From the Sector

Digitalization is a big story in the world of business. It’s all about change, making use of technology to transform attitudes and create new opportunities to grow revenue. At its heart is innovation, with new systems and intelligent use of data. In textiles, the entire value chain is going digital, as evidenced by the commitment of Swiss Textile Machinery Association member firms. Their story – presented here in six ‘chapters’ – spans industry sectors through spinning, weaving, finishing and nonwovens.

Cost savings and more
The process of digitalization in the textile industry today is continuous – faster in some segments than others – but noticeable everywhere. Automation is promising in many areas of finishing and making-up, where initial investments are being made. An example is folding of finished goods, previously a slow manual operation. Now, high-performance automatic folding machines from Swiss company Espritech deliver the potential for cost savings, unlocking new options for positive change at this most labor-intensive stage of production. For manufacturers in low-cost areas, the benefit results from its volume and is a simple financial one. In higher-cost segments, the application of this technology can be part of a completely new business model, taking production closer to the end customer.

Better process, better workplace
Pioneering in the field of digitalization embraces social responsibility along with the introduction of bold new technological innovation. That’s a commitment made by Uster, as it aims to shape future working practices in the textile industry in areas where its systems are applied. In fabric inspection, that means combining the strengths of human capabilities with the performance of Artificial Intelligence. Automatic defect classification with machine learning technology is the next leap in digitalization for fabric manufacturers, following on from automated detection of fabric faults, which is already well established in weaving and finishing mills. This will bring benefits in profitability for the manufacturer – as well as an improved working environment for their operatives, freed from repetitive tasks.

Information, flexible and fast
Access to data is critical in the digitalized world of textiles. It must be flexible, fast and secure, and available to all levels of the company – worldwide. Jakob Muller serves the narrow fabrics industry ideally with a digitalization portal, perfectly developed to provide essential production information. The portal is a browser-based production data acquisition system, with direct access to the machine controls. The system offers unique data monitoring and communication on a global framework. Digitized weave rooms present information 24/7 on desktops at the customer’s plant, as well as on tablets and smartphones remotely.

Making the most of it
Rieter takes advantage of latest digital technology to offer customers a unique experience. Their digital spinning suite helps spinners overcome their daily challenges and manage costs and efficiency more effectively. This all-in-one mill management system connects all the machinery, giving quick access to the right information and a holistic view, from bale to yarn. Users profit from full transparency, and are presented with recommendations based on long-standing experience and know-how. This is digitalization at its most practical, applied to allow spinners to make the most of their installed machinery.

Production, service, training – digital everything
As a solutions provider, Saurer puts digitalization at the core of business, integral to its technology offering to customers. Some latest examples include self-optimization of spinning machines, and a fully automated transport of cylindrical or conical cross-wound packages. These are automatically stored in an internal buffer system, for later feeding to subsequent processes. Of course after-sales service is also digital: the e-shop and machine information hub, together with the web-based training centre, ensure that knowledge is transferred to customers – turning employees into experts.

See the future system today
Autefa Solutions uses the concept of digital twinning, visualizing any real-world concept of a nonwovens line to make it easier for potential customers to grasp the idea. It’s also a big help for training and servicing needs. Most of all they digitalize important parts e.g. of a baling press line with perfectly interconnecting software tools. This is an excellent method for reducing commissioning times. Ordered bale presses reach technical readiness in the form of a digital twin, before they are commissioned in the real world. This typically halves the total time to get the line up and running.
Speaking on behalf of Swiss Textile Machinery Association members, André Imhof, CEO of Autefa Solutions Switzerland AG, says: “Making digitalization our friend opens doors for business model innovations, which is essential for our industry competitiveness. The approach is to digitalize everything that can be digitalized. We won’t stop.”

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas issued a statement following President Biden’s remarks on the global supply chain crisis and stressed the importance of investing onshoring and nearshoring:

"We appreciate President Biden’s call to ensure we are building more resilient and reliable supply chains and to invest in our manufacturing industries here at home, in his address earlier today.

There is a reason we got into this mess and there is a reason we have a global supply chain crisis. Years of offshoring production in a race to the bottom –exacerbated by predatory trade practices that have undermined so many manufacturing industries--has led to a tipping point. In fact, it was not too long ago that nurses in New York City and beyond were wearing garbage bags as gowns as our overreliance on Chinese production chains exposed severe fragilities in keeping our health care workers safe during the height of the pandemic.

China’s virtually unlimited and unrealistic pricing power coupled with its subsidies and lack of enforceable environmental standards strips benefits and undermines policy objectives, and leaves us in an untenable situation of overreliance on a foreign supply chain for critical products and raw materials. This must change.

We must hold China accountable for predatory trade practices that have offshored our industries and our jobs. We must onshore and nearshore more textile and apparel production chains out of Asia to the U.S. and also to Western Hemisphere trade partners. This has a multitude of benefits to ensure more reliability in production and also has remarkable job benefits to U.S. manufacturers and our allied trading partners who adhere to higher labor and environmental standards. Further, it will help address the migration crisis and grow better paying jobs.

