PART 2

 

Posted May 27, 2014

 

By Devin Steele

 

ATLANTA – Following is Part 2 of our continuing coverage of this year’s Techtextil North America, Texprocess Americas and the JEC Americas co-located trade shows at the Georgia World Congress Center here May 13-15. We take a closer look at more companies’ impressions of the shows and the products they highlighted.

 

If you exhibited and would like to be featured next week, don’t forget to send in your questionnaires, or email us your highlights at DSteele@eTextileCommunications.com.

 

TECHTEXTIL NORTH AMERICA

 

ITEMA AMERICA

ITEMA America, Inc., based in Spartanburg, S.C., provided information about a number of its textile and weaving machines, including its R9500 rapier machine.

 

“The R9500 Rapier Machine still enjoys the ‘lion’s share’ of activity and interest and is quickly gaining market share for technical applications,” said Werner Mendler, ITEMA America’s sales manager. “With seven new projects/customers closed within the past six months, we expect this to continue. With unprecedented flexibility, simplicity and value for the price point, the R9500 is the latest success story for ITEMA worldwide.”

 

Mendler added that he was “positively surprised with the attendance and the level of positive sentiment for the industry.”

 

NAVIS TUBETEX

Traffic at the Navis TubeTex booth was “very good, better than the last Atlanta (Techtextil) show,” according to company President Will Motchar.

 

“Many customers said they were pleased with the new products and technologies they were seeing at the show,” he said. “The mood was positive and upbeat in general.”

 

Navis TubeTex, based in Lexington, N.C., offers high-quality, high-tech finishing machinery for knit, woven, technical and nonwovens fabrics. The company highlighted new products it has developed for sustainability. One, for instance, was its new heat recovery devices that can be installed on any type of dryer to reduce energy consumption in the drying process, Motchar said.

 

Its new 2 station tubular compactor Gemini also received a lot of interest, he added. The Gemini provides increased productivity and increased stability of shrinkage control in tubular knit fabrics, he said.

 

LANG LIGON & CO., INC.

Family-owned Lang Ligon & Co., Inc., of Greenville, S.C., featured a fairly large booth along the front wall as visitors entered the exhibition floor and was busy every time we passed by or stopped in.

 

“We were pleased with the quality of visitors for this show,” said Harrell Ligon, president. “Most were decision-makers' level and most had some problems to solve and processes to improve. They were intentional in their visits.

 

“The numbers were lower than in previous ‘glory’ years in Greenville (S.C.), when you could come to the show during your lunch break just to get a free hat,” he added. “But the quality of visitors this time was high and their mood fairly positive. The show is where the customers come to you, rather then you going to them and interrupting their work day, and they have time to listen.”

 

Lang Ligon and Co. has worked exclusively in the textile industry for more than 50 years and today serves as agent for several European machinery builders in the weaving, knitting and preparation sectors. The company represents quality names such as LGL Electronics (yarn feeders), Ferber (material handing equipment), Comsat (warping) and Ergotron (precision weaving let-offs and take-ups).

 

Lang Ligon serves North America and Central America in the weaving, knitting and preparation sectors.

 

“We wanted to get the word out about Comsat sectional warping and direct warping, and this show was a right way to do that,” Ligon said. “Also, we have customers who use our yarn feeders that didn't know the new technical developments that are now offered and what they can provide.”

 

Among other highlights, the company showed the new LGL "B-rake ‎" for weaving difficult yarns, using a load cell to maintain constant, programmable tensions.

 

CONITEX SONOCO, INC.

Based in Gastonia, N.C., Conitex Sonoco, Inc. exhibited its traditional products – paper cones and tubes, sliver cans and labels – as well as its LoadRunner corrugated pallets, plastic yarn pallets and the BulkSak polypropylene bale wrapping line.

Its yarn pallet systems generated the highest level of interest, as the industry continues shipping the majority of its products on pallets, according to Rick Carpenter, regional sales manager.

 

“We were very impressed with the high attendance level and the fact that many key decision makers visited the show,” he said. “There was a very positive attitude among attendees and exhibitors not experienced in recent Techtextil exhibitions.”

