October 2016
Governor Mccrory Announces King Charles Industries To Bring 100 Textile Jobs To Anson County
RALEIGH, N.C. — October 25, 2016 — Governor Pat McCrory, North Carolina Commerce Secretary John E. Skvarla III, and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) today announced the arrival of King Charles Industries LLC to Anson County. The textile company intends to hire 100 people over the next three years at its new $12.5-million manufacturing site.
“North Carolina remains the Southeast’s leading state for manufacturing employment with more than 461,000 jobs,” said Governor McCrory. “Our manufacturing economy is highly innovative, diversified and competitive at the global level and we are delighted to welcome King Charles Industries to Anson County.”
Since Governor McCrory took office in January of 2013, the state’s economy has generated more than 300,000 net new jobs.
King Charles Industries is a joint venture between Taiwan’s Kingwhale Corp. and Hornwood Inc, a 70-year-old North Carolina textile company. Kingwhale, founded in 1992, is a vertically-integrated provider of performance fabric and garments for the global apparel industry. The company was an official garment supplier for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. Lilesville, N.C.-based Hornwood makes an extensive line of products for buyers in the automotive, apparel, medical and other industries. It employs 350 in North Carolina.
“This announcement shows the broad-base of North Carolina’s manufacturing leadership,” said Secretary Skvarla. “With its innovation and global nature, King Charles Industries is a 21st century take on one of our state’s traditional manufacturing industries.
King Charles Industries will employ 100 workers at its new operations in Anson County. Positions will include skilled operators, shift supervisors, warehouse personnel and others. The company’s payroll will add nearly $2.8 million in annual salary impact to the local economy.
“We are excited about the opportunity to build a new business with the latest in technology in Anson County,” said King Charles Industries Chairman Chuck Horne. “In addition to the State of North Carolina and Anson County, we owe a special thanks to North Carolina’s Southeast Regional Economic Development Partnership for their assistance”
The project was made possible in part by a performance-based grant of up to $300,000 from the One North Carolina Fund. The One NC Fund provides financial assistance, through local governments, to attract business projects that will stimulate economic activity and create new jobs in the state. Companies receive no money up front and must meet job creation and investment performance standards to qualify for grant funds. One NC grants also require and are contingent on financial matches from local governments.
“I welcome this leading-edge producer of performance apparel to Anson County,” said N.C. Senator Tom McInnis. “We look forward to King Charles Industries being a valued long-term member of North Carolina’s manufacturing community.”
“Congratulations to this global joint venture as it embarks on this exciting investment,” said N.C. Rep. Mark Brody. “The arrival of King Charles Industries highlights the close collaboration that exists among our local, regional and state economic development organizations. I appreciate the team effort that led to this significant opportunity for Anson County, and we are letting the world know that Anson County is open for business.”
Joining EDPNC and N.C. Commerce in supporting King Charles Industries’ new location are the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, Anson County, the Anson Economic Development Partnership and North Carolina’s Southeast Regional Partnership.
Posted October 25, 2016
Source: Governor Pat McCrory — The Governor of North Carolina
Polartec Innovates Breathable Waterproof Fabric For Teton Bros.
LAWRENCE, Mass. — October 25, 2016 — Polartec has announced collaborative development work with Teton Bros., the Japanese apparel brand focused on functional backcountry apparel. Polartec created new versions of Polartec® NeoShell® — the most breathable waterproof fabric — specifically for the Teton Bros. TB 2.0 Jacket, which is available today. These new waterproof NeoShell fabrics offer an unprecedented combination of supple stretch, breathability, and overall comfort.
Nori and Junko Suzuki founded Teton Bros. to create the apparel they need for high-exertion activity in the mountains. When Polartec introduced breathable comfort and waterproof protection with NeoShell, Teton Bros. became one of the first brands to use it to make more functional and versatile waterproof gear.
Polartec creates versions of NeoShell with different fabrics on either side of the membrane, all of which can be engineered to achieve different performance characteristics. Given these capabilities, Nori Suzuki challenged Polartec to create even more breathable, stretchier, more supple, but still highly durable NeoShell fabrics for the brand’s TB 2.0 Jacket, its flagship product.
