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Pivoting to the PPE textile products market

August 1, 2020  |  Features

How the manufacturing of medical protective gear is challenging U.S.-based textile businesses—and throwing them a lifeline. by Debra Cobb The COVID-19 pandemic made it abundantly clear that the U.S. is unprepared to supply its health-care and frontline workers, as well as its general populati…
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Breakthroughs in advanced textiles: New bio yarn, less toxic water repellent, firefighting gear for women, and more

August 1, 2020  |  Advanced Textiles

New bio yarn shows breakthrough possibilities Researchers working at the University of Bordeaux/INSERM have created yarns of human cells from sheets of cell-assembled extracellular matrix, or CAM. The findings, reported in www.materialstoday.com, are a significant achievement because the CAM can be …
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Jumping on design trends in the marine market

August 1, 2020  |  Markets

by Sigrid Tornquist Maybe it’s because boats are so special to their owners, or because boat owners are people who love to show off their latest acquisitions. Whatever the reason, most boat owners crave a vessel that showcases statement-making flooring and fabric trends. “If the boat next to you…
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An architecturally significant performance hall gets a new canopy

August 1, 2020  |  Swatches

When Hurricane Irma slammed into Florida in 2017, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota, Fla., was one of many buildings damaged. In particular, the fabric of the hall’s front canopy needed to be replaced.  The new canopy needed to protect visitors from inclement weather and complement t…
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Roland-printed vehicle wrap takes to the speedway

August 1, 2020  |  Swatches

Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick drove the No. 8 car with a full Roland DG wrap in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in June.   Originally scheduled for March, the race was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic and run without spectat…
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For small businesses, the pandemic triggers a season of uncontrolled experiments

August 1, 2020  |  Editorial

If you read any business news, you can’t avoid the headlines ruminating on the long-term effects of the pandemic on industry and the workplace: “How has coronavirus changed consumer spending?” “Will the COVID-19 pandemic accelerate automation?” “Can we just work from home forever?”  T…
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Staying agile in the time of COVID-19

August 1, 2020  |  Features

Agility has emerged as the essential defining attribute of organizations able to respond to this crisis and chart a new, resilient course for the future. by Jeff Moravec Agility has always been something of a prerequisite for owning a company, and that skill set is clearly more valuable now than it …
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Expo unveiled: Market experts gather at open segment meetings

August 1, 2020  |  Expo News

Experts in the textile industry have many shared interests, but they also face concerns that are unique to the markets they serve. That’s why IFAI offers textile companies the opportunity to participate in specific market segments that relate directly to their end products, supplies and services. …
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Innovating products for a COVID-19 marketplace

August 1, 2020  |  Swatches

The word pivot will go down as an industry buzzword for 2020, but in sailing, the equivalent term is tack or jibe. Dimension-Polyant (DP), a leader in the production of technical sailcloth, has “tacked” to meet the urgent demands of the PPE market, with a number of manufacturers tapping the comp…
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Barry Adams on the science and art of the awning business

August 1, 2020  |  Features, Perspective

by Jill C. Lafferty “You have to be an exceptional artist. You’ve got to be able to create a vision for your customer,” says Barry Adams, owner of Peachtree Awnings in Norcross, Ga., and Tennessee Awnings in La Vergne, Tenn. “Where the customer lacks vision, we have to give them a vision…
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