Vernon, Calif.-based SK Textile — a custom fabricator of drapery, bedding and accessories serving
the hospitality market — has partnered with Cincinnati-based Standard Textile Co. Inc. — a
vertically integrated provider of total textile solutions for healthcare, hospitality, industrial
laundry and decorative products markets — to open a new manufacturing facility in Las Vegas.

The facility, which opened October 17, will enable SK Textile to better serve its Las Vegas
customer base, which includes local hotels, purchasing companies, and designers providing
customized hospitality interior solutions. In addition, the partnership enables SK Textile to make
use of Standard Textile’s global infrastructure and provides for future growth.

“We are experiencing a very exciting period of growth and expansion in Las Vegas,” said Kim
Heiman, president, SK Textile. “The manufacturing facility in Las Vegas will help SK Textile meet
market demand and establishes a presence near our customers.”

The facility will house cut-and-sew operations, warehousing, distribution, and a design
library/workroom space. Heiman said capacity will depend on both demand as well as the custom
products the company is making, and noted the company will increase capacity to meet demand.

October 30, 2012

New York City-based business software developer Fashionware Technologies Corp. has launched a
cloud-based product lifecycle management (PLM) solution designed for small and medium-sized
companies in the fashion industry.

Fashionware PLM™ combines cloud-based computing with fashion best practices in an
easy-to-use economical solution for product management, information sharing and team collaboration.
According to the company, the solution offers improved data organization and access, and its
Web-based platform centralizes design information, improves communication, and provides visibility
into all aspects of the product lifecycle.

Fashionware PLM™ enables users to collaborate anywhere in real-time with an Internet
connection and browser.

Fashionware is inviting fashion industry professionals to participate in a private beta
program in which full access to the software and support would be provided in exchange for user
feedback. Beta users also would be eligible for incentives and discounts on license purchases or
monthly subscription rates.

October 30, 2012

Lexington, N.C.-based textile finishing machinery manufacturer Navis TubeTex reports that Tamteks
Tekstil, Turkey, has installed a TM-100 open-width compactor for its production needs.

According to Navis TubeTex, the TM-100 offers good shrinkage control for knits, particularly
for lightweight and heavyweight viscose fabrics. The machine processes 100-percent viscose fabrics
at 30 meters per minute, controlling shrinkage to less than 4 to 5 percent. It also controls
shrinkage in other hard-to-control, sensitive fabrics to less than 3 percent.

Navis TubeTex offers the TM-100 with an operator touchscreen in Turkish, and also offers
local service support for the machine. The company reports it will be installing two more machines
in Turkey by the end of this year.

October 30, 2012

>

CALHOUN, Ga. — October 29, 2012 — Mohawk Industries, Inc. (NYSE: MHK) announced today that it has
entered into an agreement to purchase Pergo, a manufacturer of laminate flooring, for $150 million
in cash. Pergo’s sales in 2011 were approximately $320 million in the U.S. and Europe. The business
is expected to be accretive in the first year. This transaction is expected to close no later than
first quarter of 2013 and is subject to customary governmental approvals and closing conditions.

Pergo is a leading manufacturer of premium laminate flooring with the most recognized brand
in the U.S. and Europe. Pergo has been a leader in laminate flooring technology, including unique
patents on design and installation methods. Pergo operates manufacturing facilities in Sweden and
the U.S.

In commenting on the acquisition, Jeffrey S. Lorberbaum, Chairman and CEO, stated, “Pergo is
a leader in laminate flooring in the U.S. and Nordic countries with premium value added strategies.
This acquisition complements our specialty distribution network with Pergo’s strength in the U.S.
DIY channel. In addition, Pergo leverages our geographic position and provides opportunities to
enhance Unilin’s patent portfolio.  The combination of the entities offers significant
opportunities to optimize the assets of both companies while enhancing the design and product
performance of both brands.”

