Highlights on the circular side, West said, was Terrot’s UCC548E3 electronic double Jacquard for unlimited creativity; Monarch’s M-9MEQG, which allows both coarse gauge yarns knitting on the cylinder together with fine gauge yarn knitting on the dial, a combination that can deliver endless opportunities for both the garment and technical textile end uses; the Santoni SM8 TOP2V machine, designed for the efficient production of single jersey seamless garments; and the Santoni double jersey circular MEC-MOR CMP for the production of all sizes, without waste.

 

West called Santoni’s SM8 TOP2V machine, an electronic single jersey circular machine with eight feeds and two selection points per feed, “the highlight of my visit to ITMA.”

 

In flat knitting, at successive ITMA shows over the past 20 years, the development of 3D knitting technology by major machine builders, notably Japan’s Shima Seiki, Italy’s Santoni and Germany’s Stoll have “wowed the crowds with the infinite possibilities of seamless, 100 percent CAD-created designs,” West reported. He then covered a number of these machines and briefly touched on wearable e-textiles.

 

Weaving innovations at ITMA

 

West’s colleague, Dr. Seyam, presented highlights of weaving innovations he witnessed at ITMA. Seyam, Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Professor at NCSU’s College of Textiles, said he saw a number of opportunities in the areas of smart electronic textiles, multi-phase weaving, the formation of 3D woven preforms for composites, automatic warp break repair and seamless garments.

 

“This ITMA can be characterized by the demonstration of benefits of what has been developed at previous ITMAs,” he said.

 

Among highlights:

 

• Application-based drawing-in and tying-in machines;

• Expansion in sample warping and weaving machines;

• Separate dobby shedding motion drive;

• Individual harness control in dobby shedding;

• Separate Jacquard drive;

• Separate drive of weaving motions;

• Diversity/expansion of applications of Jacquard weaving (seamless side airbag, multilayer fabrics, distance/spacer fabrics); and

• Air consumption reduction in air jet weaving.

 

Among companies grabbing his attention were technologies from Groz-Beckert, which continued to establish its presence in the areas of drawing-in and tying-in machines; and Stäubli, which again exhibited its SAFIR automatic drawing-in machine that combines the Delta 110 drawing-in machine and the OPAL.

 

In sample warping and weaving machines, technology presented by CCI Tech, Inc. and Karl Mayer was noteworthy, he said.

 

Also, Dornier exhibited six rapier and air weaving machines, including one in the Stäubli stand and one in the Bonas stand. One of its highlights is its new-generation positive rapier P2 Type TGP 6/S G18 machine, which will be commercialized soon, weaving heavy construction filter fabric from PP monofilaments warp (two beams) and weft of 320 cm.

 

Grosse, meanwhile, continued to expand its applications, demonstrating machines weaving seamless airbag fabrics from high-tenacity polyamide yarn provided by INVISTA.

 

Itema showed six rapier and air-jet weaving machines, including two belonging to the new generation of the rapier R9500, Seyam said. Model R9500p was weaving denim fabric of 180 cm at 750 ppm using the Stäubli 3060 dobby and model R9500terry was weaving terry towel of 234 cm at 550 ppm using a Stäubli Jacquard (with independent drive) of 2,688 hooks.

 

Picanol exhibited the largest number of machines with 10 air-jet and rapier weaving machines at its booth and two machines at Bonas’ and Stäubli’s booths. The machines were weaving a range of fabrics, including shirting, denim, terry, heavy filter, lining, automotive and intricate patterned Jacquard, Seyham said. Picanol introduced the new OptiMax-i (rapier), the TerryMax-I (rapier) and the TERRYplus Summum (air jet) machines with improved new features and development.

 

Panter showed six machines weaving versatile fabrics for apparel (shirting and fancy women’s wear), home (Jacquard upholstery) and technical textiles.

 

Smit highlighted two rapier machines, including the ONE 220 and the GS960 weaving fancy upholstery and two-way striped apparel, respectively.

 

The Stäubli division Schonherr demonstrated its ALPHA 500 weaving carpet and showing additional features. Staubli also displayed 3D fabric examples to demonstrate the capabilities of Jacquard weaving.

 

Seyam also covered innovations from Van de Wiele, Trinca, Toyota and Tsudakoma, before delving into future opportunities demonstrated in the weaving arena at ITMA, especially in the areas of: fiber reinforced composites, 3D woven preforms, smart electronic textiles and seamless woven garments,

 

“Such opportunities require serious multidisciplinary partnership between machine and woven fabric manufacturers, electronic, material, chemical specialists and others,” Seyam said.

 

Automotive education and research

 

Krulac, who works in the Business Development/Partnership Office of CU-ICAR, said the center is working to develop an “eco-system” for the industry. CU-ICAR is an advanced technology research campus where academia, industry and government organizations collaborate on automotive research.

 

When complete, the campus will include five Clemson University technology neighborhoods spanning more than 250 acres, he said. All told, more than 100 industry partners collaborate with CU-ICAR, he pointed out.

 

Krulac presented highlights of the educational tracks offered and an educational snapshot, noting that 203 students are enrolled and 257 degrees have been awarded. Of those graduates, 95 percent of automotive engineering alumni are employed in the automotive industry, he said.

 

He also discussed the center’s “Deep Orange” full-vehicle integration program, which involves students designing, developing and building a prototype automobile.

 

Leveraging leadership

 

Dunn, president of Positive Management Leadership, Greenville, S.C., presented a dynamic, though abbreviated, version of one of the leadership development courses (“simulations”) his firm provides. He prefaced his discussion by noting that “workplace problems are perfectly preventable,” adding that the effects of problems are often far removed in time and space from their causes.

 

That’s where leveraging leadership comes into play, he said, which can be key to solving systems problems that lead to employee angst. He then drilled down into seven “statistically significant” leadership behaviors.

 

Economic tailwinds

 

De Castro, senior economist at Southern Company Services, Inc., Atlanta, gave a generally positive outlook on the economy.

 

“I’m hear to convince you that the U.S. economy is not bad,” he said. “The market fundamentals look quite good.”

 

He noted that the population growth and capital will determine the long-term growth of the U.S. economy. Key factors determining short-term sales growth and the level of economic activity include economic growth, jobs, net migration, growth in households, housing market recovery, residential sales and commercial sales, he said – with population growth being the main driver.

 

“The U.S. economy continues to perform relatively well,” he said. “The recovery remains on track, supported by robust employment growth and consumer spending. We’ve been growing for a long time – more than 88 consecutive months.”

 

He then did a deep-dive into the fundamentals, predicting GDP growth of 2.3 percent this year and 3 percent next year.