Cernotec Offers VisualPlant™ Solution

Greenville-based Cernotec LLC now offers its North American customers VisualPlant™ software from
Canada-based Executive Manufacturing Technologies (EMT) Inc. The software enables real-time
analysis of the complete manufacturing process and allows manufacturers to compare current plant
floor activity to previous activity.

“It’s the best technology we’ve seen that can improve total plant efficiency,” said Jason
Premo, executive vice president of marketing and business development, Cernotec. “It builds a
better link to the supply chain and offers almost immediate payback.”

April 2003

Loepfe Completes Expansion

loepfeLooking
toward the future, Loepfe Brothers Ltd. has expanded its operations with the completion of a new
building. The Switzerland-based provider of electronic on-line quality control systems for spinning
and weaving reports the new facility “strengthens the entrepreneurial infrastructure and opens up
new perspectives for Loepfe.

The new building has increased the company’s office, laboratory and production space and
improved its production flows, enabling increased reaction speed and reduced throughput times,
according to Loepfe. The company anticipates the expansion will allow it to reduce costs while
continuing to grow.

March 2003

EVS Sells I-TEX® Systems To Shangdong Demian

Israel-based Elbit Vision Systems Ltd. (EVS) will supply two of its new-generation I-TEX®
inspection systems to China-based Shangdong Demian Group Stock Ltd. Co. The systems will be
integrated into Shangdong Demian’s weaving process in order to inspect the company’s greige fabrics
and upgrade their quality level.

“After evaluating options of various suppliers, we have concluded that EVS’ I-TEX technology
provides a customized solution maximizing product quality, thus increasing price performance,” said
Li Huijiang, general manager, Shangdong Demian.

April 2003

Quality Fabric Of The Month: Hard Core Textiles

When Rockville Centre, N.Y.-based contract fabrics maker Carnegie introduced Xorel® Fabrics in 1981, the new product was hailed as an environmentally friendly alternative to vinyl in interior wallcovering and upholstery applications. Woven from solution-dyed Xorel polyethylene tape yarns, the fabrics are free of chlorine, plasticizers, heavy metals, toxic dyes and ozone-depleting chemicals; low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs); and disposable through recycling, or through
incineration to produce energy without emitting toxic gases. They are inherently flame-retardant, stain-resistant, antimicrobial, strong, durable, non-absorbent, breathable and easily cleaned. Xorel fabrics also have a range of reflective qualities and can add light to a room without requiring increased electricity use.

qfom_Copy
Xorel® Surfaces is available on a made-to-order basis, with choices possible from
Carnegie’s line of Xorel patterns and colorways, as well as a range of thicknesses.


New Textile Format

Carnegie now has introduced Xorel Surfaces, a hard-surface architectural product in which Xorel fabric is thermofused to Spectar®, a copolyester resin manufactured by Kingsport, Tenn.-based Eastman Chemical Co. Cliff Goldman, Carnegie’s president, said this new product uses a textile in a unique format.

“When you’re dealing with hard-surface resins, pattern and design are usually encapsulated within the resin, and the products don’t have a tactile quality,” Goldman said. “In the case of Xorel Surfaces, we have a tactile, dimensional material on the surface. In addition, the woven
product accepts light differently, especially in vertical applications. And a lot of people are interested in backlighting it because of its translucent properties.” He mentioned such vertical uses as dividers, wall accents, retail visual displays and a variety of other uses. Ceilings and table tops are other possible applications.

Carnegie produces Xorel Surfaces according to customer specifications, offering more than 40 Xorel patterns and 500 colorways, as well as six thicknesses ranging up to 0.5 inch. Dimensional embossings, textures and a variety of back finishes are available as well, and the resin can be
translucent or opaque. Xorel fabric also can be bonded to both sides of the resin.

Xorel Surfaces is flexible, yet stronger and lighter-weight than glass. The non-crystalline, shatter-resistant Spectar resin also is resistant to chemicals and does not produce toxic fumes when burned. It can be cut, drilled, tapped into, or cold-bent. Like Xorel Fabrics, the hard-surface product also can be incinerated to produce clean energy, or the fabric and resin can be separated and each recycled.

For more information about Xorel® Surfaces, contact Cliff Goldman (516) 678-6770.

April 2003

Fast Transit Automation


H
 eadquartered in Henderson, N.C., Harriet & Henderson Yarns Inc. is a privately held
sales yarn company formed in 1895. Harriet & Henderson services both domestic and international
apparel and industrial markets with ring-spun (RS) and open-end (OE) yarns. Its primary end-use
markets include sports socks, knitted outerwear and underwear, as well as various woven
applications.

