I
n most cases, raw material costs are more than 50 percent of the total manufacturing
expenses in a spinning mill. Therefore, it is of fundamental interest for the spinner to know and
to monitor the quality characteristics of the fibers to reduce costs and to optimize the spinning
process. Electronic quality management systems are able to reduce the amount of raw material all
along the spinning process.

With the precise measurement of yarns, rovings and slivers in the past 60 years, the
spinning machinery manufacturers improved the spinning process and reduced the mass variation of
fiber assemblies. This improvement was an opportunity not only to increase productivity, but also
to reduce considerably the raw material costs, which is in the basic interest of every spinner.
Therefore, spinning mills always have had a considerable interest in knowing the quality
characteristics of fibers to reduce costs and optimize the spinning process.

Sixty Years Of Textile Electronics

The year 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of textile electronics – six decades during which
Switzerland-based Uster Technologies AG has played an important role in improving measuring
technology in the textile industry. The company celebrated the 60th birthday of the first yarn
evenness testing instrument with a reception and a big cake in Shanghai during ITMA Asia + CITME
2008.

The first mechanical spinning mills started operating at the end of the 18th century. For
more than 150 years, however, the textile industry had poor testing instruments. The yarns had to
be checked visually either by stretching a few yarns manually or by inspection on the famous
blackboard (See Figure 2).

Figure 1 shows the dramatic productivity improvement of drawing frames and the reduction of
yarn unevenness during the same period. The lines for Ne 20 and Ne 60 in Figure 1 were derived
using Uster® Statistics quality benchmarks over the past 50 years. The mean yarn evenness of a
combed cotton yarn dropped from a coefficient of variation (CV) of 20.2 percent in 1957 to a CV of
13.7 percent in 2007. During the same period, the productivity of spinning machinery could be
increased considerably.

History Of Textile Electronics

Between 1935 and 1945, the progress in electronics was enormous because of tremendous
efforts in the industry to produce sophisticated military equipment. These new electronic
components were applied after World War II for all kinds of improvements in measurement technology.
One area of application was the textile industry. In 1950, it took 30 minutes just to determine the
fiber length with the help of an end-aligned staple diagram apparatus. With modern fiber-testing
systems, more than 10 quality characteristics can be determined in a few seconds.

Uster developed its first evenness tester between 1944 and 1948. A few years later, Spinlab,
a small company in Knoxville, Tenn., developed the first electronic measuring instrument for the
determination of the length of cotton fibers.

Semiconductors Cause A Big Boost

Two big boosts in textile electronics were the availability of semiconductors as signal
amplifiers and the development of the first transistor in 1949. As transistors were much smaller
than electronic vacuum tubes, this advance laid the groundwork for the more compact online sensors
10 years later. The first yarn evenness tester could determine the mass variation of yarns with a
capacitive sensor (See Figure 3). This mass variation was recorded by means of an ink recorder.

In 1951, Uster introduced an automatic strength tester that enabled systematic measurements
of the breaking strength and strength variation. A quantum leap in strength testing was the
introduction in 1992 of the Uster Tensojet high-speed strength tester, which performs 30,000 tests
per hour. With this system, it was possible for the first time to recognize isolated weak places in
yarns. These weak spots are frequently the reason for end breaks on weaving machines.

Quality Management System

The application of a complete quality management system (QMS) in all yarn production process
steps helps to reduce waste and therefore save money.

The introduction of automatic winding machines in the ring-spinning process in the early
1960s triggered the development of the first monitoring system on this machine. The electronic yarn
clearer, developed by Uster, enabled identification of troublesome thick places and their
replacement by a knot. The data system on the winding machine could monitor all the clearers.

In 1968, Uster introduced the Uster Classimat classifying system to analyze troublesome
thick places in detail. With this system, it could be determined which thick places had to be
eliminated by the winding machine. With the classified faults and the clearing curve, the head of
the winding room could also determine the number of cuts required per 100 kilometers to eliminate
the most troublesome faults, and, therefore, improve the efficiency of the machine.

