TMC Welcomes Timo Pape As Director Of Business Development Europe

LEVIN, New Zealand — July 12, 2023 — TMC Ltd., owner of Nuyarn® and Herculan® technologies and a proven innovator in the performance yarn and fabric space, announces today that Timo Pape has joined the company as director, Business Development Europe.

An experienced corporate entrepreneur with a track record as a product creator and brand strategist, Timo Pape brings over 20 years of experience in the performance and outdoor footwear and apparel industry across Europe, North America and Asia. As Director of Business Development Europe for TMC, Timo will be responsible for supporting the continued growth of the Nuyarn and Herculan by advancing partnerships with leading brands looking to enhance their apparel, footwear, and hardware ranges with the world’s first performance wool. Timo will also continue to serve as a Nuyarn brand ambassador with Expedition Cooperative, a cooperative bringing like-minded people, brands & organizations together in pursuit of adventure & exploration to all corners of the globe.

“We are thrilled to have Timo join the team,” said Andy Wynne, CEO of TMC Ltd. “With his background as a product director and expeditionist, he brings invaluable insights into the needs of our core customer and has deep expertise in delivering market-aligned products. This new position with Timo at the helm will strengthen our relationships with brands and drive growth throughout the European market.”

“I’ve been a fan of Nuyarn for many years and am honored and excited to be joining the TMC team,” Pape said. “As a consumer, expeditionist, customer, and industry veteran, I know firsthand that Nuyarn and Herculan technologies can deliver unique performance properties to elevate a brand’s product propositions, and I am looking forward to developing the growth of this technology with the right partnerships and collaborations.”

Posted: July 12, 2023

Source: TMC Ltd.

Cost Reduction Through Future Ultra-Thin PE Carbon Fibers: ITA Master’s Graduate Wins Hanns Voith Foundation Award 2023

Professor Dr Thomas Gries with the award winner Flávio André Marter Diniz (Source: Hanns Voith Foundation, Oliver Vogel)

HEIDENHEIM, Germany — June 23, 2023 — In his Master’s thesis, Flávio André Marter Diniz, a graduate of the Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University (ITA), developed ultra-thin polyethylene (PE) carbon fibres with a filament diameter 2-3 times smaller than usual. In addition, the use of PE-based precursors will make it possible to reduce the price of carbon fibers by 50 percent in the future, thus opening up a wide range of other possible applications in key industries such as wind power, aerospace and automotive. For this groundbreaking development, Marter Diniz was awarded the Hanns Voith Prize on 23 June by Professor Dr mult. Sigmar Wittig with the Hanns Voith Foundation Award in the category “New Materials”. The prize is endowed with € 5,000 in prize money.

Ultra-thin PE-based carbon fiber (Source: ITA)

Background

Marter Diniz won the prize in the category “New Materials” for his master thesis entitled “Investigation of the stabilisation and carbonisation process for the production of ultra-thin polyethylene-based carbon fibres”.

The use of carbon fibers in highly stressed lightweight construction solutions, such as today’s growth applications of wind turbines or pressure tanks, has become indispensable due to their excellent mechanical properties and low density. High manufacturing costs of conventional PAN precursor-based carbon fibres make the material very cost-intensive. In addition, it is not sufficiently available. New manufacturing approaches that develop alternative raw materials and manufacturing processes can be a key and growth engine for further industrial composites applications.

The aim of the work was to develop a new and cost-effective manufacturing process for high-quality ultra-thin carbon fibers using a polyethylene precursor. For this purpose, the sulfonization process, which is time-consuming today, was to be significantly shortened.
As a result, Marter Diniz produced novel ultra-thin polyethylene-based carbon fibers with a filament diameter < 3 μm with an excellent surface quality of the fibers without detectable structural defects. The fiber diameter is 2-3 times smaller than that of conventional PAN-
based CF. This provides the basis for mechanically high-quality material properties. At the same time, Marter Diniz was able to reduce the sulfonization time by 25 percent. The developed material and technology set important milestones on the way to cheaper carbon fibers. With PE-based precursors, the price of CF can be reduced by 50 percent compared to conventional PAN-based CF.