The company manufactures yarn using ring and OE spinning systems with slub capacities on
both.

Harriet & Henderson operates four yarn manufacturing plants, which produce roughly 150
million pounds annually. These include: the Harriet #2 Plant in Henderson, N.C.; Bladen and
Clarkton Plants in Bladen County, N.C.; and the Cedartown Plant in Georgia.

In addition, the company has distribution centers in Hickory, N.C., and Fort Payne, Ala.
Harriet & Henderson produces a wide range of spun yarn products that vary according to yarn
count (from Ne 5/1 to Ne 30/1), manufacturing process and fiber content.

The company manufactures 100-percent cotton and some 100-percent polyester yarn, as well as
various cotton/polyester and cotton/acrylic blends. These include heather blends of cotton/black
polyester and cotton/black stock-dyed cotton. The company is also developing other colored and
surface-effect yarns in an effort to bring value-added products and ideas to the market and its
customers.

yarnsystem
Yarn packages spiral down from overhead storage on the way to an automated packing line at
Harriet & Henderson’s Cedartown Plant. The U.T.I.T. system transports, inspects, stores and
packs the yarn.


Cedartown

The Cedartown Plant is a state-of-the-art, OE spinning facility. It began as a greenfield
plant and started continuous operation in December 1998. The plant is in an industrial park located
just outside of Cedartown, a hamlet of about 10,000 residents in northwest Georgia approximately 20
miles south of Rome.

The plant produces approximately 1 million pounds of 100-percent cotton yarn per week for
weaving, hosiery and knit outerwear applications. This means that the Cedartown Plant’s 100
associates, roughly one-sixth of Harriet & Henderson’s workforce, produce nearly one-third of
the company’s total yarn output. Yarn counts ranging from Ne 5/1 to Ne 22/1 are used domestically
and exported to the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) region.

All of the production machinery from opening through spinning is Switzerland-based Rieter
Textile Systems’ equipment, including C 51 Hi•Per•Cards, RSB-D 30 drawframes and R 20 rotor
spinning machines. The plant has enjoyed a strong running schedule and has increased its production
capacity twice.

womanworking
An associate at Harriet & Henderson’s Cedartown Plant tends to a Rieter R 20 open-end
spinning machine.


Expanded And Improved

“Our business has been strong,” said Gregg Webb, Cedartown plant manager. “We’ve been
fortunate in that we’ve had some kind of major addition every year.”

The plant started out with 14 spinning machines, 25 cards and 10 draw frames. In 1999, two
OE spinning machines and one draw frame were added. In 2000, the plant gained an additional five
spinning machines, nine cards and three draw frames. In 2001, an automated yarn transport,
inspection and packing system from Italy-based U.T.I.T. Wagner Automation S.p.A. was added. The
system is the first of its kind to be installed in the United States.

“We became interested in the U.T.I.T. system for labor savings, package quality improvement
and reduced ergonomic risk,” said Webb. “We had 16 people manually removing and inspecting
packages, and the potential risk of carpal tunnel syndrome was becoming a concern.

“With the addition of the U.T.I.T. system, there has been a tremendous reduction in product
handling. Now no one touches the yarn from the time it leaves the spinning machine until a forklift
places it on a truck. As a result, Cedartown has realized a decline in Occupational Health &
Safety Administration (OSHA) recordable injuries. Its most recent safety milestone is reaching the
two-year mark without a lost-time accident.

Installation of the U.T.I.T. system went relatively smoothly. There was some concern about
language difficulties between the Italian erectors and the plant’s English- and Spanish-speaking
associates. These concerns proved to be groundless. “I was amazed at how quickly our associates
picked the system up,” Webb said. “I was very pleased with the training that U.T.I.T. offered the
associates, helping them get the system up and running.”

men
Left to right: Giovanni Vaccari, U.T.I.T.; Mike Daniels, M&M Machinery Sales LLC; Gregg
Webb, Harriet & Henderson; and Scott Wilfong, M&M Machinery Sales. Harriet & Henderson
purchased the U.T.I.T. equipment through M&M Machinery Sales, U.T.I.T.’s US sales
representative.


The U.T.I.T. System

In the U.T.I.T. system, first, a pneumatic elevator lifts packages from each spinning
machine up to the transport system or collecting circuit.