Blowroom

In the early 1970s, the labor-intensive blowroom was automated with the introduction of the
chute feed system. The random feeding of tufts into cards has caused higher mass variations of the
card sliver. Uster responded with a successful card autoleveling system, which eventually was
applied on drawframes as well.

The target of a QMS in the blowroom is to minimize short fibers and neps and to reduce
unevenness in the sliver. In the mid-1970s, data systems for spinning mills were developed for the
purpose of monitoring all the production positions in spinning preparation, spinning and winding.
Slivers in spinning preparation were permanently monitored for evenness and count deviations. If
predefined quality characteristics were exceeded, a warning lamp directed the attention of the
operator toward the malfunctioning position.

Another data system served to monitor all the spindles of a ring-spinning machine. For this
purpose, a sensor moved along the ring rail and checked the number of rotations of each ring
traveler. If a traveler came to a standstill, it indicated an end break. If the traveler did not
move at nominal speed, it indicated a slow spindle. Because 10 percent of the spindles produced 50
percent of all end breaks, it was of high interest to repair or clean these positions.

High Volume Instrument

A breakthrough in the mid-1970s was the installation of the High Volume Instrument (HVI) for
cotton classing in the United States. This development was the outcome of cooperation between the
US Department of Agriculture and the US electronics industry after several years of intensive
studies. With this fiber bundle testing system, all the important quality characteristics for fiber
classification could be determined within a few seconds. This instrument also has boosted the
application of fiber testing as a tool for optimum blends in spinning mills. Uster acquired the two
companies involved in this development in 1990 and 1993.

A single fiber testing device, the Uster Advanced Fiber Information System (Uster AFIS), was
introduced in 1993. This measuring instrument allows the automatic count of the number and size of
neps for the first time. Additional functions of this instrument are the determination of fiber
length and short fiber content, based on an end-aligned staple diagram, and the maturity and
diameter of the fibers.

Since 1997, a sensor for the evenness tester has been able to precisely measure the
remaining dust and trash particles in yarns. This sensor made it possible for the first time to
monitor the efficiency of carding, combing and open-end (OE) rotor spinning. In the same year, an
optical sensor was integrated into the evenness tester. The sensor could determine the yarn
diameter, the diameter variation, the evenness at very short cut length and the deviation from a
circular cross-section.

Benchmarking

In order to compare quality characteristics in the spinning laboratory with those in world
production, Uster established a number of benchmarks. The first Uster Statistics were introduced in
1957. The evaluation of thousands of samples worldwide has shown that the average number of neps is
equal to 300 neps per gram for a fiber length of 28 millimeters. The best cotton samples have only
about 120 neps per gram, and the cotton samples with the highest figures have 450 neps per gram. In
long-staple cotton, fewer neps are measured because a considerable amount of this cotton is
roller-ginned. These statistics – for example, measuring of neps, trash, dust and the maturity of
fibers – are now available for cotton fibers and all kinds of yarns.

The objective in carding, drawing and combing is to reduce neps and short fiber content as
well as sliver unevenness. Neps degrade the appearance of fabrics considerably. Neps do not exist
in cotton bolls; they are produced by ginning, opening and cleaning of the cotton. There are two
types of neps: fiber neps, defined as an entanglement of fibers, formed under mechanical treatment;
and seed coat neps, fragments of cotton seeds with remaining fibers. They are produced mainly in
ginning when the fibers are separated from the cotton seeds.

Trash and dust particles are foreign particles that are mostly part of the cotton plant,
such as leaf or stem fragments. These particles need to be extracted during the ginning and
spinning process. In ginning, objectives are to minimize the destructive impact of the ginning as
such and to reduce the formation of short fibers and neps.

Fiber maturity is an important quality parameter for cotton. In order to calculate the
amount of immature fibers, the cross-section of the fibers has to be compared with a fiber of the
same circumference, but with a circular cross-section. The immature fiber content is the percentage
of all fibers within a cotton sample that have a cross-section covering less than 25 percent of
fibers having the same circumference and a circular cross-section.

