July 19, 2019
The Boeing Company has named Ehmke Manufacturing Co. Inc. the recipient of the Gold/Silver 2018 Boeing Performance Excellence Award (BPEA). The Boeing Company issues the award annually to recognize suppliers who have achieved superior performance. Ehmke maintained a Gold/Silver composite performance rating for each month of the 12-month performance period, from October 2017 to September …
July 18, 2019
With the goal of creating safer and more ecological products for the textile industry, specialty chemical manufacturer Archroma has launched a water-based ultra-low VOC polyurethane polymer coating technology, a recent release announced. The company says it has developed Lurapret N5396 & N5392 liq to provide textile manufacturers with an additional water-based option that delivers high performance …
July 15, 2019
Slash resistant clothing can reduce the risk of knife injuries and laceration. by Robert Kaiser People throughout history have sought and found the means to protect themselves with specially designed and constructed garments. From furs and chainmail, to leather, metals or fabric, a range of materials has been used creatively to protect against injury or …
July 15, 2019
People in low income countries could be exposed to highly toxic gases from the uncontrolled incineration of outdoor clothing made with fluorine-based membranes, says a recently published study, received from Sympatex. Results from the Frankfurt-based independent testing house, Warringtonfire, appear to show that highly-toxic hydrofluoric acid (HF, up to 63 ppm) and hydrochloric acid (HCI, …
July 15, 2019
A team of researchers from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, RMIT University, and the National Institute of Technology in Warangal, India, have used eucalyptus bark extract to create graphene, a material touted as the thinnest and strongest material knows to humans. Graphene’schemical and physical properties give it the potential for applications in many areas, including computer …
July 15, 2019
Organizers push for industry participation in the ongoing process. By Janet Preus Work is well underway, progress has been reported, and new initiatives have been launched. At IFAI’s Smart Fabrics Virtual Summit this spring, presenters Chris Jorgensen, IPC, and Stephanie Rodgers, Apex Mills, provided a comprehensive update on the development of international standards for e-textiles. …
July 15, 2019
Imagine not seeing anything, nor hearing anything. Such communication obstacles affect all aspects of life. Many people with deaf-blindness communicate via tactile signing and also haptic signals (touch and movement) on the body. Researchers, led by a team at the University of Borås, are working to digitize and integrate these functionalities into a garment. Haptic …
July 15, 2019
by Janet Preus “If you’re going to do it, do it right.” We’ve all heard that saying, and we probably all agree with it, too. But if you’re going to create something that’s never existed before, how do you know that you’re doing it right? I’m not talking about a new technology, a new material …
July 12, 2019
As NASA sets a course for Mars and a return to the moon, and private companies engage in a new space race, textile companies find opportunities for high-performance fabrics and products. by Amy Goetzman When does a single lemon cost $2,000? When it’s in space. NASA reports that it costs about $10,000 in fuel to …
July 11, 2019
Medical scrubs need to be practical and comfortable, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be stylish. That’s the proposition behind Barco® Uniform’s Grey’s Anatomy™ collection of medical apparel for women and men. Recently, the company upped its game with the introduction of Grey’s Anatomy EDGE, a new line in the globally popular brand. EDGE’s secret weapon is …
October 18, 2018
Advanced Textile Products and the Narrow Fabrics Institute, divisions of the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI), recently selected the winners of the 2018 Advanced Textiles Student Design Competition. The awards were announced during IFAI Expo 2018, held in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 15-18. First Place First-place honors went to J. Walter Lee, Stephanie Wang and Caroline …
October 17, 2018
When you plan to sell a textile product, there are numerous reasons to test it before taking it to market. Many of those testing results tell you what you can ultimately communicate to others about your product, and what they can expect of your product. Dr. Emiel DenHartog, North Carolina State University, College of Textiles, …
October 17, 2018
All the best from Texas: Wednesday morning, Oct. 17, at IFAI Expo led off with lists of winners for the year, including the most popular products on the show floor. The seventh annual Show Stopper competition was designed to showcase the best of the best in the industry, from fabrics, equipment and chemicals to services …
October 17, 2018
Service Thread, based in Laurinburg, N.C., was awarded the 2018 Industrial Fabrics Foundation (IFF) Greater Good Award at IFAI Expo 2018 in Dallas, Texas. The Greater Good Award focuses on an IFAI member company that does good business—and strives to be a good neighbor, good citizen, and good partner. Nomination criteria were based on the …
October 17, 2018
Jeff Rasmussen, IFAI market research director, presented a brief overview of the advanced textiles market at IFAI’s Expo 2018 in Dallas this week. His research reveals that steady growth should be expected at 8.8 percent for 2018 (the same as 2017). In his Advanced Textiles Market Update, Rasmussen pointed to the overlay between the smart …
October 17, 2018