Certain of the statements in the immediately preceding paragraphs, particularly anticipating
future performance, business prospects, growth and operating strategies and similar matters and
those that include the words “could,” “should,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects,” and
“estimates,” or similar expressions constitute “forward-looking statements.” For those statements,
Mohawk claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  There can be no assurance that the
forward-looking statements will be accurate because they are based on many assumptions, which
involve risks and uncertainties. The following important factors could cause future results to
differ: changes in economic or industry conditions; competition; inflation in raw material prices
and other input costs; energy costs and supply; timing and level of capital expenditures; timing
and implementation of price increases for the Company’s products; impairment charges; integration
of acquisitions; international operations; introduction of new products; rationalization of
operations; tax, product and other claims; litigation; and other risks identified in Mohawk’s SEC
reports and public announcements.

Source: Mohawk Industries Inc./PRNewswire

GENEVA — October 15, 2012 — Mexico notified the WTO Secretariat on 15 October 2012 of a request for
consultations with China concerning several measures allegedly taken by China to support the
production and exports of clothing and textile products. It said it had requested consultations
because China appears to maintain a wide variety of measures that support producers and exporters
of apparel and textile products, both directly and indirectly. It added that these measures appear
to involve both prohibited and actionable subsidies that are inconsistent with China’s obligations
under the Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Agreement, GATT 1994, the Agreement on Agriculture,
and China’s Accession Protocol.



Posted on October 29, 2012

Source: WTO

Are you, dear reader, one of the people who grew up in the business world writing letters and
sending telex messages? Were you astonished, too, when the fax machine sneaked into daily business
life? At that time, everyone was impressed and certain that this development was the peak of
electronic communication: Sending handwritten or typed messages and even pictures through the
telephone lines!

The WWW Explosion

In the very late 1960s, US researchers started to develop an electronic in-house
communication system, which in the future will probably lend its name to a new age of humankind.
The Internet — or, better to say, the World Wide Web — has become the global communication network
and changed the world forever. These days, most of the world’s population is connected virtually
via the Internet, and it’s common sense to have one’s own email address. Young people can’t imagine
a world without the Internet and emails. Moreover, the development of cheap cell phones accelerated
the age of fast, short and — sometimes useless — information. However, that wasn’t the end of the
electronic communication revolution — yet.

The Ultimate (?) Step: Twitter

And now, a further step has appeared in the center of the electronic communication: Twitter.
And, believe it or not, dear reader, it has been on the news, connected with the re-election
campaign of US President Barack Obama. The news said that during the second TV debate between
President Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney, 7.2 million messages — so called “tweets” — were
instantly posted online to comment on the event. Just to make it clear: 7.2 million tweets — this
means 110,000 tweets per minute. Quite amazing.

Beware Of Social Media

As the Rupp Report of last week wrote (see ”
The
Rupp Report: The Global Cotton Industry In Search Of A New Approach,”
TextileWorld.com, October 16, 2012):

In times of increased environmental consciousness, and especially in so-called
developed countries, people are asking more and more for green or sustainable production. In
addition to this increased environmental consciousness, there is the modern generation of
communication using social media such as Facebook or others to generate positive or negative
images. Due to this fact, big retailers around the world have started to think about “green or
sustainable products.” Many famous labels are producing and marketing sustainable products, or
claiming that their production sites follow sustainable, sound practices. Frankly speaking, many
times, after a check by a nongovernmental or other such organization, the results are more wishful
thinking than reality. This situation has led to some devastating misunderstandings among the
global customers — and a lack of trust.

Examples from the food industry of denial or hiding of information or providing
misinformation to the customers demonstrate that it doesn’t take long to build up a bad image. And
a bad image is the last thing that cotton needs for its future. As J. Berrye Worsham, CEO of Cotton
Incorporated, said in his opening presentation: “In the future, the customer will ask you about the
background of your cotton.” Probably, this is one of the key reasons why everybody started to talk
about sustainable products. Just remember social media!

Some readers have asked in face-to-face discussions whether the Rupp Report is not
exaggerating about this idea. Is it? Think about what can happen if your textile company has
troubles and becomes the target of a social media campaign.

Here are a few facts and figures to demonstrate the power of social media: It is estimated
that within six years, more than 150 million people will be using Twitter; with an ever-growing
tendency. Every registered user has “followers.” And President Obama is said to have 20 million
followers. But what exactly is Twitter? Frankly speaking, the Rupp Report didn’t know it, probably
just like many of its readers. According to Wikipedia, “Twitter is an online social and micro
blogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based messages of up to 140
characters, known as ‘tweets.'”

