MORENO VALLEY, Calif. — January 27, 2021 — TSC Apparel, a 2020 Top 40 Supplier, is expanding to a larger distribution center in Moreno Valley, Calif.
In an announcement made this month, the Cincinnati-headquartered company said it plans to relocate its Fullerton location to a state-of-the-art, 125,000-square-foot distribution center in Moreno Valley, Calif. —the facility will be the largest and only Southern California local distributor. TSC expects the center to open by the end of February 2021.
The Moreno Valley location will allow for a broader SKU offering as well as a deeper inventory position and expand regional service capabilities. Moreno Valley is strategically located to maintain same-day and will-call service to existing customers while broadening coverage in California and the Southwest region.
“Our priority is to fulfill the needs of our customers and it was important to us to stay in the Southern CA region,” said CEO Dave Klotter. “Our new state-of-the-art facility will initially provide 25 percent+ more inventory to meet our customer’s growing demands.”
The facility will simplify order loading for customers and features a large showroom and an enhanced will-call experience. TSC is also taking special measures to decrease packing materials, energy waste and provide an eco-friendly center to reduce their carbon footprint on the environment.
“From the showroom to the pick-up counter, our goal is for our customers to have a great experience from the time they arrive at the building until the moment they leave,” said Dan Kessler, vice president of operations for TSC Apparel. “Moving to a new facility will allow us to expand our brand selection and stock deeper inventory, putting us in a better position to get our customers the product they want.”
The new facility is the latest development in an expansion effort, which began in 2017 with a 100,000-square-foot distribution center in Houston and 135,000-square-foot DC in Philadelphia.” The supplier has continued to establish new and expanded facilities across the country. In 2018, TSC added a 200,000-square-foot distribution center in Cincinnati.
“Our goal is to provide excellent local service by meeting our customers where they are, we can do this by providing excellent customer service, fast shipping and deeper stock in a broad array of products,” said Dave Klotter. “It’s our relationships with community businesses that have been our foundation since day one.”
LOS ANGELES — January 27, 2021 — Barco® Uniforms announced today the completion of a new COVID-19 mural that honors “Healthcare Heroes.” The mural, located at 2010 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica and commissioned through a partnership with Beautify Earth, delivers an uplifting message: You Bring Hope.
Barco selected LA street artist Samir Arghandwall for his renowned ability to capture human emotions with an added dimension of realism. Arghandwall, who goes by Evol, has painted murals for more than two decades. Using a 12’ x 20’ wall as his canvas, he created a stunningly powerful depiction of four Healthcare workers that honors them as true superheroes battling COVID-19 and treating patients. Evol’s remarkable talent is on full display as he captures the intense emotions that come with working on the frontlines of a hospital during the pandemic. The project took him approximately three weeks to complete.
“This mural pays tribute to all Healthcare professionals for the incredible work they are doing during this unprecedented time,” said David Murphy, president and CEO of Barco Uniforms. “There has never been a more meaningful year to honor medical workers with a message of positivity, as they are the real heroes who serve others. We believe it is of utmost importance to bring awareness to those who risk their lives every day, and this mural is a small way to honor them and pay our respects.”
Beautify Earth is a nonprofit that connects artists, landlords and funding sources to convert our world’s outdoor wall spaces into public art galleries, which have proven economic and social benefits for businesses and communities.
“Beautify started almost a decade ago in Santa Monica, and our gratitude for our local community is also what inspired us to get involved and make things better,” explained Evan Meyer, CEO of Beautify Earth. “Allowing local artists and cultures to shine on the millions of blank walls means immense impact for communities through visual experience, wellbeing, economics, and smiles. Beautify and Barco are now honoring those putting their health and safety at risk to serve us, and we couldn’t be more proud to reflect our gratitude, and give back to our local communities in this way.”
“We are grateful to have partnered with Beautify Earth and the opportunity to collaborate with a local LA artist on this exceptionally heartfelt project,” said Peggy Schulz, VP of Corporate Marketing at Barco Uniforms. “We wanted a meaningful way to visually express our feelings of gratitude and pay tribute to all Healthcare Heroes. Partnering with Beautify Earth gave us the opportunity to bring our vision to life in the most beautiful way imaginable. It is truly a gift to be shared by millions, or in this case-billions around the globe.”
The mural is located at SportsFit Physical Therapy & Fitness at 2010 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica.
