PART 4

 

Posted June 9, 2014

 

By Devin Steele

 

ATLANTA – Following is Part 4 of our continuing coverage of this year’s Techtextil North America, Texprocess Americas and the JEC Americas 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.

 

Morrison Textile Machinery Co./ApJet, Inc.

Fort Lawn, S.C.-based Morrison Textile Machinery Co. used the TechTextil fair to not only showcase its selection of continuous preparation, dyeing, finishing and coating ranges, but to highlight its partnership with ApJet, Inc.

 

Morrison, which serves as the exclusive licensee for the manufacturer of ApJet, shared booth space with its partner, a leader in atmospheric plasma technology based at N.C. State University’s College of Textiles in Raleigh, N.C. John Emrich, the former CEO and president of Guilford Mills, has served in those capacities for ApJet since 2007.

 

ApJet has developed an atmospheric plasma coating technology for hydrophobic coatings, which provides durable water repellency on almost any fabric without the use of any water or heat, according to the company.

 

“Morrison is excited to be their machinery partner,” said Jay White, Morrison’s president, who noted that the Morrison-ApJet relationship stretches back six years. “We’re almost ready to go commercial with this and we’re very excited about what’s going to happen later this year.”

 

Morrison is in the final stages of developing wide-width equipment for the technology, White added.

 

“So as we move from the narrower fabric proof of concept to the wide machinery, customers are going to be able to work with full-size goods and do prototypes from the wide fabric,” he said.

 

White pointed out that a number of sectors are interested in the technology.

 

“The body armor fabric folks are very interested in the properties that it provides, given that they have to put water repellency on,” he said. “They can do it in a very efficient fashion without heat and that means a stronger body armor. Then we have a number of performance fabric people who supply outerwear for hikers and outdoorsmen. They need the protective and breathable fabrics. And the plastic film business is interested in chemistry that can adhere to plastics because plasma is a means to make chemistry stick like nothing else without the use of heat.”

 

BTSR/PAF Sales

BTSR, represented by Greensboro, N.C.-based PAF Sales in North America, showed its range of electronic yarn control systems. For PAF, the show was successful, according to General Manager Scott Yates.

 

“It showed hints of the old days,” he said. “Let me say this: If my booth had been located on one of the main aisles, I would not have had the manpower to work it in a proper way. The visitors were true decision makers, and I had several new leads.”

 

Quality monitoring systems gained wide attention, Yates said, as did feeders for large diameter knitting machines running spandex.

 

A.B. Carter, Inc.

For Gastonia, N.C.-based A.B. Carter, Inc., Techtextil North America was “the best textile exhibition we have seen in Atlanta,” according to Fred Rankin, vice president of Textile Sales. “Overall attendance was excellent and everyone was really upbeat about the ongoing textile resurgence in the U.S. We generated numerous quality leads for both our splicing products for joining composite fiber yarns and our wide range of laboratory equipment for testing traditional and technical textile fibers, yarns and fabrics.”

 

A.B. Carter highlighted Mesdan’s new MT Evenness Tester Code 2341. This instrument incorporates a high-quality capacitive sensor, which is suitable for testing the evenness and imperfections in yarns, rovings and slivers. The MT tester can measure, analyze, calculate, display and print out data to help control mass variation in the entire spinning process.

 

“Major yarn spinners from the U.S. and Mexico showed a high level of interest in this instrument,” Rankin said.

 

Springs Creative

The mood at Texprocess Americas was upbeat and carried plenty of positive energy, according to Kim Hall, vice president of Sales for Springs Creative Specialty Products Group.

 

“This show continued the upward trend and even surpassed the optimistic attitude of the previous show in Atlanta,” she said. “Show organizers created a well-attended event by minimizing attendee fees and making the show very accessible. Having the show in Atlanta is an asset since the heart of the textile industry is still in the Southeast, minimizing travel expenses while maximizing time efficiency for exhibitors and attendees alike.”

 

As such, with the surge of interest by brands and retailers for Made in the U.S.A. textile options, the SEAMS area was abuzz, Hall said. And exhibitors located in the SEAMS area benefited from being part of the larger Made in the U.S.A. consortium, she added.

 

“The Springs Creative booth stayed very busy from the opening day until midday on the final day,” she said. “The visitors to our booth were decision makers, just the caliber you want to meet at a trade show. We completed the show with many promising leads from new and existing clientele.”

 

Due to the company’s extensive product mix, it was able to offer visitors various textile chain solutions. Its most recent addition to the Specialty Products Group is a polymer from Kraton Polymers, LLC called NEXAR™. This radical polymer represents next generation cooling technology coupled with water transport comfort.

 

“Several brands expressed interest in this new polymer technology,” Hall said. “Spacer fabrics, though not a new technology, received great attention due to our unique constructions and design. A diverse group of companies expressed interest in spacer fabrics – high-end designers for women’s fashion apparel, various medical end-users, golf cart seating and upholstery, to name a few.”

 

Several brands were also investigating domestic cut and sew and printing capabilities, she added, and Springs Creative’s Sandlapper Manufacturing, LLC facility in Inman, S.C. was of interest.

