CINCINNATI, Ohio — May 4, 2022 — Michelman will introduce visitors to Unyte® water-based surface modifiers for technical textile applications at Techtextil North America.
Unyte® helps customers optimize fabric performance, decrease environmental impact, and improve production efficiency. These products can be used on both woven and nonwoven materials used in the design of technical textiles and pre-preg fabrics to improve adhesion, binding, slip, processability, and chemical & heat resistance.
Available in a variety of formulations, Unyte helps users reduce or eliminate the use of harmful chemicals — such as fluoropolymers and formaldehyde — while offering other performance benefits to the fabric or application.
Unyte Bind offers multiple solutions that improve fiber-to-fiber adhesion.
Unyte Heat solutions provide heat resistance during primary and secondary processing and impart heat resistance in end-use applications.
Unyte Glide increases lubricity and slip and facilitates tow spreading of fibers in technical textile production. This series of products is also used as oversizing to improve release, drape, and fabric processability.
Unyte Grip promotes the adhesion between fibers and polymeric matrices, helping to improve various functional or mechanical properties.
Unyte Slip helps prevent fabrics, nonwovens, and pre-pregs that need to be stacked or rolled without sticking together.
Unyte Resist products provide excellent wet-out and moisture/chemical resistance to fabrics, wovens, and nonwovens.
Michelman will exhibit in booth #2405 at Techtextil North America. The show will take place May 17-19, 2022, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
FALL RIVER, Mass. — May 10, 2022 — The team from Bolger & O’Hearn (B&O) will be onsite, Booth 2906, at Techtextil North America 2022 in Atlanta next week to introduce the textile industry to the company’s latest innovation, Shell-Tech Dual Action — a Repel-&-Release technology that offers oil repellency, water repellency AND soil release. Techtextil North America 2022 takes place May 17-19 at the Georgia World Conference Center in downtown Atlanta. Visitors are welcome to stop by the booth on the show floor, #2906, to learn more about the company’s latest innovations. To set up an appointment, contact Shaun O’Hearn.
B&O will also showcase fluorine-free Shell-Tech Free at Techtextil North America 2022. Introduced last fall at IFAI Expo in Nashville, Shell-Tech Free is ideal for brands making the transition to fluorine-free durable water repellents. Shell-Tech Free provides the same repellency, wash durability and runability as a quality C-6 and has been engineered for both sustainability and easy application at the mill. Shell-Tech Free can be used on a vast array of end products.
B&O’s new Repel-&-Release technology, Shell-Tech Dual Action, is unique from other protective finishes available to the US textile industry in that it offers high oil repellency, stain release, oily soil release and spray resistance. Designed for easy application at the mill, Shell-Tech Dual Action is ideal for the uniform market, work wear, linens, military textiles and other textiles that are exposed to the elements, gasoline, oil, soil and rain.
B&O will also participate in a symposium at the show titled “Circular Economy and Sustainability.” Mohan Rao, B&O’s technical director, will sit on the panel presentation, which takes place Wednesday, May 18, 2:30 pm to 4 pm EDT. The presentation will focus on the various challenges faced when implementing sustainable practices – from materials sourcing to energy and water consumption to the elimination of hazardous chemicals and waste. Rao specializes in developing innovative fluorochemical technologies of different functionalities as well as fluorine-free, sustainable water repellents for various textile market segments.
“Our high performance finishes are manufactured in the USA and have been developed to meet the textile industry’s growing demand for high performance finishes that offer new levels of protection and sustainability,” said Shaun O’Hearn, president, B&O. “Consumers are asking for both and we are committed to helping our customers meet that demand.”
CINCINNATI — May 10, 2022 — Standard Textile is proud to announce it has been selected as a 2022 U.S. Best Managed Company. Sponsored by Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal, the program recognizes outstanding U.S. private companies and the achievements of their management teams.
The 2022 designees are U.S. private companies that have demonstrated excellence in strategic planning and execution, a commitment to their people and fostering a dynamic, resilient culture, as well as strong financials. This year’s designees continued to propel their businesses forward by prioritizing purpose, investing in their workforces, and demonstrating their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
This is the second consecutive year that the Cincinnati-based manufacturer has received the Best Managed Company distinction.
“It is such an honor for our company to be recognized among Deloitte’s US Best Managed Companies for a second consecutive year,” said Gary Heiman, president and CEO of Standard Textile. “I couldn’t be prouder of our One Standard team. During yet another challenging year for most businesses, our team has shown incredible resiliency and adaptability as well as an unwavering commitment to doing what is best for our customers and our communities. It really shows what a solid foundation and culture along with continued investment in people can achieve.”