LUBBOCK, Texas — January 27, 2021 — Anyone with a dog knows what happens when the animal gets wet: the big shake that throws water all over everyone and everything nearby. But what happens if the dog is covered in something more hazardous than water?
It also gets thrown all over everyone and everything nearby.
Two years ago, Brett Huff, an animal decontamination specialist, was looking for a better solution than the diluted-dish-soap-and-water method he was using to clean animals. It was messy, distressing to the animals — even in warm weather, let alone the freezing temperatures of winter — and, when it was all over, he had a huge amount of contaminated water to dispose of, which had to be done safely.
That’s when a member of the U.S. Army’s Special Forces asked if he’d heard of FiberTect™.
Invented by Texas Tech University professor Seshadri Ramkumar, FiberTect was conceived in 2005 as a low-cost decontamination wipe for the U.S. military that could absorb and neutralize the gases and liquids used in chemical warfare. Then, after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, the material was re-engineered to safely clean up the oil.
That was an eye-opener for Huff, because oil is one of the products he often sees in his work. An Army veteran as well as a 30-year veteran of the security, environmental, training and rescue fields, Huff is a technical rescue specialist and instructor for Code 3, a leader in emergency response product design, and Animal Search and Rescue, a technical rescue team that specializes in animals. He’s also the owner of Animal Decon, a training, planning and disaster response resource for working and service animals as well as household pets, zoo or exotic animals, wildlife and livestock.
“Anytime there’s a flood, or any major rain event, anything in a household can be put into the storm drains,” Huff explained. “Animals are constantly getting themselves in a situation in flooded waters and industrial agricultural chemicals, sewage ponds — there’s a lot of things they can get into. So, a FiberTect wipe would be really good to keep with you to wipe them down.
“The problem is, especially in a mass casualty event, we’re looking at the possibility of secondary contamination, because they can spread that hazardous material. So, anything we can do to reduce that contaminant on the animal as the owner brings it in, or before we get to the decontamination station – where there are other people and animals — would be huge and a great benefit to anybody doing a decontamination operation.”
Of course, a sufficiently quick response to reduce secondary contamination requires having FiberTect on hand before you need it.
“As with all decontamination, speed is key,” said Corey Collings, a training, research and development specialist with First Line Technology, which markets the product. “FiberTect can be immediately deployed to animal owners to easily decontaminate their own service animals, working dogs or companion pets. Because FiberTect is intrinsically safe and intuitive to use, it requires no prior training to effectively perform bulk decontamination. Most critically, this frees up valuable trained personnel to set up and operate follow-on technical decontamination lines.”
Since his introduction to FiberTect two years ago, Huff has become one of its most ardent advocates. He gives training presentations across the country to various disaster response groups and, by his estimates, he taught about 5,000 people in the last two years. Not only does he include FiberTect in his presentations, he carries it in his decontamination bag at all times.
That’s because the options for its uses abound. Huff has personally used FiberTect on horses, goats and even a 100-pound tortoise.
He has been working with Louisiana and Mississippi’s state governments to develop response and training plans for decontaminating people after a mass casualty event, be it the fallout from a power plant, a dirty bomb or a full nuclear strike. Animals, he emphasized, must be part of those plans.
Huff is even looking at applications to decontaminate police dogs after Fentanyl raids.
“The use of FiberTect has expanded from just being a wipe designed for the decontamination of chemical warfare agents,” said Amit Kapoor, president and CEO of First Line Technology. “With its flexible design, FiberTect is made in large format pads, perforated rolls and sewn into mitts allowing for a growing list of uses. We continue to find new uses with additional testing and research conducted by First Line Technology as well as end users in the first responder and military community.”
While there are other products available for decontamination, Huff said FiberTect has clear advantages.
“There are a lot of products out there — cotton towels, fiber towels, other industrial, absorbent wipes — but not with the ability this product has,” he said. “They do not catch the off gasses and do not have the ability to hold chemicals into the product. So that’s why I went to FiberTect — for the containment, because it’s easier to dispose of, it was more compact and it was a known, proven product.”
Its longevity adds to that proven quality, its inventor said. After being commercialized through Texas Tech, FiberTect has been manufactured since 2005 by Hobbs Bonded Fibers, a Waco-based company founded by Carey Hobbs, a university alumnus and regent for the Texas Tech University System.
“FiberTect is an innovation story, showing that this platform technology can lend itself to multiple applications, be it saving the lives of warfighters and first responders, protecting the environment from toxic chemical and vapors, and now protecting and taking care of pets and animals,” Ramkumar said. “With COVID-19, there is renewed importance in manufacturing, and fields like nonwovens and technical textiles that have lent themselves to products like FiberTect will play a key role in next phase of research and manufacturing.”