With this brief, the Polartec development team worked to create NeoShell fabrics specifically for the needs of Teton Bros. This resulted in a more supple 70 by 160 denier mechanical stretch nylon woven NeoShell fabric that balances drape and stretch with high durability for greater mobility in the body of the garment, and an extremely abrasion resistant and durable Supplex nylon woven face NeoShell fabric for use over the shoulders and waist of the jacket. Both fabrics are paired with a proprietary fine gauge circular knit textile on the interior that is softer, stretchier, and less prone to snagging than traditional tricot waterproof fabric linings. These specific iterations of Polartec NeoShell are exclusive to Teton Bros., and according to Mr. Suzuki, are “like wearing air.”
“There are other stretchy waterproof fabrics on the market, but not with the breathability of NeoShell,” says Peter Lord, Polartec global product manager for weather protection. “The new knit NeoShell styles we’ve engineered are the softest, most breathable, and most comfortable NeoShell fabrics ever created. You’ll want to put them on and leave them on.”
See the new site and video Here
Posted October 25, 2016
Source: Polartec
End Of Q3: Same Old, Same Old
By Jim Phillips, Yarn Market Editor
Yarn spinners by and large ended the third quarter of 2016 well below the expectations they had at year’s onset.
“It’s just morose,” said one spinner. “We are getting spot business, but nothing compared to what we expected this year and what we have experienced the past three years. The yarn business is somewhat depressed everywhere.”
Added another spinner: “Orders are short and sporadic. It seems that retailers are waiting for every single thing to move off their shelves before they reorder. It has been disheartening.”
Most spinners say, however, that, unlike previous downturns, their businesses are not in jeopardy. “We have enough to keep us going, even if, at times, it is just barely; that’s the important thing,” noted one spinner.
Yet another had the same answer as in previous months: “Lots of very short, specialized orders and lots of changing out. Nobody wants long runs of anything.”
This particular slowdown began the last month of 2015. Spinners expected business to rebound early in 2016, but it never happened. Many blame the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, which has created an atmosphere of uncertainty for many Americans. “Never have I seen so many people concerned about our national leadership. They don’t know what to believe or who to trust. It seems that the election has created a national panic of sorts. Who do we want in office — the bigot or the liar? I’ve heard from more than one person that ‘if so and so is elected, I’m moving to Canada.”
Another spinner agreed: “We’ve spent the better part of the last decade recovering from an awful recession. And now, we are not certain where our country is headed. Do we alienate all the relationships we have tried to build or do we concentrate on building walls around our nation? For a lot of people, regardless of who is elected, it is going to be wait and see.”
Optimism For The Future
In contrast to the concern about who will be the next president is the growing confidence consumers have in the current state of the U.S. economy. The Conference Board reported in late September that consumer confidence had reached a nine-year high. “Consumer confidence increased in September for a second consecutive month and is now at its highest level since the recession,” said Lynn Franco, director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “Consumers’ assessment of present-day conditions improved, primarily the result of a more positive view of the labor market. Looking ahead, consumers are more upbeat about the short-term employment outlook, but somewhat neutral about business conditions and income prospects. Overall, consumers continue to rate current conditions favorably and foresee moderate economic expansion in the months ahead.
Consumers’ optimism regarding the short-term outlook was more favorable in September. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months decreased from 17.6 percent to 16.5 percent. However, those expecting business conditions to worsen also declined from 11.4 percent to 10.2 percent.
The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey®, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch.
However, the impact of increased confidence on the yarn industry may not be felt for a few months. “I do think we are going to turn the corner,” said one spinner, “but probably not until the first quarter of next year. Once inventories get depleted over the holiday season, I expect to see an influx of orders early in the new year. I am optimistic that 2017 will begin a return to the activity we’ve seen over the three previous years.”
Cotton Prices Still Inching Up
Quotations for the base quality of cotton (color 41, leaf 4, staple 34, mike 35-36 and 43-49, strength 27.0-28.9, uniformity 81.0-81.9) in the seven designated markets measured by the USDA averaged 69.47 cents per pound for the week ended Thursday, October 20, 2016. The weekly average was up from 66.87 cents the previous week and 61.84 cents reported the corresponding period a year ago. Daily average quotations ranged from a high of 69.85 cents Monday, October 17, to a low of 68.54 cents Thursday, October 20. Spot transactions reported in the Daily Spot Cotton Quotations for the week ended October 20 totaled 18,347 bales. This compares to 4,907 bales reported the previous week and 13,125 spot transactions reported the corresponding week a year ago. Total spot transactions for the season were 62,548 bales, compared to 75,070 bales the corresponding week a year ago. The ICE December settlement prices ended the week at 69.80 cents, compared to 69.31 cents the previous week.
