Geosynthetics: Strong Outlook For Growth

The geosynthetics industry is one of the largest end markets for technical textiles; and uses
woven, nonwoven, knitted and composite fabrics. The potential untapped applications for the
materials in this sector are huge. In this interview,

Textile World
 Contributing Editor Stephen M. Warner discusses the industry and the work of the Geosynthetic
Materials Association (GMA) with Boyd Ramsey, chief engineer at GSE Environmental LLC’s North
American headquarters in Houston and chair of GMA’s Executive Council; and Andrew Aho, director of
technical markets for the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI), Roseville, Minn. GMA
is a division of IFAI.

In the interest of full disclosure,

TW
 notes that Warner was active in organizing the geosynthetics industry while he was with IFAI,
establishing the Geotextile and Geomembrane divisions — now combined as the GMA. He also served as
secretary general of the Second International Conference on Geotextiles in 1982 and created the
IFAI publication Geotechnical Fabrics Review — now Geosynthetics magazine — while at IFAI.


TW: Can you give us a brief description of the geosynthetics industry? How many
companies are involved in manufacturing in North America? What are the major end markets for the
materials?



Boyd Ramsey: The demand for geosynthetics has grown dramatically in the last ten
years. The global demand in calendar year 2001 was $3.2 billion. The market shares were 42 percent
for North America, 35 percent for Europe, 16 percent for Asia Pacific and the remaining 7 percent
scattered in the rest of the world. Global sales by product type were 45 percent for geomembranes,
22 percent for geotextiles, 17 percent for geogrids and high-strength fabrics, 17 percent for
erosion control materials, and 6 percent for drainage materials. Global sales by applications were
pavement, 17 percent; erosion control, 10 percent; drainage, 11 percent; barrier products, 11
percent; and soil stabilization and reinforcement, 22 percent.

In 2010, the global demand for geosynthetics had grown to $6.1 billion. The geographic
distribution had shifted a little, too. North America’s overall market share had been slightly
reduced to 40 percent; Europe’s had fallen dramatically to 18 percent; Asia Pacific’s had grown to
22 percent; and the rest of the world’s had grown to 21 percent. Product type percentage within the
geo family of products had changed with the growth. The geomembranes percentage had slipped to 35
percent; geotextiles grew to 35 percent; geogrids and high-strength fabrics, 8 percent; erosion
control materials, 11 percent; and drainage material, 17 percent. Global sales by general
application in 2010 showed barrier products led with 34 percent of sales; stabilization and
reinforcement, 19 percent; pavement, 18 percent; drainage, 16 percent; and erosion control, 13
percent.

ExecRamsey

Boyd Ramsey


TW: Roughly how large is the North American industry in terms of yardage? Has it
grown in the last three years? What is the future growth outlook?

Ramsey: Yardage is a difficult concept. Some products are measured in yards, some
in pounds, some in square feet, and some in other units. Growth has been good the past couple of
years, returning to, and in some cases surpassing, the pre-recession levels. Future growth outlook
is also strong. Geosynthetics are still underutilized, with the reasonable potential for some areas
to have double-digit growth over the next several years.


TW: Mr. Aho, you are the managing director of GMA; and Mr. Ramsey, you currently
serve as the organization’s volunteer chairman. Can you tell us about GMA?

Andrew Aho: GMA is comprised of 80 member companies. The membership includes all
the major North American geosynthetics manufacturers, distributors and industry service providers.
The overriding goal of GMA is to help grow the geosynthetics market. GMA has been successful in
this endeavor by spearheading the development of standards and specifications that make it easier
for specifiers to spec the products; through the geosynthetics education of engineers and users;
and by the implementation of a robust government relations program for both federal and state
governments.

In addition, GMA helps organize geosynthetics conferences such as the Geosynthetics 2013
conference held last spring in Long Beach, Calif. GMA is actively in-volved in the development of
the next geosynthetics conference and trade show, Geosynthetics 2015, which will be held Feb.
15-18, 2015, in Portland, Ore. The colocation partner for Geosynthetics 2015 will be the
International Erosion Control Association.