SHIRLEY, Mass. — January 27, 2021 — Bemis Associates — a manufacturer of thermoplastic films, tapes, and adhesives for bonding — in partnership with DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products, is announcing the launch of its first Sewfree® product made using renewable material.
Biobased Sewfree 3700 has been developed utilizing 25-percent bio-based Susterra® propanediol from DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products, a renewably sourced, plant-based building block that delivers high performance across a wide variety of polymer applications. Susterra propanediol is a molecular building block that forms a key part of the polyurethane structure, resulting in a direct beneficial impact to carbon footprint as compared to standard petrochemical polyurethane building blocks.
“Susterra based materials excel in high-performance product applications, so we were thrilled that we could help Bemis Associates maintain the demanding standards of Sewfree products” said Ben Roth, business development director, DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products. “In addition, Susterra propanediol, a USDA-Certified 100-percent bio-based product, enables a lower carbon footprint compared to petroleum-derived materials, meaning that brands and consumers no longer have to make tradeoffs for sustainability and performance.”
“We were excited to work with Susterra based materials in the development of this film. This initiative is in direct response to our customers’ requests for more sustainable options in our core markets. We continue to improve not just our operational environmental performance as a manufacturer, but also deliver products that allow our customers to meet their impact objectives” said Alyssa Caddle, director of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility at Bemis. “This product offers an opportunity to explore new ways to expand the portfolio of environmentally preferable adhesive options as we work towards our aspiration that all products demonstrate a measurable environmental benefit as compared to their predecessor by 2025.”
Bio-Based Sewfree 3700 adhesive is engineered to replace elastics and bulky sewn seams in garments. It allows for sleeker lines, softer corners and stronger seams. Bio-Based Sewfree adhesive features a low modulus and better recovery and is designed to be used where soft hand, high bond strength and ability to mold are required. It is designed to meet the Apparel and Footwear International RSL Management (AFIRM) group Restricted Substance List, is a USDA Certified Bio-based product, and is manufactured at the Bemis facility in Shirley, Mass., that purchases renewable energy to match 100-percent of the facilities’ annual electricity load.
Posted January 27, 2021
Source: Bemis Associates, Inc. / DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products
WASHINGTON — January 27, 2021 — The American Apparel & Footwear Association, Footwear Distributors of America, National Retail Federation, Retail Industry Leaders Association, and The United States Fashion Industry Association today submitted a letter to House and Senate Leadership of the 117 Congress, reiterating zero tolerance for forced labor and urging Congress to take quick, clear, implementable, and decisive action on the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The letter further urges Congress to ensure that any action is part of a broader U.S.-led global strategy to end forced labor in the XUAR and the larger campaign of oppression it fuels.
Today’s letter states that, collectively the members of the undersigned associations are:
Continuously strengthening the measures they take to identify and eliminate forced labor from their supply chains, particularly when forced labor becomes more widespread in a specific region due to structural policies, as is the case in XUAR.
Investigating new technologies and implementing innovative approaches to decipher where supply chains are susceptible to forced labor.
In support of new actions that will build upon current efforts.
The letter urges Congress to take action that:
Requires the development of a transparent, tiered, risk-based approach to enforcement of any new forced labor provisions before implementation of those provisions;
Creates a clear, transparent, and evidence-based process for implementing both current and future regulations;
Promotes the development and implementation of cost-effective technologies and innovative approaches for traceability; and
Establishes the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act as a federal disclosure requirement on what companies are doing to prevent forced labor and human trafficking in their supply chains.
Posted January 27, 2021
Source: The United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA)
ROCHESTER, N.Y — January 20, 2021 — Eastman Kodak Co. announces a partnership with Pigment.inc B.V Europe to distribute Kodak’s KODACOLOR RDTG Series Direct to Garment (DTG) inks.
The KODACOLOR RDTG Series inks from Kodak were specifically developed for direct-to-fabric printing on cotton, cotton blends, and polyester fabrics. They are equally adept at printing direct to finished garments or to roll fabrics. This water-based ink system is designed to work in digital printers that employ piezo-electric printheads and operate at a very high level of nozzle performance among printheads requiring mid-to-high viscosity inks. Although designed for use in production printing, it is suitable for high quality sampling and strike offs.
