From the Sector

Lectra has leveraged more than 10 years of experience in connected manufacturing to offer Versalis®, an innovative digital solution designed to cut leather without compromise on quality. Featuring a powerful automatic nesting system for overall improvements in efficiency, the fully automated solution enables automotive leather suppliers to cut costs, improve productivity and minimize waste while also establishing a pathway to value-added Industry 4.0 processes.

Currently, almost 90% of leather used for automotive applications is cut using manual die presses, which require designers to build a physical prototype and finalize the design through trial and error. Lectra offers a fully digitalized leather solution from prototyping to cut parts—when used in combination with Lectra’s 3D prototyping and pattern-making software, Versalis digital leather cutting solution enables a 12-16 week reduction in development and launch cycles for vehicle seating models.
During the leather-cutting phase, the latest release of Versalis LeatherSuite allows automotive leather suppliers to achieve up to 15% greater productivity. Lectra’s end-to-end automotive leather offering furthermore guarantees optimal uptime through an extensive worldwide support network of field engineers and technical experts.
"Lectra focuses on a consultative approach that allows it to fully understand the customer’s needs before building a solution comprising software, hardware, consulting, training, and after-sales support,” said Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Kamalesh Mohanarangam. "Lectra’s equipment is fitted with more than 200 sensors that predict failure and immediately report issues to its call centres. This product feature and service has resulted in 98% uptime and very fast mean time to repair."

Although digital leather cutting solutions are an investment, leather cutters and Tier-1 suppliers have begun to recognize the value of these products. On average, Lectra’s solutions help customers achieve up to 7% savings on leather compared to manual die-press methods by minimizing human error and variability in the cutting room. A benchmark test of leather trim cutting for door panels demonstrated a 3.5% gain in material made possible by Versalis’ superior nesting capabilities compared to the customer’s yield using manual nesting with die press machines, representing potential savings of €9 million per year.
Versalis is the fruit of significant R&D investment for the company, which has always made re-investment of capital a priority. As part of a transformational plan, Lectra spent more than €50 million in investments between 2011 and 2015. With Lectra’s new strategy focusing on supporting their customers’ transition to Industry 4.0 standards, Lectra will increase the share of revenues dedicated to R&D to 10% for the period from 2017 to 2019, representing a rise of about 50% between 2016 and 2019.

Fashion forecaster MintModa and Archroma, a global leader in color and specialty chemicals, announce a new strategic partnership leveraging the respective strengths of both companies in color creativity. Combining Archroma’s scientific color expertise with MintModa’s clear, narrative-driven color forecasts provides fashion and design-related industries with an actionable and trend-right color resource.
Launched last year, Color Atlas by Archroma offers 4320 new shades, extending their custom color business with a readily available, time-efficient color management system. MintModa’s ColoRevolution offers highly-curated color analysis and direction on its cloud-based subscription trend service. Because color plays a starring role in the visual language of social media, carefully chosen palettes are essential for capturing a new generation of connected consumers.

“People today are constantly exposed to a barrage of vibrant media on multiple devices. The customer is now visually sophisticated, a voracious consumer of ever-changing images depicting highly-styled products, places and people,” states MintModa founder and creative director Sharon Graubard. “The emotional draw of color, hardwired into humans, becomes an ever-more powerful marketing tool.”
“The Color Atlas by Archroma represents a true labor of love,” said Chris Hipps, Global Director, Archroma Color Management. “The idea is to offer our customers options they never dreamed of. We resonate with MintModa’s progressive, focused approach. In fact, we met because they were searching for a specific shade of blue and couldn’t find it elsewhere. This level of color curation dovetails with our passionate drive and relentless commitment towards excellence.”

Over three years, this new Chair aims to help the fashion industry’s eco-system—from textile design to clothing sales—transform challenges coming from new ways of living and consuming into economic opportunities.
“How to find and develop sustainable materials which will open up new markets for companies in the sector? Which technologies to invent to make the most of these new materials? How to organize the factory of the future to meet new consumer expectations, such as customization? It’s an entire economy that we aim to develop around emerging industries,” explains Jean-Pierre Mocho, the founder of JPS Conseil and former President of the French federation for women’s ready-to-wear. “There are many opportunities to seize, on condition that all the players, both old and new, work together.”
To help textile and apparel companies to innovate, the Chair will combine knowledge sharing with open innovation. In particular, a technical training facility will adapt and pass on material-related savoir-faire. “This Chair will help us to better understand the changes that are necessary in the sector, to anticipate innovations and to circulate knowledge worldwide,” underlines Patxi Elissalde, director, ESTIA. “Based in Biarritz and founded with a long-term vision, this Chair will dive into user behaviors, materials and components, manufacturing technologies and services, the digitalization of processes, and the distribution of products, from clothes to accessories.”

