KANNAPOLIS, NC — Another grand dame of the U.S. textile industry, Pillowtex Corporation, has succumbed.
The 100-plus-year-old industry giant, citing a severe liquidity crisis, sent huge shock waves through the industry and the Southeast July 30 when it announced that it has closed its 16 manufacturing and distribution facilities and is terminating about 6,450 of its 7,650 salaried and hourly employees. About 1,200 employees have been temporarily retained to assist with bankruptcy proceedings, shipping and warehousing needs and accounting and human resources issues, the home textiles producer said.
The layoff included 3,740 in Cabarrus and Rowan counties of North Carolina and about 4,000 statewide, making it the largest mass layoff in state history. Numerous local, state and federal officials and the union UNITE, which represents thousands of Pillowtex employees, immediately converged on Cabarrus and Rowan counties to help provide emergency work assistance, claims filing and job re-training for affected employees.
Nearly 1,000 employees in Henry County, VA, also were affected.
The company’s operations are spread out over nine states and Canada.
Pillowtex also announced that it filed a voluntary petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, DE, seeking Chapter 11 relief — its second trip into bankruptcy in three years and just 14 months after it last emerged.
In addition, Pillowtex said it has signed a definitive agreement with GGST, LLC for the sale of substantially all of its plants, equipment and brands, subject to court approval.
The Independent-Tribune of Concord, NC, reported Aug. 1 that GGST, LLC plans to sell portions of the company to other firms who may be able to operate them. The deal must be approved by the bankruptcy court, which may take about 45 days.
GGST, LLC is a company formed by SB Capital Group, Gibbs International, Gordon Brothers Retail Partners and Tiger Capital Group.
The company filed a motion to establish bidding procedures allowing other groups to submit offers for its assets.
Pillowtex announced the closings after several suitors looked at buying the cash-strapped company, but no definitive agreements could be reached, according to Michael Gannaway, chairman and CEO.
“Since emerging from bankruptcy in May 2002, we have worked diligently to attempt to restructure our operations and regain profitability,” Gannaway said. “We conducted a thorough review of multiple strategic options, but have exhausted that process and are facing a liquidity crisis that now forces us to cease operations.
“Due to soft consumer demand, the intensity of foreign competition, industry over-capacity and downward pricing pressure in all of our categories, the company simply cannot operate profitably in the current environment and with our current business model,” he added.
In response to market conditions, Pillowtex in March announced that it had retained Credit Suisse First Boston to help explore strategic alternatives.
“We explored various long-range plans focused on preserving Pillowtex as a stand-alone entity by building branded sales and global sourcing capabilities,” Gannaway said. “However, the costs of making the necessary changes to our business model in order to make the transition were insurmountable and we were not successful in securing the substantial investments needed to change our business model in order to preserve Pillowtex as a stand-alone entity.”
The closing was announced after months of speculation about the company’s future and marks the end of a company founded more than 115 years ago. The company’s well-known brands include Cannon, Fieldcrest, Royal Velvet and Charisma.
The company failed to make payments on term loans on July 1, and its lenders granted five separate extensions before the shutdown was announced.
The news of the closing sent tremors throughout the industry and brought forth a renewed call for Washington to alter its trade policy.
“This is a sad day for American manufacturing,” Auggie Tantillo, Washington coordinator of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC), said in a statement. “Flawed U.S. trade policy played a significant role in Pillowtex’s demise. Pillowtex’s product lines have been subjected to an enormous onslaught of low-cost and often heavily subsidized imports from China, India and Pakistan.
“China’s government-owned textile industry has lost money in five of the last six years,” he added. “Moreover, the Chinese government has illegally undervalued its currency by 40 percent by artificially pegging it to the dollar. Few companies can withstand that kind of unfairly subsidized competition.”
UNITE President Bruce Raynor reacted similarly.
“At the end of the day, UNITE believes that the responsibility for this tragedy lies squarely at the feet of government officials in Washington, in both Democratic and Republican administrations, who have created trade policies that are destroying the textile industry and manufacturing as a whole throughout America,” he said in a statement. “Those elected officials who have supported fast track, NAFTA and Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China have placed American workers and U.S. companies in an impossible position of competing with poverty wages and sweatshop conditions.
“These trade agreements have created an unsustainable trade deficit which threatens to topple our economy, while laying ruin to communities where Pillowtex workers have worked hard, paid their taxes and served their country. These workers deserve a trade and manufacturing policy that strengthens our communities, rather than rewarding the global search for cheap labor.”
Raynor added that the union will strongly oppose efforts by bidders who seek to buy brand names for manufacturing offshore.
In addition, he said UNITE believes violated its collective bargaining agreements with the union.
“UNITE believes that Pillowtex violated the WARN Act by not providing workers with a 60-day notice, nor providing 60 days pay in lieu thereof,” he said. “In addition, the company should have treated this decision as a layoff, and maintained medical benefits to its employees. By terminating employees, the company has ended medical benefits prematurely. UNITE also intends to pursue vacation pay and any other monies owed to workers as per the terms of the collective bargaining agreements.”
• Cannon Mills was founded in 1887 in Concord, NC
• Fieldcrest Mills was founded in 1893 in what is now Eden, NC
• Pillowtex was founded in 1954 in Dallas, TX
• Fieldcrest Mills bought Cannon Mills in 1986, creating Fieldcrest Cannon
• Pillowtex Corporation bought Fieldcrest Cannon in 1997
• Pillowtex filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November
14, 2000
• Pillowtex emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 28, 2002
• Pillowtex announces closing of all 16 manufacturing and distribution
facilities and again files for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
on July 30, 2003
The story of Cannon begins more than 100 years ago in 1887 with the vision
of industrialist James William Cannon. Twenty miles north of Charlotte, NC,
Cannon Mills humbly began as a small yarn-spinning plant with a $75,000 investment
in Concord known as The Cannon Manufacturing Company.
At the time towels were not being manufactured in the South and Cannon began
producing flat weave huck towels for commercial customers. Four years later
Cannon opened a second mill in Concord, NC, designed to produce terry cloth
towels — the first plant to manufacture terry cloth.
Demand for Cannon towels outpaced the small company’s capacity, leading
Cannon to invest in a third property, a 600 acre farm north of Concord where
he built new facilities and named the community “Kannapolis.”
The company continued to grow and in 1928 the nine mills known as “the Cannon group” were consolidated and renamed The Cannon Mills Company. James’ son Charles, a pioneer in merchandising, was responsible for maintaining and expanding the Cannon name worldwide. He introduced the first branded national advertising campaign in 1921 in the Saturday Evening Post and continued uninterrupted consumer contact through innovative ads developed by the N.W. Ayer & Company.
Cannon has a long history of marketing firsts. Cannon was the first to print
four-color product catalogues and the first to sew actual brand logos into
textiles.
Cannon was also the first to market designs derived from Hollywood films and
the first to establish a network of local textile distributors nationwide
to service the growing demand for Cannon products. Fieldcrest acquired Cannon
in 1986, forming Fieldcrest Cannon Inc.
