From the Sector

Das polnische Einzelhandelsunternehmen LPP mit den Bekleidungsmarken Reserved, Cropp, House, Mohito und Sinsay hat in mehr als 450 Geschäften gemeinsam mit Checkpoint Systems RFID-Technologie implementiert, weitere 900 sind in Vorbereitung. Seitdem konnten der Umsatz um drei Prozent gesteigert, die Bestandsgenauigkeit sowie die Regalverfügbarkeit auf 99 Prozent erhöht und die Dauer des Kassiervorgangs um durchschnittlich 70 Prozent reduziert werden. Auch während der pandemiebedingten Ladenschließungen zeigten sich die Vorteile der RFID-Lösungen von Checkpoint Systems bei der Umstellung auf den reinen Online-Verkauf.

Checkpoint Systems entwickelte einen dualen RF- und RFID-Tag, der sich harmonisch in die Ästhetik und das Gesamtdesign der Läden von LPP einfügte, ohne dass dies zu Verzögerungen für den straffen Gesamtzeitplan sorgte. Mit diesem für LPP gestalteten dualen Tag wurden alle Kleidungsstücke bereits an der Quelle gekennzeichnet (in Zusammenarbeit mit den Lieferanten von LPP), während parallel zwei Distributionszentren in unter einem Jahr mit 30 RFID-Tunnels ausgestattet wurden, die diese Tags lesen und kodieren können.

Kassiervorgang beschleunigt
Obwohl die weltweite Implementierung noch läuft, ist bereits klar, dass die ursprünglichen Ziele des Projekts erreicht und übertroffen wurden. Bei den schon mit RFID-Technologie ausgestatteten Geschäften liegt die Regalverfügbarkeit bei 99 Prozent. Das ist eine Steigerung von circa 13 Prozent gegenüber dem Projektbeginn. Auch die Bestandsgenauigkeit liegt bei 99 Prozent. Die Dauer des Kassiervorgangs konnte im Durchschnitt um 70 Prozent reduziert werden. Bereits beim Entfernen der Sicherungsetiketten, die mit RFID-Tags ausgestattet sind, werden die Produktinfos und der Preis an die Kasse übertragen – so entfällt das separate Einscannen der Barcodes. Von dieser Zeitersparnis profitieren auch die Kund*innen im Geschäft. Darüber hinaus konnte LPP seit der Einführung der Technologie einen Umsatzanstieg von drei Prozent verzeichnen. Die Technologie von Checkpoint Systems ermöglicht es durch die Analyse von Topsellern auch, den Bestand genauer auf die Bedürfnisse der einzelnen Filialen hin zuzuschneiden. Wichtig war LPP zudem das Thema Nachhaltigkeit: Alle Hard-Tags von Checkpoint Systems sind innerhalb der Lieferkette wiederverwendbar.

Reibungslose Umstellung auf den Onlinehandel
Während der Implementierungsprozess in vollem Gang war, brachte die Covid-19-Pandemie den stationären Einzelhandel zum Stillstand. Für LPP erwies sich die Umstellung auf den reinen Onlinehandel dank der RFID-Technologie als unkompliziert. Durch die verbesserten Abläufe in den Distributionszentren sowie die Bestandsgenauigkeit von 99 Prozent verlief die Umstellung auf einen reinen Online-Verkauf vergleichweise reibungslos.
Der Einsatz von RFID-Lösungen von Checkpoint Systems wird bei LPP ausgebaut. In Planung sind etwa der Ausbau von Omnichannel-Strategien und intelligente Umkleidekabinen.

COBRA International is pleased to confirm its continued partnership with Fliteboard as the builders of the new Fliteboard Series 2.  

Conceived in 2016, the Fliteboard range of electric foiling surfboards has established a leading position in the eFoil market. In early 2021, Fliteboard announced a package of evolutionary improvements to the original award-winning design for which COBRA has installed significant additional manufacturing capacity.

With Fliteboard growing rapidly, and thousands of boards now delivered across more than 80 countries,  COBRA will continue to support Fliteboard with additional moulds and lean manufacturing production lines added to reduce customer lead times. In addition to this production capacity expansion, COBRA has successfully met the technical challenges set by the Fliteboard team to incorporate all the new Series 2 board features into the existing production processes.