ExecAho

Andrew Aho


TW: What are issues that can affect the industry?

Ramsey: In the U.S., Environmental Protection Agency regulations, particularly for
coal ash storage, have the potential to expand the market for the products used in these
situations. As infrastructure spending expands, the geosynthetics market share of materials used
will likely increase at the expense of traditional materials. The improved constructability of
geosynthetics and designs utilizing them are also helping to fuel expansion.

Aho: Transportation is one of the major markets for the industry. Government
transportation spending is critical. GMA would like to see the U.S. Congress pass a long-term
transportation authorization bill that would allow states to do long-range planning for
transportation projects.


TW: GMA recently held a lobby day in Washington. What were you trying to
accomplish?

Aho: GMA has been holding twice-yearly lobby days since 2006 and has developed
good relationships with key members of Congress. When GMA members visit with new members of
Congress or staffs, the goal is to introduce the industry, products and applications. GMA members
attending our recent lobby day events also advocate a long-term transportation authorization bill,
support for the coal-ash bill, and favorable language in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA)
that funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects.


TW: Mr. Ramsey, your company serves on the Executive Committee of the GMA. You’ve
been active in the GMA governance for a number of years. A trade organization like IFAI/GMA is
dependent on the volunteer contributions of companies within the industry. Can you tell us a little
about GSE Environmental?

Ramsey: GSE Environmental is a publicly traded company. It is a leading
manufacturer and marketer of geosynthetic lining products and services; and has a worldwide
presence in markets such as agriculture, aquaculture, canals, civil, golf courses, mining, power,
stormwater retention, waste containment, wastewater and other industrial applications.

GSE’s management team is led by Charles A. Sorrentino, president and CEO. The other executive
management team members are: Peter McCourt, president, International; Jeffrey Nigh, executive vice
president of Global Operations; Mark Whitney, vice president, general counsel and secretary; Daniel
Storey, senior vice president and CFO; Gregg Taylor, vice president and treasurer; and, Edward
Zimmel, vice president, engineering.

Editor’s note: Stephen M. Warner, Arden Hills, Minn., is publisher of BeaverLake6 Report,
beaverlake6.com, a Web-based newsletter reporting on
trends, data and issues that he feels influence the technical textiles industry. He also is former
president and CEO of Industrial Fabrics Association International.

November/December 2013

The Rupp Report: Chinese “Made In Italy”

For months, Bangladesh has been the focus of some very bad press due to the recent accidents in
garment factories. The Rupp Report has informed its readers in several articles about the situation
in Bangladesh. However, there is another place, and this time in Europe, that has some comparable
points. The issue is the situation in the traditional textile city of Prato, Italy.

Due to a fire in a Chinese textile factory in Prato, seven people were killed a few days
ago. The victims of the accident, seven dead and four wounded, were all Chinese. The fire disaster
draws attention to the miserable living and working conditions for what is essentially slave labor
in this town.

Many Chinese Immigrants

Among all Italian cities, Prato has by far the highest proportion of Chinese immigrants.
With a total population of about 188,000 people in the city, local authorities estimate the number
of Chinese immigrants to be 30,000. According to official data, 277,000 Chinese live in the whole
of Italy.

At first, the reason for the fire was not clear; the flames caused the collapse of part of
the factory. In this part of the building is located a sleeping area with small bedrooms for the
Chinese workers. The accident shows very drastic particular attention to the grievances. The
problem for the workers is the fact that they work illegally in the industrial building as well as
living with their families in primitive, shack-like crates. Because plastics were lying around, the
fire spread rapidly, and the barred windows on the building hindered an escape.

