February Production Summit Agenda Features Tours Of 2-Year-Old Plants

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — November 21, 2016 — Visits to two textile services facilities opened in 2014 and filled with laundry and material handling systems that maximize efficiency and throughput highlight the agenda for TRSA’s Production Summit and Plant Tours, Feb. 8-9 in Houston.

These Alsco Inc. operations process reusable textiles for specialty medical and food & beverage customers, respectively. Plant management representatives and suppliers will guide attendees through the 101,000- and 85,000-square-foot facilities. They’ll provide further insight into their techniques in a discussion after the tours, giving Summit attendees even more ideas about how what they’ve seen can point them to adopt new strategies in their everyday work.

HealthAssure by Alsco uses two 8-module (260-pound) tunnel washers as well as washer-extractors and small washers. Featured systems include a load-build conveyor with packing tickets, a linen scanning camera for quality assurance and automated shrink wrapping. Admiral Linen and Uniform Service by Alsco, the F&B plant, uses a similar wash aisle equipment combination, with a single 12-module tunnel as the centerpiece. Vacuum soil sorting and a highly automated rail system are among this facility’s productivity gems.

Summit tours and presentations give textile services executives and managers ideas for new plant operations strategies, provide updates on emerging industry-wide best practices and facilitate new and ongoing contact with peers and technology experts. Attendees evaluate how processes and management techniques apply to their own businesses, interacting with speakers, panelists and other attendees who are TRSA members, recognized as the industry’s most productive and profitable organizations.

Sessions at the Summit host hotel, the Hilton Houston Post Oak, will include:

  • Mat Safety and Legal Repercussions

Tips will be provided on how proper mat washing, drying, rolling and delivery minimize slip-and-fall risk. Experiences will be recounted of laundry operators’ personal involvement in related lawsuits. Contractual do’s/don’ts for safeguarding launderers’ interests when their mats are involved in such incidents will be presented.

  • Diversity in Production Leadership

Attendees will learn about a process to improve diversity without reducing or ignoring merit in hiring and promotion. Advice will guide creation of an engaged business culture that forms trusting relationships and improves performance. TRSA’s Women in Textile Services Committee will present.

  • Talent Recruiting and Development

New ways to locate and attract individuals for management and line positions will be explored with emphasis on securing employment prospects who can recognize and seize opportunities to improve results. Tactics presented will lead to better identification of current employees worthy of promotion and strengthening of procedures long used to train and motivate.

  • Best Fleet Practices across Industries

Techniques recognized for exceeding the norm in increasing efficiencies will be presented from businesses other than textile services that truck goods repeatedly to the same business customers. Disciplines expected to be covered include vehicle acquisition, maintenance and fuel management, driver productivity and accident management.

  • Manufacturers as Laundry Role Models

A representative of the U.S. manufacturing sector will discuss business improvement techniques applicable to textile services. The presentation will portray manufacturers’ legendary diligence for analyzing their processes to control costs from raw material procurement to distribution and their expertise in functions including change order processing, inventory tracking and IT systems architecture.

Presentations begin at 8 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 8, with a reception that evening. The plant tours take place Thursday morning with a debriefing at the hotel following these and concluding at 12:30 p.m.

Posted November 21, 2016

Source: TRSA

Velcro Companies Announces Strategic Partnership with STAYHOLD™ Ltd.

BOSTON, Mass. — November 16, 2016 — Velcro Companies today announced it has established a partnership with Stayhold Ltd., a provider of anti-movement and storage solutions for consumers on the go.

Velcro Companies has agreed to make a financial investment in Stayhold and will be its exclusive distribution partner immediately in the UK, Australia and New Zealand and by the end of the year in the US and Latin America. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Fraser Cameron, CEO of Velcro Companies, said: “This agreement reflects our commitment to create a powerful global consumer business by developing new products and leveraging the strong consumer awareness of the VELCRO® brand. With a heritage of innovation and a passion for great product design, Stayhold is an ideal partner to help us realize this goal.”

Mark Sater, Vice President of Strategic Execution for Velcro Companies, said: “We look forward to working with Stayhold to bring its products into new markets and to integrate Velcro brand technologies in a wide range of applications. Stayhold’s skills, knowledge and technical expertise in product development complement our own, and together we will be able to create products that consumers truly value.”

