Posted May 2, 2017
By Paul Fogleman
CONOVER, N.C. – The Lonati Group of Brescia Italy, which makes 70 percent of the world’s hosiery and textiles knitting equipment, introduced its newest offerings at the Manufacturing Solutions Center (MSC) here last week.
Lonati Group President Ettore Lenoir rang the bell, which opened the show to scores of manufacturers evaluating innovations for 21st century operations. The machines are expensive. But they require fewer – but highly trained – personnel.
The exhibition included new technologies for boarding, transferring, seaming and knitting.
Alan Parker, president of PAM Trading Corp., the distributor for Lonati, said some 230 persons registered for the three-day event. They included hosiery-marketing companies looking to replace offshore sources with domestic manufacturers.
“We wrote orders,” Parker said. “It was a good show for us and the MSC is an ideal location.
He also confirmed that new hosiery start-up companies are buying equipment.
One former hosiery executive at the opening estimated that his business operates today with 25 percent of its previous workforce.
Chris Chung, director of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, addressed the opening crowd, observing that North Carolina is poised to be the center of textiles for the future. He noted that the Western Piedmont area, with its Manufacturing Solutions Center and Textile Technology Center (TTC) in Belmont, N.C., is poised to be the new center for the industry.
On hand for the event was Dr. Taiwan Wang of the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA) MIT-led research initiative, who reinforced these predictions and said the MSC and the Textile Technology Center will be important partners in a national movement, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense, to bring high-tech manufacturing to America. North Carolina has the capabilities to capitalize on this effort, he added.
Wang noted that the MSC, the TTC and N.C. State University’s College of Textiles are candidates to become a U.S. Fabric Development Center, which has been endorsed by N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper and top legislative leaders.
The exhibition continued over the next two days.
Manufacturing Solutions Center hosts Lonati knitting equipment exhibition
Key Lonati executives in the fields of marketing, sales and technology are on hand for the company's exposition at the MSC.
Opening principals for the exposition include (L-R) Dr. Garrett Hinshaw, president of Catawba Valley Community College; Dr. Chris Chung, director of the Economic Development Partnership of N.C.; Ettore Lonati, president of the Lonati Group; Dr. Taiwan Wang of AFFOA; Dan St. Louis, director of the MSC; and Charles Preston, chairman of the Trustees for CVCC.
Visitors walk through the exhibition.
Key Lonati executives in the fields of marketing, sales and technology are on hand for the company's exposition at the MSC.