Sage Automotive Interiors, Spartanburg, plans to invest some $10 million to expand its Gayley,
S.C., manufacturing plant, and expects to add about 80 employees to the facility’s workforce of
more than 200. The state-of-the-art plant produces Sage’s YES Essentials line of durable,
stain-resistant, odor-eliminating fabrics, used by auto makers including Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and
Hyundai.

The company originally was the Automotive Body Cloth division of Milliken & Company,
Spartanburg, which sold the division last year to Azalea Capital LLC, Greenville. Sage currently
employs some 1,000 people at locations in the United States and abroad.

Sage CEO Dirk Pieper said the company has been investing in the Gayley facility from the
first, and will continue to upgrade the plant as well as install new equipment. “This initiative …
will extend our capacity to serve [original equipment manufacturers] the world over as both the
domestic and international markets improve during the next several years,” he said. 

Sage also will move its headquarters to a facility on Clemson University’s International
Center for Automotive Research campus in Greenville.

May/June 2010

Parkdale Mills Inc, Gastonia, N.C., has signed a lease/purchase agreement with Wellstone Mills,
Greenville, to acquire four spinning plants in South Carolina and Georgia.

Wellstone was taken over in late January by bank representatives and the plants were closed,
according to a former Wellstone employee. The plants — one in Gaffney, S.C., and three in Lavonia,
Ga. — employed some 600 workers in ring-spinning and open-end operations. Parkdale CEO Anderson
Warlick said Parkdale is rehiring former plant employees, and expects to retain most of those who
had been terminated. The former Wellstone operations will supplement Parkdale’s existing
operations, which include 25 production facilities employing 2,300 workers in the United States,
Colombia and Mexico.

May/June 2010

Wool is without any doubt one of the best raw materials for textile yarns. Its inherent properties
are still today second to none compared with any other fiber material. Decades ago, the
International Wool Seal (IWS) for pure new wool was probably the most popular label in the Western
world, sewn into countless pieces of wool apparel. First-class and traditional apparel brands with
their sophisticated double-twist fabrics from Great Britain were in the lead of the premier league
of the suit business.

Top Fiber Material

At the other end of the apparel bridge, silk was the pillar holding first place for highly
desired lingerie and outerwear. Silk was the leader for luxury lightweight fabrics, and wool was
the undisputed leader in high-end fabrics for medium- and heavyweight garments.

Both fibers nearly vanished from the top league in the last two decades, becoming commodities
for various reasons, which could be the subject of many additional Rupp Reports. In a nutshell, the
IWS label was sort of crushed between strong national interests from the main wool-producing
countries. For wool, fortunes have changed in the last few years.

The IWTO

The main wool-producing countries around the world got together and formed the International
Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO), based in Brussels, Europe’s “capital city.” The IWTO is the body
of the global wool trade, armed with a skillful crew and backed by the major wool-producing
countries around the world. A considerable number of documents have been produced to provide more
in-depth information about wool, and these are available online at
www.iwto.org. To exchange information among its members and its
very active technical committees, the IWTO organizes a congress every year somewhere on the planet.
This year, from May 3 to 5, Paris was the venue for the event.

Textile World
and its sister magazines will publish more information of the event in forthcoming issues.

A Healthier And Safer Environment

Speakers from many sectors of the wool industry presented their papers under the slogan “Wool
— Change to a Healthier and Safer Environment.” And, in fact, there is a trend in the wool
industry, too, to produce the fibers in a better environment. And, needless to say, wool is
regaining its popularity, thanks to the work of IWTO and its member countries, but also thanks to
its natural qualities.

However, there are some clouds in the sky: wool is not only a pure, natural fiber, but,
moreover, it is an animal fiber from sheep and goats. And environmental and social consciousness,
mainly in the Western world, is increasing toward animal breeding. One session referred to the
positive efforts by the wool industry regarding animal welfare. Participants agreed to cooperate in
the future, ensuring that the welfare of the animals is in the center of attention. And the clock
is ticking.

Action, Not Reaction

In a discussion during the Q&A session, a young lady came up to the stage to accuse the
Australian wool breeders of mistreating their animals through the mulesing process. What was
striking was not whether she’s right or wrong, but, rather, the reaction of one panelist who is a
farmer: “We love our animals, we treat them right, we have been doing this [practicing mulesing]
for more than 100 years,” and so on. That is a strange reaction when a change of attitude on this
issue by the wool growers could and should help the wool industry regain the top place in the
premier league of fibers. Panelists were arguing that wool is “not a fiber of young people.” That’s
perfectly true, but wool has been used for thousands of years to protect the human body from the
elements. Old-fashioned production mills and methods such as mulesing in Australia have reinforced
the image of an old-fashioned textile industry in general, and an old-fashioned wool industry in
particular.

The Way Back To The Top

But what an opportunity for wool to rise to the top of young people’s minds: the animals are
raised completely in nature, they are not killed by harvesting the wool, and at the end of their
life cycle, the meat can be used to feed people. The list of positive reasons is never-ending. To
disregard modern and positive thinking in different cultures seems very shortsighted. If the wool
industry does not take seriously the concerns of the current generation of young people — respect
not only nature, but also the animals living in it — it would miss the biggest opportunity for
success. And, on top of that, the wool industry would be in trouble again — in spite of the fact
that nearly 80 percent of Australian wool is currently exported to China. The congress in Paris
could mark the start of a rethinking.