In 1893 Benjamin Franklin Mebane, industrial tycoon, developed an ambitious
plan for a textile company manufacturing terry cloth towels. He purchased
600 acres of land in and around the Leaksville Spray Draper area, which is
known today as Eden, NC.
From 1898 to 1905 Frank Mebane executed his plan and built a mill a year on
his 600 acres. But times were not always easy, and in 1910 a recession led
Mebane to sell his mills to Marshall Fields and Company.
The new owners renamed the facilities Fieldcrest Mills and headquartered
the Company in Eden. In 1919, Mr. Field’s continued to expand operations
and built a mill in the town of Fieldale, VA. The community was centered around
the mill, and houses were built for employees.
In 1953 Marshall Field sold its holdings to Fieldcrest, Inc., which helped
to modernize the mills. Fieldcrest bought Cannon Mills in 1986, forming Fieldcrest
Cannon Inc.
George Silverthorne founded Pillowtex in 1954 and manufactured multiple full
lines of bed and bath products. Pillowtex began with two small factories in
Dallas, TX, and Atlanta, GA.
Pillowtex’s first opportunity to serve a national market came in 1968
when a plant was leased in Los Angeles, which allowed Pillowtex to sell pillows
coast to coast.
In 1974 production began in a Chicago factory, which marked the company’s first move into the Northern markets. Pillowtex continued to grow, acquiring and building manufacturing facilities around the nation, eventually garnering one of the largest feather and down capacities in the world. Pillowtex Corporation acquired Fieldcrest Cannon in 1997.
GREENSBORO, NC — A bankruptcy court on Aug. 1 approved an amended buyout proposal of $614 million, subject to adjustment, from W.L. Ross & Co. LLC as the highest and best received from the auction conducted on July 28, Burlington announced.
The agreement contemplates the sale of Burlington Industries to Wilbur Ross’s investment firm, with a concurrent sale of Burlington’s Lees carpet business to Mohawk Industries, Inc.
The decision came a day after U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Randall Newsome in Wilmington, DE, threw out a $6.08 million breakup fee that was part of the bid by W.L. Ross. The breakup fee is included in the new agreement, but only if another suitor outbids Ross for the company, according to reports. No breakup fee would be included if Ross’s deal falls through.
Ross had bid $620.08 million for Burlington.
If the reorganization is approved by the court, Burlington’s creditors will vote on the plan.
The only other bidder during the auction for the company was Oaktree Capital Management LLC, it was revealed during the hearing. Oaktree forced Ross to raise his opening bid of $608 million with its bid of $617 million.
Ross had said he hopes to complete the buyout in October and bring it out of bankruptcy as a private company. The company owes about $680 million, but Ross said the company would have little or no debt when it emerges.
Ross was outbid for the company by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in February. But a bankruptcy court balked at a breakup fee that led Berkshire to withdraw a $579 million bid for the textile producer.
A concurrent sale of Burlington’s Lees carpet business to Mohawk Industries, was announced as part of Ross’s new agreement with the company.
Lees Carpet is Burlington’s most profitable business. Last year, Lees earned $36.8 million, pre-tax, and accounted for 26 percent of Burlington’s $1.01 billion in revenue.
Ross has said he would try to keep the rest of the company intact.
At the time of that announcement, Ross said, “Lees will benefit from Mohawk’s financial strength and business synergies. Burlington’s other operations also will be deleveraged and as privately owned businesses will function even more efficiently and responsively to meet the needs of their customers. Employees will no longer have to worry about the financial viability of their company.”
Mohawk’s portion of the purchase price for the Lees Carpet division is estimated to be about $352 million, subject to certain adjustments.
“Lees Carpet is a leader in the contract commercial segment of the industry with products that will complement our existing product line,” said Jeffrey S. Lorberbaum, president and chief executive officer of Mohawk. “We believe this acquisition will allow us to provide an even higher level of service with a broader product offering to our customers. Lees has one of the most respected sales forces in the industry and it has been very effective in the marketing of its products.
“It is Mohawk’s intention to strengthen Lees’ sales and marketing by offering new products and expanding the existing business.”
Ross has said he is excited about Burlington’s Nano-Tex division, an advanced materials company developing polymer and polymer-related chemistries to enhance and create superior performance in fabrics.
Chemistries, developed for use at the nano or submicron-scale, are revolutionary in their ability to attach to the fibers and permanently bond to the fabric at the molecular level. The result is a family of product offerings that enhance fabric performance and durability not previously attainable, according to the unit.
Since it declared bankruptcy in November 2001, Burlington has trimmed its work force from 13,500 to about 7,000.
Once the world’s largest textile company, with 80,000 employees and 149 plants, Burlington was founded in Burlington, NC, in 1923.
Burlington has operations in the U.S., Mexico and India and a global manufacturing and product development network in Hong Kong.
WASHINGTON, DC — A coalition comprised of 14 major textile and fiber trade associations announced July 24 that a letter had been sent to the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) filing China safeguard petitions.
During a press conference on Capitol Hill, 18 textile and fiber industry executives pleaded their case about the damage done by China’s imports and will continue to do if action isn’t taken, they said. Several members of Congress also attended the event.
Petitions were filed in four products areas — knit fabric, cotton and manmade fiber gloves, cotton and manmade fiber dressing gowns and robes and cotton and manmade fiber brassieres.
The textile China safeguard was sold to Congress and the U.S. textile, fiber and apparel industry as a critical component of China’s accession agreement into the WTO. It may be implemented if the U.S. market is disrupted to the point where the orderly development of trade is threatened.
“The orderly development of trade in the U.S. textile and apparel market is not merely threatened, it is under an unprecedented attack from a flood of illegally subsidized Chinese imports,” Allen Gant, CEO of Glen Raven, Inc., said in a release. “Chinese imports in these four product areas have increased by 920 percent over the past 17 months. There is nothing orderly about that. U.S. jobs are on the line and that is why the textile and fiber industry is following through with its June 11 promise to file China safeguard petitions.”
Willis C. “Billy” Moore III of Unifi, Inc., Greensboro, NC, chairman of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute (ATMI), pointed out that ATMI recently published a study showing that 630,000 textile and apparel jobs will be lost and 1,300 plants will close if quotas expire on textile and apparel products on January 1, 2005 and the China safeguard is not effectively used.
“If the U.S. government does not send a message by approving these actions, massive layoffs will actually begin occurring sometime in mid-2004 due to the nature of ordering cycles from China,” Moore said.
The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles responded to the filing of the petition, warning that the move could violate World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations.
“The stagnation of the U.S. textile industry is cyclical in nature and not due to increased imports from China,” the chamber said in a statement.
The following lawmakers spoke during the press conference: Sen. Lindsey Graham (SC), Rep. Howard Coble (NC), Rep. Cass Ballenger (NC), Rep. Robin Hayes (NC), Rep. Mel Watt (NC), Rep. Walter Jones (NC), Rep. Joe Wilson (SC), Rep. Gresham Barrett (SC), Rep. Virgil Goode (VA) and Rep. Bill Pascrell (NJ).
Sens. Elizabeth Dole (NC) and John Edwards (NC) each issued press statements.