 

DAIKIN AMERICA, INC.

Daikin America, based in Orangeburg, N.Y., had a large staff working its booth, which stayed busy throughout most of the show, said Thomas Poston, senior technical sales rep.

 

The company had its new C6 repellent fluorochemicals on display, as well as new patent-pending release chemistry.

 

MOUNT VERNON MILLS

Mount Vernon Mills and its subsidiary, Mount Vernon Chemicals, LLC, reported a fantastic show in which they showcased a number of products for the apparel, industrial, institutional and commercial markets.

 

“The show was very well attended by all of the domestic textile firms and showed strong signs of optimism in the industry,” said Judson Boehmer, Mount Vernon’s La France Division president. “The Georgia World Congress Center did a great job hosting the show and the layout, as well as transportation, worked out great.”

 

Among highlight products were industrial pile fabrics, which gain a lot of interest in the flooring markets, as well as a potential opportunity for new product placing in the printing market, Boehmer said.

 

Meanwhile, “the show was good for Mount Vernon Chemicals and it was good to see some optimism in the industry,” Randy Smith, president of LLC, reiterated. The subsidiary showed a number of its flame-resistant line of products.

 

KLUBER LUBRICATION

Kluber Lubrication, Londonderry, N.H., showed its environmental friendly needle oils, which includes multiple viscosity ranges and surfactant levels. These oils wash out well under normal washing recipes and meet all the sustainable questions, which customers and brands are looking for, according to Charles Poston, textile industry market manager. They are designed to reduce wear on needles, cams and cylinders, he said.

 

Kluber also introduced Klubertemp GR AR 555, a new perfluorinated grease for high-temperature and high-load applications. This product, available worldwide, offers good corrosion protection and high evaporation stability, he said. It is also very stable when exposed to water and textile chemicals, Poston added.

 

“We received more leads this year than two years ago, with many potential customers looking for some of our new developed products,” he said.

 

TEXPROCESS AMERICAS

 

NATIONAL SPINNING CO., INC.

As mentioned in our initial reports, National Spinning Co. – usually a visitor to trade shows – took advantage of the opportunity to exhibit in the Supply Chain USA pavilion, organized by SEAMS (the National Association of the Sewn Products Industry).
 

“And we are glad we did,” said Jim Booterbaugh, president of the Washington, N.C.-based company. “We had a great show. The pavilion drew a large amount of traffic, as it should, because a show attendee could see spinners, knitters, weavers and finishers in one aisle.”

 

National demonstrated its capabilities for spinning and dyeing – beyond just acrylics – as well as its blending capabilities.

 

COVILLE

A representative of Winston-Salem, N.C., based Coville, which offers full-package or a la carte textile and apparel services, said the company was pleased with the show. The vertically integrated provider of knits and apparel featured its complete range of apparel components and supply-chain services.

 

“Many attendees who visited with us were surprised to find a complete apparel supply chain solution still intact in North Carolina,” said Kevin Williams, vice president of marketing and business development. “I found the show to be extremely well attended and attendees to be genuinely interested in doing business with the vendors. There was a high level of energy at this show – particularly in the MADE IN THE USA (Supply Chain USA) area – that I have not seen at this show before.”

 

Coville showcased its broad range of outdoor, performance and protective fabrics, as well as its product development, sewn products manufacturing, warehousing and distribution services for retailers, brands and OEMs.

 

Founded in 1976, family-owned Coville operates world-class knitting, cut and sew and 3PL distribution services in close proximity to its headquarters. The company offers finished and greige fabrics, contract and full-package production programs with expertise in a wide range of activewear, military, performance, protective, sportswear, underwear and other sewn products.

 

The company’s subsidiaries include Alandale Knitting Company in Troy, N.C., and Carolina Apparel Group in Wadesboro, N.C. The company maintains additional dyeing and finishing plants in North and South Carolina, as well as a distribution and fulfillment center in Stallings, N.C.

 

MORE COVERAGE NEXT WEEK: CONTINUING EXHIBITOR REVIEWS

 

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