This approach will also foster interactions between different professions in order to stimulate creativity. Inspired by overarching principles in the collaborative and circular economy, the Chair also aims to capitalize on advances in research, from frugal or disruptive innovation.

The 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
The Memphis laundry was first certified in 2014. AmeriPride has other U.S. Hygienically Clean Healthcare certified facilities in Little Rock, Ark.; Phoenix; Watkinsville, Ga.; Topeka, Kan.; Bemidji, Minneapolis and Twin Falls, Minn.; Springfield, Mo.; Omaha, Neb.; and Lubbock, Texas. The company’s Canadian Linen and Uniform Service facility in Lethbridge, Alberta, is also Hygienically Clean Healthcare certified.
Certified facilities pass three rounds of outcome-based microbial testing, indicating that their processes are producing Hygienically Clean Healthcare textiles and zero presence of yeast, mold and harmful bacteria. To maintain their certification, laundry plants 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.
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.

The H160 was designed by Airbus Helicopters to create added value for customers in terms of performance, economic competitiveness, safety and comfort. The use of Hexcel’s composite materials throughout the structure (fuselage, tail boom, tail rotor and main rotor blades) contributes to the lightweight fuel-saving design and performance optimization.
“Hexcel’s composite materials have been used in Airbus Helicopters’ programs for many years and we are honored to be continuing our long term relationship, based on innovation and continuous improvement” commented Thierry Merlot, Hexcel President Aerospace EMEA-AP. “We thank Airbus Helicopters for their selection and look forward to our ongoing supply of high performance, weight saving composites materials for this innovative rotorcraft”.
H160 configurations in development include offshore transportation, business and private aviation, emergency medical services, public services, and commercial passenger transport. The helicopter is planned to enter into service in 2019.

In partnership with IPSOS, GINETEX presents the outcomes of its European barometer: "Europeans and textile care labeling" 70% of Europeans follow the textile care instructions featured on the labels and 80% admit that they would not (or would rarely) buy clothes without any labels, While another 84% feel concerned by water and energy savings . GINETEX, the international Association for Textile Care Labeling, called upon the French market research company IPSOS, to evaluate the behavior of European Consumers with regards to textile product labels and care symbols. This study, carried out in December 2016, combines the results of six different countries, gathered from a sample of 6,000 people in Germany, England, France, Italy, the Czech Republic and Sweden.
This IPSOS study reveals that 70% of Europeans follow the textile care instructions represented by the symbols. At a pan-European level, 57% even admit that they follow them 'often' and 13% do so 'always'. These figures illustrate the importance of care instructions in the minds of European consumers.
- 38% state that they follow these instructions in order to avoid washing problems such as shrinking, in the first place
- 31% follow them in order to preserve their clothes and keep them longer, as a second reason Overall, Europeans consider labels as too cumbersome and 62% admit cutting them out: for 74% of them, the labels itch and irritate their skin and for another 55%, they are often too long and uncomfortable. These results can differ from one European country to another.
However, the presence of the label is a real purchasing criterion since 80% of Europeans state that they would never or rarely buy a piece of clothing without a label.

The session will explore what the digital revolution means for business, and how innovations in manufacturing are the new reality that help create sustainable products that last and can be scaled to suit each actor through smart customization.
IMPRIMA S.p.a. is the global holding company dedicated to research, development and innovation in the textile printing and finishing arena. It is the first Fully Digital Industrial Platform, that today can offer a fully digitalized process in every step of its manufacture. Thanks to the acquisition of 100% of the German finishing and textile printing company KBC and 100% the Italian company GUARISCO by WISE SGR, Imprima is enriched by an international outlook that makes it extremely competitive in the market, which will be reinforced in the coming months with additional acquisitions in Italy and abroad, taking care to maintain best practices in terms of quality and service and the business identity of each company. In this way, Imprima represents a preferred partner for the fashion retailers.
IMPRIMA boasts a Total Water Management guarantee through its own chemical/physical process of water depuration technologies able to reduce the consumption of water up to 90%, avoiding effluents, by circulating it in a virtuous recycling process, for example now needing only 1 liter of water compared to traditionally 12 liters needed in the past.

