30 Years Of Innovative Solutions

Celebrating 30 years of operation in 2015, The Quantum Group’s founder Jeff Bruner describes his exceptionally innovative textile company in a recent interview with Textile World.

James M. Borneman, Editor In Chief

O

ne gets the impression that 30 years of research and development (R&D) into problem solving and unique manufacturing capabilities provide a broad palate from which to operate and create an array of textile products and solutions. Founder Jeff Bruner likes to say that The Quantum Group takes on projects that other textile companies cannot, or will not, pursue. Quantum and its sister companies have a wide range of knitting and weaving capabilities, as well as fiber extrusion of mono- and multifilament yarns.

Getting A Start In Textiles

Jeff Bruner established The Quantum Group in 1985 having just completed a five-year career at Burlington Industries. He had a degree in fabric design from the then Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science (PCT&S), now known as Philadelphia University. “I specialized in knitting and really wanted to be the best,” Bruner said. Later, he attended Leicester Polytechnic, United Kingdom, to continue his knitting studies.
After working for Hoechst Fiber in New York City as a development engineer for knit fabrics, Bruner returned to PCT&S to teach knitting and perform research. He spent his summers visiting knitting machine manufacturers throughout Europe to continue his practical knitting education. After a stint as a consultant for Owens Corning, Bruner left teaching for a position at Fiber Glass Industries in Amsterdam, New York. He was then asked to join Burlington Industries in Greensboro, N.C., as a product development manager to introduce Burlington to the weft-inserted warp-knitting business. Ultimately, the politics and bureaucracy of Burlington in the early 1980s didn’t agree with Bruner. “I just really wasn’t equipped to deal with it,” he said. “That’s when I went out on my own and formed The Quantum Group.”

30YearsAeron
The Herman Miller Aeron® chair — conceived and manufactured by Herman Miller, designed by Don Chadwick and Bill Stumpf, and featuring The Quantum Group’s suspension fabric — was a breakthrough in ergonomic design. Photograph courtesy of Herman Miller.

The Quantum Group

In the early days of the company, Bruner presented many seminars on multiple textile subjects and continued contract R&D work. One early customer was General Motors (GM). Quantum developed an elastomeric seat suspension material for GM. It was used as a B-surface material which means it’s not seen, replacing the metal springs underneath conventional fabric and foam used in the car seat.
However, Bruner faced stiff competition. “I was up against Milliken, Collins & Aikman, and some of theother big guys at the time like Quaker, and I was just working out of my living room figuring out how to do things.”
Quantum located a facility in High Point, N.C., that worked with Bruner to make samples. With these samples in hand, Bruner convinced GM to finance a dedicated assembly line to make seat suspensions to be used in Pontiacs, Buicks and Oldsmobiles. Bruner said this business lead came from a past student from his teaching days, a story that in Quantum’s early years would repeat itself.
“Another student of mine went to work for Meadox Medical,” Bruner said. “Meadox made vascular grafts, bifurcations, artificial veins and arteries, tendons and ligaments — all kinds of devices that go into the body.” As the popularity of Meadox’s products grew, so did concern about product liability for the polyester suppliers. The resulting restricted polyester supply offered an interesting opportunity for Quantum. “I worked with Meadox to find alternate suppliers of polyester yarns from suppliers all around the world and characterized the sources,” Bruner said. “Eventually Meadox installed their own yarn extrusion equipment and developed their own process.”
Like with so many Quantum clients, the relationship with Meadox was long-lasting even when the company’s owner sold Meadox to Boston Scientific. “As a result of working with them and building a long-term relationship, we kept the business with Boston Scientific even through a series of ownership changes. Going back almost 30 years, we’ve been dealing with the same people there and working in various capacities. We were producing some monofilament and yarns for use in medical applications.”