October 2016
IAC Announces 18th Fashion + Design Conference “PIONEERS” November 4 & 5, 2016
NEW YORK CITY — October 25, 2016 — Today, Initiatives in Art & Culture (IAC) announced further details on its “Pioneers in Denim” panel to take place Friday, November 4, 2016, from 4:30 – 5:45 p.m. at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue. The panel will include: Tricia Carey, Director of Global Business Development Apparel – Denim, Lenzing Fibers; Jean Hegedus, Global Director, INVISTA’s Denim and Wovens Business; Alvyda Kupinas, Design Director, Kaltex America, the US sales and marketing arm of Grupo Kaltex; Kara Nicholas, Vice President Product Development & Marketing, Cone Denim; moderator, Jeffrey P. Silberman, Professor and Chairperson, Textile Development and Marketing Department, Fashion Institute of Technology.
“IAC was deeply engaged with the exploration of pioneering endeavors in the fashion and jewelry worlds when developing topics covered in the presentations in this event,” said Lisa Koenigsberg, Founder, IAC. “We wanted to showcase innovation while laying bare the creative core of dynamic areas of design so that those who attend can learn from legends and visionaries as they reveal their powerful and informative stories.”
The conference will feature presentations on creative design innovation, advancements in materials technology, and cutting-edge business methods and strategies from industry pioneers past and present.
Formal sessions for this event will be held at The Graduate Center, City University of New York (365 Fifth Avenue). Presenters include Teri Agins, Author; Simon Bath, Technical Sales Manager, Johnson Matthey; Kate Black, Founder, Magnifeco.com; Larry Bock, Sales Director, Hoover & Strong; Robert Burke, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Robert Burke Associates; Stephen Burrows, Designer; Tricia Carey, Director of Global Business Development Apparel—Denim, Lenzing Fibers; Carly Cushnie, Designer, Cushnie et Ochs; Kristy Caylor, Founder, CERCI; Pat Cleveland, Model; Jo Confino, Executive Editor, Impact & Innovation, The Huffington Post; Lauren Croke, Consultant; Evert deGraeve, Consultant; Chris Del Gatto, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, The Del Gatto Luxury Group and DELGATTO; Eileen Fisher, Founder and Chairwoman, Eileen Fisher; Teresa Frye, President and Chief Executive Officer, TechForm Advanced Casting Technology; Jean Hegedus, Global Director, INVISTA—Denim and Wovens; Susan Helmich, Owner, Susan Helmich Design; Jose Hess, Jewelry Designer; Andrea Hill, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Hill Management Group; Margo Isadora, Designer, Urban Zen; Erin Isakov, Co-Founder and Designer, Erin Snow; Lucy Jones, Designer, Lucy Jones Design; Joshua Katcher, Founder and Creative Director, Brave GentleMan; Mickey Alam Khan, Editor in Chief, Luxury Daily; Nikolay Tamazovich Khikhinashvili, General Director, New Diamond Technology; Sara Kozlowski, Director of Education and Professional Development, CFDA; Alvyda Kupinas, Design Director, Kaltex America; Joseph Kuzi, Founder, Diamond Services Ltd.; Nili Lotan, Designer; Orin Mazzoni, Director, “Sharing the Rough;” Kara Nicholas, Vice President Product Development and Marketing, Cone Denim; Paul W. Nordt III, Executive Vice President, John C. Nordt Co.; Michelle Ochs, Designer, Cushnie et Ochs; Lloyd Pasach, Designer and Chief Operating Office, ALTR and R. A. Riam Group; Jason Payne, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ada Diamonds; Kevin C. Reilly, Vice President, Platinum Guild International; Ralph Rucci, Designer; Susan Scafidi, Professor and Academic Director, Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School; Mark Schneider, Jewelry Designer; Amish Shah, President, ALTR & R. A. Riam Group; Jeffrey P. Silberman, Professor and Chairperson, Textile Development and Marketing Department, The Fashion Institute of Technology; Valerie Steele, Director and Chief Curator, The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology; Andre Leon Talley, Contributing Editor, Vogue; Jim Tuttle, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Green Lake Jewelry Works; Gary Wassner, Chief Executive Officer, Hilldun Corporation; Rie Yano, Co-Founder, Material Wrld.
Posted October 25, 2016
Source: Initiatives in Art & Culture (IAC)
Meridian Brings Wool Carpet Yarn Production Back To North America
VALDESE, N.C. — October 25, 2016 — Meridian Specialty Yarn Group Inc. (MSYG) has begun production of wool and wool/polyester blend carpet yarns at the company’s newly expanded Ranlo, N.C., plant.