A new era of travel will soon be here when Finavia opens the new magnificent south wing of Helsinki Airport during summer 2017. Before the opening, Finavia will invite 200 volunteers to the airport to test that the south wing operations work as they should. Finavia has an ongoing development programme at Helsinki Airport, worth of almost one billion euros, which will expand the airport and increase its capacity. With the development programme, Finavia is prepared to serve 20 million passengers at Helsinki Airport per year in 2020.
The first part of the new extension, the south wing, is now ready for testing and waits for the final touch before being opened for passengers. Finavia will arrange a unique deployment test in a role play spirit at Helsinki Airport on Thursday 6 July 2017. The purpose of the deployment test, which is the largest in the history of the airport, is to ensure before deployment that the terminal operations and processes at the south wing work as they should. - The test day is arranged in order to ensure a smooth, pleasant travel experience, which is the cornerstone of all of our services. Test passengers will have a unique day at the airport and the possibility to look behind the scenes, says Helsinki Airport Director Ville Haapasaari from Finavia.
During the test day, the visibility of signs, passenger pleasantness and the technological solutions of the airport, among others, will be under scrutiny.

TRSA has upgraded its inspection management protocol for Clean Green and Hygienically Clean certifications, appointing an inspection program administrator and auditor to train and administer the inspection process and inspector training.
This enhances TRSA’s well-established reputation for expertise, consistency and impartiality for all applicant laundry companies and plants when inspectors verify their adherence to best management practices (BMPs). It also adds a highly expert third party to oversee the inspection program. It aligns with ISO quality management system (QMS) standards for assessing laundry applicants’ quality assurance practices and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans.

Laundry Design Group, LLC, Las Vegas, Nevada was selected as inspection program administrator after considering several firms, acknowledged for excellence in evaluating businesses’ QA guideline compliance. Bob Corfield, the firm’s CEO, has over 30 years’ industry experience, five performing inspections for Clean Green and Hygienically Clean. Corfield is a certified ISO QMS Lead Auditor with a HACCP designation.
As chief inspector and program administrator, Corfield identifies, administers and trains the independent inspector team. Each inspector enters a comprehensive training program including certification standards review, evidence collection procedures, interview protocol, ATP (work surface) testing, technology use, HACCP compliance and sample collection procedures. Training also focuses on educating inspectors regarding acceptable approaches launderers can take to implement BMPs. Each inspector must agree to a code of ethics including confidentiality and conflict of interest statements.
The inspection program is deployed on an iPad application that all inspectors must use for note-taking, evidence collection, and inspection scoring. This creates consistency from inspection to inspection and inspector to inspector. Inspectors’ reports are disseminated within hours of each inspection for lead audit review and discussion if required.

In May 2017, Jochen Adler, Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer at Oerlikon Textile GmbH & Co. KG, presented a Oerlikon Barmag take-up winder as a partial gift to Prof. Dr Thomas Gries, head of the Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) at RWTH Aachen University. The new Type ASW602 winder, which is equipped with modern control software and user interface, replaces the former institute’s Barmag take-up winder.

Due to this modernisation, ITA has access to a latest generation take-up winder which is used for various research projects. The new winder is applied at ITA’s two pilot melt spinning plants and ensures the transfer of new research and development insights into the pilot scale. Furthermore, this winder has two winding positions and operates with winding speeds between 2500 m/min and 5500 m/min. The new winder is suitable for all kinds of polymers, from polypropylene to polyethylene, polyester, polyamide etc. as well as for the production of several types of yarn, such as industrial yarn, pre-oriented yarn and fully-drawn yarn.
“We thank Oerlikon Barmag for the generous partial gifting and the support during the set-up of the new take-up winder”, says Prof. Dr Thomas Gries. “The new equipment will keep the institute’s machine park on a high and powerful level.” The head of ITA’s chemical fibre department Dr Thorsten Anders adds: “This winder is designed for the needs of chemical yarn research. It allows state of the art technology research and development and pilot-scale production. We will use it for the melt spinning plants in the single- and bi-component spinning process. This way, we can access a wide variety of producible yarn types.“