Early Success

In the early 1990s, pretty much everything between the seat suspensions and medical yarns was the result of working with past students at General Motors and Meadox Medical, until Quantum was approached by Herman Miller. The Zeeland, Mich.-based furniture manufacturer had hired Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick to design an office chair it had conceived of that did not feature the typical upholstered foam.
“Herman Miller was looking for someone who could develop or engineer a fabric that would work in what would later be known as the Aeron® chair,” Bruner said. “The two designers of the Aeron chair were working with Herman Miller and are long-time designers for them. Chadwick was searching around and Herman Miller went to their normal suppliers to see who had the interest, capability and wherewithal to develop and manufacture this yet to be conceived, engineered and designed fabric for the Aeron chair.”
The chair’s design became iconic and was at the forefront of ergonomic design. With conventional fabric suppliers showing little interest in the project the designers and Herman Miller needed to find an alternate source.
“Chadwick called DuPont and inquired with them because he heard about this seat suspension using a DuPont elastomer, and Quantum was using quite a bit of it for the GM seat suspension,” Bruner said. “At that time, Quantum was doing consulting work for a company in High Point, and we started to develop the Aeron fabric with them. I went to the owners of the company and said, ‘Look, I need an agreement. If I’m going to develop this, I need to know how Quantum is going to get compensated.’” They basically said, “Well, we aren’t sure, we don’t know if there is a future in the project, or how big it’s going to be, so we are going to have to play it by ear.”

“At that point, I said I wasn’t interested, and I resigned,” Bruner explained.

Continued Growth

Quantum’s business was growing. The company continued work with clients such as Meadox Medical, and also had a contract to build a yarn extrusion plant in Gibsonville, N.C., for a company called New Generation Yarns.
“After I resigned, Herman Miller approached me again to return to the project,” Bruner said. “With about nine months left of development work, Herman Miller contracted with Quantum to finish the job and loaned me the funds to hire an employee and rent a building. That happened in early 1994, and then the chair was introduced a trade show in Germany called Orgatec — a big office furniture trade show in Cologne,” said Bruner.

Aeron® And Pellicle®

The fabric Quantum created for Herman Miller was branded Pellicle®, a word defined by Merriam Webster as “thin film.” According to Herman Miller, Chadwick and Stumpf designed the first office chairs that lacked traditional foam or padding, replacing it with a body conforming suspension fabric with an open, breathable construction. The design distributes weight evenly, while eliminating pressure points and heat build-up, according to the company.
When Stumpf passed away in 2006, the New York Times reported: “The Aeron became an instant classic, chosen for the permanent design collection of the Museum of Modern Art on Sept. 21, 1994, a month before its introduction at a trade fair called Orgatec in Cologne, Germany.”
“People forget how controversial it was, how shocking it was, when it first came out,” said Michael Bierut, a partner at international design company Pentagram, and a juror for the National Design Awards. The traditional executive chair was lavishly upholstered, often with leather. “The idea was that upholstery equaled comfort,” Bierut said. “Mr. Stumpf and Mr. Chadwick discovered that comfort could be rendered in a delicate and precise and beautifully engineered way that had nothing to do with creating a throne, but with creating a perfectly calibrated machine for seating.”

Leno Weaving

The Aeron chair and its Pellicle fabric continue to be a success, and its development was a milestone in The Quantum Group’s 30-year history. Interestingly, given Bruner’s focus on knitting as a young man, he used leno-weaving technology to solve Stumpf and Chadwick’s design challenge. “The biggest thing we do today is leno weaving,” said Bruner. “It is an extremely old technology that most companies don’t use anymore due to its cost, complexity and slow speeds, but it’s been key to a very good business.”

