CARY, N.C. — April 27, 2022 — With the wipes sector adapting to demands for products that protect consumers from COVID-related risks, industry experts will present the latest insights for moving forward post-pandemic at the World of Wipes® (WOW) International Conference.

The shift from “clean” to “safe” in the world of wipes will be among the key topics thought-leading speakers will address at the in-person event, June 27-30, at the Marriott Marquis in Chicago.

The information-packed program will tackle timely topics to support decision making on the following key themes: Circular and Sustainable Wipes, Supply Chain Challenges in Wipes, Nonwoven Substrates for More Sustainable Wipes, Trends in the Wipes Market and Among Consumers, Disinfection Concerns and New Technologies, Sustainable Wipe Packaging Trends and Developments in Flushability Issues.

Last year’s COVID-impacted event drew 475 professionals from around the world to attend in Atlanta, and INDA is anticipating another enthusiastic industry response for its 16th conference edition that is exclusively focused on the wipes sector.

Speakers will focus on the future of the $17 billion wipes sector amid changing consumer trends, supply chain complexities, sustainable packaging demands, and medical disinfection challenges among other thought-stimulating sessions.

World of Wipes Session Highlights

Here are some of the not-to-be-missed presentations from which industry participants will learn:

• Lifestyle Shifts and the World of Wipes: Meeting the Changing Consumer Demand to Secure Growth – Liying Quian, Research Analyst, Euromonitor International will explore personal and beauty care trends based on consumer surveys that could shape wipes’ long-term performance
• The Supply Chain – Import Pressures Versus Domestic Manufacturing – Jacob Smith, Director, Supply Chain and Customer Care, Health, Hygiene, and Specialties Division, North America, Berry Global will share his expertise and experience on how COVID-19 has impacted domestic production and international sourcing of wipes
• Packaging Sustainability:  A Global Perspective – David Clark, Vice President of Sustainability, Amcor will look at how consumer brands, retailers and others are responding to consumer demand for more sustainable packaging and discuss progress and risks in the U.S. and other countries
• How Sustainable are You Willing to Be? New Technology to Support Use of Recycled Fiber Sources – Richard Knowlson, Principal, RPK Consulting will tackle the question of how new manufacturing technology can help produce more sustainable nonwoven substrates in today’s price-sensitive environment
• Dead Turtle Logos – What We Know So Far in the EU – Heidi Beatty, Chief Executive Officer, Crown Abbey, LLC will share the latest learnings on the European Union’s Single Use Plastic Directive and the impact of the plastic-free packaging logos on consumer attitudes
• Challenges and Pitfalls of Scaling Up a Waste Cleaning Wipes Collection and Recycle System – Sergio Barbarino, Research Fellow, Fabric and Home Care Open Innovation, Procter & Gamble Distribution Company Europe will look at cleaning wipes’ potential to be recycled and become a convenient pioneering experimental platform
• Case Study: Surface Disinfection Incompatibility with Medical Devices Creates Potential Patient Risks – Caroline Etland, Ph.D., RN. CNS, ACHPN, Associate Professor, Hahn School of Nursing, BINR, University of San Diego will share real examples of the issues healthcare facilities face with surface disinfection incompatibility that make cleaning and disinfection a major challenge

In addition to the dynamic conference program, WOW 2022 also features two nights of tabletop displays and receptions; the presentation of the World of Wipes Innovation Award® and the INDA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award; and 11 hours of face-to-face engagement during a welcome reception, first-time attendee mentorship program, and breakfast connections. The event kicks off with the WIPES Academy, a 1.5-day value-added training opportunity on June 27-28.

Registration for WOW 2022 remains open with discounts offered until May 17 and tabletop display reservations also are available. For additional speaker details, see the conference website. www.worldofwipes.org

Posted: April 27, 2022

Source: INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry

TIVERTON, England — April 21, 2022 — England-based textile manufacturer Heathcoat Fabrics has been recognized with a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation.

The company developed a high performance parachute fabric that has contributed to outstanding commercial success, including delivery of NASA’s Perseverance Rover onto the surface of Mars in February 2021. Heathcoat Fabrics is among a list of 51 companies who have received the innovation award.

The innovation has opened the door to other niche space exploration projects, including returning cargo and astronauts from the International Space Station and ensuring the safe splashdown of a capsule containing the first all-civilian team to orbit the Earth.

Heathcoat Fabric’s Managing Director Cameron Harvie said the Heathcoat DecelAir Superlight fabric was designed to meet the strictest criteria for space exploration. Innovation underpins the technical textiles that Heathcoat develops, with new opportunities frequently emerging in niche markets where needs are not met by existing methods and products.

“We make hundreds of different fabrics for many markets, from apparel to automotive components. We have been a pioneer in manufacturing parachute fabrics since the 1930s. When we met NASA at a symposium in 2015, they saw the potential of a new fabric we had developed and we began trials a year later.

“NASA’s standards have been challenging to say the least. The fabric needed to be twice the strength of standard fabric, within a tight air-permeability window and able to withstand extended heat treatment. The fabric underwent a series of wind tunnel, land-based mortar and sounding rocket tests after which the fabric was selected and used for the successful Mars mission. The fabric even needed to be baked before any rocket was launched, to avoid sending bacteria or micro-organisms to another planet.

“By the nature of the yarn, it is difficult to weave and finish, and it needs to be perfect. There is no second chance opportunity on landing a multi-million dollar space probe. From our investment in high quality looms to the chemistry developed to give the fabric its specific properties, this has been a huge task over a number of years.

