PART 3

 

Posted June 2, 2014

 

By Devin Steele

 

ATLANTA – Following is Part 3 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.

 

Frankl & Thomas

Al Thomas, president of Frankl & Thomas (F&T) of Greenville, S.C., said he was very pleased with Techtextil and plans to have an even larger booth in 2016.

 

“This was the best show so far in Atlanta,” he said. “The idea of combining three shows into one big show was excellent. There is a lot of overlap from the three sectors.”

 

Frankl & Thomas, which represents numerous companies worldwide in this hemisphere, saw the most interest in its weaving products, Thomas said.

 

“We did not have the visitors from Latin America that we usually have,” he said. “Some yarn spinners were absent, and so were most of the fiber producers, carpet producers and high-tech weavers. But we were pleased with the high level visitors we had from some of our major customers.”

 

Frankl & Thomas also had staff in the Reiners + Furst booth. The Germany-based company offers premium, chrome-plated spinning rings and is represented in the U.S. and Canada by F&T.

 

Textube Division of GS Industries

Starlett Hedrick, sales manager for the Textube Division of GS Industries, based in Bassett, Va., said attendance and interest were better than previous shows in Atlanta.

 

“The traffic was heavy and consisted of quality leads,” she said.

 

Textube focused on plastic cylinders that support the production of filament (extruded) fiber, and attendees were supportive of the concept, she said.

 

The company provides custom capabilities in specialty cones and cylinders, combining in-house tooling, engineering and production, resin choices and molding for the textile and carpet industry.

 

Louis P. Batson Co.

Louis P. Batson Co., a 65-year-old company and a long-time exhibitor at Techtextil and its predecessor, ATME-I. said this show proved again to be a successful presentation of its machinery, accessories, spare parts and plant supplies.

 

“The show was better attended and, more importantly, we found that those who visited with us were decision makers,” said Caroline Stewart, president. “I would call it a success for us."

 

Charles Little, Batson’s sales director, added that with a "comprehensive textile gathering such as Techtextil, Batson had the opportunity to exhibit a broad selection of machinery, accessories and parts in one show. We were delighted with the flow of traffic and the chance to see so many contacts in just two-and-a-half days."

 

Based in Greenville, S.C., third-generation, family-owned L.P. Batson showed MBC Guttin safety chucks, air shafts and spreader rolls; oven belting featuring Dollfus & Muller mesh dryer belts; Nextwire steel mesh screens and belts and Cambridge straight-line metal belting; Gerlach tenter clips and chains; Ge-I-Lube oils and greases, slitter blades and blade holders; a large selection of roll covering; and Greased Lightning® degreasers and cleaners.

 

Numerous weaving supplies were also on hand, including Klöcker selvage leno devices, pin plates, narrow fabric needles, textile combs, lease rods, warp-tying accessories, wooden and aluminum cloth rolls, plastic sleeves and much more. As a bonus, Klöcker's glass lenos were featured on a running display.

 

Informational literature was available on Flainox garment dyeing machinery, Quick Vac trim and waste removal systems, SMIT weaving machinery, Twistechnology ring twisters, Hansa foaming equipment and RF Systems radio frequency dryers.

 

Personnel from Klöcker, Flainox, Quick Vac and Twistechnology were on site with Batson to answer technical questions and advise on machinery quotes.

 

SDL Atlas

A representative of Rock Hill, S.C.-based SDL Atlas said he could not be happier with the trade show.

 

“Techtextil North America was an amazing show for us this year, with many new leads,” said John Crocker, SDL Atlas’ Business Development manager. “People keep talking about the U.S. textile business being dead, but our results are far from that.  It was the best U.S.-based textile show I have been to in probably 10-15 years.”

 

At the show, the company launched its latest instrument, the ThermaRatetm Thermal Barrier Test Apparatus. The ThermaRate measures the burn injury protection of fabrics used in protective clothing worn by first responders, military personnel and industrial workers in the proximity of fires or extreme heat sources. The instrument gives fabric manufactures a lower cost and easier method of testing thermal protection than the more traditional thermal manikin tests, SDL Atlas said.

 

The ThermaRate is designed to replicate the effects of fabrics being in the proximity of a fire and not necessarily being immersed in a fire as simulated by the Thermal Protective Test (TPP) described in National Fire Protection Association NFPA: 1971 Standard on Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting. 