Stayhold cargo organization products are made possible by Velcro Brand technology using micro hook material to stick to the carpet surface in car interiors and act as removable modular walls that stop loose items from moving around and getting damaged.  Today, Stayhold products are sold in more than 20 countries.

Through Velcro Companies’ distribution network, Stayhold products are now available in major retailers in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and have been launched on Amazon in the UK. Stayhold and Velcro Companies debuted their partnership at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) annual convention, the premier automotive specialty products trade event, on November 1 in Las Vegas.

Posted November 21, 2016

Source: Velcro Companies

DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products Is Rethinking Plastics

WILMINGTON, Del. — November 21, 2016 — ‘Rethinking Plastics’ in a sustainable and resource-efficient way is the theme for this year’s 11th annual 2016 European Bioplastics Conference.  DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products will be front and center presenting new data and explaining how bio-based alternative products manufactured from renewable resources can have advanced technical properties and functionality compared to their petroleum-based counterparts.  Join us in Berlin  on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016, at 2 p.m. where Peter von den Kerkhoff, account executive EMEA at DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products, will present “Bio-based Performance – Improving Polyurethane Synthetic Leather.”

“We believe that bioplastics are a major driver in the evolution of plastics and that they contribute significantly to a more sustainable society,” explained Hasso von Pogrell, managing director at European Bioplastics.  “We are pleased to have DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products join us this year and present as they celebrate this November a decade of offering higher-performing ingredients from a petroleum-free, sustainable and renewable source.”

“Bioplastics, including bio-based polyurethanes, are highly complex and sophisticated materials that can help make plastic products more sustainable and continue to develop the many benefits of plastics further,” stated Constance Issbruecker, environmental affairs manager at European Bioplastics.  “Due to a growing awareness and demand in our society for sustainable products and their impact on the environment, bioplastics materials are becoming the material of choice for a rapidly growing number of brands and customers around the world.”

“Susterra® propanediol is the building block that delivers bio-based high performance in a variety of polyurethane applications,” explained Michael Shen, global technical marketing specialist for DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products.  “The versatility of polyurethanes is derived from the wide selection of raw materials available.  Today manufacturers can utilize Susterra® propanediol to meet the performance they are looking for as well as the bio-content their customers may desire.  Our presentation on synthetic leathers at the European Bioplastics Conference is just one example.”

Posted November 21, 2016

Source: DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products

Inaugural InPrint USA Highlights New Print Technology For The Packaging And Manufacturing Community

CHICAGO, Ill. — November 18, 2016 — According to recent studies conducted after a successful second edition of InPrint: The Industrial Print Show in Europe in 2015, research revealed that the U.S. manufacturing sector is set to overtake China by 2020 as the world’s largest manufacturing country. This growth has created an accelerated demand for industrial inkjet printing technologies used in advanced packaging, decorative and functional manufacturing markets. InPrint USA, April 25-27 in Orlando, Fla., is the only trade exhibition in North America focused on the latest in industrial print solutions specifically for these industries.

“Through our industry research and exhibitor focus groups, we found that there was an opportunity for a new platform in the U.S. highlighting the emerging technology happening in the industrial print sector,” said Melissa Magestro, executive vice president of Mack Brooks Exhibitions Inc., the show organizer. “There are several successful printing shows already happening in the US, but we are marketing to an entirely different audience. InPrint USA is a more specialized, focused show aimed at manufacturers, who need complex, customized, co-operatively designed system solutions in order to generate new possibilities and revenue in industrial production.”

InPrint USA targets decision makers in three main categories of manufacturing, providing them with a high level of expertise and unique, cutting-edge technology, product launches and showcases from leading brands in the fields of industrial specialty, screen, digital, inkjet and 3D technology print solutions.

The Packaging Industry: Manufacturers printing on corrugated, glass, aluminum, and flexible surfaces are quickly adopting this technology. For example, the craft brewing industry looks for solutions to print on aluminum cans.

The Decorative Industry: Manufacturers of:

  • textiles (creating customized fabrics for window treatments or furniture);
  • custom wall paper;
  • flooring (printing on laminate flooring products to look like wood or another type of material.)