Members of the coalition include ATMI, the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC), the National Textile Association (NTA), the American Yarn Spinners Association (AYSA), the American Fiber Manufacturers Association (AFMA), the National Cotton Council (NCC), the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI), the American Textile Machinery Association and The Carpet and Rug Institute.
Also, GTMA: The Association of Georgia’s Textile, Carpet & Consumer Products Manufacturers, the USA Domestic Manufacturers Com- mittee of The Hosiery Association, the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI), the North Carolina Manufacturers Association (NCMA) and the Textile Distributors Association (TDA).
“China’s textile and apparel exports to the United States grew by 117 percent in 2002 and are on pace to more than double again in 2003,” said George Shuster of Cranston Print Works, Cranston, RI, co-chair of AMTAC. “More than 80 percent of China’s textile and apparel exports to the United States are in categories with no quotas.
“China’s share of market in these four categories rose from an average of 5 percent while quotas were still on to an average of 32 percent today. This administration must make good on its many public commitments of support for this industry and move to stop this anti-mpetitive import surge.”
AYSA Chairman Jim Chesnutt of the National Spinning Co., Inc., Washington, NC, added, “I recently had to close one of my plants in North Carolina because of our nation’s flawed trade policy. Since January 2001, 271,100 textile and apparel jobs have been lost. Twenty-six percent of the entire textile and apparel manufacturing sector’s jobs disappeared in just 2-1/2 years.
“This administration has said it has a plan to save an industry that it has called a cornerstone of U.S. manufacturing. Now we call on it to fulfill its pledge and stop this unfair surge and to keep hundreds of communities from seeing their tax bases devastated by plant closures.”
CITA decides whether to invoke the special textile China safeguard. CITA is a five-member interagency group chaired by the Department of Commerce that includes the Departments of State, Labor and the Treasury, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Under the safeguard procedures, CITA has 15 business days to make sure the petition is in proper order. If deemed properly filed, CITA will post the petition on the OTEXA Web site for a 30-day public comment period.
CITA then has 60 days to make a determination on the petition after the comment period closes. CITA may make a determination after the 60-day period only if it posts a notice in the Federal Register tha includes the date by which a determination will be made.
“China’s projected consumption of 70 to 80 percent of the U.S. textile and apparel market following the expiration of quotas would destroy large export markets for U.S. yarn and fabric in the Caribbean and Latin America,” said Karl Spilhaus, NTA president. “Many of the 1.15 million textile and apparel workers in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic who turn U.S. yarn and fabric into apparel will lose their jobs, too, if the Chinese are allowed to dominate the U.S. market.”
NCC Immediate Past President Gaylon Booker added: “Domestic mill consumption of U.S. cotton has fallen by more than 40 percent in recent years. The economic health of cotton farming communities from California to Georgia is in serious jeopardy unless the U.S. government confronts the Chinese threat to the U.S. textile and apparel industry.”
China’s illegal currency manipulation and its direct subsidization of its enormous state textile sector give China’s producers a 40 percent price advantage over U.S. producers, according to the coalition. Implementing the special textile China safeguard would prevent the Chinese from fully reaping the benefits of their WTO-illegal activities, the group added.
“The U.S. manufactured fiber customer base faces a significant threat from China,” said AFMA Chairman Geoff Schofield of Drake Extrusion, Inc. “If our government agrees to cut U.S. textile tariffs in the Doha Round of WTO negotiations, China will have wider opening to use its managed currency to boost market share.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 18,200 workers lost textile and apparel jobs in July, an average of 587 lost jobs per day, AMTAC reported in a release on Aug. 1. The Pillowtex Corp. job losses announced July 30 were not counted in these figures because they occurred after July’s reporting date.
Since the NAFTA became effective on January 1, 1994, the 18,200 one-month industry job loss figure of July has only been surpassed once, according to AMTAC. In July 2001, 27,900 textile and apparel jobs were lost.
In addition, the BLS revised job loss figures for May and June of 2003, adding 10,000 more lost jobs to its figures than previously estimated.
According to government figures, there were 1,555,500 U.S. textile and apparel jobs in December 1994. Since that time, 810,600 (52.1 percent) of those jobs have been lost.
Non-supervisory textile workers who were still employed saw their hours cut back sharply in July, yet continued to earn 98 percent more than comparable workers in the leisure/hospitality industry, AMTAC said.
“U.S. textile and apparel manufacturers can no longer wait for the U.S. government to deliberate as a tidal wave of job-destroying textile and apparel imports is overwhelming the industry,” said AMTAC Washington Coordinator Auggie Tantillo. “Inexplicably, it took U.S. government nearly 18 months just to publish the procedures on how to apply to use the China safeguard when China was doubling their access to the U.S. market.
“A significant portion of the Chinese textile and apparel industry is government owned,” Tantillo added. “The Chinese have admitted it as lost money in five of the past six years. No U.S. business could operate that way. Moreover, China has illegally pegged their currency to the U.S. dollar in violation of WTO rules. This gives Chinese manufacturers an illegal and unfair 40 percent price advantage over their U.S. counterparts.”
Editor’s
notes: Following are summaries of companies that will be exhibiting
at the International Exhibition of Textile Machinery (ITMA), scheduled for
Oct. 22-20 in Birmingham, England. Included only are companies that responded
to repeated inquiries for information. These product descriptions, collected
through a partnership between STN and the American Textile Machinery Association
(ATMA), have been culled to meet space limitations. More detailed descriptions,
along with artwork, will be soon available on the Web sites www.textilenews.com
and www.atmanet.org, as well as in our ITMA Show Edition, which will be distributed
during ITMA. To be included in extended coverage, or to change your company’s
listing, please send information to Devin Steele at editor@textilenews.com
or fax to 704-527-5114.
A.B. Carter
Stand: SP3-4E
Country: U.S.
Contact persons: Diego Romero, Fred Rankin, Richard Craig
Web site: www.abcarter.com
Show focus: The Gastonia, NC-based company will display ring-spinning frames
for cotton spinning systems, worsted spinning systems, semi-worsted spinning
systems, woolen spinning systems, bast fibers spinning and direct spinning.
Also, spindles and parts, rings for ring-spinning and ring-twisting, travelers,
inserting and dismantling tools for travelers, tubes, spindle and tangential
belts, yarn cleaners, yarn break detectors, yarn thread guides, spinning pumps,
spinnerets, flat and conveyor belts, cross lapper belts, etc.
ABM International
Stand: MU5-36B
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Neal Schwarzberger
Web site: www.
abminternational.com
Show focus: ABM, of Elk Grove Village, IL, will display quilting and mattress
machinery.
Albany International
Stand: DF19-1B
Country: Italy
Contact person: Alberto Brunello
Web site: www.albint.com
Show focus: Conveyor belts for dryers, blankets for printing and finishing,
felt or fabric accessories.
Aletti Giovannni & Figli
Stand: DF7-6J
Country: Italy
Contact person: Ing. Marco Aletti, Mr. Ezio Aletti, Mr. Oscar Limonta and
Mr. Rino D’Amato
Web site: www.sueding.com
Show focus: Special suede finishing line, including endless band buffing (sueding)
machine and air jets dust-removing machine. Sueding machine can be used either
for plain buffing or for exclusive pattern buffing on a wide range of materials,
including fabric, denim, cotton, micro-fibers, synthetic leather, nonwoven,
etc.
