ROSEVILLE, Minn. — January 17, 2012 — At a time when President Obama and his administration are on
a new mission to repatriate American manufacturing jobs, the U.S. Industrial Fabrics Institute
(USIFI) recently scored a small victory for the textile industry. USIFI is the manufacturing
segment of the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI), and has a long track record of
fighting policy decisions that kill American manufacturing jobs —
semper vigilans.

This mission began two-and-a-half years ago when a surprise reinterpretation of the Berry
Amendment was announced by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) saying that military tents could be
constructed with components made offshore. That subtle interpretive phrasing would curtail American
companies, and was contrary to the spirit of the Berry Amendment, (USC, Title 10, Section 2533a), a
law which requires the Department of Defense to give preference in procurement to domestically
produced, manufactured, or home grown products.

Congress originally passed domestic source restrictions as part of the 1941 Fifth
Supplemental DoD Appropriations Act in order to guarantee a domestic source for products needed
during war. 



The battle begins

In 2009 at the request of its membership — the U.S. military tent supply chain —
USIFI sent a letter to Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, explaining the industry’s understanding
of Berry compliance and requesting written clarification of the new DLA interpretation.

An August 2009 response from Nancy Heimbaugh, Director, Strategic Acquisition, DLA,
reiterated DLA’s position that only the fabric used in tents is subject to the Berry Amendment’s
domestic purchasing restriction; since tent components were not mentioned.  

Ms. Heimbaugh’s letter cited as example a phrase in the Berry Amendment statute that refers
specifically to components of clothing items. (This section of the Berry Amendment had been changed
in 2006; prior to that time, no mention of clothing components had been included in the Berry
Amendment.) Because of similar issues of non-compliant clothing components like buttons and
embroidered emblems being used in military apparel, the apparel industry initiated the 2006 change
to the Berry Amendment.

The division advances 

In the intervening months, USIFI polled the military tent-supply chain, including member and
non-member companies and textile and non-textile component producers to determine if broad support
existed for changing the statute’s language to include tent components. There was no dissention.
 

USIFI member company Easton Technical Products stepped forward to lead the effort with help
from Outdoor Venture Corporation, Camel Manufacturing, and Johnson Outdoors — three of the largest
domestic MilSpec tent manufacturers. In addition, a number of tent frame, trim, and fabric
suppliers agreed to help achieve a solution.

During 2009, 2010 and 2011, because of DLA’s new interpretation of the Berry Amendment, new
DoD contracts have been awarded to bidders using imported components. This created an industry-wide
sourcing issue which threatens many jobs within the domestic military shelter supply chain during a
time of high unemployment and economic uncertainty.    

A concerted effort was made to write language into the FY2011
Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act that included domestic tent components as
part of any contracts let by the DoD. Working through the office of Congressman Rob Bishop (UT,
1st), who at the time was on the House Armed Services Committee, leadership of the Defense
Logistics Agency (DLA) was informed of the inconsistency and the industry’s interest in fixing the
error.  

USIFI, with the assistance of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC),
worked with Rep. Rob Bishop to craft legislative language to correct DLA’s mistaken interpretation.
Rep. Bishop, following the counsel of the staff of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), was
able to propose that the following language be added to the DoD Authorization bill, H.R. 5136, in
2010:

“The committee is aware that the Director, Defense Logistics Agency has chosen to interpret
the requirement to buy certain articles from domestic sources per subsection (b) of section 2533(a)
of title 10 United States Code in such a manner that it applies expressly to tents, tarpaulins, or
covers, but not to the materials and components of tents, tarpaulins, or covers. The committee is
concerned that this narrow interpretation of the statute is inconsistent with the law. Therefore,
the committee directs the Director, Defense Logistics Agency to review the interpretation of the
current statute to ensure that they are compliant with both the law and with congressional intent
and submit a report to the Congressional defense committees not later than Oct. 1, 2011, explaining
how the committee’s concerns were addressed.”     

A battle lost

The HASC staff did not feel, at that time, that an attempt to amend the existing statutory
language was warranted. Their proposed statement offered a strong indication that Congress’ intent
was that the military shelter components be covered under the domestic supply restriction of the
Berry Amendment. Further, as “Directive report language,” the DoD would be required to
respond. 

Unfortunately, the legislation which passed in the waning hours of the 111th Session of
Congress (the
Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011) was stripped of much
of the language in the earlier draft and did not include the previously agreed to language
(above). 

Therefore USIFI, with continuing help of the broad coalition of industry members and
Representative Bishop’s office, attempted a statutory fix in the 112th Congress. USIFI proposed
language to be inserted into the
2012 National Defense Authorization Act, permanently amending the Berry statute so that
tent components would be required to be produced in the U.S. The language was included in the
Defense bill approved by the House, but it was not included in the Senate bill.

Victory at last

A joint House and Senate committee produced the final document which passed and was signed
into law by President Obama on Dec. 31, 2011. The final bill, H.R. 1540 — the $662 billion
2012 National Defense Authorization Act — included the USIFI language requiring domestic
production of all tent components.

It is important to note that this change is not an expansion of the Berry Amendment beyond
its original scope, but rather a clarification of the original intent of the law. USIFI engaged its
entire membership as well as the military shelter value chain in their effort. The success of the
effort shows the value of collective action.

USIFI will continue to monitor military procurement, particularly Berry compliance, with
2012-2013 efforts directed to study of the recent change in the Berry threshold (the contract
amount that triggers domestic sourcing requirement) from $100,000 to $150,000; and tactics employed
by Defense Logistics Agency to circumvent Berry regulations.

Semper vigilans. 