Fliteboard’s first composite models used a carbon fibre and Innegra sandwich laminate over a moulded EPS foam core, combining maximum strength, stiffness, and durability with a low overall board weight. The same construction concept is used for the Series 2 boards, with several new finishes added to the range along with lighter colour matched EVA deck pads and upgraded latches on the carbon fibre board lid. New wood grain and metallic paint finishes have been introduced with COBRA’s semi-transparent paint system used to save weight and display the stunning hexagonal weave pattern of the carbon and Innegra reinforcement fabrics.

Some of the newly added substances are used in consumer products such as cosmetics, scented articles, rubber and textiles. Others are used as solvents, flame retardants or to manufacture plastics products. Most have been added to the Candidate List because they are hazardous to human health as they are toxic for reproduction, carcinogenic, respiratory sensitisers or endocrine disruptors.

Companies must follow their legal obligations and ensure the safe use of these chemicals. They also have to notify ECHA under the Waste Framework Directive if their products contain substances of very high concern. This notification is submitted to ECHA’s SCIP database and the information will later be published on the Agency’s website.

Background
The Candidate List includes substances of very high concern that may have serious effects on our health or the environment. These substances may be placed on the Authorisation List in the future, which means that companies would need to apply for permission to continue using them. The Candidate List has now 219 entries – some of these cover groups of chemicals so the overall number of impacted chemicals is higher.
 
Under the REACH Regulation, companies may have legal obligations when their substance is included – either on its own, in mixtures or in articles – in the Candidate List. Any supplier of articles containing a Candidate List substance above a concentration of 0.1 % weight by weight has to give sufficient information to their customers and consumers to allow safe use.
 
Importers and producers of articles containing a Candidate List substance have six months from the date of its inclusion in the list (8 July 2021) to notify ECHA. Suppliers of substances on the Candidate List (supplied either on their own or in mixtures) have to provide their customers with a safety data sheet.
 
As of 5 January 2021, suppliers of articles on the EU market containing Candidate List substances in a concentration above 0.1% weight by weight must notify these articles to ECHA’s SCIP database. This duty comes from the Waste Framework Directive.
 
More information on these obligations and related tools are available here.

ISKO and textile research and development company HKRITA are proud to announce a licensing agreement for HKRITA’s award-winning, revolutionary Green Machine – a one-of-a-kind technology that fully separates and recycles cotton and polyester blends at scale.

The technology is still in the pilot stage, but is an additional step in ISKO’s drive to improve and commercialize recycling technologies which will eventually enable the company to offer a 100% post-consumer recycling solution to all of its customers. In addition, ISKO and HKRITA will work together to develop related technology, further strengthening the company’s position in sustainability.

The Green Machine uses an innovative and ultra-efficient hydrothermal treatment method that decomposes cotton into cellulose powders and enables the separation of polyester fibres from blended fabrics. The process is a closed loop and uses only water, heat and less than 5% biodegradable green chemicals. Crucially, this method does not damage the polyester fibres and therefore maintains their quality; the cellulose powders, which are clean and toxic-free, can be used in a variety of ways.

The investment in this new technology is the latest in ISKO’s ongoing drive for advancements in sustainability. As part of the company’s R-TWO™ programme, it is also working to develop fabrics with a guaranteed minimum 50%+ GRS (Global Recycle Standard) recycled content blend. This will significantly reduce the carbon and water footprint of a fabric, as well as make it easy for consumers to trace a garment’s sustainable journey step-by-step from the beginning of the supply chain through to the end product they purchase.

Circular fashion and textile technology group Infinited Fiber Company has secured investments totaling 30 million euros in its latest financing round completed on June 30. The round also brought Infinited Fiber Company new investors, including sportswear company adidas, Invest FWD A/S, which is BESTSELLER’s investment arm for sustainable fashion, and investment company Security Trading Oy. Among the existing investors contributing to this round of financing were fashion retailer H&M Group, who was the lead investor, investment company Nidoco AB, and Sateri, the world’s largest viscose producer and a member of the RGE group of companies.