Steve Richardson of Pigment.inc Europe said: “We are pleased to announce the distribution partnership with Kodak because we believe the high-quality solution offered by KODACOLOR RDTG inks will greatly benefit our clients.”
Kodak has been producing and selling digital inks for thermal piezo and continuous inkjet systems going back to the 1990’s, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to the inkjet business. Kodak has a strong history of innovation and excellence in the key technologies needed to produce superior fabric inks.
Customization of fabrics for garments, accessories, upholstery, soft signage is growing, which represents a significant business opportunity for Kodak in the direct to garment and wide format printer industries.
KODACOLOR inks are manufactured in Rochester, NY in the USA.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — January 25, 2021 — AATCC is full of creators, volunteers, and researchers, and AATCC applauds their contributions to the textile industry. AATCC recognizes achievements in science, service, and more every year. The association is now accepting nominations for recognition of excellence in the textile industry through March 31, 2021. Nomination forms for all awards are available online at www.aatcc.org/about/awards. Anyone may nominate a deserving colleague or themselves for the following awards:
Olney Medal
Established in honor of Louis Atwell Olney, the founder and first president of AATCC, the Olney Medal recognizes outstanding achievement in textile or polymer chemistry or other fields of chemistry of major importance to textile science.
Chapin Award
Senior Individual (Professional) members who have dedicated 20 or more years of continuous service to the Association are eligible for nomination. The award is presented as a beautifully illustrated scroll.
Millson Award for Invention
Awarded every three years, 2021 is your next opportunity to nominate an inventor or inventors who impacted the textile, fiber, polymer, and medical industries. Nominees need not be AATCC members. Group and posthumous nominations are also welcome.
Technical Committee on Research (TCR) Service Award
The award recognizes up to two Senior Individual (Professional) members, with at least five years of continuous membership in AATCC, who have contributed outstanding technical service to the Association through activity in a research committee.
Future Leaders Award
Young professionals in the fields of textiles, apparel, and related material sciences are eligible for recognition as the future leaders of the Association. Nominees must be members of AATCC, 39 years of age or younger, and exhibit leadership skills.
Education Award
This award recognizes those members who have contributed extensively to the educational activities of AATCC.
Faculty Advisor Award
Nominate AATCC Student Chapter Faculty Advisors who actively work to ensure their AATCC student chapters are active and growing.
While most of the AATCC Board of Directors (BOD) will serve 2021-2022, the Materials Interest Group At-Large role will open sooner. Nominations for the BOD may be sent to Diana Wyman (diana@aatcc.org) by March 31. The election will be held this summer and the selections will be announced at the November 2021 annual meeting. For more information about the current Board members and job responsibilities, visit www.aatcc.org/about/bod.
HICKORY, N.C. — January 26, 2021 — TSG Finishing LLC is pleased to announce that 100-percent of its DEFEND® brand of water and stain repellent finishes now utilize plant-based technology.
Through the efforts of TSG’s technical and development teams, DEFEND will continue to excel in repelling both water and oil-based products while carrying the label of being plant-based. Utilizing and perfecting these applications, TSG can report this technology reduces the amount of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFAS), a fluorinated chemical also known as C6, by one third with the new formulation. Employing a USDA certified bio-based product has been key in the progression of the plant-based formulation.
Brian Rosenstein CEO, TSG Finishing LLC
Brian Rosenstein, TSG CEO, said: “Phase one was launched in September of last year. We knew that Phase two would take a bit longer due to it being a one-sided spray process instead of straight immersion system.”
“Hats off our to technical team for getting the job done ahead of schedule. It is refreshing to be able to say that 100-percent of our DEFEND offerings now include USDA Certified plant-based technology.”
As TSG continues to open more doors, the DEFEND® family of options is available to all seeking an application of “your fabric + our protection”. TSG Finishing has more than 120 years of textile finishing expertise, with steadfast options to choose from.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — January 26, 2021 — Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of spider silk, announced that it is forming a joint venture partnership with MtheMovement, an eco-friendly luxury streetwear apparel line, part of the Kings Group of Companies and its affiliated companies.
The joint venture will develop and sell Kraig Labs’ spider silk fibers under the new innovative apparel and fashion brand, trade named SpydaSilk™ and potential other trademarks to be announced. All intellectual property related to SpydaSilk will be jointly owned by Kraig Labs and Kings Group. The deal combines Kraig Labs’ industry leading fibers with Kings Group’s business skills and regional enterprise expertise, creating what we believe will be a strong vertical integration for both companies.