Americhem
Stand: DF8-6F
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Sharon Horning
Web site: www. americhem.com
Show focus: Based in Cuyahoga Falls, Americhem will exhibit dyestuffs and
chemical products.
Amitech
Stand: DC8-1J
Country: U.S.
Contact person: William H. Nadal
Web site: www.amitech-usa.com
Show focus: Amitech (American Manufacturing International, Inc.), Oxford,
NJ, will exhibit its line of Pyrozyl flame retardants for fibers.
Andar Holdings Ltd.
Stand: SP1-19A
Country: New Zealand
Contact person: Dan Batchelor
Web site: www.andar.co.nz
Show focus: Anar and major shareholder The Woolmark Company will be showing
wool scouring technology, carpet and yarn treatments, textile effluent treatment
systems, total easy care wool apparel, Basolan pad applicator.
Appalachian Electronic Instruments, Inc.
Stand: K5-16E
Country: U.S.
Contact person: M.L. Bessett
Web site: www.aei-wv.com
Show focus: The Fairlea, WV, company will demonstrate its creels, warp stop
motions, antistatic equipment and accessories.
Arahne
Stand: S8-2M
Country: Slovenia
Contact persons: Anton Gregorcic, Dusan Peterc
Web site: www.arahne.si
Show focus: CAD/CAM systems for weaving, dobby and jacquard, texture mapping.
Products include ArahWeave — integrated dobby and jacquard CAD/CAM system;
ArahPaint — jacquard oriented paint program; ArahDrape — use texture
mapping to present fabric on a final product.
Argus Fire Control
Stand: SP2-12B
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Mike Viniconis
Web site: www.argusfirecontrol.com
Show focus: Argus Fire Control, Charlotte, NC, will provide information about
its special hazard fire protection systems.
Automation Partners
Stand: DF7-9F
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Larry Tausch
Web site:
www.automationpartners.com
Show focus: The Sunnyvale, CA company will display textile testing and measuring
equipment and software systems for data monitoring and processing in the dyeing,
printing and finishing industry.
Benninger Co. Ltd.
Stand: W9-7A
Country: Switzerland
Contact person: Carmen Niedermann
Web site: www.benninger.ch
Show focus: Automatic section warping machine, size-box TKV
Binsfield Engineering
Stand: SP3A-10D
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Stephen Tarsa
Web site: www.temptrak.com
Show focus: Binsfield, of Maple City, MI, specializes in rotating-to-stationary
data communication systems. Using digital instrumentation technologies transmitted
via non-contact inductive couplings or radio frequency devices, its products
deliver accurate and reliable signals from rotating sensors, the company said.
Its TempTrak® rotary temperature transmitters have earned a reputation
for their digital precision and outstanding reliability in the synthetic fiber
industry, Binsfield said.
BTSR International
Stand: SP1-10A
Country: Italy
Web site: www.btsr.com
Show focus: Yarn cleaners, yarn break detectors, warp stop motions, weft stop
motions and feed wheel units. The company is represented in the U.S. by PAF
Sales, Greensboro, NC.
Ciba Specialty Chemicals
Stand: DC8-3F
Country: Switzerland
Contact person: Urs Hasler
Web site: www.cibasc.com
Show focus: Dyestuffs and chemicals for the industry, with the focus on integrated
textile solutions.
FA.NI
Stand: SP3A-18C
Country: Italy
Contact person: Andrea Ceriolo
Web site: www.fani.com
Show focus: Textile automation and control devices, including the capacitive
sensor SC1; the electromechanical sensor SH-1; optical sensor RFS-1: software
Archimedes JMonitor; software Archimedes JSpinning: software Archimedes JWeaving:
and the TBox/1 data-collection unit.
Cintex Ltd.
Stand: DF20-1F
Country: Switzerland
Contact person: Rolf Schoch
Web site: www.cintex.ch
Show focus: A number of automation systems, including the DosiPad® CPB
Padder Control for the cold pad-batch process; the HeatSet PLUS Stenter control
system; the HeatSetPlus modular control system for drying and fixation; SizeControl
Size “pick-up” control for sizing machines, to control uniform size
application by the PLEVA microwave measurement AS120 on single size box and
double size boxes; and the CarpetControl Coating and pick-up for wet applications.
Color Service
Stand: DF18-7B
Country: Italy
Contact person: Emma Mion
Web site: www.colorservice.net
Show focus: New automatic laboratory system for continuous dyeing and robotic
storage system for powder dyes, as well as automatic weighing/dissolution
of powder dyes.
Consultex Corp.
Stand: DF6-7D
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Helmut Grohs
Web site: www.consultexcorp.com
Show focus: The Spartanburg, SC, company imports and exports equipment and
machines for manufacturing industries. Consultex manufacturers its own proprietary,
patented IQ-140 Rotary Spray Application System for continuous, uniform application
of controlled amounts of aqueous processing liquors to sheet substrates.
Datatex
Stand: S9-9C
Country: Switzerland
Contact person: Giovanni Fantone
Web site: www.datatex-tim.com
Show focus: Software systems for data monitoring and processing and computer
integrated manufacturing (CIM).
DigiFab Systems
Stand: S9-10E
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Avedik Izmirlian
Web site: www.digifab.com
Show focus: DigiFab, of Los Angeles, will demonstrate its electronic design
systems for the dyeing, printing and finishing industry, as well as software
systems for data monitoring and processing in that industry.
Dilo
Stand: NW4-14A
Country: Germany
Contact person: Friedemann Söll
Web sites: www.dilo.de, www.spinnbau.de
Show focus: Oskar Dilo Maschinenfabrik KG will show its latest generation
of high capacity needle looms, including a HYPERPUNCH needle loom. Subsidiary
SPINNBAU will present its latest generation of cards.
Dornier
Stand: W12–4A
Country: Germany
Contact person: Marion Heisler
Web site: www.lindauer-dornier.com
Show focus: Lindauer Dornier GmbH will demonstrate innovative advances in
finishing machines for circular fabrics to complement the new performance
generation of airjet and rapier weaving machines, as well as new machine models
for leno and terry weaving.
DP Innovations Inc.
Stand: S9-9E
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Steven Smith
Web site: www.dpinnovations.com
Show focus: Based in Spartanburg, SC, DP Innovations will display electronic
design systems and software systems for the dyeing, printing and finishing
industry, as well as software systems for computer integrated manufacturing
in that industry.
DuPont lnk Jet
Stand: DF17-2A
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Adrian Newell
Web site: www.ink.jet@usa.dupont.com
Show focus: The Wilmington, DE, company will demonstrate its jet printing
machines and software systems for data monitoring and processing in the dyeing,
printing and finishing industry.
Dupont Polyester Technologies
Stand: SP3-5B
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Mark Bristow
Web site: www.dpt.dupont.com
Show focus: DuPont will show equipment for the production of man-made filaments
and fibers, as well as other accessories.