This is a new product line for MSYG, and also represents the return of wool carpet yarn production to North America. The wool yarns produced will serve the high end, tufted and woven carpet and rug markets and will be offered in various blends and colors using naturally colored wool, along with a complete range of shades of top dyed wool.
Sample yarns were produced earlier this year on the plant’s newly installed preparation, blending, twisting and winding equipment and full wool carpet yarn production began this October (2016) in a newly renovated section of the Ranlo plant. The new wool carpet yarn operation expands the Ranlo plant’s production capacity by an estimated 25%.
“All of us at MSYG are excited about the opportunity to bring wool carpet yarn production back to the United States,” said Tim Manson, president, MSYG. “As bulked continuous filament (BCF) yarns came to dominate the carpet yarn supply chain, long staple spinning capacity for wool yarns in North America began to disappear and ultimately exited the market, leaving imported yarns as the sole supply.”
Manson added that the new carpet yarn business unit is a natural extension of the company’s experience and technology at the Ranlo plant, where MSYG already supplies yarns for other markets.
“By having a segregated unit set up solely for carpet yarn production, we believe we can fill a void left in the domestic market,” Manson said. “When coupled with the top dyeing and yarn printing capabilities at our Valdese wet processing facility, we are adding a new dimension to this product line with top dyed solid shades, blended heathers, marled yarns and other color effects.”
MSYG has been spinning and twisting coarse count, long staple yarns in wool and other fibers for many years at its Ranlo plant, serving upholstery, hosiery, craft and apparel markets.
The Ranlo operation has numerous yarn formation capabilities including ring spinning and twisting, hollow spindle, Taslan, Dima air injection yarns, fancy twist and self-twist. Fibers processed are wool, wool blends with acrylic or polyester, stretch broken producer dyed acrylic, and olefin fibers, among others.
Posted October 25, 2016
Source: Meridian
Arkansas Bringing 400 New Jobs Back from China; Suzhou Tianyuan Garments Co. Investing In United States
BEIJING — October 20, 2016 — Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson today announced the signing of an memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Suzhou Tianyuan Garments Co., wrapping up another successful trade mission overseas. As part of the deal, Tianyuan will create 400 jobs and invest $20 million in Little Rock.
Tianyuan is a garment manufacturer specializing in the production of casual and sportswear, including garments for Adidas, Reebok, and Armani. The company’s annual production is approximately 10 million articles of clothing and currently supplies 90 percent of garments under the Adidas brand.
“I am thrilled to announce that Tianyuan has chosen Arkansas as their North American home. Arkansas’ strategic location will give them great access to the US market and beyond,” said Governor Hutchinson.
“This deal with Tianyuan shows the continued momentum we have with companies looking to invest in Arkansas,” said Mike Preston Executive Director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
AEDC will continue to work with the company to finalize additional details. Tianyuan hopes to be operational by the end of 2017.
Suzhou Industrial Park Tianyuan Garments Co. (Tianyuan) was founded in 1998. In 2015, the company was named one of the top 100 garment companies in China. The company’s primary activity is the production of casual and sportswear garments, including garments for Adidas, Reebok, and Armani. Tianyuan was one of several suppliers for the 2014 World Cup and for the Italian Olympic Team in 2016. Tianyuan has five facilities in China.
Posted October 25, 2016
Source: Asa — Arkansas’s Governor
EFI Reports Record Third Quarter Revenue Of $246 Million, Up 7 Percent
FREMONT, Calif. — October 24, 2016 — Electronics For Imaging Inc. (EFI) today announced its results for the third quarter of 2016.
For the quarter ended September 30, 2016, the Company reported record third quarter revenue of $245.6 million, up 7 percent compared to third quarter 2015 revenue of $228.7 million. GAAP net income was $17.7 million or $0.37 per diluted share, up 76 percent, compared to $10.3 million or $0.21 per diluted share for the same period in 2015. Non-GAAP net income was $27.6 million or $0.58 per diluted share, up 16 percent, compared to non-GAAP net income of $24.1 million or $0.50 per diluted share for the same period in 2015.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2016, the Company reported revenue of $725.4 million, up 16 percent year-over-year compared to $626.0 million for the same period in 2015. GAAP net income was $25.0 million or $0.52 per diluted share, up 8 percent, compared to $23.2 million or $0.48 per diluted share for the same period in 2015. Non-GAAP net income was $80.5 million or $1.68 per diluted share, up 18 percent, compared to non-GAAP net income of $68.5 million or $1.42 per diluted share for the same period in 2015.