A total of five other young scientists were awarded in six categories — Drive Technology, Innovation & Technology/Artificial Intelligence, New Materials, Paper, Hydropower and Economic Sciences. This year, for the 10th time, the Hanns Voith Foundation awarded the
Hanns Voith Prize to outstanding young scientists.

Posted July 11, 2023

Source: ITA Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University

The Widest Range Of Solutions For Textile Processing And Machinery With Bonfiglioli

BOLOGNA, Italy — July 10, 2023 — The textile industry includes many different sub-sectors such as spinning, weaving, knitting, dyeing, printing, and finishing, each of which requires specific equipment and techniques. A constant evolution in technologies characterises this field in order to improve efficiency, sustainability, and product quality, also using advanced manufacturing processes to develop environmentally friendly materials and production methods in compliance with local and international regulations.

Thanks to the extensive know-how and long-term collaboration with key customers, Bonfiglioli engineering specialists work side-by-side with customers to develop tailored and forward-thinking integrated solutions for the textile industry, covering the entire motion drive train, including the Industry 4.0 approach. Their drive system portfolio has the perfect features to respond to the typical demanding environment of the textile sector, characterized by fiber-polluted air, high ambient temperatures and occasional mains failure management. Bonfiglioli faces the harsh environments of the textile sector in different ways:

  • In order to prevent material damages (i.e. yarn breaks) due to DC-Bus & Mains failure, Bonfiglioli takes care that the machine can react during a power failure with a managed ramp down
  • To keep heat losses outside the cabinet and allow space savings, the company offers the cold plate and feedthrough solutions. Device variants without fans and without electrolyte capacitors improve the longevity of the inverters and their robustness to work in high temperature environments.
  • They offer alternative cooling concepts for frequency and servo inverter and coated printed circuit boards

All this, coupled with a comprehensive range of professional services, allows Bonfiglioli to satisfy the customers’ demands with solutions aimed at minimizing the total cost of ownership of plants by significantly reducing maintenance activities, energy consumption and downtime.

Promoting sustainability and a responsible resource usage is one of Bonfiglioli’s main goals. The following approaches help to increase the energy efficiency of the drives and therefore of the whole machine:

  • Smart energy usage
  • Converting energy with high efficiency
  • Using kinetic energy during braking
  • Reducing energy consumption through energy saving functions in the frequency inverter

“Energy efficiency, cost saving and sustainability have been the roots of the design for Textile Drive Solutions,” said Christofer König, sales manager at Bonfiglioli. “Thanks to our wide experience in controlling machines through electronic drives, we have improved the functionality and monitoring of controllers, motors and gearboxes to ensure long-term and stable operations of textile machines. As a result, we are able to offer complete product packages (inverter + gearbox + motor) of highly dynamic drive systems for increasing production efficiency.”

More specifically, Bonfiglioli showcased three different examples of solutions at ITMA for roving frames, ring spinning machines and warp preparation. The first solution, designed for roving frames, includes the EVOX CP, a coaxial gearbox with a smooth surface that can be fitted to any machine thanks to its compatibility with market standards, the MXN asynchronous low voltage e-motor (IE3) developed to be modular, reliable, energy-efficient and internationally certified, and the DGM MPM decentralised inverter with sensorless vector control operation for optimal dynamics control.

As regards ring spinning machines, a compact right-angle A gear unit available in a wide torque range, an IE4 certified BSR synchronous reluctance motor, which guarantees an ecological and high-performance solution thanks to the absence of magnets and the AxiaVert smart inverter, featuring integrated functional safety and high application versatility, also for IoT.

Finally, on display is a solution for warp preparation, which consists of the TR precision planetary gearbox, characterized by great modularity due to multiple design configurations as well as wide ratios range and the BSR synchronous reluctance motor with the AGILE smart inverter, available in three mechanical sizes for power ranges between 0.12 and 11 kW for maximum standard application flexibility.