Throughout the pandemic, Standard Textile has continued to put a strong focus on its purpose to inspire care, comfort and change in communities. In 2021, the company met its goal of supporting 80,000 showers by year end through Standard Textile Cares, its national program to combat homelessness. Standard Textile partnered with non-profit organizations across the United States that provide mobile shower services to people dealing with homelessness or insufficient housing, donating thousands of bath towels, wash cloths, shower curtains, and blankets to support an estimated 80,200 showers annually.
Applicants are evaluated and selected by a panel of external judges focused on assessing hallmarks of excellence in four key areas: strategy, ability to execute, corporate culture and governance/financial performance. They join a global ecosystem of honorees from more than 40 countries recognized by the Best Managed Companies program.
MÖNCHENGLADBACH, Germany — May 5, 2022 — The Techtextil and Heimtextil Summer Special exhibitions, taking place together in Frankfurt from June 21-24, represent a welcome, once-only opportunity for Monforts to showcase its advanced finishing and coating technologies for two of its major markets – especially at a time when energy prices continue to soar for textile manufacturers in Europe.
European-built Montex stenters have earned their leading position on the market for fabric finishing due to their robustness, reliability and economy. Existing customers include many manufacturers in the field of home textiles, as well as those making geotextiles, automotive fabrics and other functional materials – all of whom will be well represented in Frankfurt this June. Dedicated Montex lines have also been supplied to producers of airbags, flame retardant barrier fabrics and spacer fabrics, as well as high-temperature filter materials.
Energy prices are rising steeply everywhere and a particular emphasis for Monforts in Frankfurt will be on the energy and heat recovery that can be achieved with Montex stenters, through features such as better insulation of the treatment chambers or the MonforClean system, in which waste heat from the drying process is used to pre-heat the drying air resulting in a radical reduction in the conventional heat supply required compared to gas and thermal oil heating. The modular system for heat recovery can also be extended for exhaust air cleaning and odour elimination. Monforts can provide a range of further resource-saving and energy recovery options tailored to each individual line installation including modification of the heating source.
“Montex stenters provide maximum efficiency, the ultimate in flexibility and the ability to switch quickly from one fabric formula to the next,” says Monforts Textile Technologies Engineer Jonas Beisel. “The easy to use human-machine interface (HMI) makes the operation of the line much simpler and cuts down the necessary training periods, while at the same time reducing the chance of human error.”
With the highly intuitive Qualitex 800 visualization software, all article-specific settings can be stored and the formulations for thousands of treatment processes called up again at any time. Individual operators can also personalise their dashboards with the most important machine functions and process parameters.
The Qualitex 800 system is available for the automatic and continuous operation of the company’s Montex stenters, as well as its Thermex continuous dyeing ranges, Monfortex shrinking systems and Montex®Coat coating units.
Monforts Montex®Coat coating units serve an equally diverse number of markets, including tents, tarpaulins and awnings, black-out roller blinds and sail cloth, automotive interior fabrics and medical disposables. Full PVC coatings, pigment dyeing or minimal application surface and low penetration treatments and solvent coatings (in explosion-proof conditions) with knife coating, roller coating or screen printing can all be accommodated with this system.
All of these very different materials require expert coating and finishing for maximum efficiency, using Monforts technologies which provide the ultimate in flexibility and the ability to switch quickly from one fabric run to the next, without compromising on the economical use of energy or raw materials.
The Monforts EcoApplicator offers further potential for sustainably achieving perfect finishes via a precise direct application system, as an alternative to conventional padding – where fabrics are immersed in a bath of the required finishing chemicals. It can significantly further reduce the energy and water required and finishes can be applied on just one side of the fabric, or both, and even separately on each side, to be sealed in place via different heating zones in the stenter. This allows endless differentiation possibilities.
“Both home textiles and textiles for a wide range of technical applications are key end-use markets for our technologies, making the joint Techtextil and Heimtexil shows a stand-out event in 2022,” says Monforts Managing Director Stefan Flöth. “We are looking forward to reconnecting with customers old and new in Frankfurt.”
CLEVELAND, Ohio — April 21, 2022 — DayGlo Color Corp., the world’s largest manufacturer of daylight fluorescent pigments, has unveiled a new brand identity that symbolizes the company’s forward-thinking business transformation and reiterates its commitment to enhancing color for customers.
Following the appointment of Cathie McKinley as president in 2019, DayGlo began implementing process improvements across all business operations, from manufacturing and procurement to customer service and R&D.