DyStar
Stand: DC8-6E
Country: Germany
Contact person: Karl-Heinz Michel
Web site: www.dystar.com
Show focus: Dyestuffs and chemical products
Epic Enterprises
Stand: SP1-14E
Contact person: Mark Warren
Country: U.S.
Web site: www.epicenterprises.com
Show focus: Epic, headquartered in Southern Pines, NC, will show yarn break
detectors and other accessories. The company manufactures replacement parts
for Volkmann/Saurer and Verdol/ICBT cablers and 2X1 twisting machines; and
for Superba and Suessen carpet yarn heatsetting machines. Epic also makes
Epi-Mark colored yarn and fabric markers, reconditions lubricated spinning
and twisting rings and also sells new and reconditioned lubricated ring assemblies.
Epic is also the exclusive agent for Elitex Machinery of Kdyne, Czech Republic,
of 2X1 twisting machines, including the 2-18 and 2-22 machines.
ESI-NSC System Solutions
Stand: SP4-3B
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Eric Fessler
Web site: www.esidrives.com
Show focus: ESI, of Chattanooga, TN, will display electronic design systems
for the spinning industry, software systems for data monitoring and processing
in the spinning industry, software systems for computer integrated manufacturing
in the spinning industry, software systems for integrated production in the
textile chain and engineering services.
Fab-Con
Stand: DF16-4C
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Jim Catallo
Web site: www.fab-con.com
Show focus: Fab-Con Machinery Development Corp., of Port Washington, NY, will
demonstrate its padding and impregnating machines, roller squeezers, tentering
and stentering machines, drum drying machines, drying conveyors, suction drum
dryers, calenders, finishing machines for knitwear and narrow fabrics, shrinking
machines and inspecting machines.
Ferber
Stand: W9-6B
Country: Italy
Web site: www.ferber.it
Show focus: Doffing machines and devices, automatic transport systems, winding
machines, inspecting machines, measuring, rolling and folding machines, packing,
labeling and marking machines, software systems for data monitoring and processing
and engineering services.
Fischer Poege
Stand: W9-6C
Country: Germany
Web site: www.fischer-poege.de
Show focus: Drawing-in machines, warp-tying machines and other machinery.
Forthmann Machines
Stand: MU5-28D
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Fred F. Forthmann
Web site: www.forthmann.com
Show focus: Forthmann Machines, Inc., Mahwah, NJ, will exhibit cut and fold
machines with Mitre Fold and Ultrasonic Cutting. Also, its new ZFP III cut
and fold machine with a Center Fold Chute attachment will be introduced.
The company also will show its new ZMCM I-100 Mini-Coating machine for the
application of thermo plastic, auto adhesive and nonwoven backing to woven
or print labels.
Gaston Systems
Stand: DF7-6H
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Linda Sherrill
Show focus: Based in Stanley, NC, Gaston Systems will demonstrate coating
machines, sizing/slashing machines, padding and impregnating machines, pile
finishing machines and machinery for surgical products.
Gherzi
Stand: SP3A-6C
Country: Switzerland
Contact person: Otto P. Kazil, Aida Guillen
Web site: www.gherzi.com
Show focus: Software systems for integrated production in the textile chain
and engineering and consultancy services.
Goulston Technologies
Stand: SP3-23A
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Gordon Magee
Web site: www.goulston.com
Show focus: The Monroe, NC, firm will show equipment for the production of
man-made filaments and fibers and devices for humidifying, waxing, oiling,
singeing and setting.
Grandis
Stand: DF19-8A
Country: Italy
Contact person: Fabio Grandis
Web site: www.grandis.it
Show focus: Dyeing cabinet sets, hanks dyeing machines, vaporizers and laboratory
equipment.
Grob Horgen AG
Stand: W11-5C
Country: Switzerland
Contact person: Ernst Brütsch
Web site: www.grob-horgen.ch
Show focus: Heald frames, healds, warp stop motions and drop wires.
GTI Graphic Technology, Inc.
Stand: T5-4E
Country: U.S.
Contact persons: Frederic McCurdy, Robert McCurdy
Web site: www.gtilite.com
Show focus: GTI Graphic Technology, Inc. of Newburgh, NY, will exhibit its
full range of CMLITE multi-source booths and luminaires for visual color inspection
and matching.
Hills, Inc.
Stand: SP1-10G
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Tony Ray
Web site: www.hillsinc.net
Show focus: Based in West Melbourne, FL, Hills will exhibit equipment for
the production of man-made filaments and fibers, winding or take-up units,
reeling machines, extruders, spinning pumps, spinnerets, cleaning units for
extrusion tools, godets, production lines for spunbonded and meltblown webs,
filters for cleaning of polymer and accessories.
Hollingsworth
Stand: SP2-5B
Country: U.S.
Contact persons: Carl Martin, Karen Kuebel
Web site: www.jdhow.com
Show focus: J.D. Hollingsworth on Wheels, Inc., Greenville, SC, will show
mounting machines for flexible card clothing and metallic card wire, card
grinding machines, opening rollers for rotor spinning machines, flexible card
clothing and metallic card wire.
HunterLab
Stand: T5-26D
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Lore Potoker
Web site: www.hunterlab.com
Show focus: HunterLab, of Reston, VA, will demonstrate its color measuring
instruments.
Idrosistem Energy
Stand: DF20-3B
Country: Italy
Contact persons: Saverio Trevisan, Claudia Ricci, Vivienne Holliday
Web site: www.idrosistem.com
Show focus: Equipment for liquid recycling.
International Machinery Sales, Inc.
Stand: SP4-7A
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Nicolas Sear
Show focus: IMS, based in Winston-Salem, NC, will have on display yarn thread
guides and air texturizing and interlacing jets.
Investa International
Stand: W11–6C, D, E
Country: Czech Republic
Contact person: Miroslav Novy
Web site: www.investaintl.cz
Show focus: Air jet looms VERA and CAM-EL
Ira L. Griffin Sons, Inc.
Stand: W11-5D
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Lee Griffin, David Emrey
Web site: www.iragriffin.com
Show focus: The Charlotte, NC-based company will display several new components,
including the “EVE” Vertical Exit Size Box, which continues its
long history of vertical exit size boxes that offer greater operator access
for general operation and maintenance. Griffin also will display other products,
machine layouts and interactive process control stations.
Iride Centre
Stand: T5-21E
Country: Italy
Contact person: Roberto Carta Fornon
Web site: www.iridecentre.com
Show focus: A laboratory apparatus for chemical and physical tests and color
matching systems.
ITW Dymon
Stand: DF7-9E
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Mila Alexandrov
Web site: www.dymon.com
Show focus: The Olathe, KS, company manufactures diverse lines of industrial
MRO specialty chemicals and marking systems.
Jaeggli-Meccanotessile
Stand: SP2-6B
Country: Italy
Contact person: Mr. Togni
Web site: www.jaegglimeccanotessile.it
Show focus: The newly developed yarn mercerizing machine, the HL-2000/X with
the automatic loader ALS-2000/X; the Eco-Block system for preparation and
control of caustic soda; the continuous yarn mercerizing line MC-2000; the
beam-to-cone system RS-2000 with Preciflex winding system; and the pad-batch
yarn dyeing system.