As reference figures, Table 1 can be used for short- and medium-staple cotton. Table 1 is
considered as a general rule for raw cotton.

Outlook

The change from manual to automatic processes in the textile industry has often boosted new
developments in textile electronics for monitoring particular machines. The current-generation
Uster Tester 5 has six sensors for an accurate specification of yarns (See Figure 4). The laboratory system is able to determine the evenness; number of thin
places, thick places and neps; periodic mass variations; variance-length curve; hairiness;
remaining dust and trash particles in yarns; diameter; diameter variation; roundness; density;
number of foreign fibers; and count.

The spinning technology of today does not yet enable the production of fault-free yarns.
Most spinning mills have installed monitoring systems on either the OE rotor or the winding
machines to eliminate such faults. An average spinning mill has between 20,000 and 40,000
production positions. Because of mechanical problems or contamination of the production positions,
outlier bobbins or packages that do not fulfill the expectations with respect to count, count
variation, evenness, imperfections, hairiness, strength, elongation and such can occur every day.
An effective and comprehensive QMS is therefore of utmost importance in order for a spinning mill
to be competitive. Because one single bobbin out of tolerance can destroy a considerable amount of
a textile fabric, it will be an important task of the textile electronics industry in the next five
years to recognize such bobbins and eliminate them from the spinning process.

September/October 2008

I
f you enjoy the status quo, today’s textile industry won’t hold much appeal. Dynamic
business conditions – managing rising energy and raw material costs, looking for opportunity in
shifting international trade patterns, investing in an innovative future – these seem to be common
themes when speaking with executives who lead successful US textile companies. Companies large and
small are making news – and more recently that news has been, on balance, fairly good. Whether it
is new management advancing and preparing companies for the future, investment in new plants and
equipment both in the United States and abroad, acquiring companies that strengthen and sometimes
diversify core businesses, or partnering with members of a supply chain to innovate in a way that
would be impossible when standing alone – the textile news reflects the new energy of a leaner,
more resilient industry.

Parkdale

Gastonia, N.C.-based Parkdale Inc. continues to invest in the future while it consumes 30
percent of the US cotton consumption. Founded in 1916, and with today’s leadership of Duke
Kimbrell, chairman of the board, and Anderson Warlick, CEO, the company operates 23 plants with
2,500 employees. Operating facilities in the United States, Colombia, Mexico and Honduras, Parkdale
has a strategic focus on supplying cotton yarn to the Western Hemisphere.

As reported in

Textile World
, Rieter Textile Systems recently installed 48 500-position R 40 rotor-spinning machines at
Parkdale Inc.’s Plant #26 in Walnut Cove, N.C. As stated by Rieter executives, the 24,000-position
order is the largest single R 40 order to date, and represents one of the largest single orders
ever by a sales-yarn manufacturer. Estimates are that the new installation will increase capacity
of the 200,000-square-foot cotton yarn spinning facility by 250 percent.


This news comes on the heels of an earlier announcement this year by Germany-based
Trützschler GmbH & Co. KG, which received an order from Parkdale for 36 cards with integrated
draw frame (IDF) to expand its rotor-spinning capacity. The company also stated that including the
new cards, Parkdale will have more than 800 Trützschler cards installed in its manufacturing
facilities, making the company Trützschler’s biggest card customer globally.

But these days, it is about more than spinning yarn. Parkdale also made a strategic
investment to acquire Rio Rancho, N.M.-based U.S. Cotton LLC, a manufacturer of private label
cotton-based consumer products. U.S. Cotton is known for products like cotton balls, pads and
swabs, which are sold through major US and Canadian retail chains. The strategic investment enters
Parkdale into the growing personal care products market as well as providing uses for the company’s
yarn-manufacturing by-products, which will be incorporated into downstream end-products.