“The transformation at DayGlo began by looking at our customers, their markets and how we can support their businesses,” McKinley said. “Ultimately, we strive to be a company that’s easy to work with, making us an ideal partner for future collaborations. This rebranding, much like our pigments, is dynamic and captures how our color is a catalyst to inspire and create new possibilities for ourselves and our customers.”
In order to meet customer demand, the company has made investments to expand manufacturing capacity at its Cleveland-based headquarters. Manufacturing improvements are enabling DayGlo to produce better products more quickly and efficiently. It has also invested in its workforce, which has grown by 7 percent. Additionally, DayGlo is providing them with more training and professional development opportunities. Sustainability has been at the forefront of DayGlo’s process improvements. A case in point is the company’s reduction in water usage during production, saving millions of gallons annually.
DayGlo has also broadened its product offerings to include more sustainable products, most notably with the launch of the Ezentus and Elara product lines.
Ezentus is a new class of formaldehyde free, high-performance fluorescent pigments. The colorants are made with user-friendly materials that eliminate chemicals of concern without compromising performance. These versatile pigments can be used in a variety of applications where traditional fluorescent colorants cannot, such as in inks, coatings, flexible PVC and EVA foam.
DayGlo also developed its third generation of FDA-compliant fluorescent colorants for cosmetics and personal care through its Elara product line. Elara colorants can be used in oil-based solvent or water-born formulations and employ a revolutionary new thermoset polymer that is resistant to the solvents commonly employed in nail enamels and hair sprays. This colorant performs well in all types of personal care products, including makeup, lip gloss and lip sticks, lotions and soaps, face paint, temporary hair color, and nail lacquer.
DayGlo has also developed pigments suitable for polyolefins for injection molding, blow molding and rotational molding, as well engineering resins, plastisols and vinyl resins. These pigments offer excellent dispersion, heat stability and improved lightfastness in plastic applications such as product packaging, children’s toys and safety equipment.
“Operational process improvement has been central to leading and supporting our ability to grow as a business,” McKinley said. “We truly come to work every day with vivid imaginations to rethink how color can excite and enhance our lives with breakthroughs for brands and businesses. At DayGlo, we are the embodiment of color expression. We’re excited to unveil our new brand that matches our brightest and boldest ideas for customers.”
The new brand icon, known as the Color Burst, perfectly encapsulates DayGlo’s commitment to being a reimagined company that can create new possibilities. The Color Burst symbolizes the dynamic science of fluorescent color through the activation of photons in a precise, engineered style. Its dynamic energy embodies DayGlo’s ability to reinvent itself while still offering an industry-leading, high-quality product to customers.
ZURICH — May 5, 2022 — TESTEX is pleased to announce the official opening of its Vietnam office in Ho Chi Minh City, which will enable the Swiss testing and certification institute to deliver its premium services in a country with great economic potential and a strong textile industry.
Vietnam is among the top textile producing countries and apparel exporters in the world, and the garment and textile industry is one of the key industries in Vietnam with the second-largest export turnover in the country, contributing to 16 percent of total GDP. In the past five years, the textile industry has continuously grown at an average rate of 17 percent annually.
As many of TESTEX’s customers from other Asian countries are increasingly producing and investing in Vietnam, there is increased demand for auditing services in particular. With a branch office in Vietnam, TESTEX is now able to give its customers a more comprehensive service locally.
TESTEX’s new Country Manager and certified auditor Van Pham has more than 10 years of experience in compliance/certification/quality assessment in the textile industry. She worked as Country Supervisor and Senior Lead Auditor in Vietnam & Cambodia for 8 years. During this time she conducted more than 1,000 audits for diversity Schemes/ Programs/ Clients and also trained various customers and their suppliers in and around Southeast Asia. Van Pham graduated with a Finance Bachelor and afterwards pursued a master’s degree in business administration from Ho Chi Minh International School of Business. She loves to contribute more to the community, protect production workers from harmful chemical/ substances, protect customers’ health, saving the environment and planet, and driving sustainability goals.
OBERTSHAUSEN, Germany — May 6, 2022 — This year, the KARL MAYER Group will be 85 years old. The company is using this anniversary as an opportunity to pay tribute to the people behind its unparalleled success story. Over the years, what was once a family business has developed into an international group of companies at the top of its markets.
The global player owes its current size and position primarily to the right course set by its founder Karl Mayer and his successors. Equally important were the workforce and its cooperation with customers. The Mayer family has also laid down this focus in the corporate guidelines, which the company continues to follow consistently to this day. Fairness and trust are the basis of the Karl Mayer Group’s actions and its fundamental values, and they have just also helped it during the pandemic. Here, in particular, it has been shown how important people and community are.
