 exceeded our expectations and it is exciting to bring improvements to the industry.”
OSNABRÜCK, Germany — February 21, 2017 — Footwear manufacturers looking to produce high grip outsoles with good wet slip resistance properties have a new soft thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) at their disposal – AVALON® 50 AHG TPU from Huntsman.
Delivering a new level of slip resistance for a soft TPU, AVALON® 50 AHG TPU is a suitable replacement for rubber in a variety of outsole applications. Softer than most standard TPU grades, this innovative polyester-based material has a nominal shore hardness of 50A but can offer slip resistance properties on a par with vulcanized rubber.
Providing outstanding anti-slip performance on both wet and dry surfaces, AVALON® 50 AHG TPU enables footwear manufacturers to make soft, thin, high definition, high grip, non-marking parts in a variety of colors.
Appropriate for use in almost all footwear applications, AVALON® 50 AHG TPU is particularly well suited to the production of safety footwear. Oil and petrol resistant, it has excellent electro-static discharge properties and complies with ISO 13287 – the international benchmark for testing slip resistance in protective and personal equipment.
Alongside its physical performance properties, AVALON® 50 AHG TPU also has a number of processing advantages. Easy to use, it has excellent fluidity – meaning standard injection molding cycle times can be achieved. Demolding is also very straightforward. AVALON® 50 AHG TPU is also suitable for the production of dual density footwear on carousel machines in combination with innovative DALTOPED® polyurethane midsole systems.
Alfons Tremml, Commercial Manager at Huntsman Polyurethanes, said: “We knew, from speaking to our footwear customers, that there was real demand for a soft TPU grade that could deliver comparable slip resistance properties to rubber. Combining the benefits of a TPU with a soft feel, and substantially improved levels of wet slip resistance, AVALON® 50 AHG TPU is designed to satisfy that need. During our in-house slip resistance tests, AVALON® 50 AHG TPU performed up to 30% better than reference materials, which were created using identical molds and evaluated under exactly the same trial conditions. This step forward in grip and wet slip resistance will make AVALON® 50 AHG TPU an attractive proposition for outsole production across a range of footwear applications.”
The development of AVALON® 50 AHG TPU increases the range of polyurethane-based solutions that Huntsman can offer manufacturers creating safety shoes, casual unit soles and footwear for sports and lifestyle applications. AVALON® 50 AHG TPU is part of an extensive portfolio of products that Huntsman has developed to satisfy the design and production requirements of modern footwear manufacturers.
PARIS — February 21, 2017 — Lectra anchors the quality of digital data exchanges between brands, retailers and suppliers at the core of the company’s new, finely-tuned supply chain program.
Current trends are moving the fashion industry towards full digitalization. Technologies like 3-D and augmented reality are responding to the growing desire for personalization and the drive to improve the customer journey. These phenomena are propelling the continual exchange of large volumes of digital data along the supply chain, and increasing the need to secure data transferred between brands, retailers and their many suppliers across the globe.
Lectra’s new supply chain program guarantees data integrity across digital exchanges to cut development time, boost productivity, improve product quality and fit, reduce time to market, and heighten consumer satisfaction. The program ensures a robust and connected supply chain, essential for fashion players to operate efficiently in today’s high-speed fashion market, with new consumer demands and their need to feed online and in-store channels rapidly and regularly.
Crucially, contractors and their suppliers do not always use the same versions of software applications, or they may use entirely different solutions. As a result, valuable information created up front is frequently compromised—and even only partially transferred—often generating costly errors and confusion in product development and production, resulting in lost time, efficiency and productivity for both parties.
By improving data exchange between contractors and supplying partners, Lectra’s supply chain program delivers multiple benefits. In addition to providing in-depth analyses of current co-development processes, the program offers a customized action plan to reduce the cost of product development, share fashion industry best practices, eliminate non value-added activities and ultimately improve product quality and lead times.