Next, packages are loaded onto a “train” or “chain” equipped with plastic trays that hold
each package. U.T.I.T. calls the system the “Snake Cone.” It uses the same components the company
has been employing for several years on bobbin transport systems. It was shown for the first time
at the American Textile Machinery Exhibition-International (ATME-I) 2001 in Greenville.

This train-with-trays approach offers several advantages over older systems such as conveyor
belts. Packages are less likely to be damaged. The risk of mixing yarn counts also is eliminated
because all of the packages in a train come from the same spinning machine, so each chain or train
has its own identity.”

Each package rides on a single plastic tray,” said Giovanni Vaccari, sales engineer and US
sales area manager, U.T.I.T. “The system is modular and adaptable to existing buildings and
existing machinery layouts. Another advantage is speed. It is much faster than a conveyor.”

The Cedartown Plant’s spinning machines are arranged in three bays. Two have eight machines
each, and the third has five. The package transport system can handle a single doff from each of
these bays simultaneously and is guaranteed to handle a package flow of up to 1,000 packages per
hour.


Transportation, Inspection And Storage

From the spinning room, the packages are conveyed out to the warehouse. Once there, they go
through two inspection stations and are automatically checked for proper diameter, weight, conicity
and transfer tail. Any packages not within tolerance are automatically rejected.

After the packages are inspected, they are transferred to buffer trains that contain exactly
enough packages to complete a pallet or several cardboard cases. These buffer trains are stored
above the packing area. This overhead storage system can hold up to 21 different yarn counts – one
per spinning machine. While the plant can produce up to 21 different yarn counts at a time, that
can translate into as many as 50 SKUs, depending on factors such as yarn package size and the type
of packaging required by the customer.

“Domestically, more and more customers prefer the returnable tray pack and the largest
package size available,” Webb said. “Export customers prefer cardboard cases, but there too, they
are looking for larger-diameter packages.”With the exception of the packing and wrapping stations
in the warehouse, the system is installed overhead. From the overhead storage area, the trains
carry the packages to one of two automated packing stations via one of two spirals.


Packing It Out

The plant is equipped with two packing stations. One is a palletizer with a multiple head
gripper, pallet separator and cover pick-up device. It is designed to pack the yarn into tray
packs. The other unit is a boxing machine that can pack different package diameters following
different patterns into cardboard cases. These cases are automatically folded and formed by the
machine.

Both lines are capable of wrapping and strapping prior to shipping. The ability to
seamlessly switch back and forth between the two packing lines is essential at Cedartown because it
is a sales yarn plant. Here, constant product mix changes are the norm.

The automated yarn transport and inspection system has been in place for more than a year
now. Plant management is pleased with the system and reports that it has a short payback period.
Webb declined to go into specifics, other than to say there were tremendous labor savings and to
mention a 0.5-percent efficiency gain at the spinning machines due to optimization of doffing time.

Editor’s Note: Alfred Dockery is editor of The HunTex Report, a newsletter for industrial
textiles. A graduate of North Carolina State University’s College of Textiles, he has been writing
about the textile industry for 15 years. Dockery is based in Clemmons, N.C.

April 2003

Springs, Owen Sign Blanket Agreement

Springs Industries Inc., Fort Mill, S.C., and Charles D. Owen Manufacturing Co., Swannanoa,
N.C., have signed an agreement for Owen to produce and market blankets, throws, bedspreads and
related products under Spring’s Springmaid®, Wamsutta® and associated brands.

The product line will coordinate with Springs designs and colors; and with Springs bedroom
and bath product lines, and window treatments. New products and packaging will be introduced during
the April home fashions market at both the Owen showroom and the Springs showroom in New York City.

“We are proud to market the strong, well-recognized and valued brands of Springs through this
new agreement,” said Charles D. Owen Jr., CEO, Owen. “We plan to introduce innovation and
creativity to this product line and to elevate blankets to new levels for retailers.”

April 2003

Coalition Presses For Asian Currency Action

The Coalition for a Sound Dollar, Washington, has praised Senate Finance Committee members Max
Baucus (D-Mont.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) for urging action by
Treasury Secretary John Snow against China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan in connection with these
countries’ currency manipulations. The coalition also is urging Congress to put the issue of Asian
currency manipulation at the top of its 2003 list of priorities.

“[T]hese countries manipulate their currencies to gain an anti-competitive export advantage
over US manufacturers and farmers a practice that is illegal under international rules and goes
against the presidents own policy that open markets should set exchange,” said Cass Johnson,
director for international trade, American Textile Manufacturers Institute (ATMI), and a spokesman
for the coalition.

