Success: customer-centric innovation

June 1, 2018  |  Editorial

If your business proposition is innovative, your ultimate goal has to be ‘The customer always thinks that WE are right.’ ~Richard Branson   Back in February 1997, before my editorial advent at IFAI, the Industrial Fabric Products Review cover was graced with a simple shot of a computer, in …
How to use the H-2B program to hire legal temporary guest workers

June 1, 2018  |  Markets

For tent and event rental companies, the busy season not only brings the promise of more work, it also ups the need for more workers, a worry for businesses facing potential labor shortages. In response, some U.S. businesses turn to the H-2B program, hoping to fill their seasonal needs by employing …
Service Thread believes that business success and community success go hand in hand

June 1, 2018  |  Industry News

When it comes to serving the community, no need is too great or too small for Service Thread, a Laurinburg, N.C.-based designer and developer of engineered yarns and sewing threads. “We usually try to participate in everything,” says Hope Dohogn, human resources manager. “It’s very rare that…
Textile sculptures detail beauty and fragility

June 1, 2018  |  Projects

Textile artist Jannick Deslauriers takes delicate fabrics and creates detailed sculptures of objects that seem to be lost in time, broken and decaying. Her work evokes a sense of the ephemeral nature of commonplace items that we assume are solid and unchanging—telephone poles, an apartment buildin…
Tougher hardware

June 1, 2018  |  Products

Loxx® Fasteners are durable, self-locking quick-release fasteners that are precision-engineered from brass and stainless steel. Versatile and reliable in the harshest environments, the fasteners are appropriate for marine, architectural, cover and tarp, and industrial fastening applications. They a…
Efficient cutting

June 1, 2018  |  Products

With a number of options and configurations available, the CTL Series of automatic cut-to-length machines available from Sewn Products Equipment can fully automate the panel cutting process. The machines transform a typically slow and inefficient manual process, and make the material preparation eas…
Redefining textiles

June 1, 2018  |  Advanced Textiles, Markets

New materials and manufacturing processes give the word “textile” new meaning. Textile technology is undergoing a revolution, with innovative structures, raw materials and manufacturing platforms creating new fabrics that defy old-school definitions. Introductory textile science classes teach th…
Selling shade, comfort, health and weather protection-in style

June 1, 2018  |  Features

Who could have predicted, even 10 years ago, that Amazon would have driven shade and awning companies, let alone everyday retail stores, into changing their operations to meet the demand for overnight response rates? Yet today, more than we’d like to believe, sales behemoths like the online portal…
Polymer mat destroys water pollutants

June 1, 2018  |  Projects

It’s called bait, hook and destroy, a process that removes pollutants from water. While it sounds dramatic, the process is achieved using a polymer mat that can target harmful contaminants and fish them out. Developed by scientists at the Rice University-led Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment …
How to succeed in the health care market

June 1, 2018  |  Features

It’s probably safe to say that producing fabrics for the health care industry involves challenges unmatched by any other market. To start with, protective properties obviously need to be a key component of all medical fabrics, given the presence of pathogens in health care settings. At any given t…