Posted July 11, 2023

Source: Bonfiglioli

 

 

LAIP: The Present Is An Expression Of A Future Project

PRATO, Italy — July 10, 2023 — This is one of the keys to comprehend LAIP’s productive strength, a desire for constant renewal, acceptance of new market challenges, new technologies, and the ability to have a constant dialogue with customers, not only before and during the sale, also after sale.

The desire for innovation is expressed in the ability and courage to change to be more efficient, more present, including communication, and in the flexibility and ability to respond to market needs. Driven by the desire for the best performance, that is not only technical, the company complied to the new business languages, guaranteeing competence and speed in answering to the many requests of customers and especially to those customers who look to LAIP for a personalized response to their needs for industrial dyeing.

LAIP has thus supplied dyeing machines of entire compartments in factories specially made by customers to insert LAIP products, this is a sign of the established trust that the market places in the company and in its machines.

The difference can be seen in the passion that everyone puts into their work, from the engineers to the assemblers, everyone committed to taking care of even the smallest detail, seeking solutions closest to the customer’s needs and innovation and to the quality of all the elements of the machines.

A constant success that saw the company as a protagonist at the recent ITMA: great affirmation of esteem from customers who came to visit the booth at the fair and excellent feedback from a great number of new customers who appreciated the work and production capabilities.

LAIP presented new and higher performing machines in addition to its great classics:

  • 198 HT, the highly demanded machine for tow – packages and fibre dyeing, it allows the same liquor ratio to be maintained even with partial loads!
  • BID, (Bobbins Injection Dyeing) ensures absolute repeatability, productivity and reliability for multicolour printing and dyeing of yarn in bobbins.
  • Nautilus, the cutting-edge machine. Conceived with a double belt, it is suitable for dyeing delicate fabrics keeping the low liquor ratio constant by the maximum fabric load up to 40 %. The low water consumption means low electrical consumption and energy saving.
  • 250 HT Jet, the easy machine that never stops to get perfectly dyed fabrics with no abrasions nor creases.
  • Beam, the ideal machine to dye high end silk and technical fabrics, tubular and warp knit for sportwear enabling the optimisation of production times and superlative technical performance.

One constant is to be able to make machines that can prove effective in all-around energy savings, not an easy task in dyeing sector, and LAIP, as always, meets the challenge and the results are manifest. Less water consumption, more efficient components, more automation and indeed, significant energy savings.

Posted July 11, 2023

Source: LAIP

Tecnorama: ITMA 23 Confirms Leadership

PRATO, Italy — July 11, 2023 — Tecnorama is the leader in dyeing laboratory automation thanks to its patented Dos&Dye® systems that allows to obtain the exact recipe (RIGHT FIRST TIME) to be replicated in bulk machines that drastically reduce corrections in production and re-dyeing with significant time savings and increased productivity. For more than 35 years, the company has been developing high-tech products with a strong innovative connotation: it acknowledges and analyses market needs and develops products to meet the highest market expectations. Tecnorama has seen steady growth over the years because its proposed values have always been appreciated by customers who recognize its cutting-edge technology, innovative results, attention to the environment, customer care with tailor-made solutions, and pre- and after-sales support.

The leadership position is also corroborated by being considered as a benchmark by the market so that the machines developed and built in Tecnorama are often emulated by companies that cannot count on the same expertise and are therefore unable to offer equally reliable products of comparable quality. Being competitive for dyehouses means adopting strategies and processes that improve production efficiency, that’s the plus of the original Dos&Dye systems: cutting lab costs, avoiding errors, optimizing reliability and reproducibility to improve production.

The company pursues its goals with continuous and significant investment in R&D and by developing in-house departments capable of responding to demands for product innovation and commercial follow-up. It’s been a while since the founders have, with foresight, adopted a strategy to continue growing maintaining market leadership. In this spirit, Mario Scatizzi and Romana Barni have set up a management team capable of continuing to run the company with the same energy they always expressed.