Functional Industrial Printing: Additive manufacturers and those printing on electronics. (Flexible printing on circuitry going into cell phone or other consumer electronics.)

“It is a diverse group that is adopting industrial inkjet technology into their operations, so to reach the various audiences we are developing close relationships with associations and media partners that serve those specific market segments” explained Magestro.  “InPrint USA is co-located with the International Converting Exhibition – ICE USA – which already delivers an audience of packaging converters, but we are also actively identifying targets in textiles, printed electronics, and décor who are wanting to learn more about industrial print solutions.”

“Being in the R&D Packaging Group, we are always interested in technologies that advance what we are working on,” said Matt Allen of Proctor & Gamble after attending the InPrint USA Industrial Print Forum, in Chicago, IL in September, a pre-show to InPrint USA. “My focus is print so obviously inkjet printing is really driving the industry. We want to see what’s new, interesting, and ways it could benefit our business.”

Posted November 21, 2016

Source: Mack Brooks, Inc.

Dornier’s “Green Machines” Provide The Highest Weaving Quality For Technical Textiles, Sophisticated Decorative Fabrics And Excellent Clothing Fabrics

LINDAU, Germany — November 18, 2016 — Lindauer DORNIER GmbH will present innovative machine concepts for the production of highly sophisticated fabrics at India ITME in Mumbai. Under Dornier’s sustainability motto “The Green Machine”, the family company, which manufactures the machines exclusively in Germany, will present the latest technical solutions which allow producing the most modern technical textiles, sophisticated decorative fabrics and clothing with refined quality for the premium segment with very high economic efficiency.

Furthermore, as at the ITMA 2015 and ITMA Asia 2016, Dornier as the technological market leader will present comprehensive solutions for “green technologies”. Citing the traditional green color of Dornier’s weaving machines, this also encompasses the “sustainable effect” of the fabrics produced on them. Their performance is of decisive importance in many sectors: Whether finest filters for purifying water or air, airbags and antiballistic structures to protect against death or injuries, composites made of glass or carbon fibers to reduce moving masses and consequently the CO2 emission. For all these and many more applications, Dornier’s “Green Machines” are indispensable tools manufacturing customized precision fabrics.

The latest machine types of the Dornier system family comprising rapier and air-jet weaving machines are the centerpoint of the presentation. Experts will demonstrate how Indian weavers can utilize the superior Dornier technology to master the current weaving mill demands as to the highest quality for fabrics and applications in the individual segments.

Peter D. Dornier, Chairman of the executive board, on the India ITME participation:
“India is not only a fascinating country, but has become one of our most important markets worldwide concerning weaving and specialty machines. It’s many years now in which we are close to our Indian customers. Dornier has a subsidiary in Mumbai since the year 2000 that operates under the name Dornier Machinery India Private Ltd. (InDO) as a legally independent entity since 2005. With a plant expansion last autumn to nearly 900 m2, InDO has prepared itself for the market growth. India’s annual economic growth has been above 7% during the last years. The country is on the way to becoming a leading industrial nation.

Dornier’s share in this development has been quite considerable with about 5,000 new and used rapier and air-jet weaving machines producing precision fabrics in India (besides of that more than 35 large Dornier biaxial film stretching lines for thermoplastic films are currently operating in the country – making it the no. 1 polyester packaging film producer in the world). Along with this, India will continue to improve product quality and utilize the best and most modern machines for production. The high number of Indian textile manufacturers visiting the ITMA reflects this trend and we are very pleased that Dornier’s outstanding quality is highly valued. The India ITME gives us the perfect opportunity to demonstrate directly the many advantages of our leading weaving machine technology.”

Our presentation of technical textiles focuses mainly on fabrics that cannot be produced on weaving machines of other manufacturers with regard to quality and economic efficiency providing thus a unique selling point for the weavers. Examples can be found in all application areas of technical textiles from environment and geotextiles to construction textiles, industrial and 3D textiles up to the automobile and aircraft industries as well as aerospace.