“For contractors and suppliers, keeping in step with the fast-paced fashion industry has accelerated the mutual need for digital data along the supply chain. But the quality of data exchange has not evolved at the same momentum. Lectra’s program expertly fills this gap to support our customers as they compete in this rapid market,” underlines Céline Choussy Bedouet, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Lectra.
Denim is ingrained in our culture. It’s in the movies we watch, the songs we listen to and the closets we envy. It tags along on our first date to the school dance, and it’s waiting for us when we get home from the first day at our first job. It stands by us during our successes and failures. It subtly reminds us of the past, makes us feel good in the present and eases our anxiety concerning the future. Our denim knows us, inside and out.
“Denim is something we talk about as being extremely personal. It’s unlike any other fabric, because it can adopt the characteristics of the person wearing the jeans,” said Kara Nicholas, vice president of product design and marketing for Cone Denim LLC, Greensboro, N.C. “People create a bond with their favorite pair of jeans. More than any other item in a closet, jeans tell your story.”
Cone Denim, a supplier of denim fabrics to top denim apparel brands, was established in 1891 by brothers Moses and Ceasar Cone. More than a century later, the brand remains focused on its core principles — innovation, art and American heritage.
“The dichotomy of old alongside new is something distinctive to Cone Denim,” said Nicholas. “Our 110-year-old White Oak plant runs a 1940s loom next to the modern looms, the next generation works alongside operators with 60 years of experience, and we still use a long-chain dyeing process developed by our employees in the 1920s. Thanks to our rich history, we are able to provide people with iconic denim.”
Cone Denim strives to strike the ideal balance between artistic heritage and scientific innovation. With scientists, fabric construction experts, and loom technicians and operators all in-house, the company endeavors to be on the forefront of product innovation and ahead of market trends.
“We understand the pulse of the market, and we want to provide brands with innovations they can count on, such as sustainability initiatives, new moisture management, antimicrobial properties and other performance technologies,” said Nicholas. “We’re constantly weaving these innovations into our long and glorious, unique history.”
Denim enthusiasts worldwide recognize Cone Denim for its place in history as the creator of long-chain indigo dyeing, denim sanforization and Cone’s Deeptone Denim, introduced in 1936. Furthermore, the White Oak mill is recognized for its re-creation of vintage selvage denim.
“It’s about connecting with people and meeting them wherever their love of denim lies: Vintage or contemporary, light or dark, worn or like new. No other fabric moves so easily from the NYC runway to rugged cowboy to workwear,” Nicholas said. “Other fabrics don’t speak to people like denim. Denim excites and inspires. It gives you a feeling that you can’t quite pinpoint.
“At Cone Denim, we’re in the business of sharing our passion and inspiring denim.”
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.
India-based bed linen producer Himatsingka Linens recently purchased a 10 chamber Montex 6500 tenter, a Monfortex 8000 and a Thermex CDR with E-Control from Germany-based A. Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG. The new equipment will join the four Monforts units the company currently owns and help Himatsingka increase bed linen production and begin producing terry toweling. Vasudevan Veeraraghvan, executive director, Himatsingka, reports the group aims to double its existing sheeting capacity from 23 million meters to 46 milion meters per year. All three machines will be installed by ATE Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., Monforts’ representative in India.
In related Monforts news, India-based denim manufacture Arvind Ltd. has installed a Monforts Eco Line, and is the first India-based company to take delivery of this model. Arvind chose the machine for its ability to increase production, reduce energy usage and for its ability to allow the company to respond to customer requests for specific designs and finishes in a more timely manner.
“We have our own major R&D facility, and we eat, think, sleep and breathe design,” said Aamir Akhtar, CEO of Arvind Lifestyle Fabrics’ Denim division. “For all this, we need the best in technology. Having been a Monforts user from the earliest days, we had no hesitation in investing in the new Eco Line. Not only does this make us even more responsive to customer needs and demands, and more creative in our design and production, there is also the very great energy saving advantage and tight control over emissions.”