The idea was created and implemented in March 2006 by an American named Jack Dorsey. Today,
after Facebook, Twitter is probably the second most popular platform for social media. People —
sorry, the followers — can write messages containing not more than 140 characters. That’s not a
lot, you may say. However, 140 characters can destroy a good image in a fraction of a minute. It is
easy to use, and anybody can say what he or she wants. However, as a media professor from the
University of Zurich mentioned in a recent report on the radio news — yes, on the radio, most
active tweeters expect that their own views, or tweets, are confirmed by the followers.

The Fifth Dimension (?)

The classic definition of the separation of powers takes in three pillars: legislative;
executive; and judiciary. These three units are linked together by limitation of power and
liabilities so that they are committed to working together and under mutual control. The basic
understanding of this system was and is to create a balance among the different powers to reduce
and guarantee the risk of abusing power. However, many people describe the mass media to be the
fourth power. An since social media such as Facebook and Twitter came into being, law,
communication and media professionals are describing social media as the fifth power.

Does this mean that the traditional print media are in danger or that social media are the
archenemy of the print media? No, say the experts: Facebook or Twitter can only be complementary.
As a research study from the University of Zurich explains, traditional media products are not in
danger, because the social media are first of all not considered to be 100-percent faithful.
However, these media can produce a lot of damage, on the one hand because of their extreme speed
and because the messages are sent out without any control. A retweet can multiply the damage from
the original message by sending the message to all its own followers. On the other hand, one can
imagine how fast a misleading or wrong message can go around the world, especially if multinational
companies — and this includes textile companies — are in the spotlight of attention.

And Now?

Time can’t be turned back, that’s a fact. It is also useless to be upset or deny the
existence of social media. Having the textile community in mind, every individual in a leading
position should be aware of the consequences of his or her actions in a more-than-ever transparent
global market. The Rupp Report would invite its readers to share their own experiences with social
media by writing to
jrupp@textileworld.com. This message can be more than
only 140 characters.

October 23, 2012

Wichita, Kan.-based Invista’s Performance Surfaces & Materials business, which supplies bulked
continuous filament (BCF) nylon 6,6 to the carpet industry, is investing $20 million to optimize
production capacity across its North American manufacturing facilities.

Most of the investment will go toward increasing production at the company’s Camden, S.C.,
facility, and adding 50 jobs at that plant to support the expansion. Invista will add new equipment
and reconfigure existing equipment at the plant; will double production capacity of Antron® Lumena™
solution-dyed nylon with TruBlend™ fiber technology and produce a new line of 895-denier Antron
Lumena solution-dyed products for the commercial carpet industry; and will increase color
capabilities for those products.

The Camden facility’s proximity to Invista’s carpet mill customers in the Southeastern
United States played a role in the company’s decision to expand that location. The expansion is
expected to result in reduced lead times and shipping times for orders as well as increased order
flexibility.

The investment follows Invista’s announcement last year that it would expand nylon yarn
spinning capacity at its Kingston, Canada, manufacturing plant, to meet continued demand spurred by
growth of the airbag market. The Kingston plant also supplies BCF nylon 6,6 to the carpet industry;
however, Invista notes it most likely will cut back on Kingston’s carpet fiber production in
upcoming years, considering its focus on industrial yarn development at that plant and increased
carpet fiber production capabilities at the Camden plant.

October 23, 2012

W. CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. — October 10, 2012 — ASTM International announces its new initiative as a
Program Operator for Product Category Rules (PCRs) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs),
which will provide the venue for developing PCRs and verifying EPDs.

As green and sustainability become more prevalent terms, and measurement systems and labels
more common, the need is growing to understand the real environmental impact of products from raw
material extraction to disposal and recycling. 

“The ASTM International program will provide scientifically based, quantifiable information
about product parameters such as resource consumption and ozone depletion, which will give both
businesses and consumers an understanding of a product’s real impact on the environment,” says
Timothy Brooke, vice president of certification, training and proficiency testing at ASTM
International. Through ASTM’s certification program, technical advisory committees will oversee the
development process for PCRs.