Milliken & Company

Dating back to the Deering Milliken Company, a woolen fabrics firm founded in Portland,
Maine, in 1865 by Seth Milliken and William Deering, Milliken & Company, now based in
Spartanburg, continues to grow and change. Today, with Dr. Joseph M. Salley recently named
president and CEO, and Roger Milliken continuing as chairman, the company is one of the world’s
largest privately held textile and chemical companies. Always having a focus on innovation – and
more than 2,000 patents to prove it – Milliken & Company has approximately 10,000 associates
working at 50 facilities worldwide on a portfolio of more than 19,000 textile and chemical
products.

Many in the industry were impressed with the selection of Salley, 41 – a graduate of the
Citadel with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry – whose youth and experience signal the company’s
commitment to the future. Salley received a masters degree and a doctorate in chemical engineering
from Stanford University and joined Milliken in 1994. He held previous positions as president of
Milliken’s Performance Products Division as well as president of Milliken Research Corp.

Milliken & Company recently acquired Carson, Calif.-based Western Nonwoven Inc.’s fire
retardant barrier assets and geotextile business out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company stated
that the acquisition of these two specialty nonwoven-based businesses further strengthens
Milliken’s specialty nonwoven capabilities. In addition, Milliken is pursuing the acquistion of
Dalton, Ga.-based carpet manufacturer Thomas Industries. Thomas conducts its business under the
Templeton Carpet, Monticello Floors, Mattel Carpet & Rug, and Superior Yarn brand names. Thomas
has filed a motion to sell substantially all of its assets to Milliken & Company as part of a
bankruptcy court-supervised open-auction process. A decision by the bankruptcy court on this motion
is expected within the next six to eight weeks. If the sale is approved by the court, Milliken will
be able to move forward with an acquisition of Thomas.

Glen Raven

A company that has shown a remarkable ability to reinvent itself quickly and successfully is
Glen Raven, N.C.-based Glen Raven Inc. The 127-year-young Glen Raven has transformed itself from a
commodity manufacturer of products including pantyhose, apparel fabrics and sales yarn to a highly
focused technical fabrics producer that, according to the company, is focusing on value-added
technical fabrics based on intellectual capital and advanced technology.

The company invested in value-added, branded products, such as the Sunbrella® line of
performance fabrics, as well as fabrics for automotive headliners and protective workwear.
Additionally, the acquisition of France-based Dickson S.A., development of Glen Raven Asia and the
May 2007 acquisition of The Astrup Co., Cleveland, and John Boyle & Co., Statesville, N.C.,
positioned Glen Raven to move even closer to their customers – globally.

Whether it is the continued success of Glen Raven Custom Fabrics’ Sunbrella brand or Glen
Raven Technical Fabrics’ GlenGuard® series of fabrics’ continued push in the industrial apparel
market, Glen Raven has established manufacturing and supply bases in North America, Europe and Asia
that enable the company to put high-value fabrics wherever its customers desire.

Anyone who has spent even the shortest amount of time with Glen Raven’s Allen E. Gant Jr.,
president and CEO, will tell you that people and innovation are at the center of the company’s
success. Glen Raven has created a culture that welcomes change through programs like GlenOvation
and the New Frontiers Department, which promote a constant flow of new ideas to improve product,
process and customer service.

Tuscarora Yarns

Mount Pleasant, N.C.-based Tuscarora Yarns Inc. may not be the largest spinner in the United
States, but under the leadership of Martin Foil, chairman, and Peter Hegarty, president, the
company has repeatedly found niches in which it brings value to the apparel, home furnishing and
industrial textile marketplace. Whether it is by offering the luxury of Supima® cotton
heather-blend yarns or mélange ring-spun yarn, or going green with post-consumer polyester or
organically grown cotton, Tuscarora has a broad product range that can support today’s fast fashion
needs.

With three North Carolina-based plants – Oakboro, Mount Pleasant and China Grove – and
approximately 300 employees, the company continues to invest in its ring and open-end capabilities.
Tuscarora recently announced an 18,000-square-foot expansion of the Oakboro facility with new plant
and equipment investments totaling a reported $2.5 million. The company recently placed orders for
Rieter 365 combers, and this follows the 2006 investment in Oakboro that included Zinser Model 351
ring-spinning machines and the Autoconer Model 338V automatic winding machines.