Harvie added: “The Heathcoat brand has historically been recognized for highest quality in textiles. This includes providing the veiling fabric for Queen Elizabeth’s royal wedding in 1947, and it’s fitting in her jubilee year that she has personally approved our Queen’s Award for Innovation.”

Peter Hill, director of woven fabrics at Heathcoat, and Richard Crane, technical director, have steered a team that centered around three female development engineers — Eleanor Newsome, Lotte De Leeuw and Nicola Willey.

Eleanor Newsome was instrumental in creating the original concept fabrics for NASA and developing the final product used for Mars2020. She is now leading a development team for automotive and industrial belting fabrics with a focus on achieving energy-saving in drive systems.

Lotte De Leeuw is a development engineer in woven fabrics, and is continuing the work in parachute development working with all of Heathcoat’s space customer development teams for current and planned missions.

Nicola Willey’s focus has been on an incredibly challenging project with the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory teams to integrate optical fibre technology for future space mission parachute fabric research.

Peter said: “The team has excelled, working tirelessly with NASA and others to ensure Heathcoat was able to deliver on their requirements. Our development engineers are at the forefront of new and exciting textile technologies in space exploration that have gained global recognition, as well as other developments within our business including sustainable/renewable fabrics, and hydrogen generation for renewable energy systems.”

The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is now in its 56th year and is widely recognized as the most prestigious business award in the United Kingdom.

Posted April 26, 2022

Source: Heathcoat

SCHWARZENBACK/SAALE, Germany — April 22, 2022 — Sandler, headquartered in the Upper Franconian town of Schwarzenbach/Saale, District Hof, increased both its revenue and number of its employees in 2021. However, challenges increasingly arise from the extraordinary rise in energy prices since 2017. Some 990 employees including 61 trainees (previous year: 940) generated 365 million euros in turnover, an increase of 11 percent (previous year: 328). This rate of growth is mainly attributable to the capacity expansion at the U.S. subsidiary Sandler Nonwoven Corporation in Perry, Ga. In addition, there was double-digit sales growth in technical products.

Overall, the nonwovens specialist remains cautious about the ongoing financial year, also due to spiraling energy costs that are expected to become even more serious in 2022. CEO Dr. Christian Heinrich Sandler noted: “In early January, we still hoped that the lessening of the turmoil surrounding the Corona pandemic would bring not only our industry back to clearer waters. However, the belligerent attack on Ukraine, geopolitical uncertainty and the continued increase in energy costs are clouding the waters again in terms of our outlook. At the same time, we are seeing our long-term strategy of consistently focussing on diversification in terms of technologies and industries, and the establishment of an additional company location, confirmed.”

In 2021, the coronavirus pandemic also made great demands on “our dedicated and motivated staff,” Sandler summed up. But the entire Sandler team fought shoulder-to-shoulder for the success of the company at both locations. A high level of expertise and a correspondingly high level of commitment and flexibility made a successful year possible despite the continued massive restrictions caused by the pandemic and despite the market changes. Sandler: “Our teams in Schwarzenbach and Perry did a great job.”

Sandler has not only managed to stand up to Covid-19 in so doing. The reactions to the pandemic have completely changed the market and the market environment over the past two years. Businesses that had been growing over many years have stalled, and supply chains have been turned upside down. The CEO casts his mind back to the supply bottlenecks worldwide, longer delivery times and the dramatic price increases in almost all goods and services. “We had already arrived at this point from a high cost level and believed that we had reached the tip of the cost iceberg. But that has not proved to be the case in 2021 and this trend – we can now say after the first quarter of this year – will continue in 2022. “However, despite facing major logistical challenges, we still managed to deliver on time,” emphasised Sandler.

Looking beyond the current financial year into the future, the CEO continues to view environmental protection and sustainability as fixed, highly relevant constants in the corporate strategy. Sandler pursues a constant goal of reducing its ecological footprint even further.

The company continues to focus on providing its junior employees with excellent training and training and developing the staff even further, especially in view of the ever-increasing challenges. The motto here being, “well-trained specialists and managers are what drives us”. Trainees are integrated into exciting tasks at an early stage and can grow as a result. More experienced colleagues from all the departments can train in leadership tasks and teamwork or pursue their own individual professional career paths. Just as in 2020, a “corona bonus” was awarded to every employee worldwide for the 2021 financial year to pay special tribute to the tremendous efforts made by the team.

Digitalization has also been driven forward. Sandler kicked of the ‘Fit for Future’ program four years ago to pave the way for fully entering the digital age. Among other things, the introduction of a standardized ERP software has made an important contribution to this. It helps to optimize new processes and enhance organizational structures. Not only does the company benefit from this internally, it also generates the “greatest possible benefit for our partners”, explains the CEO.

Dr. Sandler looks on the current energy costs in Germany with concern. “We are in global competition with other companies that have always had a different cost situation in this regard. “As an energy-intensive company, we need a reliable infrastructure. The current situation is a burden on our business and is an extreme driver of costs,” emphasised Dr. Sandler’s fellow board member, Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck, who is responsible for sales.

The CEO attributes the fact that Sandler also received key awards last year to the company’s extraordinary commitment and team spirit. For example, Procter & Gamble awarded Sandler the prestigious ‘External Business Partner of the Year’ award as one of only eight out of approximately 60,000 suppliers. “Being honoured by our long-standing customer in this way means a great deal to us,” emphasised Dr. Sandler. An award of the Bavarian State Government is also important to the CEO: Sandler received the ‘Bavaria’s Best 50’ award for the third time, joining the ranks of the 50 best owner-managed companies in the State of Bavaria. These companies are representative of the productivity, creativity and innovative strength of Bavarian small and medium-sized enterprises.

Posted April 26, 2022

Source: Sandler