Industries & Markets Served

Recreational & Entertainment

  • Climbing harnesses
  • Bike seats
  • Theme-park ride seating

Office Furniture Herman Miller products including:

  • Aeron® chair featuring Pellicle fabric
  • Eames® chair featuring Cygnus mesh fabric
  • Mirra Chair featuring AireWeave seat material

Industrial & Consumer Products

  • Tubular fabric belting
  • Drive belts
  • High-strength materials
  • Tubular fabrics such as firehose

Automotive & Aerospace

  • Automotive and airline B-layer seating
  • Boat mesh chair
  • Ferry and subway seating
  • Mower seating
  • Tire cord fabric

Construction & Geotextiles

  • Building and construction
  • Filtration fabric
  • Road reinforcement materials

Heathcare & Other Applications

  • Healthcare chairs
  • Window screens
  • Privacy screens
  • Outdoor furniture

 

November/December 2015

 

A Transformation Story

By Jim Phillips, Yarn Market Editor

For the past several issues, Yarn Market has reported that business has been strong, most companies have a long pipeline of orders — although most orders are relatively small — and that ring-spun yarns are in very high demand and difficult to come by. As of late October, this is still the case.
It also has been reported that the U.S. yarn industry is in the midst of its longest sustained run of profitable business for many years. There have been numerous columns focused on how this has come about, and no need to rehash it here. However, Yarn Market was fortunate enough to recently interview a retired employee who witnessed first-hand the transformation of the industry over almost
50 years. This is his story.

Some 40 years ago, a young man working for one of the world’s premier textile companies was cautioned by a professional recruiter to exit the industry as quickly as possible.
“He told me there was no future for textiles in the United States,” said the gentleman. “He said the industry has moved on and would never return and that the billion-dollar company I worked for would be gone in 10 years. He wanted me, instead, to join a large tobacco company. I declined.”
He continued: “It’s funny how it worked out.
I retired after a lifetime in the textile industry, working continuously to refine processes, increase efficiency and enhance quality. I worked in spinning rooms, in textured yarns, in package dyeing and in just about every other aspect of the business. Meanwhile, the company he wanted me to work for got into trouble for allegedly chemically enhancing the addictiveness of cigarettes. That tobacco company still exists, I think, but not as a stand-alone company.”
So, what happened? How did this industry  that was supposedly on death’s door nearly a
half century ago last long enough for a very young man to be able to work, prosper and retire?

Reinvention

From his point of view, this now-retired spinner says the textile industry was able to accomplish what so many traditional U.S manufacturers could not: “We reinvented ourselves. For example, in the early 80s, we knew South Korea and Taiwan could make yarn and fabric at a fraction of what it cost us. But could they make it as well and deliver it as quickly?”
However, it took some time and some business model innovation for the U.S. industry to regain its competitiveness. “We still had the notion for a long time that, if we make it, somebody will buy it. It was that philosophy, more than foreign competition, that almost killed the industry. We forgot a primary business fundamental — to be successful, supply must at least somewhat approximate demand. We just kept spinning more and more yarns and weaving yards and yards of fabric — and had no buyers for hardly any of it. We
figured what worked once, would always work. If we put it on the market,
somebody would buy it. We were wrong.”
And as a result, many, many companies went out of business or were split
up and sold.
But for many of those remaining, the light came on. “Finally, somebody figured out that if you find out what customers really want, make it to their specifications, deliver it to them faster than anybody else and then — and this is very important — follow up with superior customer service, well, then, you can compete with anybody. And I am proud to say that yarn spinners in the United States have done exactly that. They reinvented themselves.”
However, he notes that reinvention is not just a part of the industry’s past, it must be a part of its future as well. “The market today is forever changing — sometimes on a daily basis. What worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. The key is not to just keep up with the customer, but stay ahead. Learn what he wants before he even knows he wants it.”

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November/December 2015

Quality Improvement Through Process Reduction In Rotor Spinning

Process reductions and raw material savings are common methods used to respond to increasing cost pressures, but these approaches can result in yarn quality losses.

By Dr. Thomas Weide

By integrating the draw frame into the card, spinning machine makers provide a solution that makes process reductions particularly promising in rotor spinning because, in contrast to ring spinning or air-jet spinning, this spinning method is virtually resistant to differences in the degree of drawing and to the amount and orientation of the fiber hooks.