The Eco Line was produced in Austria at Monforts’ Montex facility, and was installed by ATE.
England-based MagnaColours® Ltd. recently introduced a non-drying, water-based textile ink suitable for printing bright colors onto high mesh-count textiles.
According to the company, MagnaPrint® ND (non-drying) ink achieves optimal results with none of the harmful environmental side effects produced by polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and formaldehyde.
“Many in our industry have questioned whether water-based inks will ever match the ease of use of their PVC counterparts,” said Tom Abbey, managing director, MagnaColours. “Not only have we achieved this, but we’ve exceeded our own high standards, producing an ink that truly stands apart.”
The company also launched a range of formaldehyde-free discharge bases. Used with MagnaPrint® Discharge Fastness Enhancer, the water-based discharge base creates bold and bright effects and is durable to washing, according to the company.
England-based Global Inkjet Systems (GIS) has expanded its product range with the addition of flexible drive electronics compatible with the Konica Minolta (KM) KM1800i and KM1024i double-head modules. Konica Minolta now offers these pre-aligned modules — used in its Konica Minolta Nassenger SP-1 single-pass digital textile printer and the KM-1/KM-C cut sheet printers — to original equipment manufacturers (OEM) machine builders and system integrators. According to the company, the GIS HIB-KM1024i and HIB-KM1800i Head Interface Boards — both capable of driving two printheads — work with the new KM printheads and offer complete printhead waveform control.
A GIS HIB-KM-1800i head interface board
“The trend to higher resolution single pass continues, and these new modules enable integrators of KM heads to build higher capability systems,” said Debbie Thorp, Business Development director at GIS. “[A]nd the modules are commercially proven in KM’s own production systems.”
Tokyo-based Seiko Epson Corp. has opened two new innovation hubs in Italy. The Innovation Research Lab, created by Epson and Italy-based For.Tex S.r.l. focuses on research and development for ink technologies. The Printing Research Center — opened in collaboration with Italy-based F.lli Robustelli S.r.l., will specialize in the development of core Epson inkjet technology. The new centers, along with Epson’s existing Textile Solution Center in Como, Italy, create a worldwide hub for the digital textile industry.
“We are delighted to announce the establishment of the Innovation Research Lab and The Printing Research Center in Como,” said Sunao Murata, COO, Professional Printing Operations division, Epson. “These state-of-the-art R&D facilities symbolize Epson’s strong commitment to accelerating the development of digital textile inkjet printing both in the Como region and the rest of the world.”
Japan-based Epson Group and its Italy-based subsidiary Epson Italia S.p.A. recently acquired Fratelli Robustelli S.r.l., a manufacturer of textile printing machinery including the Monna Lisa printer, which was developed in partnership with Epson.
Digital printing technologies support this fast-growing segment of textile printing.
By Dr. Lisa Parrillo Chapman, Technical Editor
For the first time, InPrint — the premier exhibition for industrial printing technologies — will be held in the United States. The show is collocated with ICE USA 2017, the International Converting Exhibition (ICE), which will highlight machinery, technology and manufacturing processes for nonwovens and other flexible based materials.
The exhibitions in Orlando, Fla., April 25-27, 2017, will be of high interest to textile manufacturers involved in, or wishing to learn more about, industrial inkjet printing for textiles in market sectors such as automotive, furnishing and interior décor, labels, and packaging.
Industrial Digital Printing And The U.S. Market
Industrial digital printing can be 2-D or 3-D printing for decorative or functional purposes. Unlike decorative digital printing, which typically occurs as a roll-to-roll process before the product is made, industrial printing is integrated into the production line as a continuous process. For this reason, industrial printed products tend to require a highly specialized system.