This securement of new funding follows Infinited Fiber Company’s April announcement of plans to build a flagship factory in Finland in response to the strong growth in demand from global fashion and textile brands for its regenerated textile fiber Infinna™. The factory, which will use household textile waste as raw material, is expected to be operational in 2024 and to have an annual production capacity of 30,000 metric tons. The new funding enables Infinited Fiber Company to carry out the work needed to prepare for the flagship factory investment and to increase production at its pilot facilities in the years leading to 2024.

“We are really happy to welcome our new investors and grateful for the continued support from our older investors,” said Infinited Fiber Company co-founder and CEO Petri Alava. “These new investments enable us to proceed at full speed with the pre-engineering, environmental permits, and the recruitment of the skilled professionals needed to take our flagship project forward. We can now also boost production at our pilot facilities so that we can better serve our existing customers and grow our customer-base in preparation for both our flagship factory and for the future licensees of our technology.”

H&M Group is one of Infinited Fiber Company’s earliest investors. They first invested in Infinited Fiber Company in 2019.

H&M Group has also signed a multiyear sales deal with Infinited Fiber Company to secure its access to agreed amounts of Infinna from the planned flagship factory.

New investor BESTSELLER has struck a similar sales deal with Infinited Fiber Company.

In addition to strong interest by global fashion leaders, the technology has significant promise for major textile fiber producers. Allen Zhang, President of Sateri, said: “Sateri is excited to continue to invest in and collaborate with Infinited Fiber Company as part of our long-term commitment towards closed-loop, circular and climate-positive cellulosic fibers. This financing round marks a major milestone for our collaboration in scaling up next-generation fiber solutions.”

Infinited Fiber Company’s flagship plant preparations are also proceeding on other fronts. Several Nordic and international investment banks have given Infinited Fiber Company proposals on the financing options for the investment.

Infinited Fiber Company’s technology turns cellulose-based raw materials, like cotton-rich textile waste, into Infinna, a unique, premium-quality regenerated textile fiber with the natural, soft look and feel of cotton. Infinna is biodegradable and contains no microplastics, and at the end of their life, garments made with it can be recycled in the same process together with other textile waste.

Dr.-Ing. Larissa Born, wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Institut für Textil- und Fasertechnologien (ITFT), wurde am 02. Juli 2021 im Rahmen der Abschlussfeier der Masterabsolvent:innen der Maschinenbau-Fakultäten an der Universität Stuttgart mit dem Manfred Hirschvogel Preis 2021 ausgezeichnet. Der mit 5.000 Euro dotierte Preis wird jährlich an allen TU9-Universitäten für die beste Dissertation aus dem Bereich Maschinenbau verliehen. Die prämierte Doktorarbeit trägt den Titel „Grundlagen für die Auslegung und Gestaltung eines Hybridmaterials für außen liegende, adaptive Fassadenbauteile aus Faserverbundkunststoff“. Dr.-Ing. Marc Hirschvogel, Kuratoriumsvorsitzender der Frank Hirschvogel Stiftung, lobte bei der Preisverleihung insbesondere den innovativen Ansatz und die wissenschaftliche Tiefe der Arbeit.

Mit ihrer Doktorarbeit stellt Larissa Born eine grundlegende Methodik zur Entwicklung adaptiver Faserverbundkunststoffe zur Verfügung und wandte diese beispielhaft auf ein Hybridmaterial aus glasfaserverstärktem Kunststoff, Elastomer und thermoplastischem Polyurethan an. Zwischen steifen Bauteilbereichen werden lokal nachgiebige Bereiche (Gelenke) durch Anpassung des Materialaufbaus integriert. Um die adaptiven Material-eigenschaften analysieren zu können, entwickelte sie darüber hinaus ein neues Prüf-verfahren, das die Biegung eines Prüfkörpers um bis zu 180° ermöglicht. Das neuartige Hybridmaterial lässt eine Dauerbelastung von 5.000 Biegezyklen um 180° mit lediglich marginalem Festigkeitsverlust zu. Ergebnis der durchgeführten Analysen ist eine Datenbasis inklusive Regressionsmodell auf deren Grundlage sich die mechanischen Eigenschaften eines Gelenk-Bauteils einstellen lassen.