For sophisticated decorative fabrics, Dornier will be pleased to demonstrate to the Indian weavers, in the premium segment, how to implement Dornier’s technical advantage in weaving machines to also meet the latest and fancy demands. The decorative textile sector continues to be adventurous and develops more and more new patterns and material combinations. This trend is illustrated at the upcoming decorative fabrics exhibition in Frankfurt by “Explorations” as central theme. Dornier’s principle still applies: “Our weaving machines can efficiently transform practically everything that can be wound on a bobbin into a high quality, high value fabric”. Especially with complex patterns or fancy yarns, fabrics produced on Dornier weaving machines attain excellent quality combined with very high productivity.

Dornier will be pleased to demonstrate to Indian weavers how they can produce premium quality with high productivity in the rapidly growing market of especially high value and sophisticated clothing fabrics.

In all production segments with the highest demands on fabrics Dornier weaving machines provide unique performance and process reliability through a consequent exchange of ideas with customers, the inventiveness of Dornier engineers as well as the quality of the production in Germany.

“Quality creates value” – the focal point at the India ITME with the following weaving machines and applications:

The rapier weaving machine P2 is a further development of the Dornier rapier weaving machine P1 with positive central transfer. With this machine a high density filter fabric with a width of 320 cm can be woven, for example, which was only possible with custommade machines up until now. The extremely high density is achieved by a specially developed cloth take-up, an absolute uniformity of the filling density and a reed impact force of 50 kN. Such a high reed impact force requires regulation of the warp tensions to a constant value with the warp let-off and cloth take-up.

In order to control this warp tension, the Dornier SyncroDrive® with its stable speed is decisive for shedding. The load peaks in the complete shedding motion are therefore minimized and the uniform fabric produced always has the same mesh count per cm2.

This is another requirement for a high quality filter fabric in addition to the density. The new rapier weaving machine P2 provides weavers a multitude of new application options as well as the chance to open up new markets. As real “Green Machine” it will prove its special strength and sturdiness above all in fields that require more efficient, heavier and denser fabrics with highest regularity. This applies, e.g. for filter fabrics for wet, fluid and solid matter filtration or for soot particle separation etc.

On the latest version of Dornier’s rapier weaving machine P1, complex functional fabrics can be produced from different materials. The wide application spectrum of the P1 ranges from high value silk fabrics with 16 filling colors for example for imaginative ladies outerwear fabrics up to carbon, glass or coated lattices with coarsest yarn counts in warp and filling, and densities of 0.5 threads/cm or even lower. The filling insertion controlled in every phase allows processing an exceptionally wide range of yarn types and counts. This ranges from finest silk threads and monofilaments to glass roving and up to coarsest fancy yarns. The yarn count range is between 7 den and 4500 tex.

Upholstery fabrics for office chairs are one of the applications presented at the ITMA. Elastic monofilaments and different flock yarns are used in the filling. The color of the fabric can be chosen individually according to customer wishes. This challenging elastic material of high quality can only be woven using a very precise warp regulation. The regulation must ensure a predefined tension curve from full to empty warp beam. For this purpose, the rapier weaving machine P1 is equipped with a warp tension measuring system where sensors control the actuators by means of the warp let-off control thus ensuring a constant warp tension.

A completely different example that illustrates the application variety of the rapier weaving machine P1 comes from sophisticated ladies outerwear. Here, a very high value fabric with 16 filling colors and different materials can be woven with an insertion rate of up to 600 fillings per minute. The basis for weaving such a multifaceted blended fabric is the welltried Dornier filling insertion with positive controlled center transfer ensuring a precise and reliable insertion of different filling yarns. Furthermore, a multitude of machine functions and components, in part patented, such as, e. g. Dornier MotoLeno® for the selvedge creation or Dornier AirGuide® for a precise rapier guidance in the shed, guarantee topmost process reliability.

Dornier’s air-jet weaving machine A1 also provides an exceptionally wide application variety.

Whether combined with a cam machine, a Jacquard machine with up to 12,000 lifting hooks, a dobby machine with up to 16 shafts or a Dornier EasyLeno® unit, the A1 is the perfect tool for creative, economic and precise production of technical textiles, home textiles and clothing fabrics – in nominal machine widths from 150 to 540 cm.

The style spectrum of the versatile A1 for technical textiles ranges from spinnaker silk to airbag and conveyor fabrics up to Jacquard car upholstery. In clothing fabrics, from wool to Africa damask up to functional textiles and, for decorative fabrics, from multiwidth Jacquard table linen to finest curtains.