Taking Over Control

In the past 20 years, Chinese entrepreneurs have taken control of the apparel industry in
Italy’s textile stronghold. According to local information, countless Chinese people work without a
residence permit and at extremely low wages in the textile factories. Due to this strong
competitive pressure, many Italian textile manufacturers have been forced to close down their
activities.

According to the Chamber of Commerce of Prato, there are some 4,000 Chinese companies
throughout the province, specializing mainly in the field of “Pronto moda,” which means fast
delivery, always new models at low prices – and some 10 to 15 illegal workers in each factory.

Authorities complain that the Chinese are hardly paying any taxes and the major part of
their income is sent back home to China. On the other hand, social services, schools and hospitals
are hopelessly overburdened by the same people. The anger about the Chinese “invasion” is largely
spread around Prato. The rage of thousands of Italian workers who have lost their jobs in the
textile sector during the last few years is big and permanently increasing. Since the year 2000,
the number of people officially employed in this sector in Prato has been halved to just 20,000.


These Chinese enterprises in Prato export all over the world and supply big retailers such
as Zara, and many more smaller and local textile businesses. The hourly wage is estimated to be 1
euro, and the work shift is up to 18 hours a day. Local authorities have failed so far to control
the situation. The city councilor of Prato, Aldo Milano, responsible for the safety, lamented that
the city had been abandoned by the government despite repeated warnings.

The Italian Way

A number of representatives of the authorities in Rome expressed their horror after the
fire, and Minister for Immigration Cécile Kyenge condemned the situation at the factory as a
serious violation of human dignity. However, as in previous situations, such pronouncements were
never followed by action. In January 2010, Italy’s minister of the interior announced a tougher
fight against illegal Chinese workers in Prato. The police in this regard conducted a big raid,
which was denounced by Chinese officials for its “SS methods.” Apparently, nothing has changed in
the meantime. Nevertheless, Mayor Roberto Cenni proclaimed an official day of mourning and called
for a tougher fight against the permanent illegality in Prato.

False Labeling

The label “Made in Italy” gives a good conscience. One might think that the label stands for
good Italian fashion and products that are produced reasonably fairly and still very cheap. But the
customers are somewhat fooled and betrayed. The fact that the sweater is so inexpensive is
definitively not only because of the low-cost fiber material. The low price is up to the Chinese
companies in Prato, whose employees are working under severe and miserable conditions, as the
accident shows.

Italy has long been regarded to be a non-problematic country of production. Even the global
Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) didn’t assess the EU country to be a risk nation. For
the BSCI, even after the devastating fire in Prato, Italy is not among the high-risk countries,
like some 14 other EU member states, such as Romania or Bulgaria. Strange enough, the poor working
conditions in Italy, especially in Prato, are not news to BSCI.

With the very speedy fashion industry, Asian working conditions have now arrived in Europe.
Authorities claim that a completely deregulated paradise for Wild West capitalism was generated in
Italy, which brought the so-called sweat shops into the heart of Europe.

Different Views In Prato

In the center of Prato, the second largest city in Tuscany, the recession that has afflicted
Italy for several years is surprisingly less severe than in the rest of Italy. In spite of all
these troubles, the president of the Industrial Association of Prato, Andrea Cavicchi, pointed out
that in contrast to the situation in the rest of Italy, the local economic performance has dropped
very little during the last few years. Accordingly, the unemployment rate is around 7 percent,
which is significantly lower than the national average of 11 percent.

But how is that possible in a city that in the last 20 years has lost 4,000 enterprises,
which represent half of its textile companies that employed 20,000 people? The answer is, here is
the largest Chinatown in Italy, or in Macrolotto – the large-scale industrial district of Prato,
where the majority of the approximately 3,600 Chinese apparel manufacturers are located. According
to official estimates, these companies have an annual turnover of 1.5 billion euros, of which just
more than 50 percent comes from exports.