Jakob Müller AG
Stand: W10-7A
Country: Switzerland
Contact person: E. Strebel
Web site: www.mueller-frick.com
Show focus: Beam warping machines, rapier weaving machines, air-jet weaving
machines, shuttleless narrow fabrics weaving machines, label weaving machines,
flat warp knitting machines, finishing machines for narrow fabrics, inspecting
machines, measuring, rolling and folding machines, electronic design systems,
software systems, etc.
James H. Heal & Co.
Stand: T5-10A
Country: United Kingdom
Contact person: D.M. Repper
Web site: www.james-heal.co.uk
Show focus: An enhanced range of state-of-the-art fabric and color fastness
testing equipment and will demonstrate complementary consumables and services.
Jomar
Stand: S9-4D
Country: Canada
Contact person: John Blasman Sr., John Blasman Jr.
Web site: www.jomarsoftcorp.com
Show focus: Jomar Softcorp International will demonstrate software systems
for computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) in the spinning; weaving; knitting;
dyeing, printing and finishing; and embroidery and making-up industries. Also
shown will be software systems for integrated production in the textile chain.
Jossi Systems AG
Stand: SP1-15C
Country: Switzerland
Contact person: Beat Buchmann
Web site: www.jossi.ch
Show focus: Blow room machines and opening, cleaning and blending lines.
Kuesters Machinery Corporation
Stand: DF20-13A
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Werner Klaffe
Web site: www.kuesters.com
Show focus: Among products to be shown by the Spartanburg, SC, firm will be
chemical bonding machines, thermal bonding machines, calenders, desizing machines,
bleaching apparatus and machines (batch), bleaching plant (continuous), open-width
washing machines, mercerizing machines for fabrics, padding and impregnating
machines, chemical dispensing systems, dyeing color kitchens, padding mangles,
jiggers, knitwear and hosiery dyeing machines, continuous dyeing lines for
fabrics, continuous dyeing machines for narrow fabrics, sample dyeing equipment,
a laboratory dyeing apparatus, transfer printing calenders, roller squeezers,
suction extractors, pile finishing machines, combining and laminating machines,
color mixing machines, color straining machines, emulsifying machines and
software systems for data monitoring and processing in the dyeing, printing
and finishing industry.
Lamperti Textile Machinery
Stand: DF19-5D
Country: Italy
Contact person: Antonio Lamperti
Web site: www.lampertisrl.com
Show focus: A shearing machine; a new universal sueding machine equipped with
abrasive brushes; and a new patented raising machine with drum in variable
diameter.
Lawson-Hemphill, Inc.
Stand: T5-26H
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Avishai Nevel, Mike Honeycutt
Web site: www.lawsonhemphill.com
Show focus: Instruments for quality control, on-line and off-line, and laboratory
testing instruments.
Leesona Industries
Stand: SP3-12E
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Jim Arrington
Web site: www.leesona.com
Show focus: The Burlington, NC, will have equipment for the production of
man-made filaments and fibers, winding or take-up units, draw-winders, tape
producing plants, fibrillation lines, cone and cheese winders, winding machines
for tubular cops and flanged bobbins, doubling winders, yarn thread guides,
godets, preparatory and auxiliary machinery for braids, trimmings and narrow
fabrics, machines for trimmings and machinery for surgical products.
L.G.L. Electronics s.p.a.
Stand: W9-14C (weaving); K5-17E (knitting)
Country: Italy
Contact person: Motterlini Giulio
Web site: www.lgl.it
Show focus: The new yarn feeder “PRIMO” for any type of knitting
machines; the new pre-measuring winder “EVOLUTION” for air-water
jet looms; and the new weft feeder “TECNO” for rapier weaving machines,
needle looms, narrow looms.
LineTech Industries
Stand: T5-1F
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Toby Jackson
Web site: www.linetechindustries.com
Show focus: LineTech, of Brooklyn, NY, will show inspecting machines, textile
testing and measuring equipment, color measuring instruments, laboratory equipment
for textile physics and automatic conveying and handling equipment for the
textile industry.
M&R Sales and Service
Stand: DF16-6A
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Andy DaSilva
Web site: www.mrprint.com
Show focus: Chameleon manual press, Performer textile press, Sportsman textile
press, Sportsman E textile press, Economax II electric dryer, Radicure electric
dryer, Sprint 2000 gas dryer, Passport auto-unloader, Tri-Light exposure unit,
Mega Light exposure unit, Amscomatic folder/bagger and miscellaneous ancillary
products, including the Tri-Loc and Double Tri-Loc Rapid Registration Systems,
Sonoma Screen Stretcher, Max Newton Screen Stretcher and numerous flash cure
units.
Magitex s.p.a.
Stand: SP2-16A
Country: Italy
Contact person: Mario Puricelli
Web site: www.magitexspa.com
Show focus: A number of travelling cleaners
Maino International
Stand: DF20-11E
Country: Italy
Contact person: Franco Dutrieux
Web site: www.mainointernational.com
Show focus: Dyeing color kitchens, knitwear and hosiery dyeing machines, drum
dyeing machines, sample dyeing equipment, laboratory dyeing apparatus, suction
drum dryers.
Mariplast North America
Stand: SP2-8C
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Marco Bottari
Web site: mariplast.com
Show focus: Dye tubes, cones, spinning bobbins, etc.
Mayer Industries
Stand: K5-30B
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Earl Quay
Web site: www.mayerind.com
Show focus: Based in Orangeburg, SC, Mayer will exhibit knitting machines
that are over 165mm cylinder diameter and electronic design systems for the
knitting industry.
McCoy-Ellison, Inc.
Stand: W11-5D
Contact persons: Mary Hathaway, Kevin Ahlstrom
Country: U.S.
Web site: www.mccoy-ellison.com
Show focus: The Monroe, NC-based company will show creels, draw-warping machines,
beaming machines, beam warping machines, sectional beams, an laboratory dyeing
apparatus and other accessories.
Messersi Packaging
Stand: TH5-6C
Country: Italy
Contact person: Monica Arcangeli
Web site: www.messersi.com
Show focus: Packing, labeling and marking machines for yarns and fabrics and
for the making-up industry.
Monforts
Stand: DF18-6A
Country: Germany
Web site: www.monforts.de
Show focus: A. Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH & Co., will exhibit its padding
and impregnating machines, padding mangles, continuous dyeing lines for fabrics,
roller squeezers, tentering and stentering machines, thermo-setting machines,
hot flues, tensionless dryers, infrared dryers, pile finishing machines, calenders,
finishing machines for knitwear, shrinking machines and coating machines.
Morrison Textile Machinery Co.
Stand: DF6-7D
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Alan Robinson
Web site: www.morrisontexmach.com
Show focus: The Fort Lawn, SC-based company will highlight its Spectrum indigo
dye box, a micro-sat applicator, a rubber belt shrinking machine and an FCS
control system.
MP Engineering
Stand: DF20-11B
Country: Italy
Contact person: Laura Bottinelli
Web site: www.mpengineering.com
Show focus: Powder scattering machine and a hot melt coating and bonding machine.