In the area of high value automobile textiles, market leaders from all over the world have trusted the high flexibility and productivity of Dornier air-jet weaving machines for almost 20 years. Today, products for the sectors tire cord, car upholstery or truck tarpaulins previously produced on projectile or flexible rapier weaving machines are produced considerably cheaper with better quality on Dornier air-jet weaving machines. The air-jet weaving machine generation A1 opens up further substitution potential in these and other areas.

Air-jet weaving machine A1 also delivers outstanding results when weaving the finest wool in the very highest premium quality as produced by leading weaving mills all over the world. The special challenge here is to produce a fabric with this quality whilst meeting the most demanding requirements with high productivity. The Dornier air-jet weaving machine meets this challenge with its gentle filling insertion (“senza pelosità”, which means no hairiness of the fabric) in combination with automatic filling break repair. But Dornier would not be Dornier if productivity and quality were not continuously driven on. In industrial use, this has already been successful in the unique Dornier quality by prominent Italian wool weavers with an insertion rate of up to 1,000 fillings per minute. The heart of the Dornier “weave-by-wire” technology is the patented drive concept Dornier SyncroDrive®. It is a very low maintenance weaving machine drive based on servomotors without clutch-brake unit. The close of shed is adjustable electronically during weaving via Dornier ErgoWeave®, style data are archived and therefore reproducible.

The newly developed nozzle concept, which allows a gentle acceleration of the filling thread, and the high performance carbon shafts further reduce vibrations during shedding.

During Jacquard weaving with the DornierSyncroDrive®, the weaving machine and Jacquard machine have separate drives with servomotors whereby the cardan shaft is not required. The connection runs via an electronic shaft. The very rigid and low vibration drive concept reduces the mechanical load as well as wear in the complete shedding area. The forces acting on the system as well as the energy consumption are drastically reduced.

Dornier SyncroDrive®

The patented Dornier SyncroDrive® is a weaving machine drive with especially low maintenance due to the elimination of toothed belts or shaft drive. The bases are servomotors with direct control without a clutch-brake unit. This drive concept permits changing the close of shed timepoint during weaving.

The very rigid and low vibration drive concept reduces the mechanical load as well as wear in the whole shedding motion thus ensuring significantly fewer warp breaks.

Systems equipped with Dornier SyncroDrive® process the yarns very gently. Service life is prolonged, operating costs reduced. Lower costs, highest functional reliability and an outstanding fabric quality raise weaving with Dornier SyncroDrive® to a high level.

Posted November 21, 2016

Source: Lindauer Dornier GmbH

AmeriPride Makes Heavy Duty Trucking’s ‘Top 50 Green Fleets’ List For Third Consecutive Year

MINNEAPOLIS — November 15, 2016 — AmeriPride Services today announced it was included on Heavy Duty Trucking’s 2016 “Top 50 Green Fleets” list for the third year in a row. This list recognizes companies that have made a commitment to fleet sustainability, alternative fuels and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

“We are very pleased to be recognized for our efforts to be more sustainable in our fleet operations,” said Brian Keegan, safety and sustainability officer at AmeriPride. “This honor is due in no small part to our fleet team’s hard work and persistence in identifying opportunities and implementing alternative fuel technologies into our fleet. It is also a testament to our family ownership’s ongoing commitment to incorporating green technologies into our operations.”

To be considered for the list, AmeriPride provided information about its fleet initiatives, alternative fuel use and SmartWay participation, as well as other additional projects like trailer skirting and telematics technology. AmeriPride received a certificate of recognition and will be featured in a cover story in Heavy Duty Trucking.

Posted November 15, 2016

Source: AmeriPride Services

Reiners + Fürst To Present TURBO Rings And Optimized Travelers For Compact And Siro-Compact At ITME Mumbai 2016

MONCHENGLADBACH, Germany — November 15, 2016 — Ring spinning mills in India prefer the latest generation of TURBO rings especially for Compact and Siro yarns. Germany-based ring and traveler manufacturer Reiners+Fürst (R+F) introduced this further milestone in high speed spinning during ITMA in Milan. Already more than 2.5 Mio units of the newest TURBO rings are running successfully in the markets. The enhanced surface allows increasing machine efficiencies by up to 10 percent – especially when producing yarns of sensitive fibers or with highest spindle speeds.