May 11, 2010

Singapore-based Huntsman Textile Effects — a manufacturer of chemicals and dyes for finished
textiles and materials, and a division of Huntsman Corp., and Genencor — a manufacturer of enzyme
product solutions for a variety of industries, and a division of Denmark-based Danisco A/S — have
received the Industriepreis 2010 Award in the Biotechnology category for the Gentle Power Bleach™
pretreatment system, an enzyme-based peroxide bleaching process that allows low-temperature
bleaching of textiles such as cotton, polyamide and lyocell at a neutral pH range
(See ”
Gentle
Bleaching,”  March/April 2009). The system processes textiles more sustainably than
conventional bleaching systems while enhancing fabric quality, according to Huntsman.

The Industriepreis recognizes innovative solutions in the German industry.

May 11, 2010

Karl Mayer Malimo, the technical textiles business unit of Germany-based Karl Mayer
Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbH, now offers the RS MSU S warp-knitting machine with parallel weft
insertion, the first model in its new Weftronic platform. The machine, which recently made its
debut at Karl Mayer (China) Ltd.’s facility in Wujin, China, features a working width of 268 inches
— 600 millimeters wider than previous models offering parallel weft insertion — and operates at
the same speed, thereby offering a substantially increased square-meter production rate.

Karl Mayer Malimo’s RS MSU S Weftronic

For the Weftronic program, Karl Mayer Malimo has re-engineered the weft insertion system,
making improvements to the weft chain and fitting it on both sides of the unit comprising the
transfer station, yarn-laying carriage and yarn take-off device; and using new technology to
enhance the mode of operation. The Weftronic’s design makes all main components easily accessible,
and the machine is made up of compatible component groups. In addition, the company reports
assembly costs and the amortization period are reduced thanks to rapid integration into the
manufacturing process.

“The working width and productivity of our latest new development are unparalleled anywhere
in the world,” said Axel Wintermeyer, head of sales, Karl Mayer Malimo. “With this system, we will
set new standards in terms of efficiency and applications, especially on the rapidly growing market
of backing and coating substrates.”

The Weftronic will be available as of ITMA Asia + CITME 2010 in June. The company also is
implementing the Weftronic platform in its entire line of weft-insertion warp-knitting machines. In
addition, Karl Mayer Malimo is developing a Weltronic model with a working width of 138 inches and
additional upgrades, and expects to make that model available by the end of this year.



May 11, 2010

Singapore-based Huntsman Textile Effects — a manufacturer of chemicals and dyes for finished
textiles and materials, and a division of Huntsman Corp. — has introduced ERIOPON®WFE soaping
agent for cellulose fibers dyed and printed with reactive dyes. The agent keeps hydrolyzed dyes in
the water, preventing fabric backstaining. According to the company, the agent is not affected by
water hardness or residual salt, and offers water, time and energy savings, assuring high wet
fastness and good reproducibility.

The company also has launched ALBAFLOW®CONTI, a dye bath penetration agent suitable for all
continuous applications. According to Huntsman, the agent offers good wetting, defoaming and
de-aerating performance. The agent distributes liquor throughout the fiber assembly quickly and
uniformly, promoting penetration and ensuring level dyeing. Because it is silicone oil-free, it
won’t spot the fabric or leave residue on the machinery.

May 11, 2010

Charlotte-based Consolidated Fibers — a supplier of fiber to manufacturers in industries including
hygiene, medical, filtration, automotive, furniture and home textiles, among other industries —
has established an International and Technical Fibers division to supply staple and continuous
filament fibers to Latin America mainly for nonwoven end-uses. The company has promoted Paul Latten
to division president.

“We believe our fiber knowledge and sourcing capability can be leveraged to benefit customers
throughout the Americas,” Latten said. “With regard to innovation, there has been relatively little
coming from the fibers industry in the last decade. Our intent is to disrupt status quo in our own
thinking and in the minds of fiber consumers. There is excess fiber manufacturing capacity but a
shortage of practical and affordable ideas. We intend to bring these components together to
positively impact profits, the planet and people in the global community.”

May 11, 2010

Germany-based nonwovens manufacturer Sandler AG has begun construction of its new plant at its
headquarters in Schwarzenbach/Saale. The company announced last year it would build the plant
(See ”
Sandler
To Build New Plant In Schwarzenbach, Germany, Nov. 10, 2009). Since then, it has invested
40 million euros to build a 150-meter long, 70-meter wide, 20-meter high, two-story facility, along
with a 20,000-square-meter biotope and new parking areas, access roads and bridges.

The company will commission an additional spunlace line in fall 2010 to produce a new
generation of wipes as well as technical nonwovens and plans to begin commercial nonwovens
production in the first quarter of 2011. Sandler reports the investment — expected to generate
more than 60 jobs over the next two years — will make Schwarzenbach the largest manufacturing site
for wipes substrates and one of the largest nonwovens production sites worldwide.

May 11, 2010