“By using artificially low currencies to gain a competitive edge, these countries gain as
much as a 20- to 40-percent price advantage over US manufacturers,” he said. “It is no wonder that
the US manufacturing sector continues to shed jobs while manufacturing imports from these four
countries have collectively surged to all-time highs.”

Together, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan accounted for about $200 billion of the US trade
deficit in 2002. As well, over the last two years, 2 million jobs have been lost in the US
manufacturing sector.

April 2003

Administration Announces Import Control Initiatives

The Bush administration has announced two initiatives designed to control textile and apparel
import surges from China and to crack down on illegal imports from China and other nations.
Speaking at the 54th annual meeting of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute (ATMI),
Undersecretary of Commerce For International Trade Grant Aldonas said his department will, within
the next few days, publish in the Federal Register specific guidelines for dealing with import
surges from China. The guidelines are based on the so-called “safeguard mechanism” in China’s World
Trade Organization (WTO) accession agreement. Provisions in that agreement permit the United States
to impose unilateral quotas on imports if it can be shown that they cause or threaten to cause
market disruption.

Last August, ATMI filed a petition with the Committee for the Implementation of Textile
Agreements (CITA) asking the government to impose quotas on knit fabrics, work gloves, nightwear,
brassieres, luggage and filament yarn, where huge import surges occurred after import quotas were
removed from those product categories.

CITA had not acted on the ATMI petition, but Aldonas said the new criteria would be applied
to the ATMI petition. Importers had charged that ATMI does not have the “standing” necessary to
petition the government, but Aldonas indicated ATMI does in fact have the necessary standing. The
safeguard provisions require petitioners to provide specific information in support of their claims
of market disruption.

CITA will then evaluate the information and if it appears valid, it will seek public comment
on the request. CITA will make a determination within 60 days of the comment period as to whether
it will seek “consultations” with China. If the consultations do not prove satisfactory, the US
will impose unilateral quotas.

In announcing the safeguard mechanism, Aldonas said, “The procedures provide a clear road map
for firms, trade associations and workers who believe imports from China are disrupting their
markets.”

Outgoing ATMI Chairman Van May and the incoming chairman Billie Moore gave the guidelines a
guarded endorsement, saying it is a “workable plan,” but emphasized that the various steps need to
be “expedited.”

In a move to find and eliminate illegal textile and apparel imports, Aldonas said the Energy
Department’s Oak National Laboratory has identified three technologies that may allow for a
cost-effective “marker” system to identify the true country of origin of imports that today are
often misidentified and circumvent quota controls.

While it will take some time for the government to determine which procedure will be most
effective, Aldonas said the proposed marker systems “show promise in the fight against fraudulent
imports.”

April 2003

Foley Offers Add-On Sewing Equipment

New Baltimore, Mich.-based M.J. Foley Co. has developed add-on equipment that monitors thread
tension values on industrial sewing machines. Available in a pneumatic and electronic version, the
equipment measures and digitally displays the compressive force applied to top thread tensioning
discs, and allows the operator to set the tension value according to fabric type at a single
workstation. Foley claims the new add-on equipment makes it possible to reliably and accurately
change and/or return to any tension value setting.

April 2003

Industry Cites IPR Policy Problems


T
 he National Textile Association (NTA) has given US government officials a detailed white
paper outlining piracy of design and copyright problems the textile industry is facing. The
information, which was requested by trade officials at the US Department of Commerce and the
Customs Service, outlines nearly a dozen recommendations for combating the problem.

A survey of more than 200 textile companies shows problems with knock-off patterns, designs
and trademarks are widespread, as more than half of the companies responding said they have
experienced “some” or “a lot” of theft. These companies reported overseas manufacturers have
profitable, ongoing businesses that continually violate their intellectual property rights (IPRs).
The Department of Commerce recently estimated IPR violations cost US textile manufacturers $100
million annually.

The white paper also says countries where piracy is taking place pay little or no attention
to the problem because trade is lucrative business. While the subject is likely to be addressed in
the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations currently underway in Geneva, and all of the major
textile associations have urged the US government to press for more IPR protection, there is not
much hope that other countries will be interested in doing anything about it.

In calling for action on the problem, the NTA paper says, “[O]ne of the few edges we have
left is our intellectual property, and foreigners are trying to steal that.” NTA says because so
many countries are anxious to have greater access to the US textile market, trade negotiators need
to impose “fundamental standards” of IPR protection as part of any future trade agreements.