Das Hybridmaterial hat bereits in verschiedenen Demonstratoren Anwendung gefunden, die mit dem AVK Innovation Award (Flectofold) und dem Materialica Gold Award (Flexafold) ausgezeichnet wurden. „Mit ihrer Arbeit ist es Larissa Born gelungen, eine völlig neue, materialtechnische Grundlage für die Entwicklung adaptiver Faserverbundkunststoffe zu schaffen.“, lobte Prof. Dr.-Ing. Götz T. Gresser, Doktorvater und Institutsleiter des ITFT, die Arbeit anlässlich der Preisverleihung. „Die Anwendung ist nicht beschränkt auf den architek-tonischen Kontext, sondern kann ebenso auf andere Bereiche wie beispielsweise Automobil und Luftfahrt übertragen werden. So können mechanische, wartungsintensive Gelenke durch verschleißarme, nachgiebige Mechanismen ersetzt werden.“

Nach der abgeschlossenen Promotion wird Larissa Born als stellvertretende Institutsleiterin des ITFT ihre Forschungsarbeiten am Institut fortsetzen. Gemeinsam mit Prof. Gresser gilt es, das bisherige Forschungsfeld zu vertiefen und neue Forschungsthemen im Bereich Faserverbund zu eröffnen.

Pulcra Chemicals, with headquarters in Geretsried (Germany) has announced its first acquisition in its history by acquiring fellow-industry player Devan.

Devan, with origins since 1977 and Belgian headquarters, is since 2013 owned by Pentahold (a Belgian private equity fund). Devan is known from its antimicrobial range BI-OME, its large sustainable track record with a.o. probiotics solutions, a wide range of recently introduced bio-based textile finishes and a long standing in Thermoregulation and Flame Retardants. Devan has offices in the UK, Portugal, the US and a team in Shanghai.

The acquisition price will not be disclosed.

Archroma announced that the soon-to-be 5’760 color references of its Color Atlas library are made available within its ‘Datacolor TOOLS’ platform, an easy-to-use color quality control application for industries where color accuracy is a critical component of overall product quality.

Datacolor® provides color management solutions that empower customers to make objective, cost-effective and smart color decisions, in applications such as textile & apparel, paint & coatings, plastics, photography, design and many others. The perfect integration of its instruments and software help formulate, measure, control and communicate color, and its state-of-the-art algorithms reproduce color on materials and displays.

The Color Atlas was launched in 2016 to provide fashion designers and stylists with off-the-shelf color inspiration that can be implemented in production with just a few clicks.

Today, the Color Atlas contains 4’320 colors applicable on cotton poplin, almost the double compared to similar tools available to textile and fashion specialists. Technical support is available to designer, manufacturers, as well as brands and retailers, through Archroma’s global offices - for every single color from its selection to its implementation in production. Engineered color standards empowered by NFC technology are also available for all colors and reproducible in production.
Archroma also just launched a similar tool with 1,440 colors on polyester. Both libraries will be available in the ‘Datacolor TOOLS’ platform for color searching.

Each color from the Color Atlas by Archroma® is available for purchase from Archroma as an ‘Engineered Color Standard’, precise digital data and access to global dyeing technical support.

With that, the brands, designers and mills using the ‘Datacolor TOOLS’ platform will have at their disposal the ability to search the 5’760 colors of the Color Atlas by Archroma®, to quickly find colors for their seasonal color palettes.

FibreCoat GmbH from Aachen, Germany, together with DBF Deutsche Basalt GmbH, developed a completely new type of fibre material to shield electromagnetic radiation from digital end devices, medical technology or e-car batteries cheaply and effectively. The joint project was awarded the overall prize of the“ IQ Innovationspreises Mitteldeutschland“ on 24 June in an online event broadcast live from Leipzig.

The prize is endowed with €15,000 and was sponsored by the Halle-Dessau, Leipzig and East Thuringia Chambers of Industry and Commerce.