For those who know Tuscarora, heather and export are often used to describe the company’s
focus, but the focus is much broader. With a deep and diverse product line, Tuscarora’s attention
to innovation that serves the customer is keeping the company vibrant.

Innegrity

Although each one of the aforementioned companies has been operating in the textile industry
for close to 100 years or more, textiles still has room for start-ups. Take Greenville County,
S.C.-based Innegrity LLC, for example. Formed in May 2004, Innegrity spent its first two years
developing Innegra™ S high-performance fiber, and, according to the company, filing patents and
developing business relationships. Construction of the first pilot production plant began in 2006.
That plant started operating in 2007 while the company’s staff reached 20 employees. In April 2008,
Innegrity joined with Reimotec Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH in Germany, a member of the
Reifenhäuser group, to form Innegrity Europe GmbH and began manufacturing fiber.

Establishing itself as a developer and producer of high-performance fibers for
ballistic-protection, transportation and sporting-goods applications, the company recently
announced plans for a $15 million expansion of its manufacturing operation and the creation of up
to 150 jobs. Innegrity plans to relocate from its facility in Greer, S.C., to a 120,000-square-foot
facility in Mauldin, S.C. The new facility will house commercial-scale production and research, and
administrative, sales and marketing office space.

The name? Well, you don’t have to dig far to find the company’s stated philosophy and
culture: “Innegrity promotes two core values – integrity and innovation.” – Not a bad start.

Concordia

Maybe it is just that tipping points are easier to observe than slowly evolving change, but
it sure seems that major change happens quickly. Founded in 1920, Concordia Manufacturing LLC of
Coventry, R.I., evolved its fiber and yarn business from silk products to man-made products after
World War II, to engineered textile products in the late 1990s, and today, to a place that includes
biomedical products. Looking for that point of most recent significant change, the moment in 2003
comes to mind, when Randal Spencer, president and CEO of Concordia, announced a restructuring that
involved an aggregate of $1.5 million in new funding commitments. Sovereign Bank provided $750,000
in working capital and term loan financing; the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. provided
$250,000 in subordinated debt; and a group of existing and new investors provided $450,000 in
equity investment. The company stated in November 2003: “[Concordia] has completed a financial
restructuring and is expanding a strategic initiative in the field of biomedical products. As part
of the restructuring, the Slater Center for Biomedical Technologies has become an equity investor
in Concordia.”

In 2005, Concordia hired Arthur M. Burghouwt to focus on the biomedical products business.
They also acquired the tissue engineering assets of Albany International Research Co. and developed
the BIOFELT™ brand of bioabsorbable needlepunched tissue scaffolds. Additional financing followed,
as did the continued focus on development of fiber-based medical implants and scaffolds for
regenerative medicine.

Growth continues with recently announced expansion efforts. Concordia Medical has leased a
24,575-square-foot facility in Warwick, R.I., for medical manufacturing use. The company’s $1.6
million expansion includes the buildout of expanded clean room space and the purchase of new
manufacturing and test equipment.

Buhler Quality Yarns Corp.

Building on fine-count spinning expertise, Swiss-owned Jefferson, Ga.-based Buhler Quality
Yarns Corp. continues to focus on Supima cotton and MicroModal® premium products. With the
Jefferson facility coming on-stream in 1996, the company had to adjust quickly to changing market
conditions that had big US weaving operations giving way to knitters and export business in Central
and South America.

In 2006, seeing a need to diversify beyond Supima and serve the premium market the company
had developed, Buhler invested $1 million in a new opening line that allowed for the development
and production of MicroModal blends with Supima as well as 100-percent MicroModal yarns and other
blends. Recently, without releasing details, the company stated that it is keeping up with its
strategy to further diversify its product offerings in specialty yarns for high-end garments.
Buhler Quality Yarns will be receiving new equipment in its spinning/winding section worth in
excess of $1.5 million. This equipment will replace initially installed frames from the 1996
installation and, at the same time, increase productivity while saving on energy.