To examine this matter further, the influence of short fiber content on rotor-yarn quality produced using different preparation lines was researched at the Germany-based Hochschule Niederrhein – University of Applied Science in cooperation with Germany-based Trützschler GmbH & Co. KG and Germany-based Schlafhorst, a Saurer AG company. The two companies made the study possible by providing the test material and their machinery. During the study, direct spinning with an integrated draw frame (IDF) was compared to conventional preparation with two drawing passages or one drawing passage (See Figure 1).

Test Arrangement
As test material, 30 percent, 50 percent and 70 percent noils were added to Central Asian cotton, providing a total of five different test materials from 100 percent cotton to 100 percent noils (See Table 1).

The materials were prepared on the Trützschler Card TC11 with Integrated Draw Frame IDF2 (see Figure 2) and on the TC11 card and subsequent Draw Frames TD7 — without levelling — and TD 8 — with levelling. Table 2 illustrates the most important production parameters in spinning preparation. To eliminate the influence of the card, the card produced a sliver count of 7.7 ktex (Ne 0.077) with identical settings for both preparation lines. The influence of the sliver count on rotor spinning was eliminated by refining this card sliver count via the IDF or one or two drawing passages to the same starting sliver count of 5.5 ktex (Ne 0.11).

The different slivers were then spun into various yarn counts on a Schlafhorst Autocoro rotor-spinning machine.

Figure 2: Trützschler’s Integrated Draw Frame IDF2

Influence On Sliver Quality
The only time problems appeared during processing with the different test materials was using conventional spinning preparation with two drawing passages for the materials with a noil content of 70 percent or above. The increased degree of fiber drawing on the second draw frame results in a low fiber retention force in the main draft. On materials with extremely high short fiber content this leads to such a great loss of floating fiber control that a trouble-free drafting process no longer is possible. This causes so-called package drafts during which packages of floating fibers are simultaneously accelerated in the draft zone. This creates considerable unevenness in the sliver, which makes further processing to an acceptable yarn quality nearly impossible.

With a noil content of 70 percent, it is alternatively possible to create another sliver with only one drawing passage since the higher fiber retention forces still ensure an acceptable control of the floating fibers due to the lower degree of drawing. However, with 100 percent noils, even processing with only one draw frame is not possible without the occurrence of package drafts.

Because of the significantly lower drafts, the IDF is very resistant to these problems; thus all five test materials can be processed without any problems on the card with IDF.

The resistance to floating fibers when using the direct spinning process via IDF also is evident in the sliver evenness results (See Figure 3). An advantage of the reduced preparation line was apparent here during all trials. Even though the advantage is still small for cotton without noil content, it increases with growing noil content because of the surge in floating fibers. As explained above, processing the material with 70 percent noils without IDF is only possible with one drawing passage, and processing of 100 percent noils only with IDF.

Influence Of Spinning Stability And Yarn Quality
Yarns with a count of Ne 12, Ne 20 and Ne 30 were spun. The most important spinning equipment and settings programmed in to the rotor spinning machines are shown in Table 3. They parameters were selected in such a way that all the test materials can be spun if possible.

From the feed consisting of 100 percent noils, only a yarn with a count of Ne 12 can be spun. It can be said that when using direct spinning, the number of yarn breaks is almost always lower during all trials than when using the draw frame process. This applies in particular to the trials with an increased number of yarn breaks. Thus, for instance, at 5,000 yarn breaks per 1,000 rotor hours, the spinning stability of the feed containing 70 percent noils is so high when spinning a yarn with Ne 30 count from a conventionally produced feed that this material is not suited for practical application because of the anticipated efficiency losses at the spinning machine. In contrast, when using a feed with 70 percent noil content produced with the IDF, the yarn breaks are considerably lower at approximately 1,500 yarn breaks per 1,000 rotor hours. This yarn break figure can be economically produced with a rotor-spinning machine with individual spinning unit technology such as the Autocoro 8. According to information from Schlafhorst, the Autocoro 8 achieves a very high long-term efficiency of 95 to 97 percent at approximately 1,700 yarn breaks and clearer stops per 1,000 rotor hours in practical application.

