SEAMS members highlight a wide array of products, services at Techtextil North America
RALEIGH, NC – Sixteen of SEAMS’ members exhibited at last week’s Techtextil North America here and offered reports of the products and services they highlighted at the annual trade show.
Apex Mills
Based in Inwood, NY, with manufacturing operations in Graham, NC, and Woodwine, VA., Apex Mills showcased its NEW OutStretch™ apparel knitted fabrics, which feature long-lasting, spandex-free durability, stretch and comfort for sportswear, activewear, athleisure and military uniforms. The new line of fabrics is a sustainable alternative to fabrics made with elastomer yarns that cannot be recycled.
Apex Mills designs and manufactures USA-made fabric solutions, including warp and circular knits, mesh/netting, elastics, and 3D spacers, combining world-class automated dyeing, inspection, finishes, and treatments. Apex Mills’ technical fabrics are Berry Amendment compliant and ISO 9001:2015, OEKO TEX Standard 100 certified.
Canwil Textiles
Based in Auburn, GA., Canwil Textiles showcased its latest innovations, including its golf impact screen fabric, and a variety of high-temperature fabrics such as aramid woven, aramid poly blend nonwovens and silicone-coated fiberglass. In addition to these specialized products, the company highlighted its extensive stock of synthetic and cotton fabrics. According to CEO Nik Narwani, Canwil was excited to present its comprehensive converting services, which include digital cutting, slitting and sewing, offering tailored solutions to meet diverse customer needs. Additionally, the company is expanding its product line to include a broader range of hook and loop products, zippers and buckles.
Henderson Machinery Inc.
Henderson Machinery Inc. of Greensboro, NC, changed its booth presentation for Techtextil to focus on more innovative materials and quality control sensors, according to Sean Burke, Director of Business Development. A new offering from the company is Coat Yarn TPU evolution yarn out of Italy, which is a TPU coating extruded over a yarn core. This yarn can be knit, woven and sewn without any heavy modifications or adjustments of equipment. Once the yarn comes in contact with heat and pressure, it will produce a grippy property or a completely laminated finish. Henderson Machinery will have ample samples and swatches to showcase these applications, from accessories all the way up to workwear.
A longstanding staple for all trade shows is Henderson Machinery principal Agteks, which produces the small yarn twister. They have a line of smart sensors now available to the U.S. market. These sensors include the Digital Drop Wire, Shade Bar, Quality Bar and High-Speed Quality Eye. There were demonstration units on display showcasing the defect detection features. All of these sensors have the ability to record and collect data of defects during a specific lot, shift and operator. The sensors can also be wired into existing equipment to stop machines if a defect is detected. They are currently being used on fabric inspection machines, warp beaming, warp knitting, weaving, yarn extrusion, and yarn processing lines.
Henderson Sewing Machine Co.
Henderson Sewing Machine, based in Andalusia, AL, will display a Colosio Shoe Upper Knitting Machine that starts with yarn, feeds through a sophisticated, data-driven digital software design package into a high-quality shoe upper knitting system and produces a complete shoe upper. This is an automated, specialized, Italian-manufactured knitting machine, driven by digital design software to enable speed to market, innovation and creativity for today’s consumer, said President Frank Henderson.
The Colosio Shoe Upper Knitting System highlighted the Twine Digital Thread and Yarn dyeing system that dyes on demand the color needed, quantity needed, no minimums and no waste. This technology is waterless, no pre- or post-treatment is required, is sustainable and occupies 6 feet X 3 feet X 4 feet high and is completely self-contained. So, no more waiting weeks for colors, discarding thousands of dollars of thread or yarn and costing money for waiting on specials.
Hohenstein
Hohenstein brought expert partners in textile safety, sustainability and performance – combining rigorous science with real-world relevance, said Marketing Manager Casey Strauch. Hohenstein can help with compliance, OEKO-TEX®, PFAS and microfibers, as well as development topics such as comfort, odor and fit.
Jason Mills LLC
Besides its usual line of materials for the indoor golf sim, occupational safety, pool filtration, aeronautical, automotive, marine and general industrial markets, Jason Mills, based in Milltown, NJ, debuted two new materials, said President Michael Lavroff. First, just out of development is sStyle 280 – Napped (a temporary name), which is a softer version of its premier lift patient material, style 280 LP. Designed for long-term patient lift systems, the napped surface will minimize the possibility of bed sores. Target market will be the expansion of our medical line as well as inroads into home furnishings.
Secondly, developed for the indoor golf sim market, style 1920 – SD (solution dye) – Black made its debut at the PGA Show merchandise show earlier this year in Orlando. This is a room darkening, rear projection, side impact net. The solution dyed yarn guarantees that there will no dye transmission on to any errantly stroked golf balls.