Now is the time to we need to unlock long-term commitments to source product from the USA and from our Hemispheric partners.  If we moved another 10 percent of global production to the U.S. and the Hemisphere, imagine the benefits that could be achieved.  Ensuring further verticalization and investment in all aspects of the industry, from raw materials to finished products, is good for the American economy and workers in the U.S. and in the region.

Our industry stands ready to help and provide the solutions to onshore and nearshore these production chains that benefit manufacturing workers, the U.S. economy, our Western Hemisphere allies, and consumers.   Further, onshoring and nearshoring these critical production chains has remarkable benefits for the environment and addresses the growing, systemic and alarming issues associated with climate change.  

It is critical that supply chains mitigate risks so that we are never in this situation again.  We appreciate President Biden recognizing the value of onshoring these critical production chains and stand ready to work with the administration in these efforts."

Although affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, ITMA ASIA + CITME, which takes place mid-June in Shanghai, will see a convincing participation of VDMA member companies. 56 exhibitors from Germany will exhibit at this year’s edition of Asia’s major fair for textile machinery. Due to the pandemic and travel restrictions, this is much less than in 2018, when 99 exhibitors from Germany were present. The booked space of German companies has almost halved compared to 2018. Nevertheless, Germany is still the second largest exhibitor nation after China.

At a virtual VDMA press conference early June, these renowned VDMA member companies* presented their highlights for the Asian market:

• Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions Division
• Truetzschler Group
• Neuenhauser
• Saurer
• Karl Mayer
• Groz-Beckert
• Herzog
• Lenze
• Mahlo
• Sedo Treepoint
• Thies

Instead of visiting the show personally, the VDMA offers a virtual trip to Asia. The established "Textile Machinery Webtalk" series via the newsroom IndustryArena will focus on ITMA ASIA in the run-up to the fair: VDMA Webtalks meet ITMA ASIA.

*See attached document for more information.

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) issued a statement today on the Trump administration’s announced action plan to increase enforcement and penalties against counterfeit goods sold online and imported to the U.S.

“This is a very important and long overdue move on the part of the administration to increase enforcement activity and penalties against counterfeit goods sold online and imported into the United States,” said NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas. “We commend the administration for making a commitment to bolster efforts to crack down on counterfeits, particularly in the textile and apparel sector, which has been hit hard by fake imported products for decades.”

Nearly two million shipments of goods are exported to the United States duty free each day-- often from countries with poor labor, human rights and environmental track records—under a provision known as Section 321 de minimis. This provision allows goods valued below an $800 threshold to enter the U.S. duty free when imported directly to an individual on a single day.  

“This massive increase in de minimis shipment trade poses significant security risks and threats to public health and safety, while incentivizing customs fraud and creating a loophole to our entire tariff structure,” Glas said. “Our concerns regarding the de minimis loophole are exacerbated by the belief that the domestic textile industry and other U.S. manufacturing interests are directly and negatively impacted, particularly since e-commerce sites like Amazon and others are using de minimis as a duty-free portal into the U.S. for products under $800.”

Furthermore, CBP’s own annual report on intellectual property seizures, including large volumes of counterfeits, revealed that U.S. authorities made seizures totaling $1.4 billion in fiscal 2018. Over 90 percent of all intellectual property (IPR) seizures occur in the international mail and express shipment environments, according to the report, which is a common method of shipping by e-commerce sites.

Chinese products accounted for 46% of all IPR seizures with a total Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) value of $761.1 million in FY 2018. Apparel and accessories were the top counterfeit products seized by U.S. authorities, accounting for 18% of all seizures in FY 2018 with an MRSP value of $115.2 million.

“We think this is an important step forward by the administration to deepen the analysis on de minimis products--- that are often not thoroughly examined and undercut our domestic manufacturing industries,” Glas said. “We don’t know what the products are, where they are coming from, whether they meet U.S. safety requirements, who is making them or the country of origin. We believe it is long past time for the administration to address the issue of de minimis shipments and counterfeiting head on.”

Emphasis on Process, Third-party Validation and Outcome-based Testing

Angelica, one of the nation’s largest healthcare linen providers, now has 23 laundries that have earned the Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification. This is reflective of  their commitment to Best Management Practices (BMPs) in laundering as verified by on-site inspection and their capability to produce hygienically clean textiles as quantified by ongoing microbial testing. Angelica’s locations are throughout the United States, and the laundries now carrying the certification are located in Phoenix, AZ; Colton, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange, Pittsburg, Pomona, and Sacramento, CA; Holly Hill and Safety Harbor, FL; Rockmart, GA; Chicago, IL; Somerville and Worcester, MA; Durham, NC; Henderson, NV; Batavia, NY; Lorain, OH; Pawtucket, RI; Columbia, SC; Ooltewah, TN; and Dallas and Houston, TX.

The Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification confirms the organization’s continuing dedication to infection prevention, compliance with recognized industry standards and processing healthcare textiles using BMPs as described in its quality assurance documentation, a focal point for Hygienically Clean inspectors’ evaluation. The independent, third-party inspection must also confirm essential evidence that

• Employees are properly trained and protected
• Managers understand regulatory requirements
• OSHA-compliant
• Physical plant operates effectively

To achieve certification initially, laundries pass three rounds of outcome-based microbial testing, indicating that their processes are producing Hygienically Clean Healthcare textiles and diminished presence of yeast, mold and harmful bacteria. They also must pass a facility inspection. To maintain their certification, they must pass quarterly testing to ensure that as laundry conditions change, such as water quality, textile fabric composition and wash chemistry, laundered product quality is consistently maintained. Re-inspection occurs every two to three years.

This process eliminates subjectivity by focusing on outcomes and results that verify textiles cleaned in these facilities meet appropriate hygienically clean standards and BMPs for hospitals, surgery centers, medical offices, nursing homes and other medical facilities.
Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification acknowledges laundries’ effectiveness in protecting healthcare operations by verifying quality control procedures in linen, uniform and facility services operations related to the handling of textiles containing blood and other potentially infectious materials.

Certified laundries use processes, chemicals and BMPs acknowledged by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, American National Standards Institute and others. Introduced in 2012, Hygienically Clean Healthcare brought to North America the international cleanliness standards for healthcare linens and garments used worldwide by the Certification Association for Professional Textile Services and the European Committee for Standardization.

Objective experts in epidemiology, infection control, nursing and other healthcare professions work with Hygienically Clean launderers to ensure the certification continues to enforce the highest standards for producing clean healthcare textiles.

“Congratulations to Angelica on their certifications,” said Joseph Ricci, TRSA president and CEO. “This achievement proves their commitment to infection prevention and that their laundries take every step possible to prevent human illness.”

Peter D. Dornier, member of the Executive Board of the VDMA Textile Machinery Federation and Chairman of the Walter Reiners Foundation for the Promotion of Young Engineers, honours five young talents. Numerous entrepreneurs and managers from the German textile machinery industry took part in the award ceremony at the Digital Capability Center (DCC) in Aachen, Germany.

The prizewinner in the dissertation category, Dr.- Ing. Benjamin Weise, comes from the Institute of Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen University (ITA). He has dealt with a complex production process for the manufacture of modified multifilament yarns, which offers new perspectives for the development and manufacture of textile charge carriers.

M.Sc. Susanne Fischer, winner of the Master's thesis category, has systematically and comprehensively solved the challenging task of integrating motion sensors into a finger glove at Reutlingen University.
The 2018 creativity award winners are team Mr. Jan Merlin Abram and Mr. Alon Tal from ITA Aachen as well as Mr. Eric Otto from the Institute for Textile Machinery and High-Performance Textile Materials Technology (ITM) in Dresden. The students Abram and Tal have developed a guideline for the design of hybrid morphing textiles. In addition to the classic functions in conventional and, in particular, composite applications, locally defined, functionally effective joint, torsion, expansion and compression mechanisms can be integrated into the textile.

The prizewinner Otto is awarded for a concept study for the development of a circular knitting machine with a variable diameter needle cylinder, which can lead to further flexibility in the circular knitting process.

TRSA, the global association for the linen, uniform and facility services industry, has donated approximately $80,000 to Anayat House, Children of Restaurant Employees (CORE) and ConPRmetidos: organizations assisting those impacted by hurricanes in Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico.

The donations are the result of TRSA’s 105th Annual Conference, which had been scheduled for last September in Miami, but was cancelled due to Hurricane Irma. While offering to refund all registration and sponsorship fees, TRSA asked members to donate all or a portion of those fees to support local charities.

“We’re very proud of the TRSA community, which was able to create some positive outcomes in an overwhelmingly tragic circumstance,” said Joseph Ricci, CEO of TRSA.

"The contribution from TRSA will directly assist low income families and the elderly who seek overnight accommodations during a medical crisis,” said Tressa Clarke, Executive Director of Anayat House, which provides affordable overnight accommodations for family members of patients at local Beaumont, TX, hospitals and anyone traveling to Beaumont for medical care and outpatient treatment. “This contribution will help bridge the gap between the suggested donation of $20 and the actual cost of $90 per room.”

CORE, an organization that is part of the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, grants support to children of food and beverage service employees navigating life-altering circumstances. "CORE was incredibly grateful to receive the generous donation from TRSA," said Lauren LaViola, executive director of CORE.  “The donation to CORE will help to fulfill grants for qualifying children of food and beverage service employees navigating life-altering circumstances."

“I feel truly inspired by TRSA’s continued commitment to the support of our industry’s community of families. It is an honor and a privilege to be part of such great association,” said Pablo Lucchesi, Managing Partner of Crown Linen, in whose name TRSA made the CORE contribution.

An additional contribution was made to ConPRmetidos, an organization that specializes in matching Puerto Rico’s “diaspora” – people who settle away from their ancestral homeland – with companies there to help them grow.

“We don’t have words to say thanks for all your generosity,” said Michael Shulevitz, President of Cadillac Uniform & Linen Supply in Puerto Rico. “Thank you for helping Puerto Rico to rise up again.”

The $80,000 donation follows an immediate TRSA charitable effort that took place just after the conference, when several hundred homeless residents were given welcome boxes that had been packaged for conference attendees at the time of the cancellation.