Under the terms of this agreement, Kraig Labs granted the joint venture and the SpydaSilk brand an exclusive geographic license to all Kraig Lab technologies for the ASEAN region, in exchange for a 4 year firm commitment to purchase up to $32 million, with an additional projected purchase of $8 million, of Kraig Labs’ raw recombinant spider silk, with an initial payment of $250,000.
“SpydaSilk’s mission is to create high-impact products and technologies, so partnering with Kings Group, which we believe has strong product development expertise and intense understanding of ASEAN market, is a powerful combination that we believe will drive SpydaSilk’s sales and innovation,” said Kim Thompson, Kraig Labs’ founder and CEO. “Kraig Labs has always been proud to maintain our vanguard position in the spider silk space; this agreement strengthens our leadership role with a partner who shares our vision and places Kraig Labs and Kings Group on the best path for success. Spider silk is among the strongest fibers produced in nature, and the agreement represents the world’s first large-scale commitment to purchase spider silk fibers”
The new SpydaSilk alliance combines the strengths of both companies and calls on Kraig Labs to provide fibers and materials expertise, while Kings Group will lead the marketing, sales, and distribution. The two companies will work together to increase Kraig Labs’ product development agility and production scalability.
Under this collaboration, Kraig Labs and Kings Group believe that the material will not only be applied to apparel; the joint venture is also exploring uses to enhance other industries such as building construction and medical industries.
“Kings Group is dedicated to helping unleash the benefits of spider silk and this bold enterprise, the unveiling of the SpydaSilk joint venture, significantly accelerates that goal. We believe that we will help improve the world through innovation to drive profitable growth, reduce emissions, enhance customer loyalty, and create long-term shareholder value,” said Walter Wee, chief investment officer of Kings Group. “In researching various spider silk technologies, we came to the conclusion that Kraig Labs is the leader. Our agreement with Kraig Labs represents the first large-scale commitment to spider silk commercialization and we could not be happier to begin this part of our SpydaSilk journey.”
STONY BROOK, N.Y. — January 26, 2021 — Applied DNA Sciences Inc., a supplier of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based DNA manufacturing, today announced the signing of a definitive agreement with TruTrace Technologies Inc. (TruTrace), developer of a fully-integrated blockchain platform for the legal cannabis, food and pharmaceutical industries, to approach the cannabis industry with an integrated solution comprised of Applied DNA’s CertainT® platform and TruTrace’s StrainSecure™ platform to deliver a complete cannabis product validation and authentication platform differentiated in the marketplace by linking together the power of proprietary SaaS platforms, blockchain and molecular tagging technology to create a secure ecosystem which provides end-to-end traceability and full transparency.
The companies have entered into a Strategic Alliance, Referral and Technology Integration Agreement that allows each company to introduce the other into existing accounts, prospects, as well as cultivate new joint opportunities. The Agreement also calls out the integration of the companies’ respective platforms through APIs to exchange data elements as part of the complete chain of custody solution from source materials to product on the shelf. There is a mutual payment structure in place as engagements are brought online.
TruTrace’s blockchain-based SaaS software is designed to guarantee product quality and strain genetics throughout global supply chains. Protecting consumers and brands from contaminants and counterfeiting is a key benefit of the platform under development. Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada’s largest retail pharmacy chain, currently uses TruTrace’s platform as its underpinning technology infrastructure for traceability and accountability associated with its medical cannabis program.
Applied DNA’s CertainT platform provides the physical tagging of cannabis products using a unique molecular tag to represent the brand and product. That tag is then tested at key nodes within a domestic or international supply chain. All of this authentication and chain-of-custody data is captured in the CertainT portal, which under the Agreement will be integrated with the TruTrace platform. The molecular tag can be applied to cannabis plants, oils, lotions, tablets, edibles and packaging to serve as an immutable indicator of authenticity, origin, and provenance.
“We believe there are clear benefits for collaboration by our two companies to deliver a complete, end-to-end solution to cannabis companies. We believe our combined solution will protect our clients’ brands and IP while also assuring the consumers use authentic and safe products,” said Dr. James A. Hayward, president and CEO, Applied DNA.
Robert Galarza, CEO, TruTrace, said: “Partnering with Applied DNA is a natural progressing of our go-to-market strategy to align ourselves with best of breed technology solutions to bring additional value to our customers and the industry as a whole. CertainT is the perfect technology complement to our platform — providing that extra level of true transparency and traceability the industry needs as we enter the next phase of legalized cannabis across the globe.”