Managing Director at R+F Benjamin Reiners said, “The new TURBO rings with benefits including low yarn hairiness, longer service life and increased machine efficiency by up to 10 percent will be extremely beneficial for the demanding Indian spinners.”

“We have been in the Indian market since more than 30 years and R+F products are well accepted by the textile industry. We feel assured that the newest TURBO rings, too, are being accepted in the same way by Indian spinners,” Reiners added.

At ITME 2016 in Mumbai Reiners + Fürst will also present new travellers for Siro-Compact and Viscose-Compact with optimized geometry and new surface characteristics. The end-users benefit from low yarn hairiness and longer traveller service life.

For worsted spinning R+F introduces J-travellers for ring heights of 9.1 and 11.1 mm with enhanced surface for better performance of the spinning process. Different shapes are available for top results in the whole range of worsted spinning.

Customers especially value the professional service and support R+F is providing particularly for finding solutions of increasingly complex applications. Visitors are invited to stop by at R+F’s booth at ITME in Mumbai: Hall H1, Stand M 1

Posted November 15, 2016

Source: Reiners + Fürst

SPGPrints’ JAVELIN® Digital Printer Scores Multiple Sales At ITMA Asia + CITME 2016; Significant Interest In High-Mesh Screens

BOXMEER, The Netherlands — November 15,2016 — SPGPrints reports multiple sales of its JAVELIN® digital inkjet textile printer and strong demand for high-mesh screens at October’s ITMA Asia + CITME.

Shown at the event for the first time in China, Javelin attracted crowds to the stand which also featured SPGPrints’ latest technologies for rotary screen printing.

Among the orders received for Javelin printers were ones from commission printer HighSun Textiles based in Zhejiang, Shandong Ruyi Technology Group (Shandong), and Haining Longzhou Printing and Dyeing Company Ltd of Haining.

SPGPrints’ Javelin printer was designed to produce up to two million meters per year, providing a versatile complementary capability for companies that already have digital production, or for textile printers taking the first step into digital. These sales reflect both those markets.

HighSun Textiles is a supplier of cotton fabrics for domestic women’s high fashion brands. High Sun has been a long-time rotary screen customer of SPGPrints whom it sees as an R&D-focused partner that has proven to deliver improvements in their printing workflow over many years. SPGPrints’ approach to innovation was therefore one important reason for the Javelin investment, which also represents the company’s first step into digital production. Other reasons that High Sun chose the Javelin included its sustainable characteristics with low substrate, energy and ink waste, a complete range of proprietary inks, as well as the print qualities and performance of the printer.

For Shandong Ruyi and Haining Longzhou, it was a matter of finding the best solution for upgrading its existing digital printing technology. Faced with demands for more design complexity, the companies were impressed by Javelin’s wide colour gamut and its ability to print fine lines, big blotches and sharp geometrics on nylon and cotton jersey fabrics. Ruyi has already been using SPGPrints’ reactive inks on existing digital printing equipment.

In all the sales, SPGPrints Archer® technology that is at the heart of the Javelin printer, played a critical role. Archer technology can jet ink up to 4mm, giving Javelin unparalleled flexibility in the range of substrates in can print. Archer technology is also featured on SPGPrints’ PIKE digital printer that has a 13 million meter annual capacity.

Attracting big brands

“Among the visitors to our very busy ITMA Asia stand were international brand-owners who were interested in learning what digital textile printing might mean for them,” said Jon Li, Managing Director, SPGPrints Wuxi. “The brand-owners were particularly interested in sustainability and what contribution digital printing made. With new standards for greener processes in China, the savings of water, chemicals, and reduced textile waste was extremely important to them.

“Our systems attracted interest from beyond China: from Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia. Potential customers will be visiting our Demo Center in Boxmeer for printing tests on their fabrics and designs using JAVELIN and PIKE printers.”

A strong screen scene, too

SPGPrints’ recent rotary screen and digital prepress innovations are ensuring that analogue textile manufacturers are capable of meeting the demand for fine and complex impressions, productively.