The specialization is justified though because the benefits of digital printing are significant. In the print world, consumer demand calls for an increase in the color and image complexity, image quality, and variety of prints. Digital printing supports these customer demands by allowing for small production runs, shorter lead times and improved design aesthetics such as increased number of colors, fine line detail, gradients and photographic type imagery. The print-on-demand production ability of digital printing supports customized designs, leads to a decrease in time to market, and offers cost reduction and higher consumer satisfaction.
Consumer demand is forcing change within all manufacturing industries. Consumers are demanding higher transparency in the goods and services used to manufacture their products, assured safety, higher quality, increased functional attributes, and a wide variety of products delivered to them with lightning speed. The development of industrial digital textile printing technologies increases opportunities for U.S. job growth by creating new markets and better supporting established market segments. These new markets likely would come from an array of new products that cannot be made as cost effectively using traditional printing technologies. Examples include those products that may require multiple colorways, customizable imagery or text, the ability to print to shape, or where precise registration or placement of ink is required.
The EFI-Reggiani reNOIR 3.4-meter-wide digital textile printing machine can process any type of substrate.
Conductive Printing
Considerable research and development currently is being conducted on printed electronics in flexible circuitry. Conductive printing would support consumer products for wearables and interior e-textiles designed for health and fitness monitoring, self-cleaning, and communication. England-based IDTechEx, a market analysis firm specializing in electronics, suggests that the highest compound annual growth rate of e-textile markets will be in the home textiles sector. As well as providing new functional attributes to the consumer, conductive digital printing provides improved manufacturing capability. For example, printed radio frequency identification labeling has a broad application range such as for material tracking in the supply chain process. Alternatively, a microchip could be embedded into the product to relay information throughout the supply chain or to provide to consumer care instructions. This information could be read and updated throughout the manufacturing, distribution and consumer stages.
Mass Customization
Digital printing enables mass customization and provides a competitive advantage for those companies wishing to manufacture closer to the point of sale. Because print designs are stored in a digital format and can be printed on demand, digital printing enables highly customizable products that can be made further down the supply chain and closer to the consumer. The shortened lead-times for domestic production will provide the U.S. customer with access to a quality, customizable product, at a low price in the dot com and retail markets. In addition, retailers can provide a more cohesive brand of products. For example, digital printing enables a retailer to provide a color and pattern coordinated range of products including wall covering, floor tiles, carpeting, bedding, stationary, tableware, and personal electronics. The labeling and packaging also may remain highly consistent.
The Luxury Market
The global luxury market generated more than $1 trillion in revenue in 2015 with the personal luxury sector making up about 13 percent of the total. Apparel products comprised approximately 25 percent of the personal luxury market, and brought in over $253 billion in revenue, according to consultancy.uk. Worth Global Style Network reports that the top three ways to attract future luxury consumers was through “exclusive collaborations with relevant partners (78%), secret and exclusive brand experiences (59%) and personalized online experiences (e.g. notifications) (53%).”
In a 2013 article published by Boston-based Bain & Co., Elizabeth Spaulding and Christopher Perry stated that allowing customers to create or add to their own specific product has “elevated customer loyalty and engagement” boosting sales by increasing the perceived value. Customers are willing to pay upwards of 20-percent more when customization options are available. Spaulding & Perry further stated that brands gain further benefits by being able to “gain insights from customized designs and fine tuning products in a feedback loop.” This consumer preference data allows brands to utilize important information in new product development and marketing campaigns.
In its “Post-drupa Technology Forecast for Print and Printed Packaging to 2026” market report, England-based Smithers Pira lists enhanced luxury packaging processes as one of six key technology developments that will fuel revenue and new businesses. The report from Smithers Pira states there is “a new interest in enhanced ranges of print embellishment products and processes, to add luxury appearance and better tactile effects to printed products.”
Industrial printing processes enable brands to more easily and and cost effectively manufacture customizable products, limited edition designs, and unique and higher quality packaging all while engaging the consumer with a more interactive shopping experience by allowing the customer to co-design.