Electromagnetic radiation from smartphones, hospital diagnostics and electric car batteries must be shielded so that they do not inter-fere with each other. To prevent mutual interference, they have so far been covered with metal fibre fabrics, a very time- and energy-consuming and thus expensive procedure. The new material from Basalt Faser GmbH and FibreCoat GmbH prevents this with a fibre core made of melted, thinly drawn basalt, which is coated with aluminium and bundled into the so-called AluCoat yarn. This yarn remains just as conductive and shielding, but is lighter, stronger, cheaper and more sustainable than previous alternatives. In addition, there are further advantages:

• The number of process steps required is reduced from ten to one.
• 1,500 metres of yarn are produced per minute instead of the previous five metres.
• The energy required is only 10 per cent of the previous amount.

The result is a price that is twenty times lower.

The textile made of AluCoat fibres is versatile and flexible: as wallpaper it can shield 5G radiation in offices or medical rooms or encase batteries and thus ensure the smooth functioning of electric cars. AluCoat is already being used in some companies. A European fibre centre in Sangerhausen is being planned for mass production.

The two innovative companies DBF Deutsche Basalt GmbH and FibreCoat GmbH from East and West combine the two materials basalt and aluminium to protect against electromagnetic radiation. In doing so, they coat basalt with aluminium and, through this novel combination, create an inexpensive, sustainable and quickly produced alter-native for a market worth billions.

FibreCoat GmbH from Aachen is a spin-off of the Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) of RWTH Aachen University; the managing directors Dr Robert Brüll and Alexander Lüking and Richard Haas have completed their doctorates at the ITA or are in the process of preparing their doctorates. Georgi Gogoladze, Managing Director of Deutsche Basaltfaser GmbH, also studied at RWTH Aachen University. The two managing directors Brüll and Gogoladze know each other from their student days.

A research report released today has revealed the innovative new ways retailers are using RFID technology in-store to improve profitability. Authored by Emeritus Professor Adrian Beck from the University of Leicester and the ECR Retail Loss Group and supported by Checkpoint Systems, Utilising RFID in Retailing: Insights on Innovationhighlights how companies are employing the technology for a broader range of purposes. It demonstrates the value the technology is bringing to their businesses and ultimately, the impact it is delivering to their bottom line. Crucially, it also shows thatmore retailers than ever are recognizing the benefits of RFID and driving uptake within their organisations. The report claims that as businesses are becoming more established in their use of RFID-generated data, they are gradually incorporating more usecases into their business-as-usual practices.

The report claims that as businesses are becoming more established in their use of RFID-generated data, they are gradually incorporating more usecases into their business-as-usual practices.

In particular, more and more retailers reported using RFID to streamline the audit process (as an alternative to infrequent organisational stock takes), which not only delivers considerable cost savings, but also provides more regular insights into the status of inventories. It also found that using RFID was having a significant impact on store processes. While RFID has always been key to inventory accuracy, some companies are now using this data to further improve business activities such as reducing phantom out of stocks, improving rapid stock search and find tasks and developing an efficient ship from store (SFS) capability.

Beyond the more traditional retail model, RFID was seen as a key facilitator in delivering omnichannel retailing by all those questioned. Without the inventory accuracy offered by RFID, few retailers believed they could reliably use their stores as fulfilment centres to output online orders. Indeed, one retailer admitted to only making RFID-enabled store stock available for this purpose. The use of RFID to improve online order accuracy is also becoming more commonplace, to reduce errors in the picking and packing process, therefore improving customer satisfaction. One retailer reported a 90% reduction in incorrect orders and customer complaints since introducing RFID into the process.

Looking to the future, one area where the benefits of RFID are starting to be tested is self-checkouts (SCO). While currently limited due to the need to have a 100% SKU tagging strategy in place, retailers are starting to recognize the benefits the technology could offer including increased speed of checkout, reduced likelihood of double scanning and thereby improved customer service. Another area where retailers also reported reaping the benefits of RFID was loss prevention. While none of those interviewed argued that reducing loss was the primary reason for investing in RFID, many acknowledged they were benefiting from it by using the technology to tackle refund frauds, enable dynamic loss product profiling, manage e-frauds and identify stolen products.