Posted May 27, 2014

 

The 11th edition of Techtextil North America and second Texprocess Americas took place May 13-15 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The show was co-located with JEC Americas, which resulted in a dynamic synergy creating the largest technical textiles, nonwovens, textile machinery, composites, sewn products and equipment trade show in the United States.

 

The three-in-one event hosted 363 Techtextil North America exhibitors, 164 exhibitors for Texprocess Americas and JEC Americas had 232 exhibiting brands – equaling 759 exhibitors from 29 countries attracting 9,039 visitors. Country pavilions included Italy, Portugal, Belgium, China, Germany, Supply Chain USA and UBIFrance. The 2014 shows produced a 45.8 percent increase from 2012.

 

“It was extremely encouraging to see such a high level of energy and buzz on the show floor,” said Dennis Smith, president Messe Frankfurt North America, “As the U.S. sewn products industry improves and the technical textiles industry continues to prosper, we are proud to contribute with this business platform.”

 

The show was officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony by representatives from Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH, Messe Frankfurt, Inc., SPESA and JEC Group. Olaf Schmidt, vice president of Textiles and Textile Technologies at Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH, welcomed everyone to the show.

 

Symposium 2014

Held concurrently with the exhibition and developed by industry experts, the symposiums produced 21 sessions with more than 70 presentations in a variety of formats that covered a wide range of topics from nanotechnology, protective and military research, medical and high performance textiles, fit, sizing and virtual try-on, welding, automation and smart machines.

 

The symposiums received high marks and many were standing-room only. Attendees were able to interact with presenters, providing an open dialogue of knowledge. More than 2,000 attendees visited the world-class symposium sessions.

 

Attendee statements

Darla Gifford of M-C Industries attended the show to look for new fabrics, hardware and thread. “Everybody wants material to do so much more now,” she said. Gifford added that she’d met many suppliers at the show and uncovered possibilities for future business.

 

Marjorie Lloyd, Neville Wisdom LLC said that “in a day and a half, we know who we would do business with, what’s smart and how we can grow. It has been inspiring, informative, well-orchestrated and we’re going to make some key decisions after we leave here.”

 

Lee Woodard, Next Right Decision, said, “Techtextil NA 2014 was excellent. The symposiums covered a broad range of topics and the presenters were recognized experts in their fields. Lots of valuable information was shared with attendees. The trade show was great and very well attended. The use of country pavilions was helpful in viewing the exhibitors in a logical supply manner."

 

Exhibitors laud event

Gary Freedman, Eton Systems: "We have received more leads in this show than any others in the last 10 years."

 

Mark Reese, Measured Solutions: "We are very happy with the show and have met with new, old and current customers. We will have very large orders coming in from this show."

 

Sarah Friedman, SEAMS: “Very positive responses came from the Supply Chain USA pavilion. The show was unbelievable. We had 34 companies participate, more than 50 percent more than 2012. We can't ask for a better group to work with at Messe Frankfurt, Inc. and we can't wait to participate in 2016."

Lauren Gist, Conitex Sonoco: "Great turnout and good foot traffic that gave us quality leads."

 

Source: Messe Frankfurt Inc.