An update on fiber production did not reveal any big surprises, but it did provide some important details assessing the nature of the market today. In a “Campfire” session on the show floor, Darrell Collier, Tecnon OrbiChem, showed participants the growth trajectory and market dominance that polyester since it entered the textile market. Collier also …
October 17, 2018
The Industrial Fabrics Foundation (IFF) has announced W.L. Gore & Associates Inc., Newark, Del., as the winner of the 2018 IFF Innovation Award. The company’s GORE-TEX® PYRAD® fabric won in the category of Fabrics, Fibers and Films. The award was presented at IFAI Expo 2018 at IFAI’s annual meeting, held Wednesday, Oct. 17, at the …
October 17, 2018
The Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) has awarded this year’s International Achievement Awards (IAA) for design excellence in specialty fabrics applications, announced at the awards breakfast on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at IFAI Expo 2018. IFAI Expo is the largest specialty fabrics trade show in North America, held this year at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention …
October 17, 2018
Asking yourself one simple question can help make your business a magnet for new customers, says marketing professional Madeleine MacRae, owner of MM MacRae Coaching & Consulting. “That question is ‘Who is your ideal client?’” In her Oct. 16 Expo session on distinguishing yourself in the marketplace, MacRae says answering this question is the key …
October 16, 2018
A variety of advanced textile products were discussed in sessions during IFAI’s Pre-Expo Conference Oct. 15. Caroline Portoghese explained how her company’s product, called GlideWear, offers innovative skin protection by reducing friction and shear to prevent skin tears and blisters. The product has been used by athletes, burn patients wearing compression garments, in wheelchair components …
July 15, 2019
Slash resistant clothing can reduce the risk of knife injuries and laceration. by Robert Kaiser People throughout history have sought and found the means to protect themselves with specially designed and constructed garments. From furs and chainmail, to leather, metals or fabric, a range of materials has been used creatively to protect against injury or …
July 15, 2019
Organizers push for industry participation in the ongoing process. By Janet Preus Work is well underway, progress has been reported, and new initiatives have been launched. At IFAI’s Smart Fabrics Virtual Summit this spring, presenters Chris Jorgensen, IPC, and Stephanie Rodgers, Apex Mills, provided a comprehensive update on the development of international standards for e-textiles. …
June 24, 2019
Partnerships all along the supply chain lend critical support in achieving goals. by Marie O’Mahony Rita McGrath, associate professor at Columbia Business School, advises that “change is not the dangerous thing, stability is.” In this second of two articles on innovation, the focus is on factors that can influence the way that innovative textiles come to market. …
June 10, 2019
Collaborative, long-term efforts produce successful new products and applications. by Marie O’Mahony Harvard professor and author of The Innovator’s Dilemma (1997), Clayton M. Christensen, identified two forms of innovation: sustaining and disruptive. The former he classifies as that which improves product performance, while the latter introduces a very different value proposition to what was previously …
May 20, 2019
New shape memory capabilities have application in several markets. At last week’s Smart Fabrics Virtual Summit, sponsored by IFAI, Brad Holschuh, Ph.D., assistant professor of wearable technology and apparel design in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota (UMN), gave a presentation titled, “Soft-Robotic Textiles Using Integrated Active Materials.” In his talk, he …
May 20, 2019
Innovating and commercializing to participate in future opportunities. by Seshadri Ramkumar The textiles sector has been reshaping itself due to the increasing cost of raw materials, sustainability issues, labor costs and regulatory issues. These, in a way, have been a boon to the traditional textiles sector, prompting more diverse products and value-added products with industry …
May 6, 2019
Protecting the military today requires sophisticated, multifaceted camouflage solutions. by Marie O’Mahony New fabric developments in camouflage, as well as innovative design approaches, are taking textiles to another level of protection for military applications. In recent years, a great deal of discussion has been given to digital camouflage and its perceived success or failure. While …
April 22, 2019
Movement and health monitoring enters the next generation. Editor’s note: Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) have had a series of breakthroughs in technologies that will improve health and wellness monitoring in smart garments. This article is a compilation of reports on this topic that were released by the university in recent …
April 8, 2019
The potential, progress and challenges for next generation smart garments. Among the many benefits promised by the smart fabric revolution has been the “consumerization of health care.” Wearables are enabling the remote monitoring of a wide range of chronic medical conditions, from diabetes, high blood pressure and congestive heart failure (CHF) to symptoms of disease, …
March 25, 2019
Infrastructure and construction textiles grow in importance and focus on more sustainable alternatives. Infrastructure textiles are an important, but often overlooked, category within advanced textiles, but these functional fibrous structures are gaining importance. The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) reports that construction textiles are a growth area. In its 2018 State of the Industry …
