TEXTILES.ORG
Automation can compensate for staffing shortages
June 1st, 2023
A worker at Ehmke Manufacturing using a continuous feed laser cutter. Photo: Ehmke Manufacturing Making textile products has transitioned from a manual job to one that is largely automated, in part because of a worker shortage. The offshoring of jobs reduced the U.S. textile industry workforce from 3.8 million in 1975 to only 500,000 workers […]
Marine patterning tech, from beginning to end
August 1st, 2021
Kyle Van Damme of Marine Tops Unlimited Inc., Omro, Wis., is among the new breed of marine fabricators who are embracing tech tools for manufacturing, convinced that the financial investment and the learning curve will be worth it. All photos: Marine Tops Unlimited Inc. For nearly 40 years, Marine Tops Unlimited Inc. has provided custom […]
Digital manufacturing transforms flat knitting
October 16th, 2018
Connie Huffa, president of Fabdesigns Inc., doesn’t see the 4.0 Industrial Revolution as a factor that hurts jobs. Rather, she explains, “Jobs are changing but not being eliminated.” Huffa, a textile engineer, discussed the how the textile industry, like other manufacturing businesses, is experiencing the fourth Industrial Revolution. Her presentation was part of the IFAI’s […]
Automation can boost companies’ competitive edge
October 16th, 2018
Frank Henderson, CEO of Henderson Sewing Machine Co. Inc., has some blunt advice: Automation is the future. Henderson addressed a group October 16 at the 2018 Expo Pre-Conference with an enthusiastic message of how the textile industry can move forward. “We live in a culture of consumption. The future belongs to those who are creative […]
Enhancing workplace (and worker) performance: automation and technology, equipment ROI and the new workforce
July 1st, 2018
Canvas Innovations in Holland, Mich., focuses on custom marine canvas and upholstery products, says owner Chris Ritsema. The company also has a smaller portion of the business dedicated to other textile-related products, such as porch enclosures, shade sails, awning recovery, furniture covers, golf cart enclosures and a wealth of other custom projects. “We continue to […]
Manufacturing fuels innovation
November 1st, 2017
And I know this happens because I took economics, and I’d explain it to ya, but I flunked that course. Not my fault. They taught it at 8 o’clock in the morning. And there is absolutely nothing you can learn out of one bloodshot eye. ~Lewis Black When I was in college, I took a […]
Industry 4.0: the new manufacturing
November 1st, 2017
Automation in the textile industry has brought with it an increasing need for better communication within the manufacturing plant, as well as between manufacturers at different stages of the supply chain. Dialogue between people is one thing, but getting machines to speak to one another is a whole new challenge—a digital Tower of Babel that […]
The efficiencies and versatility of advanced and automated equipment are helping bring back the U.S. sewing industry
September 1st, 2017
When U.S. textile jobs started to leave en masse for China and other cheap-labor countries in the 1990s, an entire industry scrambled to pick up the pieces. Companies that survived the upheaval frequently shared one common trait: adaptability. Some contract sewers courted niche non-apparel product makers, while others invested in equipment to become leaders in […]
Partners in success
June 29th, 2016
Specialty fabricators don't have to go it alone. Equipment and automation manufacturers are working hard, developing technologies that sharpen the competitive edge. Founded in 1908, Minnesota Knitting Mills (MKM) started out supplying nearby colleges with letter award sweaters, says Patrick Hickey, president of the Mendota Heights, Minn.-based manufacturer. The company transitioned into providing knit apparel […]
Back to shore
January 1st, 2016
Jeff Schmitt balances the reality of off-shore manufacturing with how to bring production back to the U.S. "At the end of the day we’ve got to figure out ways to be competitive,” says Jeff Schmitt, senior vice president of operations for The Coleman Company Inc., Golden, Colo. “As the person responsible for both the U.S. […]