ITMA 2023 was an opportunity to confirm Alessandro Giugni as CEO and the entire management team formed by the professional figures who have contributed to the company’s success for many years.

The new products that Tecnorama exhibited at the fair also made their mark at this ITMA.
Perfectly integrated into the Dos&Dye systems for the laboratory, the high-performance Dosorama MASTER and the Dyrama 4R/1000 for dyeing yarns with a capacity of 1kg were the major innovations physically present in the booth. There was also great resonance for the Dos&Dye 6000 Just in Time system for dyeing small batches, which has already been chosen by prestigious internationally recognized companies.

Posted July 11, 2023

Source: Tecnorama

Crowley Names Eric Cunningham Vice President, Shared Services

Cunningham

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — July 11, 2023 — Crowley has appointed Eric Cunningham to be vice president of Shared Services, where he will focus on growing the company’s business relationships and capabilities for customers across the United States, Central America and strategic markets.

“We are excited to welcome Eric as he joins our leadership team to help strengthen the services Crowley brings to our valued customers, improve process efficiencies and propel the growth and success of our people,” said Dan Warner, Crowley’s CFO. “Shared Services is an important component to our strategic impact as a company; and Eric’s unique, collaborative approach to operations and customers will help lead our teams to even more success.”

In the newly created role, Cunningham will lead the development of the Shared Services functions, with an eye toward the growth and development of team members, as well as shaping the group’s capabilities to ensure they’re meeting the needs of current and prospective customers. The Shared Services group provides financial management, accounting and other related services for internal and external customers.

Cunningham joins Crowley with more than 20 years of experience in operations management, customer service and regulatory compliance. He previously served as the chief operations officer for One Park Financial, where he supported functions across five international markets. He also led services teams across 200 retail locations as senior vice president of operations for Oportun.

Cunningham holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Notre Dame.

Posted July 11, 2023

Source: Crowley

Mannington Commercial’s Calhoun Operations Achieve ISO 14001 Recertification 

CALHOUN, Ga. — July 11, 2023 — Mannington Commercial, a manufacturer of commercial flooring products crafted with purpose, announced today that its Calhoun, Ga., operations have achieved International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 recertification. The recertification confirms the Calhoun operations have met an internationally agreed upon standard to identify, monitor and control environmental performance through efficient resource consumption and waste minimization. The recertification also verifies the company’s ongoing and continual improvement in those areas and further supports the company’s broader environmental goals.

The Calhoun location manufactures commercial broadloom carpet, modular carpet tile, rubber and residential rigid core flooring products. It also serves as a major distribution hub and contains offices that employ approximately 1,000 associates. Since 2018, the Calhoun location has met critical environmental results across multiple operational areas. This includes a 61-percent reduction in water usage (the equivalent of 16 million gallons); a 56-percent reduction in fossil fuel usage (the equivalent of 43 million cubic feet of natural gas); and a 10-percent reduction in electric usage (the equivalent of 20.5 million kWh). Since 2020, the company has reduced its landfill waste by 17 percent, the equivalent of diverting approximately 545 tons of waste.

“This recertification is a significant accomplishment for our associates, our customers and the communities like Calhoun where we have operations,” said Mannington Commercial Director of Sustainability Shane Totten, AIA. “It provides tangible proof that our environmental management system is aligned with global best practices. It also demonstrates our commitment to sustainability, being better stewards of the environment and striving to be a responsible corporate citizen to our neighbors.”

To achieve the recertification, a two-person auditing team spent six days reviewing and verifying multiple aspects of the company’s operations, including its environmental policies, procedures and permits; its associate competency and training programs; its manufacturing and warehouse operations; and its leadership commitment to continuous improvement.

The recertification follows several important environmentally responsible steps the company completed earlier in the year. In June, the company published its first corporate sustainability report, Values in Action, which builds upon the organization’s 108-year legacy of caring for people and communities. It also adopted an energy policy declaring the organization’s leadership role in protecting and enhancing the environment and its goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The company also completed the United Nations Global Compact self-assessment to help align its strategies and operations with universal principles based on human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.