Boyd Technologies

And Wellington Custom Fabrics

Entrepreneurial growth has also made news in the nonwovens sector with Boyd Technologies
LLC’s acquisition of Columbus, Ga.-based Wellington Custom Fabrics (WCF).

South Lee, Mass.-based Boyd Technologies’ subsidiary Boyd Converting Company was founded by
Bronly Boyd in 1979 as a converter, distributor and contract manufacturer of technical papers,
engineered fabrics, specialty textiles and membranes. The company’s largest markets are in the
health and medical, electrical and consumer areas. It supplies its customers with these
high-value-added, nonwoven and specialty paper products as well as converting services. Recently
acquired Wellington is a converter and master distributor of nonwoven materials supplied to the
apparel industry.

Boyd’s move touched off an aggressive growth strategy focused on geographic expansion and
market diversification through development of the company’s core businesses, step-out acquisitions
such as WCF, and a new focus on breakthrough technologies. The acquisition also signaled to the
domestic marketplace that this Northeastern textile and mill converting industry company saw future
value in a tandem strategy of reinvesting in a traditional textile company while simultaneously
pursuing exciting high-tech opportunities.

According to the company, there is a focus on expanding WCF’s breadth of products, utilizing
new materials and innovative application solutions that will develop their scope beyond what many
see as a more traditional segment of the nonwovens industry. Boyd Technologies is bullish about the
nonwovens and overall textiles industries, and expects to play an active role in shaping the future
of the textile industry.

Foreign Investment

Several pieces of news regarding foreign investment in US textile manufacturing have popped
up recently and illustrate that there still just might be some opportunities in the States. A
cotton yarn company and a denim company, both from south of the border, seem to think US facilities
might provide a market advantage.

Grupo Zaga S.A. de C.V., a Mexico-based conglomerate owned by the Zaga family, and several
North Carolina textile executives have formed Lacassine, La.-based Zagis USA. Zagis will operate in
Louisiana to produce open-end cotton sales yarn and has begun construction on the first of two new
textile mills. Zagis plans to invest $75 million in the two facilities and employ 160 workers. The
plant’s location grants attractive access to Louisiana’s cotton crop and Central America-Dominican
Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) markets. Phase one is planned for completion in 2008, with
phase two slated to begin in early 2009.

Brazil-based Santana Textiles, South America’s largest denim fabric manufacturer and the
fifth-largest such producer in the world, will add a sixth plant to its manufacturing portfolio.
With four plants in Brazil and one in Argentina, the company will invest $170 million in a denim
manufacturing plant in Edinburg, Texas, that is expected to employ 800 workers. The State of Texas
announced plans to invest $1.65 million through the Texas Enterprise Fund to assist Santana
Textiles in the venture.

Climate Of Change

Unfortunately, not all of the news about US textiles has been positive. Many companies are
struggling and dealing with economic factors challenging US manufacturing in general. The climate
of change demands quick and correct decisions, flawless implementation and a strategic view that
has both short-term and long-term benefits.

In the past, investments were often about lowering costs and adding capacity – US machinery
investment was huge. Today’s investment seems, in some cases, smaller, yet more focused.

One example, from a manufacturer that preferred not to be named, is investing in new
equipment that addresses cost issues while expanding his business. The replacement of old equipment
will increase capacity, add new products to the line, reduce power consumption, improve quality and
increase the flexibility of the manufacturing process. The company’s current track record is
strong, even with today’s economic conditions, and its leadership believes that its sales team can
place the new products in the market, expanding existing business while lowering production costs
across the board.

Short-term, spiking energy prices make the investment more attractive, and with thinner
margins overall, more product to sell will help the shrinking bottom line.

In 2008, US textiles may not be for the faint of heart, but there are many textile companies
willing to defy the status quo and create their own future.

September/October 2008