Miserable Working Conditions

In the buildings of the Macrolotto, the apparel not only is stored but also is produced,
mostly under miserable working conditions. Experts say that the Chinese workers would be smuggled
into the country, just like the fabrics, with some help from interested parties. They work like
slaves for a pittance of one euro per hour for their Chinese patrons.

And now, for the mayor of Prato, the tragedy was predictable. He complained bitterly about
the Chinese, who don’t follow any rules, don’t pay taxes, and don’t spend any money in Prato but
send all the cash home. On the other side, they send their children to local schools and the
hospitals are overcrowded – half of all newborn babies in Prato today are Chinese. “Prato is
helplessly overextended by the Chinese invasion,” the mayor claimed. But why has no action yet been
taken?

The Chinese Way

Local government problems are said to include the lack not only of enough police officers,
but also of legal tools. The control of the Chinese is not only due to some language barriers; it
is about the Chinese starting new businesses every year or two and taking old companies out of
service, basically to escape paying taxes. According to the Chamber of Commerce of Prato, the
annual registration of new Chinese companies is close to 50 percent of all registered companies.

Hope Of Deliverance

On the other side, the repeatedly used image by Italian media of the Chinese destroying the
traditional indigenous textile industry is said to be wrong. This is also the belief of the
president of the industrialists, Cavicchi, and the local secretary of the trade union.

According to Cavicchi, a textile entrepreneur, the situation has now stabilized. Many of the
remaining 2,800 Italian textile companies with some 20,000 employees achieved an annual turnover
last year of more than 3 billion euros, which has considerably improved their capital situation and
competitiveness. Cavicchi said that those companies are dedicated to quality and innovative
fabrics, which are in high demand in Asia. He hopes that the local and the Chinese companies in
Prato will cooperate in the future and combine their respective strengths. Previous attempts at
cooperation have mostly failed. However, Cavicchi is confident “because already two Chinese
companies became members of the Industrialists association.” The last word in this Sino-Italian
melodrama is not yet spoken.

December 10, 2013

Gulf Coast Spinning To Build Cotton Spinning Plant In Louisiana

Gulf Coast Spinning Co. LLC (GCS), a new venture undertaken by the management group of Lacassine,
La.-based Zagis USA LLC, will invest $130 million to build a cotton spinning facility in Bunkie,
La. The investment will result in the creation of an estimated 290 jobs.

The facility is the second of two mills that Zagis USA announced in 2008 it would build in
Louisiana
(See ”
Zagis
USA To Build Cotton Processing Facilities In Louisiana,”
TextileWorld.com, June 24, 2008). The company commissioned the first mill —
which represented a $20 million capital investment — in Lacassine in late 2009. The two mills now
represent a combined capital investment of approximately $150 million and together will generate
386 direct and 1,040 indirect jobs, according to Louisiana Economic Developoment (LED).

Following the completion of engineering and design work, GCS will begin construction in
mid-2014 of the 600,000-square-foot Bunkie facility comprising two mills — including a
ring-spinning mill equipped with 43,200 Zinser spindles that will be able to spin up to 450,000
pounds per week of value-added premium cotton and cotton/synthetic carded and combed yarns for knit
and woven apparel, and specialty denim yarns; and an open-end mill equipped with 17,280 rotors
supplied by five blending lines and 52 cards, with a weekly capacity of up to 2.5 million pounds of
cotton/synthetic and synthetic yarns.

GCS’s Bunkie facility will be four times larger than Zagis USA’s Lacassine mill, which
manufactures 100-percent cotton open-end yarns.

GCS plans to export most of its yarn, similarly to the Lacassine mill, which exports 85
percent of its spun yarn. Once the Bunkie mill is up and running, the two mills together will make
use of some 15 to 20 percent of Louisiana’s total cotton crop.

GCS plans to hire more than 200 employees by the end of 2015 and the remainder in 2016.