The Calhoun operations received initial ISO 14001 certification in 2005. Mannington Mills, Mannington Commercial’s parent company, has achieved ISO 14001 certification for its commercial inlaid sheet and commercial and residential cushion sheet operations at its Salem, N.J., location. The company’s LVT operations, located in Madison, Ga., achieved ISO 14001 certification in 2012.

ISO 14001 is an internationally agreed standard that sets out the requirements for an environmental management system. It helps organizations improve their environmental performance through more efficient use of resources and reduction of waste, gaining a competitive advantage and the trust of stakeholders.

Posted July 11, 2023

Source: Mannington Commercial

Fiber Industries Announces Establishment Of Darlington Green 

DARLINGTON, S.C. — July 11, 2023 — Fiber Industries, a domestic producer of high-quality polyester staple fiber, today announced the establishment of Darlington Green, a sustainability hub for textiles and packaging manufacturing and related research, development, and innovation. The company also announced that it has rebranded as Darling Fibers, reflecting its industry leadership in sustainability efforts and support for the local community. Darling Fibers will anchor the Darlington Green hub.

“We are aligning our brand and purpose with our potential,” said Don Bockoven, CEO of Darling Fibers. “Our goal is to build on our rich heritage as an organization by fostering innovation and spurring productivity while preserving and enhancing the environment. We envision accelerating the growth and resilience of America’s textiles and packaging industries through collaboration and partnership.”

Establishing Darlington Green

To chart a clear path for Darlington Green, Darling Fibers is reimagining its 765-acre campus as a hub for textiles and packaging innovation. As part of that process, Darling Fibers will take a lead role in forming an Advisory Board comprised of community and industry stakeholders, to establish a definitive mission and vision for the sustainability hub. Once operational, Darlington Green will bring together and leverage the power of textiles and packaging manufacturers, state and local governments, academic research institutions, technologists, entrepreneurs, and other interested parties to reinvigorate and advance sustainability efforts.

“Darlington Green is in active discussions with partners to co-locate manufacturing and pilot new products and emerging recycling technologies, harness our collective expertise and revitalize the U.S. polyester and plastic industry,” said George Bandy Jr., chief sustainability officer, Darling Fibers.

Rebranding To Darling Fibers

According to Bockoven, since restarting the former Wellman business in 2020, the company has retooled long-dormant manufacturing lines, reestablished industry relationships, and refined its strategy for high-quality low-carbon product development.

Today, Darling Fibers’ 1-million-square-foot, state-of-the-art polyester manufacturing facility can process a range of raw materials through finished goods. While currently serving customers with existing inventory, Darling Fibers has been actively engaging new customers to further scale its production of polyester fiber and chip.

“More than 380 million tons of plastic waste was generated in the world last year and only 10 percent of that plastic was recycled, with the rest incinerated, landfilled or dumped in our oceans,” Bandy added. “We see Darling Fibers and Darlington Green as being at the forefront of finding solutions and capitalizing on opportunities presented by these profound challenges.”

Posted July 11, 2023

Source: Darling Fibers

Milliken & Company Welcomes New Floor Covering Business President

Patrick Keese

SPARTANBURG, S.C — July 11, 2023 — Milliken & Company — a diversified global manufacturer with a portfolio of textile, specialty chemical, floor covering and healthcare innovations — named Patrick Keese as its executive vice president and president of Milliken’s Floor Covering Business. Effective July 25, Keese will lead Milliken’s international floor covering operation, spanning four continents and 290 product collections.

“We are pleased to welcome Patrick to the team,” shared Halsey Cook, president and CEO of Milliken & Company. “He has a strong track record of success launching new products, creating customer-focused solutions, and leading operational excellence initiatives that will bolster the rich legacy of our floor covering business. We also extend our deepest gratitude to Jim McCallum on his retirement in early September, concluding his successful tenure as president of the floor covering business.”