MP
Stand: DF6-18C
Country: Italy
Contact person: Flavio Malanchini
Web site: www.mp-italy.com
Show focus: winding and take-up units; continuous dyeing lines for yarn; and
polishing, brushing, waxing and coating machines.
National Textile Center
Stand: C5-5A
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Dr. Martin Jacobs
Web site: www.ntcresearch.org
Show focus: This consortium of universities will have information about research
projects.
Noseda
Stand: DF17-5A
Country: Italy
Contact persons: Lucio Corbellini, Onnik Manoukian, Roberto Molteni
Web site: www.noseda1893.it
Show focus: Equipment for the production of manmade filaments and fibers,
including stretch-breaking machines, steamers, dryers, desizing machines,
bleaching machines, washing machines, dyeing kitchens, etc.
Omatex
Stand: SP4-16C
Country: Italy
Contact person: Maria Vittoria Vavassori
Web site: www.omatex.com
Show focus: POLIVEL pickers, Texknife cutter, spindle tape, broom and Olirapid
equipment for changing spindle oil.
Parks & Woolson Machine Co. Inc.
Stand: T5-21C
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Alfred Peterson
Show focus: The Springfield, VT, company will show its raising machines, polishing
machines, shearing machines, cutting machines for velvets and velveteens,
suede finishing machines, brushing machines, pile finishing machines, finishing
machines for knitwear, inspecting machines, grinding machines, shearing blades,
textile testing and measuring equipment and laboratory equipment for textile
physics.
Pentek Textile Machinery
Stand: DF6–5C
Country: Italy
Contact person: Mauro Mare
Web site: www.pentek.it
Show focus: Pentair 2 Wet — Rope washing machine for discontinuous washing,
steaming, drying and tumbling equipment with two chambers. Also, desizing
machines, milling/fulling machines, padding and impregnating machines, roller
squeezers, tensionless dryers, finish breaking machines, finishing machines
for knitwear, shrinking machines and more.
Piovan s.p.a.
Stand: SP3-14B
Country: Italy
Contact person: Francesca Soprano
Web site: www.piovan.com
Show focus: The Piovan PET range includes dehumidifying dryers, crystallizers,
masterbatch and liquid color dosing units, gravimetric blenders, hopper loaders,
mould dryers and water chillers. Visitors will also have the opportunity to
test the SVS SuperVising System, software for the supervision and management
of a fiber manufacturing plant.
Pleva GmbH
Stand: DF20-1E
Country: Germany
Contact person: Rainer Tüxen
Web site: www.pleva.ch
Show focus: Pleva GmbH, a specialist in the field of measuring and control
sensors, will show advanced innovative automation and visualization systems.
Redman Card Clothing Co. Inc.
Stand: DF19-15E
Country: U.S.
Contact person: John Morris
Web site: www.redmancard.com
Show focus: raising/napping wires, sueding/emerizing wires and brushing wires.
Rockwell Automation
Stand: C4-7J
Country: U.S.
Contact person: John McCombs
Web site: www.rockwellautomation.com
Show focus: Based in Milwaukee, the firm will demonstrate software systems
for integrated production in the textile chain and power transmission equipment,
including electrical motors and drives.
Rostoni Macchine
Stand: W12-12C
Country: Italy
Contact person: Glada C. Rostoni
Web site: www.rostoni.com
Show focus: Creels, sectional warping machines, beam warping machines, draw-warping
machines, beaming machines, sizing/slashing machines, leasing machines automatic
conveying and handling equipment.
Rothschild Instruments
Stand: T5-9B
Country: Switzerland
Contact person: Dr. Rothschild
Web site: www.rothschild-instruments.ch
Show focus: High-quality measuring instruments for yarns, including tension
meters, friction meters, an entaglement tester, a static-voltmeter and a cohesion
meter.
SIMET
Stand: SP3-6F
Country: Italy
Contact person: Federica Anceschi
Web site: www.simet.it
Show focus: Electronic winders, assembly winders, winders with double positive
feeder of the yarn and newly developed winders.
SMIT Textile
Stand: W10-2D
Country: Italy
Web site: www.smit-textile.com
Show focus: Formerly Sulzer Tessile, SMIT Textile will demonstrate its complete
line of rapier and air-jet weaving machines, including the newest versions
of its G6300 and G6300F models.
Sperotto Rimar
Stand: DF6-10 C
Country: Italy
Contact person: Antonio Staffoni, Rick Horton
Web site: www.sperottorimar.it
Show focus: Finishing machines and continuous dry-cleaning machines.
Stewarts Of America
Stand: SP2-12G
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Susan Bowers
Show focus: Stewarts, of Simpsonville, SC, will exhibit its rotors, opening
rollers for rotor spinning machines, needle rollers, bars and segments and
spiked lattices and lags.
Stimin
Stand: W12-2F
Country: Italy
Contact person: Attilio Tagliabue
Web site: www.stimin.it
Show focus: An
Ultrasound washing machine and an ultrafiltration system for water recovery.
Strandberg Engineering Laboratories Inc.
Stand: T5-21J
Country: U.S.
Contact person: John Strandberg, Tim Kelly
Web site: www.strandberg.com
Show focus: Greensboro, NC-based Strandberg will show textile testing and
measuring equipment and hand hygroscopes.
Struto International
Stand: NW4-3F
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Alistair Deas
Web site: www.struto.com
Show focus: Struto, of Oak Brook, IL will have on show its thermal bonding
machines.
Sultex
Stand: W12-6B
Country: Switzerland
Web site: www.sulzertextil.com
Show focus: Sultex will demonstrate its line of rapier, projectile, air-jet
and multi-phase weaving machines and related products and services.
Tandematic
Stand: DF6-2A
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Lucy Hooper
Web site: www.tandematic.com
Show focus: Tandematic, based in Spartanburg, SC, will introduce its Tandematic®
Ultrasonic selvedge trim system at ITMA. Also, the company will demonstrate
its complete line of products for dyeing, printing and finishing ranges, including
its fabric storage system, its fabric guiding system, its tenter rail guidance
system, a variety of selvedge decurlers, its Pinning Waste Control System®,
a selvedge trim system and a fabric slitter.
Techniservice
Stand: SP4-16E
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Nate Schwartz
Web site: www.techniservice.com
Show focus: Products to be displayed by the Kennett Square, PA-based company
include air intermingling machines, bulking and crimping machines, fancy twisters
and accessories.
Technoplants
Stand: NW4-4D
Country: Italy
Contact person: Jörn Lahr
Web site: www.techno-plants.com
Show focus: A special cutting machine for high-volume nonwovens.
Tecsi
Stand: DF6-1B
Country: Italy
Contact persons: Mr. Lunati, Mrs. Di Marco, Mr. Meroni
Web site: www.tecsi.it
Show focus: In-line and self-cleaning filters and spray nozzles.
Textiles Human Resources Council
Stand: C5-5E
Country: Canada
Contact person: John Saliba
Web site: www.thrc-crhit.org
Show focus: THRC will showcase eight comprehensive Textile Manufacturing Skills
programs covering more than 1,700 topics, including yarn manufacturing, weaving,
dyeing & finishing, nonwovens and carpet manufacturing. In addition, THRC
has recently negotiated with Harvard Business School Publishing and Cardean
University (via Thomson Learning, Inc.) to offer business and personal development
programs as part of its Workplace Performance Skills offering.