“Today’s announcement proves what the extensive agricultural resources of Louisiana can
produce, when combined with our state’s incomparable workforce and the investment of technology in
state-of-the-art facilities,” said Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. “The Zagis project in Lacassine
has shown the value of Louisiana’s cotton resources and our ability to add tremendous value to
those resources through agribusiness investments. This new cotton spinning facility in Bunkie will
bring hundreds of jobs to Avoyelles Parish and the Central Louisiana economy, providing great
career opportunities for Louisiana families for many years to come.”

December 10, 2013

IAF Welcomes Bali Agreement

ZEIST, The Netherlands — December 9, 2013 — The International Apparel Federation welcomes the new
WTO multilateral trade agreement that has been reached in Bali. The ‘trade facilitation’ package,
the prime component of the agreement, is certainly beneficial to the global apparel industry. This
industry has probably the most internationalized supply and demand structure in the world, and with
a growing market share of large retail chains and brands with a global presence,
internationalization is increasing still. The OECD Trade Facilitation Indicators estimate that
comprehensive implementation of all trade facilitation measures agreed to in Bali would reduce
total trade costs by 10% in advanced economies and by 13-15.5% in developing countries. Currently,
complicated border processes and excess red tape raise costs, which ultimately fall on our
businesses and on our consumers. Reducing these costs is a large benefit to the apparel industry.

The IAF also welcomes the fact that this WTO agreement shows that the agricultural sector
does not always block advances in multilateral trade agreements, as has happened too often in this
Doha Round. It also serves as a wakeup call to the apparel industry that despite the real progress
that is being made in multi- and plurilateral trade agreements, the multilateral trade agenda
deserves more attention. The IAF, representing the apparel industry in all continents, will boost
the discussion among its members about the desired direction for the apparel industry of further
multilateral trade negotiations.

With a retail value of over 1.3 trillion US$, much of which crosses borders, the apparel
industry is well placed to reap a large benefit from the Bali agreement and could potentially
benefit from the revival of multilateral trade talks that seems to be emerging from the Indonesian
island of Bali.

Posted December 10, 2013

Source: IAF

Burlington And Cone Denim Join Nanomanufacturing Innovation Consortium

GREENSBORO, N.C. — December 4, 2013 — International Textile Group, Inc. (ITG) announced today that
its Burlington and Cone Denim divisions have joined the Nanomanufacturing Innovation Consortium
(NIC), a global leader in nanomanufacturing research.  

The NIC operates as a program of the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering (JSNN),
a collaboration between North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro,  located at the Gateway University Research Park
in Greensboro, NC.  NIC members have access to JSNN’s ongoing research in nanobiology,
nanomaterials, and cleanroom technologies including access to JSNN research and testing facilities.

Dale Arnold, Vice President Product Development for Burlington, believes involvement in NIC
will complement and expand ongoing research within the company’s Burlington Labs and Cone 3D
R&D groups, which serve as advanced research incubators.  “We see opportunities ahead to
collaborate on R&D projects related to our efforts in nanotechnology and nanoengineering that
will lead to new advanced chemistries and performance fabrics,” he said. “And the close proximity
of the consortium facilities to our offices and labs opens up immediate opportunities to utilize
the testing equipment and laboratories at JSNN as an extension of our own facilities and conduct
tests that previously had to be performed outside.” 

Dr. Jim Ryan, Dean JSNN, commented, “We are extremely pleased that industry leaders like
Burlington and Cone have joined the consortium, and we look forward to working with them on
advanced textile technologies.” 

A recent report released by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies acknowledged more than
1200 companies, universities, government laboratories, and other organizations in the U.S. that are
involved in nanotechnology research and commercialization, an increase of more than 50 percent over
the last  two years.  “Our company has been deeply involved in nanoresearch and its
application to textile technologies for more than 12 years, and we continue to lead industry
efforts to innovate in new directions.  Our commitment to product development and R&D set
up apart,” said Arnold.