As suggested by the results of sliver evenness, the yarns produced in direct spinning have improved yarn evenness when using feeds with noil content (See Figure 4). The same applies as with sliver evenness — the higher the short fiber content the more advantageous the reduced preparation process with integrated draw frame in contrast to the conventional process with two drawing passages, or one drawing passage for 70 percent noil content. The only time the process with the drawing passages is slightly advantageous for yarn evenness because of improved blending is when processing 100-percent raw cotton.

A similar situation exists with respect to yarn imperfections. In Figure 5, all imperfections of the category thin places -50 percent, thick places +50 percent and neps +280 percent were accumulated to a “Total IPI” value. The same applies to yarn evenness. The advantage of conventional preparation of 100-percent raw cotton compared to direct spinning when using this yarn parameter reverses at a noil content of 30 percent and above.

The influence of short fiber content and spinning preparation on yarn strength also is comparable. Because of the improved fiber orientation of the sliver prepared with conventional spinning preparation and the resulting reduced fiber damage during the opening process in the rotor spinning machine, the strength of the yarn made of 100-percent raw cotton is up to 0.4 cN/tex higher than the strength of the yarn made using direct spinning. However, this slight advantage disappears with growing noil content or even reverses when reaching a noil content of 70 percent because the improved yarn evenness has a positive influence on yarn strength, thus compensating the slight loss in strength. It can also be said that the two different preparation processes have no impact on yarn elongation.

Summary
In general it can be said that direct spinning is suitable for all yarn counts. In comparison to conventional preparation via draw frame passages, the sliver and subsequent yarn qualities are even advantageous as soon as noils of 30 percent and above are added to the raw cotton. This advantage increases with growing short fiber content. The spinning stability on the rotor-spinning machine also is advantageous when applying the direct spinning process. Spinning 100 percent noils is actually only possible using direct spinning.

A process reduction by replacing the existing drawing passages with a draw frame integrated into the card definitely has the potential to minimize the costs in the spinning mill. This study was able to show that this type of process reduction has a great potential to improve quality as well, particularly when using cotton feeds with higher short fiber content.

Editor’s Note: Dr. Thomas Weide is a professor at Germany-based Hochschule Niederrhein, University of Applied Science

November/December 2015

Velcro Opens State-Of-The-Art Plant In Uruguay

Velcro Companies has opened a production facility in Canelones, Uruguay, to service the company’s growing industrial and retail business in Latin America.

“The Uruguay facility will be a complete manufacturing facility for finished goods, not merely an assembly point for products sourced elsewhere,” said Scott Filion, president of the Americas region, Velcro Companies. “It will enable us to develop and manufacture products tailored to the preferences of consumers and businesses in Latin America, which is a competitive advantage for us and a significant benefit for our customers.”

“The Uruguay factory is one of the largest capital investments Velcro Companies has made in recent years, and we believe it is one of the largest in Uruguay,” said Fraser Cameron, CEO, Velcro Companies.

November/December 2015

Burlington Foundation Donates $500,000 To Support NCSU

At the request of the International Textile Group (ITG), The Burlington Foundation has donated $500,000 to the North Carolina Textile Foundation North Carolina State University’s department of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management (TATM).

TATM will use a portion of the money to create an internship program that aims to prepare students for post-graduation employment. The Model Internship Program will provide “… students with opportunities that develop the skills they need to succeed and be positive forces in the industry as soon as they begin their careers,” said Nancy L. Cassill, professor and interim department head, TATM.