Posted on January 17, 2012

Source: IFAI

WARWICK, R.I. — January 17, 2012 — Biomedical Structures, LLC (BMS), a designer, developer and
manufacturer of biomedical textiles for medical devices and other advanced clinical applications,
today announced its new BIOFELT® absorbable scaffold for implant devices in orthopedics,
cardiology, and general surgery, as well as other in vivo applications.  BIOFELT’s unique
non-woven structure provides a fibrous matrix platform that enables natural tissue in-growth in
surgical applications.

BIOFELT is a three dimensional non-woven structure with very high surface area and void
volume designed to promote natural cell adhesion and regeneration. Produced from PGA (Polyglycolic
Acid), PLLA (Poly L Lactic Acid) and copolymers such as PLGA (co-polylactic acid/glycolic acid),
BIOFELT can be used as a component of medical devices or surgical systems with the benefit of
bio-absorbability.

“BIOFELT is a terrific example of how traditional tissue engineering technology and materials
can be used in more innovative ways across medical device sectors,” said Dean Tulumaris, President
and CEO of BMS. “BMS’ commitment to emerging device development has long been one of our strengths,
and we dedicate tremendous resources to the engineering of customized solutions to the most
difficult and novel device challenges. We are excited to bring our absorbable fiber and design
expertise into new and emerging clinical applications with BIOFELT.”

BIOFELT is custom-engineered for individual device requirements and is available in a wide
array of densities and thicknesses to allow for application-specific performance. Proven in
cardiovascular, orthopedic and urological tissue regeneration applications, BIOFELT has been
utilized in everything from internal wound management to hemostasis.  As a non-woven fabric,
BIOFELT can be produced as flat sheets, discs, tubes and a variety of other geometric shapes with
an absorption profile from anywhere from less than 30 days to one year.

Biomedical Structures provides advanced design, development and manufacturing of biomedical
textile structures with expertise in knitting, braiding, weaving and non-woven technologies. 
The company utilizes a broad offering of biocompatible absorbable and non-absorbable materials in
devices, drug delivery and surgical systems for orthopedic, cardiovascular, bariatric, cosmetic and
veterinary medicine applications.



Posted on January 17, 2012

Source: Biomedical Structures

TOKYO — January 16, 2012 — Teijin Fibers Limited, the core company of the Teijin Group’s polyester
fibers business, announced today that it has decided to commercialize a new version of its
Nanofront high-strength polyester nanofiber with a diameter of 400 nanometers, or 22,500 times
smaller than the cross-sectional area of a strand of hair, an unprecedented achievement for a
commercial polyester fiber.

The new version, which will be marketed by Teijin Fibers as a finer version of its existing
700-nanometer Nanofront nanofiber, will expand the market for the company’s versatile,
high-performance nanofiber by meeting demands for even finer nanofibers in applications, such as
high-performance air filters that trap especially fine dust particles while allowing increased air
flow in compact, energy-efficient air conditioning systems.

Teijin Fibers introduced the world’s first commercial polyester nanofiber in 2008. The
700-nanometer version of Nanofront is 7,500 times smaller than the cross section of a hair strand
and boasts more than 200 related patent applications.

Nano-sized bumps on the surface of Nanofront raise frictional force and produce a surface
area dozens of times greater than that of regular fiber, giving the material outstanding slip
resistance. The ultra-fine fiber is also soft, stretchable, fits body contours comfortably,
promotes cooling and boasts excellent absorbency and opaqueness. Nanofront is used in a wide
variety of clothing and industrial applications, ranging from inner-wear, golf gloves and skin care
products to abrasive cloth and filters.

Teijin Fibers has already established the mass-production technology for even finer
nanofiber, as small as 280 nanometers in diameter, which it aims to commercialize eventually.

Going forward, Teijin Fibers will continue leveraging its competitive nanotechnologies in
nanofibers that incorporate functional polymers, such as polyethylene naphthalate (PEN),
olefin-based polymers, nylon, and polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT). Applications in areas such
as electronic components, industrial filters, clothing and bedding are expected to meet
increasingly stringent demands in terms of usage and functional properties.



Posted on January 17, 2012

Source: Teijin Ltd.

PENDERGRASS, Ga. — January 10, 2012 — TenCate Geosynthetics Americas is selected by Parsons
Engineering of New York as the sole source to supply TenCate Geotube® containers for the dredging
project on Onondaga Lake, in the State of New York. This project is the largest geotextile tube
project in the US and North America.

As a result of over a century of industrial activity on the shores of Onondaga Lake, lake
sediments have been contaminated with chemicals such as heavy metals, PAH’s and volatile organic
compounds (e.g., chlorobenzene). Due to this contamination, Onondaga Lake and related upland sites
were added to the Federal Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1994.

Dewatering and storage

The design by Parsons Engineering is to hydraulically dredge an estimated 2.1
million cubic yards of waste and pump it to a 50 acre dewatering cell through 4 miles of
double-walled pipeline. Their design specifies containing and dewatering the waste in geotextile
tubes stacked 30 feet in height. TenCate Geotube® containers, of various large circumferences, will
be supplied to dewater the sediments. This project is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2012 and
is planned to continue for 4 years. Upon completion of dredging and dewatering, TenCate Geotube®
containers will be permanently stored in the capped cell.

“TenCate has been chosen for the value it brings to the project”, comments Vicki Ginter,
Regional Market Manager at TenCate Geosynthetics Americas. “This includes the unique features of
the TenCate Geotube® containers such as circumferential seams and mechanical geoports, a history of
projects worldwide that are similar in scope and complexity, technical services including
geotechnical engineering support and detailed layout drawings for the dewatering cell, quality
control evidenced by its ISO 9001 certification and A2LA certified labs and the history and
strength of the TenCate corporation.”

Posted on January 10, 2012

Source: TenCate Geosynthetics Americas