“Today, we look back on a group of companies with strong roots and business activities in the main sectors of the textile industry,” said says Arno Gärtner, CEO of the Karl Mayer Group. “Like this industry, we are globally positioned and therefore close to our customers. Where we are today is thanks to an international team of people with innovative ideas, passion and the courage to set off. We are looking forward to celebrating our anniversary in the spirit of togetherness,”
A story of growth into a global player
Karl Mayer ‘s history is also a history of change. The company was founded in 1937 as a mechanical workshop, delivered the first warp knitting machine in 1948, and subsequently expanded internationally. Milestones of continuous growth were the establishment of the first foreign subsidiary in Clifton, USA, in 1956, an early presence in Japan — as early as 1968 — and the establishment of a subsidiary in the main market China in 1995. Today, the Group has additional foreign sites in England, India, Italy, Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Switzerland, and agencies in all parts of the world. The international organization with production sites in the main markets ensures that the Karl Mayer Group operates extremely close to its customers.
In 2017, the software start-up KM.ON was founded in order to rapidly advance digitization with its own organization through customized software solutions.
The Group also continued to expand in the recent past: in 2020, the flat knitting machine manufacturer STOLL was acquired, and since 2021, the new Beyond Textile Business Unit has been committed to growth outside its traditional business areas in the textile world. Today, the Group offers perfect solutions for warp knitting, flat knitting, technical textiles, warp preparation for weaving, and digitization, and combines the Karl Mayer, STOLL, and KM.ON brands under one roof for this purpose.
A story of innovators and doers with passion
The 3,100 employees from over 20 nations are united by the same DNA and passionate work for a better future. People at all Karl Mayer sites have a shared commitment to developing innovations that advance the textile world, but also areas beyond it. The focus has always been on the customer.
In its anniversary year, the Karl Mayer Group is shining the spotlight on its employees, customers and partners. Under the motto “growing together”, joint projects are presented and insights are given behind the scenes.
Activities include a social media and a press campaign in which customers from all over the world have their say. Many of them can report many years of trusting cooperation. Through working together, personal contacts have grown and shared memories have been created.
In addition to the voices from the market, a new presentation on the group of companies and an anniversary video on the theme of “People, togetherness, insights” will be launched. The anniversary is also the theme of the upcoming trade fair participations. This year, the Karl Mayer Group will be taking part as an exhibitor at Techtextil in Frankfurt am Main and ITM in Istanbul in June, ITMA ASIA in Shanghai in November, and INDIA ITME Noida near Delhi in December.
Last but not least, customers and other interested parties in the industry can look forward to a very special anniversary treat: a new digital platform with specialist news on all the Group’s technologies will go online just in time for the anniversary. The new media format also takes over the information offered by “Kettenwirk-Praxis”. With more topicality and broader reporting, readers are always as up to date as the fast-moving, innovative industry requires.
GREENSBORO, N.C. — May 9, 2022 — Kontoor Brands Inc., a global lifestyle apparel company with a portfolio led by two of the world’s most iconic consumer brands, Wrangler® and Lee®, today announced the appointment of Mame Annan-Brown to serve as Global Head of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), effective immediately.
In this expanded role, Annan-Brown will lead the integration of Kontoor’s global ESG efforts, spearheading strategy, integration, reporting and engagement across the Company’s, ongoing commitment to environmental, health and safety, corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, sustainability, diversity and inclusion and other matters. She will also represent Kontoor Brands as an active participant in organizations promoting ESG issues across the business landscape. Annan-Brown will continue to oversee Global Communications and Public Affairs, with responsibility over all aspects of global corporate communications, government relations, global philanthropy, and charitable giving.
“ESG is central to our mission and continued success as a responsible and sustainable organization. In addition to Mame’s more than two decades of experience at global institutions at the forefront of ESG and sustainable investing, including the World Bank Group and JPMorgan Chase, she also brings a depth of experience in shaping and driving holistic business strategies,” said Scott Baxter, president, CEO & Chair of the Board for Kontoor Brands. “We’re delighted to appoint someone of Mame’s calibre and experience to work with our teams to further integrate ESG at Kontoor. Her demonstrated leadership and passion for these critical issues make her an outstanding fit for this role.”
To ensure full integration of ESG priorities across Kontoor’s business, Annan-Brown will lead Kontoor’s ESG Council, comprised of Kontoor leadership globally, to ensure a highly integrated, coordinated approach to ESG. The Council will work to establish a foundational ESG framework and roadmap that establishes Kontoor’s priorities and vision relating to ESG matters, and prioritizes and recommends policies, practices, and disclosures that conform with the strategy.