Some of the textile industry’s recommendations will require legislation, but others call for
actions that can be taken under existing laws and regulations. NTA says, for example, the US
Customs Service must become more diligent and devote more resources to seizing illegal shipments,
and it suggests that customs agents become more involved in trade shows, where many violations are
uncovered in the early stages. One problem with these suggestions is that the Customs Service has
been forced to devote more and more of its resources to helping with homeland security.

NTA also calls on Congress to pass new laws strengthening penalties for violations,
including criminal penalties. Noting that other countries make extensive use of non-tariff barriers
to address trade problems, NTA says the US government should consider a non-tariff barrier of its
own and require all fabric imports to be accompanied by a form stating that the product does not
embody a copyright infringement. The report also recommends a stepped-up education program in the
United States and abroad to highlight violations including greater use and publicity for “sting”
operations — unannounced raids on suspected offenders.

Customs and Commerce Department officials are circulating the white paper throughout their
organizations to see what can be done.


FTAA Has Big Problems


washington The Bush administration’s ambitious plan to create a Free Trade Area of the
Americas (FTAA) faces many problems, not only where textiles are concerned, but also with other
industries and agriculture. US Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick made a bold move to
jump-start negotiations by making an offer to 34 countries to eliminate 65 percent of US industrial
and consumer goods tariffs and non-tariff barriers immediately upon completion of an agreement, and
the remainder by 2015. In the case of textiles and apparel, he offered to move even faster — to
zero tariffs in just five years. In both cases other nations would have to reciprocate.

It’s difficult to ferret out just how this ambitious plan in the end will dovetail with
other free trade agreements in the Western Hemisphere, and what it will mean for textiles. The
United States already has preferential trade agreements under the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) and the proposed Central
American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). In each of these cases, there is a yarn-forward country of
origin rule that generally satisfies the US textile industry, although the industry is not pleased
with the Tariff Preference Levels (TPLs) that permit imports from non-participating countries up to
specified levels. The US textile industry will press for the same rule of origin in the FTAA
agreement, with no TPLs, although US importers of apparel insist they need them in order to have
adequate sources of supply.

Zoellick says FTAA is designed to mesh with these other agreements, but no one is quite sure
how or if that can be done. There are wide disparities in the size and economic development of FTAA
countries. For one thing, FTAA involves much larger countries that have issues other than those in
the countries involved in the other preferential trade agreements. Brazil, for example, has high
tariffs and non-tariff barriers of major concern to US textile manufacturers, and it, in turn, has
serious concerns about US barriers to agricultural imports such as sugar. Zoellick recognizes this,
but at this point says negotiators will tackle the easy problems first and then approach more
sensitive issues such as sugar and other agricultural commodities “at different speeds.”


Textile Research

Funding Survives Budget Cuts


Despite budget cuts in many areas for the current fiscal year, federal funding for textile
research projects at the National Textile Center (NTC) and the Textile/Clothing Technology Center
([TC]2) will remain at the same level as last year.

Due to a five-month budget impasse, funding for the current fiscal year, which started last
October, was not approved until February. When Congress finally got around to approving this fiscal
year’s expenditures, which are designed to improve the competitiveness of the US textile and
apparel industries, NTC was granted $10 million and [TC]2 $3 million. This means that the research
centers can continue to move forward on projects in a number of areas.

Research at the eight colleges that comprise NTC is centered in four areas — chemicals,
materials, fabrication and management systems. Some of the work in these areas will support the new
homeland security efforts, as scientists are looking at fabrics and fibers that are resistant to
chemicals. In addition, researchers are working on innovative ways to improve fabric and fiber “
functionality,” and they are studying the chemistry of new dyeing and finishing processes. Textile
companies participating in the selection and management of projects at NTC are at an all-time high
of 41.

[TC]2 is working on both textile and apparel projects. Some of the most promising areas
involve changes in the way patterns are created and how they can be revised to require less labor
in the production of clothing. Research shows that human body measurements used in creating sizes
and styles have changed and must be updated. This is part of [TC]2’s Size USA project. In addition,
researchers at the center are working on ways to improve quality control and to reduce or eliminate
production problems.

April 2003

1...2,4272,4282,429...2,570Page 2,428 of 2,570

Sponsors

Breaking News

Load more

Digital Issue

2025 Quarterly Issue Number III

View Latest Digital Issue

FEATURED ARTICLES

© Copyright 2017 Textile Industries Media Group, LLC.