Archives

Industrial Fabrics Foundation (IFF) Announces the 2020 IFF Innovation Award Winners

November 9th, 2020

The Industrial Fabrics Foundation (IFF) recently announced the winners of the 2020 IFF Innovation Award. The IFF Innovation Award encourages companies around the globe to weave tomorrow’s ideas into the fabrics of today. The first-place winner was awarded to Propel LLC for their project “Propel LLC Smart Integrated Shirt”.  Propel’s U.S. Navy funded smart shirt […]

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How to sell and market during a pandemic

November 9th, 2020

By Madeleine MacRae Determining the best way to sell and, even more so, how to effectively and appropriately market your products and services at a time of such widespread uncertainty and deep market disruption can be a daunting task. As a leader during this unprecedented time, you have a lot on your plate. You have […]

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How to make your business attractive to a buyer

November 6th, 2020

Thinking about selling your business—either to an outside party or the next generation? Then it’s time to start considering how your equipment and processes fit into your succession plan. Jonathan Palmer, the second-generation owner and CEO of equipment supplier Autometrix, and Autometrix director of global sales Truy Pham, led an educational session at IFAI Virtual […]

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Research and development partnerships work one-on-one

November 6th, 2020

The process of working with a research and development center was discussed in Dr. Thomas Stegmaier’s presentation, “Testing and Standards Integral to Timely Product Development.” Dr. Stegmaier is with DITF [Deutsche Institute Fur Textil Und Faserforschung Denkendorf], a large, textile research center located in Germany. It partners individually with industry participants to develop new technologies […]

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GMA and IECA announce move to virtual for joint conference in 2021

November 6th, 2020

The Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA), a division of Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) and the International Erosion Control Association (IECA) Region One will move the Geosynthetics Conference and IECA Annual Conference online. The conferences were originally scheduled to be colocated in Kansas City, Mo., Feb. 21–24, 2021. “As much as we were looking forward to being in […]

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Responsive textiles with infrared technology

November 5th, 2020

In a presentation titled, “Amplifying Human Energy to Drive Performance and Recovery,” Hologenix LLC co-founder and CEO Seth Casden described the company’s Celliant® technology and explained how responsive textiles using infrared energy can increase tissue oxygen levels, which can improve athletic performance and recovery, sleep quality and general health and wellness.  All sentient beings emit […]

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A primer on Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)

November 5th, 2020

An Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) offers lots of attractive benefits: studies have shown that ESOPs improve productivity, increase sales and improve return on assets, plus they offer great tax advantages. But more than any of these attributes, an ESOP offers the owner of a company peace of mind and an enduring legacy. “Many times, […]

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Understanding intelligent textiles

November 4th, 2020

The Advanced Textiles Conference of IFAI’s Virtual Expo 2020 continued Nov. 4 with a detailed presentation by Justine Decaens on “Smart Textiles: From Lab Prototypes to Commercial Products.” Decaens is R&D director with CTT Group, a testing laboratory and R&D facility specialized in technical textiles, headquartered in Quebec, Canada.  Decaens first offered to define “smart […]

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Policy challenges and opportunities for U.S. textile manufacturing

November 3rd, 2020

The U.S. textile industry worked “swiftly and impressively” to pivot to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) this spring, leveraging existing manufacturing know-how and equipment and making new investments to shift production, according to Sara Beatty, president of White Haven Trade Advisors. “However, clearly the U.S. would have been in a much better position had we […]

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The regulatory path for medical PPE

November 3rd, 2020

An afternoon session by Jing Liang, founder and president of Medical PPE Consulting LLC, walked participants through the regulatory process and testing for medical personnel protective equipment (PPE) In her session, “Understanding Testing Requirements of Medical PPE,” she noted the variety of PPE, which include gloves, shoe covers, goggles, gowns and masks. Her discussion centered on […]

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