The funding also will be used to support programs, faculty and students; and an endowment will provide for long-term growth of the department.

“The college has recruited many of the best and brightest students and ITG and Burlington have benefited greatly from our relationship with both the students and the faculty,” said Kenneth T. Kunberger, president and CEO, ITG, and Burlington Foundation Trustee. “We believe that through this investment, we have the ability to strengthen and expand the visibility of the TATM program within the industry, and further enhance the skills and career readiness of its students to compete as future leaders and employees.”

November/December 2015

Rockline Moves Facial Wipes Production To U.S.

Rockline Industries, Sheboygan, Wis., is moving capacity for facial wipes production from Europe to its Springdale, Ark., plant to support sales to Walmart. Rockline invested $15 million in the move to expand the Arkansas plant and construct a new facial wipes line. Over the next year, the company plans to add 50 jobs to its already thriving 800-strong workforce.

“Walmart has been a great partner for many years and we’re pleased to be working with them to bring jobs back to the U.S.,” said Randy Rudolph, president, Rockline. “Rockline has always been dedicated to helping the communities in which we operate, and we’re confident this move will create a beneficial impact throughout the state of Arkansas.”

November/December 2015

PhilaU Invests $3 Million In Fashion & Textiles Futures Center

Philadelphia University (PhilaU) has announced it will invest $3 million in facilities to establish a Fashion and Textiles Futures Center on campus by the beginning of the Fall 2016 semester.

The center will feature collaborative design studios, fabrication laboratories, CAD facilities and active-learning classrooms as well as a retail-like space that will be used to by fashion merchandising and management students to work on displays and presentations.

“The Fashion and Textiles Futures Center will expand experience for our students, faculty and partners,” said Ron Kander, executive dean, Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce, PhilaU.

“PhilaU fashion programs are internationally ranked and our programs in textiles and textile engineering are regarded as among the best in the nation. The new center will enable us to continue our leadership in providing the best possible 21st Century professional education for our students and helping to define the industry needs of the future.”

November/December 2015

Aurora Specialty Invests In Made-In-USA

Recognizing the need to invest and upgrade to stay competitive, Aurora Specialty Textiles Group (ASTG) Inc. recently complete the move to a 124,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Yorkville, Ill., just a short drive from its previous plant in Aurora, Ill. The new facility features a fully automated ultra-wide-width coating and finishing line that can process a variety of woven and nonwoven fabrics up to 134-inches-wide. By staying local, the company saved 75 existing jobs and was able to add five more.

“Our customers want to work with North American manufacturing companies and buy Made-In-USA products,” said Marcia Ayala, vice president, ASTG. “But they also need to consider price and quality. We now give them the option to buy from a U.S. firm and stay competitive.”

November/December 2015

Unifi Expands REPREVE®’s Global Availability

Greensboro, N.C.-based Unifi Inc. through its subsidiary China-based Unifi Textiles (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. has extended REPREVE® manufacturing and distribution agreements to two companies. Turkey-based Korteks is now a licensed manufacturer of Repreve recycled fiber, and will produce and sell the fiber to the local market. Taiwan-based Sun Chemical now is the only distributor of Repreve in Taiwan.

“Globally expanding our Repreve manufacturing capabilities highlights our commitment to the Repreve brand and allows us to better serve our customers worldwide,” said Roger Berrier, president and CEO, Unifi.

November/December 2015

Avintiv Selects Oerlikon Neumag Airlaid System

Charlotte-based Avintiv recently completed an installation at its Benson, N.C., facility of an airlaid web forming system from Germany-based Oerlikon Neumag. The line will manufacture airlaid nonwovens for hygiene products.

The installation took just three months and was followed by a three-week commissioning phase. “It was thanks to the close and intensive collaboration between our customer and us,” said Hartmut Claussen, head of project engineering, Oerlikon Neumag. “Both parties acted as one team, and are really happy to have reached our common targets.”

November/December 2015

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