At SPGPrints’ ITMA Asia + CITME stand, manufacturers from across Asia were especially impressed with the company’s NovaScreen® screens that combine a high mesh-count with streamlined bridges to maximize paste transfer. These are able to produce half-tones, geometric designs and blotches, and perfectly replicate the woven effect sought after by women’s fashion houses.

The smartLEX 7043 direct laser exposing system, attracted interest from manufacturers in Turkey, Egypt and Iran, as well as China, thanks to its throughput and capability to image screens suitable for the complex printing situations. The system is exposes screens up to 3500mm with resolutions up to 2540dpi in cycles as short as 12 minutes.

Posted November 15, 2016

Source: SPGPrints

Brückner Supplies Line Nonwovens Coating Line For Automobile Applications

LEONBURG, Germany — November 15, 2016 — Today, a modern automobile contains between 20 and 30 kilograms of fibers from the tires to the sky. These fibers are used — visibly and invisibly — in many textile products for example as tire cord, adhesive tape of the seat cover, claddings, sound proofing or insulating material but also for floor coverings. In first-class vehicles mainly knitted fabrics are contained as visible textile sheets but in many of the more than 65 million cars produced every year also nonwovens as lower priced alternative are used. Thus, an automobile contains possibly more than 21 square meters (m²) of nonwovens in the most different appearances.

Brückner has recognized this trend already long ago and offers for many of the mentioned areas of application innovative machines and lines for a resource-saving production of technical textiles used in modern vehicles. This begins with lines for the production of acoustic nonwovens continues with lines for the production of substrate for woven textile tapes, finishing lines for woven air bag fabric to coating lines for interior cladding based on needled nonwovens as supplied to and set into service at a customer in Russia recently.

The company OOO Nomateks lies in the region Uljanows near the South-Russian city of Samara. Nomateks was founded in 1961 at that time the first producer of tufting floor coverings in the former USSR. Nomateks developed in its history which goes back 50 years and became one of the biggest and most important nonwovens producers in Russia. With more than 180 workers and employees, the company produces high-quality nonwovens to be used in geo or automotive textiles with their own polypropylene and polyester fibers. Every year Nomateks produces more than 50 million m² of nonwovens.

A jointly realized project focused mainly on the customer’s request for highest flexibility and productivity with minimized use of resources. Therefore the line is able to coat, depending on the type of fabric and process, more than 15 million m² nonwovens per year for the use in automobiles. It is possible to finish velour needle felt carpets as well as unstructured needled nonwovens. With a length of more than 70 meters it is one of the biggest lines Brückner ever supplied for the finishing of needled nonwovens.

To meet the above mentioned requirements, above all the preparation times had to be optimized and the thermal and electrical energy demand had to be reduced considerably in comparison to the existing line. Since the project is a completely independent production line, the supply of the line with raw material has been considered from another point of view and a real alternative compared to the conventional preparation process in the batch has been found.

The use of an inline mixer of the Various Mix type produced by Messrs. Hansa Industrie Mixer allows to meter water, latex, chalk and possible additives directly from the big bag discharging station into the line and to prepare a highly homogeneous compound. This compound is converted into an instable foam and is supplied directly to the application unit.

A Brückner knife-over-table foam unit is installed for the application

The gap between the knife and the table and thus the application quantity can be adjusted with a motor. The adjustment is made with a lifting spindle. The reproducibility of the settings is ensured by an absolute value transmitter. Normally the adjustment is made on both sides, but also corrections only on one side are possible. The squeegee roller can be balanced pneumatically via a four-bar linkage. Due to the rotary movement around the articulation, the squeegee roller parts not only vertically in case of a seam but also horizontally. This prevents impacts or material cracks.

The foam is supplied via a traversing distribution pipe directly in front of the knife and is automatically adapted when the production speed changes. In order to adapt the penetration depth of the foam into the nonwovens a height-adjustable braying roller is installed behind the coating knife. It is water-cooled to prevent an adhesion of Latex.