“Our balanced business model was again the story in the third quarter. We are delighted with the strong organic growth in our Industrial Inkjet and Productivity Software segments, coupled with a rebound in cash from operations,” said Guy Gecht, CEO, EFI. “We are entering the home stretch of 2016 with a robust pipeline of opportunities to partner with customers around the world in transforming and growing their businesses.”
Posted October 25, 2016
Source: Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (EFI)
Total Testing Center: The Power To Manage Quality And Productivity Throughout The Mill With Uster
USTER, Switzerland — October 23, 2016 — Spinning mills today are expected to transform incoming raw material that fluctuates in quality and cost into a consistent yarn that exactly meets the needs of customers. This difference between input and output is the critical balance which determines customer satisfaction, market reputation and ultimately the mill’s own profitability – and ideally this balance is optimized by a sophisticated system.
One of the challenges for spinners today is the cost of failure to manage quality at each stage of production, and especially of preventing ‘good’ material being wasted. This can be huge, running into hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Yet, besides the savings, the opportunities arising from proper management of the mill with quality in mind are equally great – and yet totally aligned with USTER’s unique Think Quality approach.
As an example, a typical 40,000-spindle mill might produce 12.5 million kilos of Ne 30 combed yarn over two years. With conventional quality detection procedures, the mill will be rejecting large amounts of waste – a proportion of which could actually be perfectly usable if the process was optimized with the full set of data. Fiber ejected in blowroom control of foreign matter content might produce 168 million ejections over the two-year period. In combing, 2.9 million kilos of noil will be generated. Additionally, the mill could expect 20 million end-breaks at ring spinning, and then still find as many as 760 million defects needing removal by yarn clearers in winding.
Realistic possibilities now exist for optimizing this waste for example, blowroom ejections by 10-20% would be feasible, comber noil by 0.5%, end-breaks in spinning by 5 per 1,000 spindle hours and winding splices by 5-10 per 100 km. There is a potential of a total saving to the mill over the two years’ production of $200-250,000.
One system, covering all processes
A single quality management and control system capable of guiding mills towards these quality and productivity improvements might seem to spinners like an impossible dream. In fact, the ideal begins to become a reality, with the Total Testing Center, now available with the new USTER® TESTER 6. The keyword is ‘Total’ – with the integration of laboratory and in-production data across the entire mill. It is one solution, with the essential multi-process coverage that enables intelligent optimization of each department. From bale laydown to ring spinning and winding, information from each process stage is inter-linked to others, and to the whole.
Connectivity across processes
The Total Testing Center aims to bring together all the vital quality data from USTER® systems, with the advantages increasing for the spinning mill with each USTER® instrument connected to it. The following are some of the possibilities:
The ring spinning process itself is the single most labor-intensive operation in the mill, so optimization here, for example, will bring significant benefits. The USTER® SENTINEL monitoring system will link into the Total Testing Center to provide analysis of the three-way relationship between raw material, ring spinning performance and quality data from yarn clearers at winding. Its results will facilitate improvements in several aspects of ring spinning performance, including productivity, and streamlining operative workloads for best use of labor etc.
The latest USTER® QUANTUM 3 Anniversary Edition yarn clearers not only provide a final-stage report on yarn quality by feeding data into the Total Testing Center, they also link with measurements from the USTER® TENSOJET strength tester for yarn performance prediction.
In the laboratory, the new USTER® TESTER 6 combines data gathered through the Total Testing Center to provide the prognosis guidance for fabric appearance and weaving performance and additionally predicting the level of pilling which can be expected. USTER® TESTER 6 also provides quality comparisons, matching yarn lots and end-uses to highlight any differences. Using USTER® STATISTICS figures, spinners can then check that their entire yarn production will achieve the required quality for each application.
By linking the USTER® AFIS fiber testing instrument to the Total Testing Center, spinners can optimize waste in spinning preparation. This system also helps to fine-tune production and pinpoint quality issues in other areas, such as correcting carding and comber settings.
As described, access to the Total Testing Center, and connecting multiple USTER® instruments to it, means that spinners for the first time have the information they need to take total control of their quality and productivity. Besides adding to the capability, it gives the confidence to make the right decisions, for sustained profitability and satisfied customers. With more connections to come, for the Total Testing Center the future is just beginning.
Posted October 25, 2016
Source: Uster Technologies