“Now more than ever building a strong ESG strategy is not only the right thing to do, but it will help ensure Kontoor’s success — and the success of our shareholders — for years to come,” said Annan-Brown. “I am honored to have the opportunity to work alongside our exceptional teams to further integrate ESG into our strategic vision.”
“We’re proud of what we’ve done so far as a company: launching our sustainability framework, declaring our DEI goals, and keeping our focus on the community,” Baxter added. “We’re thrilled to expand Mame’s role to oversee this important element of our business, allowing her to further champion our ongoing commitment to ESG as we work to raise the bar on ourselves and our industry.”
VALENCIA, Spain — May 10, 2022 — Recycled cotton fiber producer, Recover™, has announced the official opening of its new facility in Bangladesh, expanding the company´s manufacturing capabilities and accelerate its efforts to transform the fashion industry by solving one of the world’s biggest environmental issues.
The Bangladesh facility comes fully equipped with Recover’s proprietary machinery, as well as RColorBlend installation, Recover’s innovative technology that provides fiber blends with color, with a lower environmental impact.
Located in Dhaka, the new manufacturing hub is an integral part of Recover´s strategy for growth and scalability with its recent partnership with STORY3 Capital, a leading alternative investment manager. This new facility helps Recover support the surging global demand for sustainable fibers, and circularity in the textile and fashion industry.
The strategic location of the facility, close to both textile waste sorting and textile manufacturing, will support Recover with its scaling ambitions, and place it close to the supply and demand, reducing carbon impact of transport. Asia is one of the largest cotton waste producing regions and by establishing a presence in Bangladesh, Recover can provide a fully closed loop solution.
Alfredo Ferre, CEO of Recover, stated, “The new facility in Bangladesh is just one step in Recover’s ambitious expansion plans. In addition to our existing facilities in Spain and Pakistan, we are excited to announce the opening of a new manufacturing hub in Vietnam and a second facility in Bangladesh this year. Operations in Spain will also be expanded with greater investment in product development and further strategic alliances and business partners established globally.”
WAKAYAMA, Japan — May 9, 2022 — Japan-based Knit solutions provider Shima Seiki Mfg. Ltd. together with its U.S. subsidiary Shima Seiki U.S.A. Inc., will participate in the Techtextil North America exhibition in Atlanta this month. Under the theme “techKNITians — Technical Engineered Knit Applications,” the company will display its latest computerized flat knitting machines and computer graphic design system technology, aimed at promoting knitted applications in the field of technical textiles.
Pioneered by Shima Seiki, WHOLEGARMENT® knitting technology is capable of producing knitted items in their entirety without the need for sewing, and allows complex 3D forms to be knit such as car seat covers and interior furnishings. Selective compression allows control over placement and amount of pressure for various compression wear in sports and medical applications. The seam-free nature of WHOLEGARMENT also ensures continuity of yarn, allowing functional yarns such as conductive yarns to wrap around the entire body without interruption, for applications in smart garments and wearable technology. Demonstrating the latest in WHOLEGARMENT knitting technology at Techtextil North America will be the flagship MACH2XS machine that features the company’s original SlideNeedle™ on 4 needle beds and patented spring-loaded full-time sinker system. Capable of WHOLEGARMENT knitting in all-needles, MACH2XS offers great flexibility for knitting high-quality WHOLEGARMENT products with a seemingly endless variety of knit patterns at very high speed and efficiency, all while minimizing dependence upon labor-intensive sewing and linking. At Techtextil North America MACH2XS will be shown knitting a seam-free balaclava in one entire piece using fire-resistant yarn.
Also shown will be the SWG091N2 compact WHOLEGARMENT knitting machine, also featuring SlideNeedle technology. Capable of producing small knitted items from safety gloves and compression socks to more sophisticated industrial applications such as tubular shields and harnesses, SWG091N2 offers unique solutions for the automotive, aerospace, sports, medical, safety, outdoor and other markets by knitting items in 3D without seams. SWG091N2 will be knitting fire-resistant gloves at Techtextil North America.
Shima Seiki’s SDS®-ONE APEX4 3D design system will also be available for demonstrations in design and simulation of various technical textiles. Of particular interest is its ultra-realistic simulation capability that realizes virtual sampling. When numerous variations must be evaluated before arriving at a final design, virtual product samples can be used to streamline the decision-making process by minimizing the enormous amount of time and cost normally associated with producing actual physical samples for each variation. The sustainability factor is also undeniable considering the amount of material normally gone to waste in the sampling stage.