Kuraray America
Kuraray showed its Vectran™ fiber, which is a liquid crystal polymer technology that is pound for pound five times stronger than steel and 10 times stronger than aluminum, said Matt Reid, Industrial Market Manager, Vectran Fiber Division. In textiles, Vectran™ fiber allows lightweight designs with excellent abrasion resistance, outstanding cut resistance, chemical resistance (i.e. bleach) and excellent flex fold characteristics, among many other performance properties. Kuraray also showed Kuralon K II fiber, which is a PVOH fiber that has in insoluble type and a type that dissolves in water. This fiber technology can also be used in reinforcement of cement, plastics, and for processing spun yarns and non-wovens.
MMI Textiles
MMI Textiles, headquartered in Brooklyn, OH, is a converter, manufacturer and distributor, and to that end the company brought a wide range of products to the show, representing all three components of our business.
On the converting side, MMI Textiles showed its SAMLAM offerings, which combine any of its SAM stretch woven fabrics with one of a wide range of backing fabrics using a tailored lamination process which yield great packages with controlled CFM, water repellency and other customized properties. This category is perfect for end uses such as softshell jackets, gloves, blankets, etc., and fabrics are available in solids and printed options, including MultiCam®.
New technologies, yarns, fiber and finishes are always at various stages of development at MMI. As a part of that effort, the company is in the process of introducing its first SAM fabric treated with EmpelTM PFAS-free water repellent finish applied by The Haartz Corporation. MMI is happy to offer this extremely durable, environmentally friendly, high-performance DWR on its SAM1 fabric now, and plan to carry it through all SAM fabrics, including the SAMLAM category, according to Mary Reardon, Vice President of Textile Innovation.
MMI’s manufacturing facility was represented by showing its entire range of solid color and CTEdge® printed Mil-spec webbing, made in its Lenoir, NC, factory.
Distribution continues to grow, as MMI has added Trelleborg’s AMF laminated tactical fabric to its offerings. MMI now distributes Trelleborg’s HANK in solid and also in narrow MultiCam® printed versions, Milliken’s Tegris material, and MMI is also an authorized distributor of Velcro and ITW /Nexus hardware.
Mount Vernon Mills
Mount Vernon Mills, Mauldin, SC, showcased its broad fabric capabilities. These include stretch, FR and cotton denim; piece-dyed cotton, poly/cotton and cotton/nylon; FR treatment; and stretch throughout. According to John Sedivy, Vice President of Corporate Purchasing, Mount Vernon was excited to offer its inherent FR fabrics and its non-PFAS soil-release and durable-press finishes. Attendees were keen to learn about its new FlamePro Splash™ fabric for the protective apparel market, he said.
Manufacturing Solutions Center
The Manufacturing Solutions Center (MSC) is a testing, prototyping, R&D facility whose main mission is to help domestic manufacturers improve quality, increase sales and create or retain jobs in the U.S. At Techtextil North America, the MSC showed attendees how it accomplishes this through testing, sourcing and prototyping services offered in its labs at two facilities in Conover, NC. The Center also connects brands, manufacturers and entrepreneurs with domestic sources to produce their products in the U.S., said Tanya Wade, PPE/Textile Resource Lab Manager.
NC State Wilson College of Textiles
Over the entirety of the event, Techtextil North America honored the remarkable 125 years of textiles at NC State University’s Wilson College of Textiles. This notable milestone was commemorated through an exceptional exhibition, the History of Textiles Museum.
This special showcase on the show floor provided a captivating journey through the evolution of textiles, featuring a diverse array of artifacts that spanned from early machinery to the latest advancements in technologies and automation. Exhibitors and visitors were given a comprehensive look at how the textile industry has transformed over more than a century, highlighting both its historical foundations and its future innovations.
The Wilson College also hosted an Alumni & Friends reception in its booth on the second day of the show, where it welcomed dozens of guests to help celebrate the milestone.
Textile Technology Center at Gaston College
The Textile Technology Center at Gaston College, Belmont, NC, showcased a number of new services at Techtextil North America, including online textile training and expanded carding and yarn spinning capabilities. A new online textile training program will be launched in September that caters to both beginners and professionals looking to expand their knowledge and skills in the textile industry. This program offers a comprehensive curriculum covering various aspects of textiles, from the basics of fiber types and fabric construction in knit and woven fabrics, dyeing and finishing processes. The training is designed to be highly flexible, allowing participants to learn at their own pace with access to a wealth of resources, including video tutorials, interactive modules and downloadable materials.
According to Director Jasmine Wade-Cox, the TTC is excited to announce the arrival of its new carding equipment designed specifically for development work in its new Fiber Innovation Center. This advanced machinery enhances its capabilities in fiber processing, enabling the Center to produce high-quality carded fibers with greater precision and efficiency. The new equipment will play a crucial role in our ongoing research and development efforts, allowing it to explore innovative textile applications and improve our production processes.
Zund
The Zünd exhibit was all about digital cutting versatility and workflow automation. From printed apparel to upholstery applications, stretch fabric to ballistic and other advanced textile materials, Zünd offers both specialized tooling and automation that helps make any cutting room more efficient and profitable.
The latest Mind software features available with Zünd systems include feature recognition and pattern matching, which significantly speed up job preparation and processing efficiency, all while meeting the most stringent repeatability and quality requirements.