Burlington Labs, established in 2006, serves as the R&D incubator to provide sustainable
innovations and truly unique performance solutions to support Burlington customers and partners.
Cone Denim launched the Cone 3D incubator earlier this year focused on the elements of denim,
design, and development in the advancement of denim innovations.

Posted December 10, 2013

Source: International Textile Group

Marks And Spencer And SDC Enterprises Collaborate On Quality

BRADFORD, England — December 5, 2013 — Marks and Spencer Plc. has partnered with SDC Enterprises
Limited and UL VS UK Ltd. to develop and produce a new Multifibre Adjacent fabric, SDCE Multifibre
. The existing Multifibre fabrics (DW type), approved for use in M&S accredited testing,
contain an Acetate component which is considered to be no longer commercially relevant. This
acetate component has been replaced by a Lyocell component, which is more relevant to the fibres
commonly found in modern fabrics for general apparel.

Extensive testing has confirmed that the specific regenerated cellulose fibre selected, the
Lyocell component, provides an optimum level of staining to accurately predict the staining
performance of the principal types of regenerated cellulose (Lyocell, Modal and Viscose), and their
blends. The testing also demonstrated that the substitution of the Acetate fibre with a Lyocell
fibre does not, in any way, alter the staining performance of the other five fibre components.

To ensure the continuity and reproducibility of the staining performance, between batches of
SDCE LyoWTM and between merges of yarn, SDCE have introduced a number of new dye injection test
methods. These tests will be conducted in addition to those methods, originally developed by SDC,
adopted under ISO 105 F10 – as referenced in M&S C03.

To readily distinguish between SDCE Multifibre LyoWTM and DW type Multifibre, SDCE has
positioned its security thread in the selvedge alongside the Lyocell component. SDCE Multifibre DW
has the security thread on the same side as the wool stripe, wool being the most easily identified
component.

SDCE Multifibre LyoWTM is the first major development of a Multifibre adjacent fabric since
SDCE Multifibre DW was introduced in 1987. The use of SDCE Multifibre LyoWTM will be exclusively
for M&S test methods and M&S accredited laboratories.

Posted December 10, 2013

Source: SDC Enterprises

Statement By U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman N Korea’s Announcement Regarding The Trans-Pacific Partnership

WASHINGTON, DC — November 29, 2013 — Today, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman issued the
following statement regarding the announcement made by Deputy Prime Minister Hyun Oh-seok of the
Republic of Korea regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP):

 

“The United States welcomes Korea’s expression of interest in joining TPP.  Korea plays
an important role in the regional economy, and its interest in the TPP demonstrates the significant
importance of this initiative to the region.

 

“In close consultation with Congress and our domestic stakeholders, we look forward to
consulting with Korea at an appropriate time to lay the groundwork for Korea’s possible entry into
the TPP.   The U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement already demonstrates that Korea and the
United States share a common approach with regard to certain rules for trade and investment. As
with previous prospective members, these consultations will focus on Korea’s readiness to meet high
standards across the TPP, as well as to address outstanding bilateral issues of concern including
full implementation of existing obligations.

 

“President Obama, the other TPP Leaders and their teams are currently working actively to
complete the negotiations.  Given that prior to entry any new member needs to complete
bilateral consultations with current TPP members and those members need to complete domestic
processes, as appropriate, the possible entry of any new country would be expected to occur after
the negotiations among the current members are concluded.”

Posted December 3, 2013

Source: USTR

Invista Expands Its XPURE® Polyester Product Range

HATTERSHEIM, Germany — December 2, 2013 — INVISTA, one of the world’s largest integrated polymers
and fibers producers, announces the expansion of its XPURE® portfolio of polyester products made
with a next generation catalyst system.

Recent additions to this portfolio include the XPURE 7001 and 701K polyester copolymers.
XPURE 7001 polyester is an amorphous resin while XPURE 701K is a pre-crystallized resin. Both
products offer a melting point of about 224°C which is about 30°C lower than a standard
polyethyleneterephthalate. Application examples include packaging films and bicomponent fibers.

