March 1, 2009
Health Savings Accounts are an increasingly popular option, especially for smaller businesses. By Mark E. Battersby How many small businesses can afford to offer fringe benefits, let alone good health insurance, to keep or attract good workers? Why, especially in these troubled economic times, are the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Internal Revenue …
The American Rental Association (ARA) advocates an economic stimulus package that provides tax relief to spur investment in the rental industry, along with significant spending on infrastructure that will help lift the declining equipment rental industry. More than 4,000 equipment rental businesses and 1,100 equipment manufacturers in the U.S. make up this $35.3 billion industry, …
The Walter Reiners Foundation of the German textile machinery industry has honoured three successful junior engineers for research projects that “respond to the new textile reality.” Dr. Uwe Köckritz, TU Dresden, was honoured for his dissertation dealing with the fiber reinforcement of concrete. Fabian Schreiber, RWTH Aachen, won the award for the best diploma thesis, …
The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH) at Texas Tech University has announced a partnership with Enercon Industries Corp. designed to combine each organization’s expertise to develop technology to advance the functionality of nonwovens and technical textiles. Associate professor Seshadri Ramkumar says that the partnership will explore the opportunities of commercializing atmospheric plasma technologies …
Processes that spark innovation are just good business By Barb Ernster Most people agree that innovation is the key to growth and expansion, but some innovative business practices are truly inspired in their creativity and utility. Innovation is a widely used term, but not readily understood, says Louis Foreman, founder of Enventys, a full service …
Compiled by Juli Case We’ve been asked to repair a curtain, and need some curtain track. The thing is, it’s in an airplane. Where can we buy some? In the United States, materials used in an airplane interior must be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration. We contacted a number of curtain track suppliers and …
Compiled by Juli Case What is a composite? Technically, a composite is simply a material that is composed of disparate components that are combined in such a way that the finished product has different properties than each component could achieve on its own. Therefore, a vinyl-laminated fabric is a flexible composite. Composites use a textile …
Compiled by Juli Case. Where can I find the agricultural shade fabric called Baycor? Baycor is now part of the Nicolon family of fabrics from TenCate. The materials are polyolefin, and include woven and knit structures. Contact: SOURCE TenCate Industrial Fabrics North America Juli Case is IFAI’s information and technical services manager.
Compiled by Juli Case. Our fabric meets CPAI-84. What do we have to do to it to make sure it passes NFPA 701? Both CPAI-84 and NFPA 701 are methods that assess the flammability of fabric. CPAI-84 is a specification written especially for materials used in tents, whereas NFPA 701 is a more general test …
The 2010 Winter Olympics will host world-class athletes and fabric art worthy of the event. By Jake Kulju Janet Echelman likes a good breeze. Her massive fabric sculptures pepper the world—from Phoenix to Portugal, Bombay to Hong Kong—often designed specifically for engaging the wind elements that surround them. Her last project, “She Changes,” a 160-foot-tall …