The coated nonwovens is dried in a more than 27 meters long Brückner DUO-THERM dryer, finished with a horizontal chain tensioning system to transport the fabric. This type of dryer is proven for the coating of carpets and nonwovens. The dryer which is directly heated via fan-supplied gas burners allows temperature differences of up to 60 °C due to separate heating and air circulating systems above and below the fabric web. In addition to the separate temperature adjustment on the coating and pile side also the air speed and thus the air circulation intensity can be adjusted independently by using the frequency-controlled circulating air fan drives. This provides for a high drying performance with very gently treatment of the pile and a high efficiency. This prevents pile deformations reliably.

The use of the patented Venturi system for a homogeneous mixing of the hot flue gas with the circulating ambient air leads to a very homogeneous temperature distribution across the width. The geometrically optimized Venturi nozzle needs absolutely no mechanical mixing elements and achieves with this a maximum efficiency.

In addition, the line is provided with a two-stage heat-recovery unit air/air and air/water.

On the one hand it heats up with the exhaust air heat a part of the fresh air which is required for drying. This heated fresh air is added to the process at various points which has the effect that the drying process can be operated always with the best fresh air/exhaust air ratio.

On the other hand the ECO HEAT air/water heat-recovery unit is used to heat process water for further use at other machines and lines of the NOMATEKS works. Depending on the production process the above described system can reduce the thermal energy consumption by about 30 percent and allows thus a significant reduction of the production cost. Heat-exchange processes lead to a cooling of the exhaust air and thus to a condensation or a separating of pollutant particles. With this process the heat-recovery unit contributes considerably to the cleaning of the exhaust air.

In order to achieve the flexibility described above not only in the coating and drying sector several different winding and cutting systems are provided. The finished fabric can be treated on y two-roller ascending batcher as well as on an A-frame trolley. In addition, a Parker Hannifin longitudinal cutting and batching unit is installed in-line.

The HAUSER – QLA offers the possibility to cut almost any material economically, to batch it and to treat it possibly further if required. The line is flexible due to its modular construction and perfectly appropriate for the processing of very different nonwovens.

An integrated longitudinal cutting unit allows to make up to 4 cuts and to stack the fabric cut to length.

The line has of course a highly-modern control system with a Siemens PLC and all important production parameters are memorized in a recipe administration system and can be re-called by push-button. Sensors measuring permanently the consumption of electrical/thermal energy allow a further exact monitoring of the production. And of course all drives are supplied by Brückner in the highest-possible energy efficiency class.

With this project all partners have worked out a tailor-made solution for our customer NOMATEKS. This is another Brückner coating line, which has been set into production to the customers’ complete satisfaction.

Posted November 15, 2016

Source: The Brückner Group

Shima Seiki Opens Subsidiary In Vietnam

WAKAYAMA, Japan — November 15, 2016 — Flat knitting machine manufacturer Shima Seiki Mfg., Ltd. has opened a wholly owned subsidiary in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, this month.

With its economically advantageous wages and plentiful workforce combined with investments from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea in light of the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union going into effect in 2018, Vietnam is seeing a flourish in its textile industry with growing demand for Shima Seiki computerized knitting machines and computerized cutting machines. As a result, it has opened a wholly-owned subsidiary in November, 2016 to strengthen its sales, service and demonstration capacity for its product line. The establishment of a subsidiary linked directly with Shima Seiki headquarters should provide peace of mind for customers who are currently, or planning on, doing business in Vietnam.

For its open house event a private show will be held on its premises. On display will be SVR122 considered the industry benchmark for computerized flat knitting machines that features such Shima Seiki innovations as digital stitch control (DSCS®) and spring-type moveable sinker system, the compact and economical SSR112 computerized flat knitting machine, P-CAM182 multi-ply computerized cutting machine suited to the automotive industry, and the SDS-ONE APEX3 3D design system capable of realistic simulation that allows for virtual sampling, minimizing the need for costly, time- and resource-consuming sample-making.

Additional exhibits taken from the ITMA Asia + CITME 2016 show held in October include Shima Seiki’s new web-based fashion archive service “staf®,” Shima KnitPLM knit product lifecycle management software, as well as knitwear produced on the latest line of computerized knitting machines, including revolutionary seam-free WHOLEGARMENT® knitwear that features superior fit, comfort and draping characteristics.

Posted November 15, 2016

Source: Shima Seiki

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