From custom to customer

March 1, 2017  |  Editorial

Manufacturing USA—the new name for the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation—has established nine manufacturing innovation institutes, with six more planned in 2017. These public–private partnerships each have distinct technology focus areas but work towards a common goal: to secure Am…
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Recurring revenue

February 1, 2017  |  Editorial, News

Twenty years ago, while working as an editor at my first publishing company, I was working with a group of other editors that were mostly 9–10 years younger than I was. (Generation X was the term used, the generation born after the baby boomers, often perceived to be disaffected and directionless.…
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Adjust to fit

January 1, 2017  |  Editorial, News

During the MMPA’s annual gala in November, Specialty Fabrics Review magazine won six awards from the Minnesota Magazine & Publishing Association: Bronze Awards in Feature Design (“Textiles in space,” Feb. 2016), Regular Column (“Perspective”) and Overall Design; a Silver Award for Over…
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Shared value

December 1, 2016  |  Editorial, News

Last month, I was writing an editorial before IFAI Expo to be read after the show—a form of journalistic time travel. Today I am writing after doing my civic duty, but before the United States chooses a new president. I made some predictions about Expo, but I won’t venture into political prognos…
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Develop and diversify

November 1, 2016  |  Editorial, News

By the time you read this magazine, IFAI Expo 2016 will have passed; but as I write this, it’s still 10 days out. The magazine will go to the printer before I have a chance to say anything about what I learned, or learned to question, in Charlotte. At this time of year, I’m always … <div>…
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Water Repellency highly possible without fluorine

October 18, 2016  |  Editorial, News

Carlo Centonze, CEO of HeiQ, says repellency is all about outdoor textiles staying clean and dry. Centonze was a presenter Oct. 18 at the IFAI 2016 Expo in Charlotte, N.C. Because consumers are beginning to perceive fluorine-based garments as negatively affecting the environment, the textile industr…
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Road work ahead

October 1, 2016  |  Editorial

In the November 1933 issue of The National Canvas Goods Manufacturers Review, Manager-Editor McGregor said, “Unregulated competition was wasting natural resources, ruining worthwhile business enterprise, and exploiting human labor. … We live in a highly integrated business civilization requiring…
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Doing well, doing good

August 1, 2016  |  Editorial, News

Someone recently asked me: “What value do we (IFAI and the specialty fabrics industry) bring to the larger community?” It caught me by surprise. I have a deep and personal interest in the success of our industry. IFAI staff and volunteers work every day to advance, promote and protect it. I beli…
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Benefit sharing

June 29, 2016  |  Editorial

Every year at this time, we start pulling together our editorial calendars, compiling a list of important products, key markets and vital industry issues. This year’s “issues” roster for the Review includes (but is not limited to): multifunctionality in high-performance fabrics; sustainability…
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Special delivery

June 1, 2016  |  Editorial

Mass customization is defined online as a marketing and manufacturing technique that combines the flexibility and personalization of “custom-made” with the low unit costs associated with mass production—sometimes with the qualification added that the customization is intended to take place at …
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