 

“Several companies expressed interest in our camouflage brand, True Timber®, as well as our distribution capabilities,” Hall said. “Certain prospects and customers were interested in our extensive sourcing capabilities.”

 

All told, exhibiting at Texprocess Americas proved to be successful, she said. “The show afforded an opportunity to see textile industry colleagues, visit with existing customers and meet new prospects.”

 

Adaptive Control

Adaptive Control, with North American operations in Huntersville, N.C. and operations in the U.K., rolled out a new product called FLOWBOOK. This is a “social media network” for production machinery, people, dyes, chemicals, order tracking and general plant organization.

 

FLOWBOOK allows all aspects of monitoring what’s going on in real-time and allows for full accountability. “This certainly raises the flag of future manufacturing in all areas,” said Adaptive Control Sales Director Tony Webber.

 

Also in the booth, its U.K.-based technical partner Shelton Vision Systems showed off its latest technology with highly efficient digital inspection.

 

“Many people looked at this ever-evolving technology and were all impressed by the speed and efficiency offered by this automated system,” Webber said. “Once again a digital record can be kept and maintained for the records of that lot produced. Once a digital map is achieved, then the system can calculate the best-cut plan. This will reduce waste and give a cut plan with a predicted yield.”

 

The system operates with flat, mono-colored fabrics, as well as patterned fabrics such as camouflage fabrics. Machine speeds and operation productivity remain at high speed.

 

Overall, Adaptive Control was pleased with the show and the positivity of visitors, Webber said.

 

“It was noticeable that companies seem more interested to purchase ‘technology,’ ” he said. “Automation and development of better production methods seemed high on companies’ priority lists. There was also interest from companies wishing to digitally record the processing that had taken place from the beginning of manufacturing to the inspected finished goods. This is an area that Adaptive Control has always been keen to develop.

 

“We have pioneered several aspects of achieving this, together with Shelton Vision Systems,” he added. “All these systems have allowed Adaptive Control and Shelton Vision to take a very specialized area in the textile processing field.”

 

Zimmer America/Zimmer Austria

Zimmer America reported a very successful exhibition, with representatives of its principals making their way to Atlanta to show off their technologies.

 

“This year’s show was definitely an improvement over the last TTNA two years ago,” said Roland Zimmer, president and CEO of Zimmer America. “We had good traffic, and decision makers were present. We had a digital narrow fabric printer running all the time, so this is always a good attention-getting draw.

 

“But we had equally good activity and inquiries on the nonwoven side, where we didn't have anything running due to the innovations from our principal TEXNOLOGY on the elliptical needle loom and crosslappers,” he added. “On the other side of nonwoven web forming, the interest for air-laid (from BEMATIC) seems to grow in general.”

 

The Zimmer Austria COLARIS-NF machine for narrow fabrics, live in production, generated a lot of buzz at the booth and engaged many interested customers, he said. The sales team wrapped up the event with several new and exciting projects to work on, he added.

 

Zimmer America Nonwoven Machinery represents Italian manufacturers TEXNOLOGY, BEMATIC and BOMBI. Both BOMBI's and TEXNOLOGY's sales directors were on hand in the stand. Representatives discussed their new technologies, including:

 

• The new ELLITTICA elliptical needle loom from TEXNOLOGY, capable of operating vertically or elliptically – and, it is adjustable. It is the only needle loom in the world with this feature, making it a revolution in elliptical needling, according to the company.

 

• The direct needle line from BEMATIC and TEXNOLOGY, which consists of a BEMATIC Bemaformer web-forming unit in combination with the ELLITTICA elliptical needle loom.

 

Also exhibiting with Zimmer America, ICEsonic debuted its new technology, DRY ICE + abrasive blasting attachment. With a unique, specially coated, disc-style aluminum air lock, the IS 77S is both reliable and powerful, the company said. Applications for DRY ICE + technology include rust removal, paint stripping, surface coating removal, graffiti removal and surface prep before painting or coating.

 

Also exhibiting in the booth was Germany-based LACOM for hot melt lamination and coating. LACOM offers machines that operate via gravure roller, multi-roller, hotmelt, slot die, scatter coat and dispersion coat to fit the needs of multiple industries, from automotive lining to packing tape.

 

Dell'Orco & Villini

Italy-based Dell’Orco & Villini presented a new line of special machines for the reclamation of needlepunched, thermal bonded, calendared and spunlace edge trims and waste products.

 

“These products were met with strong interest from visitors,” said Sergio Dell’Orco, company owner.

 

He added that the show was good for the company, “although I would have expected more visitors from the ‘big’ U.S. nonwoven companies such as 3M, PGI, Carpenter, J&J, Suominen, etc.”

 

Dell’Orco & Villini, which was part of the Italian Pavilion, is represented in the U.S. by Stellamcor, Inc.

 

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

• Part 3: 'Best show so far in Atlanta,' says TTNA exhibitor

• TechTextil North America, Texprocess Americas sets attendance record

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