June 19, 2019
The Association of Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) presents RISE 2019 Sept. 24–25 at North Carolina State University (NC State) in Raleigh, N.C. The conference is designed to be two days of in-depth technical exploration into “what’s next” and “what’s needed” from leaders in materials research and innovative science as applied to engineered fabrics, the organizers of …
June 18, 2019
Covestro has completed the expansion of its thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) capacity at its Changhua manufacturing site in Taiwan, according to Knitting Industry.com. The company predicts that the plant will cater to the Asia Pacific region’s market needs, including providing bio-based TPU. TPU is used for flexibility and performance in the footwear and automotive markets as …
June 17, 2019
IPC E-Textiles 2019 is a technical education workshop for innovators, technologists and brands to learn about the latest innovations, designs and manufacturing concepts and to collaborate on solutions and identify partners. The event takes place at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pa., Sept. 10–11, 2019. The event will provide a venue for active participation during technical …
June 10, 2019
The LOOMIA Electronic Layer (LEL) by New York, N.Y.-based LOOMIA Technologies has received the 2019 NYCxDesign Award for Technology. The small startup was in competition with projects by much larger companies, such as Steelcase, Basalte, and Frasch. While LOOMIA is known for its smart textiles for apparel projects, the firm’s industry reach now extends to …
April 8, 2019
Kamber Narrow Fabric Machinery LLC, a global trader and specialist in pre-owned weaving, braiding and knitting machinery, has announced a new Hot Swap program for manufacturers. The program offers manufacturers the opportunity to have their narrow fabric needle looms completely refurbished with a full one-year warranty and with zero minutes of downtime with their current …
April 5, 2019
Members: $69 Non-Members: $129 April 30 | Noon EST Join Justine Decaens of CTT Group for a webinar in conjunction with the Smart Fabrics Virtual Summit. The start-up culture is emerging as textile manufacturers have begun diversifying and differentiating by leveraging smart textiles. This culture is driving a new mentality and providing leadership roles for women. …
April 5, 2019
Members: $200 both days | $125/one day Non-Members: $300 both days | $175/one day May 14-15, 2019 | 11:00am – 3:00pm EST For the third year, the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) will host the Smart Fabrics Summit 2019. This year, the summit will be conducted virtually from May 14-15, 2019. Newly titled as the “Smart Fabrics Virtual …
April 5, 2019
A new report from Transparency Market Research (TMR) tracks and predicts the thermal insulation market growth from 2017 to 2025. According to TMR, the global thermal insulation market is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4 percent to attain a value of about $78 billion] by the end of 2025. …
April 1, 2019
The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) has announced the election of its 2019 officers. Leib Oehmig, CEO of Glen Raven Inc., based in North Carolina was elected chair. Glen Raven is a leader in textile research and development, dying, spinning, weaving and finishing, and distribution and logistics. Vice chair for 2019 is David Roberts, CEO of CAP …
March 25, 2019
More women than ever now own textile companies, and IFAI’s recent Women in Textiles Summit brought together many of these business leaders to share their unique expertise within a highly specialized industry. This year’s inaugural summit, held March 6–8 in Savannah, Ga., facilitated what IFAI President and CEO Steve Schiffman calls an “investment in the …
June 27, 2019
Greek designer George Bosnas thinks the traditional waste management process is lengthy and uses a lot of energy. In response, he created the sustainable approach to a traditionalegg carton – the Biopack. For this designer, an alternative to “reduce, reuse, recycle” is “use, plant, grow.” According to an Inspiralistarticle, Bosnas was looking for a way to create a package …
June 24, 2019
Scientists are tackling the world’s need to keep plastics out of landfills and waterways. One method may be found in making the most of seafood waste. A Science News article reports that the shells of crustaceans contain chitin, a material that has many of plastic’s desirable properties, but it can take weeks or months to biodegrade, rather …
May 9, 2019
A transformative poncho is the latest collaboration between Nike and Tom Sachs. The poncho has taken four years to arrive at this patent-pending stage of design, according to a report on designboom.com. Jarrett Reynolds, Nike’s senior design director for apparel special projects, developed the slim-line pack containing a quick-deploy and easily repacked poncho as part of a …
May 6, 2019
VISIONknit, a technical knitting company based in Toronto, Canada, and Canadian collaborators Composite Creations, have launched a 3D knitted canoe. The VISIONknit material can be used on modern flat (v-bed) knitting machines and knit into patterns, accompanying logos and other design features. According to an article in Knitting Industry, the company’s patent pending material is a …
April 29, 2019
Could microbes combined with water be guided to selectively disintegrate and then be harnessed as agents of assembly? What would the ecology of a system that included microbes, biocompatible substrates and the contextual environment look like? Those are some of the questions a team of MIT researchers set out to answer as part of the Aguahoja …