PCRs will detail the rules and guidelines for developing environmental declarations for
products that can fulfill equivalent functions. EPDs will be verified to ensure their adherence to
the ISO 14040 standards as well as to ensure that life cycle assessment data accurately describes
the environmental aspects of a product. ASTM International has developed its program in accordance
with ISO 14025 – Environmental Labels and Declarations – Type III Environmental Declarations –
Principles and Procedures.

Representatives of the roofing industry are already working with ASTM to develop PCRs. A
member of ASTM’s Committee D08 on Roofing and Waterproofing, Philip Moser, P.E., a building
envelope consultant at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Waltham, Mass., says, “Virtually every roofing
product on the market now touts its green benefits, but it is often difficult for the specifier,
contractor and building owner to evaluate the veracity and relevance of the marketing claims. Once
consensus-based PCRs are developed for the North American roofing industry, environmental
declarations can use a consistent format, and, more importantly, be based on a more consistent set
of calculations and assumptions. The end result is a win-win-win for responsible manufacturers, for
concerned professionals and consumers, and for the environment.”

In ASTM Committee E60 on Sustainability, a proposed standard practice will give guidance
about information that all PCRs should contain regardless of the product. “For example, one life
cycle assessment practitioner may assume that a product is sent to a landfill at the end of life
while another may assume that a product is incinerated. Different environmental impacts result from
these two different end-of-life scenarios. This standard will fill in many of the gaps that exist
in current life cycle assessment standards,” says Amy Costello, P.E., senior environmental
scientist at Armstrong World Industries Inc., Lancaster, Pa., an E60 member and a current member of
the ASTM board of directors.

Inquiries about developing new PCRs and verifying EPDs are welcome; please contact ASTM’s
Certification and Declarations Department at cert@astm.org or visit www.astm.org/EPDs for more
information regarding the ASTM International program.

Beyond its leadership in the area of standards development, ASTM International offers
technical training programs; proficiency testing and interlaboratory study programs; certification
programs and the supplier’s declaration of conformity program, which support manufacturers, users,
researchers and laboratories worldwide.



Posted on October 23, 2012

Source: ASTM
International

Mauldin, S.C.-based textile manufacturer Mount Vernon Mills Inc. has launched its flame-resistant
(FR) fabrics brand, Mount Vernon FR.

The brand, which displays the tagline “Wear it for life,” includes a range of FR protective
fabrics in six collections: AMTEX™ C100 100-percent cotton; AMTEX PLUS 88-percent cotton/12-percent
nylon blend; RESILIENCE® 80-percent cotton/20-percent Nomex® blend; RESILIENCE TRIO
cotton/Nomex/nylon blend; PHOENIX FR denim fabrics in various weights ranging from 7.5 to 14.75
ounces per square yard; and the MY•FR custom fabric program.

The fabrics’ FR performance is guaranteed for the useful life of the garment, and meets
various standards including NFPA 70E, NFPA 2112, EN ISO 11611 and EN ISO 11612.

Mount Vernon Mills recently more than doubled capacity at its vertically integrated
manufacturing facility in Trion, Ga., to meet increased demand it has seen for its FR fabrics over
the past year. The plant features in-house control of more than 25 major processes including
spinning, weaving, dyeing and FR finishing; utilizes more than 3,000 computer-monitored control
points; and performs extensive quality assurance testing.

October 23, 2012

Pittsburgh-based Pro Towels — a provider of screen printing and embroidery services for promotional
products — will invest $2.5 million to expand its operations in Abbeville, S.C., adding 50 jobs in
the process.

The company will relocate from its existing 100,000-square-foot (ft
²) facility to a new 300,000-ft
² facility that will house its offices, warehouse and production. The increased space
will enable the company to add equipment and expand its apparel decorating business to the East
Coast. Pro Towels’ apparel decorating operations currently are run out of its Superior Decorating
division located in California.

“We are excited to expand our operations in Abbeville County,” said Kevin Nord, president,
Pro Towels. “We’ve seen demand from our customers increase recently and we need to grow our
operations to meet that demand. South Carolina has provided us with an excellent business
environment and a skilled workforce for years. We appreciate all the support we’ve received from
state and local officials.”

Pro Towels reports it soon will begin hiring for the new positions.

October 23, 2012