Invista’s XPURE polyester polymers are manufactured with a new generation catalyst system
and offer easy flowing properties for better processability, a well as the possibility to use
non-reactive thermal bonding methods.

“Initial customer testing of XPURE 7001 and 701K polyester polymers have been extremely well
received,” said Achim Heyer, business director Europe, polymers. “Customers reported a wider
processing window versus standard polyesters, allowing to manufacture non-standard products such as
thick transparent films. We hope that the expanded range will build a business growth platform for
our valued customers.”

Food contact approvals and confirmations are available on request.

Posted December 3, 2013

Source: Invista

Nylstar Increases Its Production Capacity To 17,000 Annual Tons

BLANES, Spain — November 27,  2013 — Nylstar®, one of the leading suppliers of nylon 6.6 and
worldwide known by its brand Meryl®, announces an investment of more than 1.200.000€ that enables
the company to significantly increase its production capacity from 15.000 to 17.000 annual tons.

The investment comprises an installation of 21 Barmag winding machines that will increase
productivity and will reduce waste considerably. This investment will allow Nylstar to enlarge the
variety of its product range; with a clear commitment of the company to deliver even more
value-added products. The new equipment will be installed in January 2014 and will be operating
immediately. 

“This investment is a direct consequence of the growing demand of fine count yarns that has
been reflected in our sales recently,” stated Zigor Kortazar, Nylstar’s Corporate General Manager.
“We aim to operate this new installation as a matter to continually improve our service to our
worldwide customer base,” Mr. Kortazar added.

With challenging conditions both in the textile industry and in the market, Nylstar has been
able to increase 10% YTD its sales volume as the result of its focus on innovation and customer
service. 2014 awaits a year of further investments for Nylstar and for its principal brand, Meryl.

Posted December 3, 2013

Source: Nylstar

Global Inkjet Systems Upgrades Electronics – Now Supports Latest High Speed Kyocera 600dpi Printheads

CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom — December 3, 2013 — Global Inkjet Systems (GIS), a leading developer of
software drivers, print quality software and electronics for industrial inkjet printheads, today
announced new Head Interface Boards (HIBs) for the Kyocera 600dpi KJ4A/B printhead range. The new
HIBs replace the previous HIB, which only supported Kyocera’s first generation of 600dpi
printheads.

There are two versions of the new HIB: one for the Kyocera KJ4A 600dpi UV cure ink
printheads; and one for the Kyocera KJ4B 600dpi aqueous ink printheads.



GIS Head Interface Board/Kyocera Printheads Supported/Ink Type

HIB-KY-KJ4A/KJ4A-TA 20kHz or KJ4A-RH 30kHz/UV Cure

HIB-KY-KJ4B/KJ4B-QA 30kHz or KJ4B-YH 40kHz/Aqueous

The HIBs provide access to all standard printhead settings including temperature control,
greyscale drop size mapping, voltage trimming and waveform upload and read back.

Almost any print resolution is possible, including native 600dpi x 600dpi; asymmetric e.g.
1200dpi x 600dpi; non-standard asymmetric e.g. 480dpi x 600dpi and interlaced e.g. 1400dpi x
1200dpi – using multiple printheads.

The HIBs also drive full rate binary and greyscale data and require a single 24V power supply
to support the full operating voltage range of the printheads. 

“The new higher frequency printheads from Kyocera printheads are very data hungry” commented
Nick Geddes, CEO of GIS. “This is an increasing trend in the market and these new HIBs will be
offered to customers in conjunction with our recently launched USB 3.0 Print Manager Board which
increases data throughput up to 2,700 Mb/s.”

The new Kyocera HIBs are now shipping in volume. GIS is also developing a HIB for the
2-colour Kyocera KJ403T 300dpi aqueous ink printhead – this new HIB will be available early
2014. 

Posted December 3, 2013

Source: Global Inkjet Systems

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