April 22, 2019
MIT and NASA researchers have developed a new shape-shifting approach to aircraft wing construction. An article in MIT News says the system is designed to automatically deform, in part or in total, in response to the roll and pitch of a plane. The flexibility of the new wing assembly system relies on hundreds of identical …
April 18, 2019
German shoe brand nat-2 has created a means to recycle coffee into sneakers. The 100 percent vegan, unisex sneaker uppers are made from sustainable recycled coffee, coffee beans and coffee plants. The coffee is applied to a layer and retains its natural coffee scent. The material covers up to 50 percent of the shoe’s surface, depending …
March 28, 2019
A team at MIT has developed a robotic gripper that uses a 3D-printed origami structure reported to be able to lift 100 times its own weight. The origami-inspired gripper consists of a 3D-printed 16-piece silicone rubber skeleton encased in an airtight skin. A vacuum collapses the gripper, which conforms around a multitude of shapes without losing strength, …
February 7, 2019
LG Electronics has introduced the SIGNATURE TV R, a rollable TV that uses organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology. A recent article in Printed Electronics World states that manufacturers are trying to make large TVs less conspicuous—without sacrificing depth of color and resolution. LG may have accomplished that by creating the R version of the OLED …
February 4, 2019
NIKE has launched a lace-less smart shoe with the new platform, NIKE adapt, the company has announced. NIKE adapt for basketball is designed to be a continually updated performance product that the company ways will create a near-symbiotic relationship between the shoe’s digital app and the opt-in firmware updates. Athletes may update and evolve their shoes …
July 15, 2019
Imagine not seeing anything, nor hearing anything. Such communication obstacles affect all aspects of life. Many people with deaf-blindness communicate via tactile signing and also haptic signals (touch and movement) on the body. Researchers, led by a team at the University of Borås, are working to digitize and integrate these functionalities into a garment. Haptic …
July 12, 2019
As NASA sets a course for Mars and a return to the moon, and private companies engage in a new space race, textile companies find opportunities for high-performance fabrics and products. by Amy Goetzman When does a single lemon cost $2,000? When it’s in space. NASA reports that it costs about $10,000 in fuel to …
July 11, 2019
Medical scrubs need to be practical and comfortable, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be stylish. That’s the proposition behind Barco® Uniform’s Grey’s Anatomy™ collection of medical apparel for women and men. Recently, the company upped its game with the introduction of Grey’s Anatomy EDGE, a new line in the globally popular brand. EDGE’s secret weapon is …
July 3, 2019
Helly Hansen’s owner, retail group Canadian Tire, announced a partnership with textile computing company Myant to incorporate smart textile solutions, a recent Sportstextiles.com article says. The solutions are based on Myant’s SKIIN Textile Computing platform, which integrates biometric sensors, heat generation technology and electroluminescence into clothing. The goal is to produce apparel and footwear that can …
June 24, 2019
Less than a year after a team of MIT researchers reported successfully embedding electronic devices in fibers, around a quarter of a million semiconducting devices have been embedded, according to a Science and Technology Research News article. The goal for the fibers is to allow fabrics or composites to store and convert energy, sense their environment and …
June 10, 2019
Archroma has launched Fadex AS New, a UV protector to make automotive and transportation textiles more resistant to light, the company announces. Automotive components such as the polyester trims of doors and pillars, seat covers, and carpet flooring or head lining, are exposed to high levels of sunlight and UV rays over the lifespan of a …
June 7, 2019
As air pollution continues to be a serious issue, particularly in urban areas, the quality of indoor air is also a concern. The World Health Organization estimates that about 90 percent of people worldwide breathe polluted air, resulting in an estimated eight million deaths each year. With these statistics, mitigating air pollution in homes is …
May 20, 2019
New Zealand company Revolution Fibres has collaborated with Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company Inc. to develop a next-generation nanofiber interleaving veil for improving the toughness of carbon fiber composites. According to the companies, the new material, Xantu.Layr® XLB, has particularly strong application possibilities in the aerospace sector. The product is an ultra-thin nonwoven web consisting of …
May 14, 2019
Light-reflective specialist JRC-REFLEX is presenting two new product ranges at the Performance Days trade show in Munich, Germany, May 8 and 9. JRC-REFLEX has developed an innovative process that gives its products novel two-tonal variations. These new ranges expand on the palette of pastel colors the company launched in 2018. White Metal and Black Metal …
May 6, 2019
Modifying the surface of fabric at the microscopic level is at the heart of Fastskin, an innovation for a swimwear line by HeiQ and Speedo. Competitive swimmers always want to break their own records, according to a news release from HeiQ. Reducing drag as their bodies go through water is one way to accomplish additional …