InPrint Highlights
At InPrint, digital printing machinery and chemistries will be shown from leaders in the digital textile printing arena including Italy-based EFI Reggiani and Fujifilm.
EFI Reggiani’s array of digital textile printers enables highly efficient industrial manufacturing to support personalization and quick response for home interior and apparel products. Complementary technologies, such as EFI’s newly acquired Optitex 3-D design technology, bring yet another essential layer of time-savings and automation to industrial manufacturing. The Optitex 3-D design software for industrial fabrics and upholstery reduces fabrics wastage, cuts labor cost and maximizes productivity using automatic nesting software and enables product developers to visualize designs as true-to-life, photorealistic 3-D images. These digital technologies can cut back on lead times, make it practical to generate lower and variable volumes, and cater for different world demographics and trends. EFI states that none of these criteria were possible with analogue methods that are geared for long runs that cannot be easily adapted to changing market needs once production is underway. The old model of industrial analog printing leads inevitably to overstocking and, often, to loss-making heavy discounts on manufactured goods.
The Fujifilm SAMBA™ printhead features a recirculating ink channel to prevent clogging.
Robust printhead technology is needed to support the high-speed printing required for industrial digital printing, as color shifts and print defects will occur if the nozzles are clogged. Stability of colorant is usually most problematic with pigments , but can be an issue with dye-based colorants as well.
The Fujifilm Samba printheads incorporate a recirculating ink channel system that prevents ink clogging. The SAMBA™ piezo MEMS printhead platform is facilitating the creation of families of sophisticated printheads for jetting a wide range of inks for decorative and functional applications, and is installed in a number of different types of industrial printing machines. Fujifilm also will demonstrate water-based and ultraviolet (UV) inks. Fujifilm Imaging Colorants is a global leader in the development and supply of high-performance dye and pigment-based colorants and inks for aqueous ink-jet digital printing applications.
Fujifilm also was responsible for commercializing the UV-cured inkjet inks that fueled the world’s first UV flatbed inkjet printers. A key factor in the growth of inkjet in the wide format, packaging and industrial markets has been the ability to print with UV-curable inks.Pigments developed for inkjet printing typically have a smaller printable range of colors or color gamut, and lower wash and wet and dry crockfastness than dyes, but have increased UV resistance and save time and money because they do not require a post-washing step.
Kiian Digital produces a variety inks for digital printing including sublimation, disperse and pigment-based inks.
Future Outlook
As industrial printing companies find that established markets related to office and advertising mature and decline, textile markets offer potential for high growth. Boston-based I.T. Strategies estimates the U.S. analog and digital print market at $31.5 billion with textiles comprising one of the largest print categories. By 2020, I.T. Strategies predicts an 18-percent growth in printed textile vendor and retail revenues. Traditionally, textile coloration processes such as textile dyeing, screen-printing and fabric graphics were created in other countries because of high labor costs and environmental regulations in the United States. Industrial digital textile printing technology has lower labor requirements and offers the potential to have lower environmental impacts in areas such as chemical, water, energy and material usage. More importantly, industrial digital printing encourages U.S. market growth by enabling new product innovations such as conductive printed textiles, increased speed-to-market for customized products, and improved print aesthetics to support the decorative and luxury markets.
Finland-based Suominen has introduced AIRLACE™ for Workplace, a nonwoven substrate developed for wiping needs in demanding work environments.
The cellulose/synthetic fiber blend product may be used in wet and dry applications; and offers a combination of strength, absorbency and low linting, according to the company. The product is available in medium-weight — 60 to 65 grams-per-square-meter (g/m2) — and heavy- weight — 80 g/m2 — versions, as well as in a variety of colors.
“We have been able to make Airlace for Workplace unbeatable in absorbency,” said Eileen Calderz, product manager for Workplace segment. “When combined with exceptional dry and wet strength, both superior to those of current market leading products, we are confident to say that Airlace for Workplace offers the best performance and value in the market.”