Most recently serving as senior vice president and general manager of Altium Packaging, Keese has an extensive background in international business leadership. At Altium, he led more than 1,300 employees at 30 locations to produce plastic and packaging components. Prior to this, Keese worked for Sonoco Products Co., a global provider of consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging and healthcare packaging solutions based in Hartsville, S.C., in both manufacturing and commercial roles. He holds a Bachelor of Science in industrial management and marketing from Clemson University, as well as certifications in various executive development programs at Columbia University and the Rensselaer Hartford Graduate Center.

“It is an immense privilege to be tapped to lead the floor covering business at Milliken,” adds Keese. “Milliken’s flooring innovations blend technical precision with inspired design vision to create sustainable and impactful products. I hope to continue and build on that legacy well into the future.”

Posted: July 11, 2023

Source: Milliken & Company

Lectra Launches VectorFashion iX2 And VectorFashion Q2, A New Generation Of Intelligent, Connected Cutting Equipment For The Fashion Industry

PARIS — July 11, 2023 — Lectra supports the transformation of fashion, automotive and furniture players by providing them with technological solutions that accelerate their transition to a more efficient and more sustainable Industry 4.0. The Group announces the launch of a new generation of intelligent, connected low-ply equipment for the fashion industry, VectorFashion iX2 and VectorFashion Q2. They are particularly well suited to ensuring a quick, easy transition from small-volume production to larger order volumes, while maintaining optimal cutting quality. Developed with an eco-design approach, their environmental and social impact has been significantly improved.

In fashion, the current trend is towards capsule collections and the constant renewal of products. Manufacturers therefore have to produce smaller volumes of the same design and the number of orders to process and materials to cut is increasing. VectorFashion iX2 and VectorFashion Q2 allow manufacturers to cut variable volumes in an agile manner, in all types of materials.

“As economies of scale are increasingly difficult to achieve, fashion manufacturers need to gain flexibility while controlling the costs associated with the production of the orders they receive. With optimized running costs and enhanced performance, the new generation of VectorFashion iX2 and VectorFashion Q2 cutting solutions offers them a better return on investment, and helps them increase their margins while also reducing their environmental footprint. As corporate social responsibility is a major priority for Lectra, we have reinforced the integration of eco-design principles in the development of this new range. This enables our customers to meet the fashion industry’s two major challenges: reducing energy and material consumption,” explains Maximilien Abadie, chief product officer at Lectra.

A reduced environmental footprint

Fashion players also have increasingly high expectations regarding the environmental footprint of their business. Lectra meets their needs by applying eco-design principles. VectorFashion iX2 and VectorFashion Q2 use 30- to 40-percent less energy than the previous versions, which were already renowned for their energy performance, for superior efficiency. They weigh 200 kg less than their predecessors, and are more compact in size. As a result, the carbon footprint associated with transporting the equipment, and with the resources used in its production and maintenance, is also significantly reduced.

Ergonomics and operator protection, Lectra’s key concerns, have been completely reconsidered, with the introduction of new standards for electronic cards, the integration of motion detection radars, and the reduction of equipment noise levels. This guarantees optimum operator comfort and safety, while minimizing equipment downtime.

More connectivity, more intelligence, more efficiency

VectorFashion iX2 and VectorFashion Q2 offer a high level of connectivity thanks to numerous built-in sensors, which makes them fully compatible with Industry 4.0.

Thanks to data intelligence and improved connectivity, manufacturers have all the data they need to increase the efficiency of their processes, boost productivity, improve product quality and better meet the challenges of tomorrow.

They also benefit from new associated services, as well as predictive maintenance with enriched digital content for greater autonomy. Maintenance operations are halved, resulting in lower consumable costs, and a significant increase in equipment availability compared to the previous generation.

Posted: July 11, 2023

Source: Lectra

1...445446447...2,624Page 446 of 2,624

Sponsors

Breaking News

Load more

Digital Issue

2026 Quarterly Issue Number I

View Latest Digital Issue

FEATURED ARTICLES

© Copyright 2017 Textile Industries Media Group, LLC.