From the Sector

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, announced that wipes leaders across the supply chain convened for new connections, intelligence, sustainability strategies, and business at the World of Wipes® (WOW) International Conference, June 17-20 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The winner of the World of Wipes Innovation Award® was Rockline Industries for their Facial Care Wipe with Glycine Amino Acid Complex. This new Skin Care Wipe contains a unique multifunctional complex of two medium chain glycine, a phospholipid and a blend of special glycol ingredients that provides for a multitude of skin care benefits as well as providing a unique preservation system for nonwovens. The Skin Care Wipe provides substantiated improved skin smoothness, elasticity, and hydration alongside an anti-ageing claim. This innovation is amongst the first to use these glycine ingredients in a Skin Care Wipe formulation.

In a special recognition, INDA presented the 2024 Lifetime Service Award to David Powling, Technical Leader, Kimberly-Clark Corporation (retired), and the 2024 Lifetime Technical Achievement Award to Paul Latten, Director of Research & Development & New Business, Southeast Nonwovens, Inc. INDA honors both Powling and Latten for their decades of contributions to the nonwovens industry as well as being strong advocates for INDA.

The 1.5-day WIPES Academy, led by Heidi Beatty, Chief Executive Officer, Crown Abbey, LLC, and Paul Davies, Ph.D., Consultant, Crown Abbey, LLC, preceded the WOW Conference June 17-18. This course focused on the essentials of wet wipes construction and ingredients. Participants learned how to bring nonwovens, lotions, and packaging together to launch a successful product. The next WIPES Academy will be held July 21-22, 2025 at the Hilton Columbus Downtown, Columbus, Ohio in conjunction with WOW 2025.

The WOW conference program featured experts discussing these key topics:

• Sparkle & Shine: How Wipes Became WOW
• Wiping Smart: The Rise of Sustainable Practices in the Institutional and Industrial Wipe Markets
• Transformative Trends in Wet Wipe Formulations: A Dual Focus on Skin Health and Sustainability
• Leading Alternatives to Traditional Plastics Used in Wipes
• Panel Discussion: Leading Alternatives to Traditional Plastics Used in Wipes
• Eclectic Perspectives: Unraveling the Threads of I&I Wipes and Scaling Strategies
• Putting $$ in Your Pocket
• Recycling & Regulations

In addition to the premium content in the conference program, WOW featured four pre-conference webinars (with recordings available for full conference attendees), tabletop exhibits, Lightning Talks, a Skin Care Formulation Workshop 101, and a mentorship program for participants who are new to the wipes industry.

WOW 2025 will be held July 21-25, at the Hilton Columbus Downtown in Columbus, Ohio.

• Free trade deal boosts export potential

The time is right for Swiss textile machinery companies to grow their export business with Indonesia – one of the world’s top 10 textile producers. A free trade agreement between the two countries came into force in 2021, and market analyses show that there is scope for a significant increase in business in textile and textile machinery sectors.

This was the background to a successful symposium in the Indonesian capital Jakarta last month when Swiss Textile Machinery Association members presented their products and innovations to an invited audience of 200 delegates from Indonesian textile companies.

The symposium audience was welcomed by Philippe Strub, of the Swiss Embassy in Indonesia; Ignatius Warsito, from the Indonesia Ministry of Industry’s Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Textile Industry branch; Anne Patricia Sutanto, of the Indonesian Textile Association (API); and Ernesto Maurer, President of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association.

Swiss companies taking part were: Stäubli, Zeta Datatec, Loepfe, Saurer, Benninger, Rieter, Bräcker, Jakob Müller, Maag, Uster and SERV.

The presentations were followed by panel discussions with speakers, and there were also networking opportunities at the companies’ exhibition tables.

Also taking part in a panel at the event was Testex, the independent Swiss organisation which provides testing, certification, OEKO-TEX® and other labels for the textile industry. Discussion focused on the relevance of innovation in textile technology to sustainability and ‘saving the planet.’  

Recent years have seen an acceleration in trade relations between Switzerland and Indonesia, which in 2008 was classed as one of eight priority countries for economic development cooperation by SECO, the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs, with a joint economic and trade commission established the following year.
Collaboration was heightened further in 2018 with a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) for Indonesia with Switzerland and the other EFTA countries. This more extensive form of free trade agreement was accepted after a popular referendum, and ultimately came into force in November 2021.

Trading between the two countries is supported by SERV, the Swiss export risk insurance organisation. This insures export goods against political and commercial risks and facilitates credit.

Cornelia Buchwalder, Secretary General of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association, said the Indonesia Symposium was ideally-timed, right after the CEPA came into effect: “With the free trade agreement in place, there is even greater potential for the development of trade between our countries,” she said.

“Business in textile and textile machinery is actually below the relative market shares for the sectors, so this stronger cooperation is probably overdue. It was a successful symposium, with enthusiastic participation from Indonesian textile companies, so we are optimistic about future export prospects for Swiss textile machinery.”