 

The system includes a closed-loop controlled IR radiant heat source, an automated shutter, a fabric sample holder, heat flux gauge and skin simulant sensor and a PC based data acquisition system with burn injury algorithms. The automated, computer-controlled system allows the user to select the radiant heat flux level at the fabric sample, the irradiation time, and choose and set precisely the air gap between the fabric sample and sensors.

 

SDL Atlas also offered demonstrations of its Fabric Touch Tester (FTT). The FTT is the first device to objectively and quantitatively measure fabric hand and skin touch comfort, according to the company. This instrument permits quality control and research and development laboratories to measure and predict the comfort perception of fabrics, from product designs, to processing control and end products for consumers, SDL Atlas added.

 

The precise objective measurements make the FTT an excellent communication device among designers, retailers and their vendors about comfort requirements, according to the manufacturer.

 

In addition to these new instruments, the SDL Atlas team of sales and technical experts exhibited many of their core products such as Tinius-Olsen universal testing equipment, Moisture Management Tester, PermaVape Water Vapor Permeability Tester, Hydrostatic Head Tester, PowerTear High Energy Elmendorf, Martindale, Air Permeability Tester and ColorChex light booth.

 

FilSpec, Inc.

Quebec, Canada-based FilSpec is a specialty yarn spinner that operates manufacturing plants in Ellerbe, N.C., and Sherbrooke, Quebec. Its core products are technical and high-performance yarns, so TechTextil offered the perfect platform to showcase its products and capabilities, said Iain Maclean, director of Business Development.

 

“We met many of our customers – and potential customers – from North, Central and South America, as well as our fiber suppliers from around the globe,” Maclean said. “Our booth was busy during the whole show.”

 

James B. Landreth Sales & Marketing, LLC

In the [TC]2 “Cool Zone” area of Texprocess Americas, visitors were able to get an up-close look at “Baxter,” a robot that is able to perform a variety of repetitive production tasks – all while safely and intelligently working next to people. Baxter, developed and marketed by Boston-based Rethink Robotics, exhibits behavior-based “common sense,” capable of sensing and adapting to its task and environment, according to its developers.

 

Jim Landreth and Todd McSwain of James B. Landreth Sales & Marketing, LLC were on hand to answer questions about Baxter as it demonstrated its capabilities and also offer information about their sales and marketing expertise.

 

“Baxter garnered a great deal of traffic and interest to the ‘Cool Zone,’ ” McSwain said. “We also were able to discuss several other opportunities for the company.”

 

He added that the booth was well attended and visitors were of good quality.

 

“There were many top-level attendees from companies,” McSwain said. “The fact that the show had great partners – SPESA, JEC Americas, International Buyer Program Select, ATME-I – and was a combination of three shows made attendance even better,” he said.

 

James B. Landreth Sales & Marketing, LLC handles sales duties in a number of areas, including industrial machinery and replacement parts, custom parts and assemblies for OEM manufacturers. With a team of agents, the marketing side of the business introduces products and services directly to the customer.

 

The firm also contracts for companies wishing to have a physical presence at trade shows across the country but don’t have a large enough staff to send personnel.

 

To watch Baxter fold a T-shirt, click here.

 

Industrial Laboratory Equipment Co.

Harry Simmons, owner of Industrial Laboratory Equipment Co. (ILE), Charlotte, N.C., said the show was “really good,” but could have been better.

 

“There was virtually no participation by cotton people,” he said, referring to his major customers, staple spinners. “We saw two South American groups, one Mexican group and two American groups. I would say that the organizers either did not really advertise to or push the staple spinning people or make an effort to get any of the machinery manufacturers involved.”

 

Compared to previous years, it was a better overall show for those industries that were represented, Simmons said. The cut-and-sew sector was well represented with machinery and visitors, he added.

 

“As the only American manufacturer of a full line of physical testing equipment for yarn and cloth, it was good for us to participate,” he said “Other lab suppliers showed some European testing equipment, but a lot of Chinese equipment was present.”

  

ILE’s DS-65 Evenness Tester was the most important product in the ILE booth, he said. And its color carding instruments, along with reels and shrinkage testers, were also popular items, he added.

 

 

MORE COVERAGE NEXT WEEK: CONTINUING EXHIBITOR REVIEWS

 

RELATED NEWS:

• Part 1: HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY: General sentiment of textile trade shows – an overwhelming success

• Part 2: POSITIVELY POSITIVE: Atlanta trade shows still getting good reviews from exhibitors

• TechTextil North America, Texprocess Americas sets attendance record

• TTNA, JEC to co-locate, move to Houston in 2015