Tomsic Electronic Systems
Stand: T5-21K
Country: Italy
Contact person: Tomsic Silvan
Web site: www.tomsic.it
Show focus: The TMS25-QM quality monitoring system, the TMS25-PM production
monitoring system and others
Treepoint AG
Stand: DF8-12A
Country: Switzerland
Contact person: Herbert Gübeli
Web site: www.treepoint.com
Show focus: The COLORMASTER color matching and quality control system, the
COLORMASTER recipe management system, the MORAPEX material control system
and the Flex dye liquor control system.
Truetzschler
Stand: SP2-5A
Country: Germany
Web site: www.truetzschler.de
Show focus: A newly developed high-production card will be unveiled at ITMA
2003. This card is the result of well-planned, far-sighted and continuous
development and will consequently extend the series of successful Truetzschler
cards, the company said. Truetzschler also will show its well-positioned high-performance
draw frame HSR 1000.
Tube-Tex Global Group
Stand: DF17-9C
Country: U.S.
Contact person: William Motchar
Web site: www.tubetex.com
Show focus: Shown by the Lexington, NC, firm will be a bleaching plant (continuous),
rope washing machines, open-width washing machines, padding and impregnating
machines, chemical dispensing systems, padding mangles, continuous dyeing
range for warps, padding mangles, roller squeezers, tentering and stentering
machines, thermo-setting machines, drying conveyors, hot flues, tensionless
dryers, suction drum dryers, infrared dryers, raising machines, brushing machines,
finishing machines for knitwear and narrow fabrics, shrinking machines, coating
machines, tenter clips and pins, flexible clothing for raising machines and
machinery for surgical products.
Uster Technologies AG
Stand: SP3A-8B
Country: Switzerland
Contact person: Joachim Blass
Web site: www.uster.com
Show focus: Yarn cleaners, on-line devices, equipment for loom automatization,
inspecting machines, textile testing and measuring equipment, laboratory equipment
for textile physics, software systems for data monitoring and processing,
etc. Brands include the USTER® FABRISCAN, USTER® FABRISCAN ON-LOOM,
USTER® QUANTUM 2, USTER® TENSOJET 4, USTER® TESTER 4 and the USTER®
HVI SPECTRUM.
U.T.I.T.
Stand: SP2-10B
Country: Italy
Contact person: Giovanni Vaccari
Web site: www.utit.it
Show focus: Roving bobbin stripper, snake cone collecting circuit for packages.
Van De Wiele
Stand: W9-11A
Country: Belgium
Contact: Danny Bourgois
Web site: www.vandewiele.com
Show focus: Beaming machines, rapier weaving machines, weaving machines for
plush and velvet and carpet and rugs, electronic dobbies, electronic Jacquards,
electronic design systems and software systems.
Viable Systems
Stand: W10-6C
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Fred Maurer
Web site: www.viacad.com
Show focus: On display from the Medfield, MA, company will be electronic programming
devices, hot-cutting machines, automatic cutting machines and electronic design
systems for the weaving industry, embroidery and making-up industry.
Vickers
Stand: C5-1C
Country: United Kingdom
Contact person: Nigel Rushworth
Web site: www.vickers-oil.com
Show focus: Benjamin R. Vickers & Sons Ltd. will show dyestuffs and chemical
products while celebrating its 175th anniversary in business as a supplier
of textile lubricants.
West Point Foundry and Machine Co.
Stand: W10-8C
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Sharron Hill
Web site: www.westpoint.com
Show focus: Headquartered in West Point, GA, the company will demonstrate
its creels, beam warping machines, beaming machines, sizing/slashing machines,
indigo warp dyeing lines, cutting machines for velvets and velveteens and
brushing machines.
Wise Industries
Stand: NW4-3F
Country: U.S.
Web site: www.wiseind.com
Show focus: On display by the Kings Mountain, NC, company will be bale breakers,
bale pluckers; opening, cleaning, blending and dosing machines; cards; and
web-laying machines.
Xetma Group
Stands: DF19 and 14F+G
Countries: Germany, Switzerland
Contact person: Karsten Heinz
Web site: www.xetma.com
Show focus: The Xetma Group — Xetma Gematex GmbH of Germany and Xetma
Vollenweider AG of Switzerland — will demonstrate its polishing-shearing
system, its napping, sanding and brush-sueding system and its singeing system.
Zenith Pumps
Stand: SP2-1B
Country: U.S.
Contact person: Julie Sharp, Lawrence Fletcher
Web site: www.zenithpumps.com
Show focus: Zenith, of Sanford, NC, will exhibit spinning pumps, cleaning
units for extrusion tools, coating machines, wadding sizing/glueing machines,
on-line devices, chemical dispensing systems, laboratory equipment for textile
chemistry and power transmission equipment.
GREENSBORO, NC — VF Jeanswear, the maker of Wrangler jeans, plans to slash more than 1,800 jobs in plant closings in North Carolina and Oklahoma, the company said July 29.
Those affected jobs represent about 8 percent of the company’s work force.
VF Jeanswear said that 526 employees will lose their jobs as the company reduces its work force at a plant in Wilson, NC. In addition, 366 employees will be let go in September in the closing of a sewing plant in Windsor, NC.
The company will give 909 employees in Oklahoma their walking papers, including 663 at a sewing and laundry facility in Seminole and 246 in a shutdown of a plant in Ada.
“It basically all boiled down to we had more capacity than what we needed for production,” said Sam Tucker, vice president of human resources. “We were forced to look at the facilities with the highest costs.”
In recent years, the company has eliminated 16,000 employees and shut almost 40 factories. VF will employ about 16,500 people after the latest round of cuts.
“This year has been a very challenging one for the apparel industry, as well as for our company,” Tucker said. “In order to remain competitive and profitable, we found it necessary to make these extremely difficult decisions.”
On July 22, parent company VF Corp. announced that it posted lower second-quarter earnings than expected and said that its full-year results may fall short of its earlier outlook.
The company posted earnings of $74.9 million, or 68 cents per share, down from $88.5 million, or 79 cents, a year earlier. Prior-year earnings per share included a net benefit of 3 cents per share from unusual items.
Sales fell 2 percent to $1.13 billion from $1.16 billion a year earlier.
“Our sales and earnings performance in the quarter was better than we had anticipated, due in part to earlier than planned load-ins of new programs,” said Mackey J. McDonald, chairman and CEO. “We remain confident in the strength of our brands and businesses, despite a retail environment that continues to be less than robust.”
The company said it expects sales in the third quarter to be down about 2 percent. Earnings per share in the quarter could be down 15 percent to 20 percent, VF added, primarily due to expenses related to inventories, capacity and costs and the estimated loss that the company may incur if the Playwear business is sold. These expenses could total about $25 million, or 15 cents per share, VF said.
“This year may fall short of our original expectations, but we are pleased that we will maintain our earnings at prior year levels, demonstrating our ability to successfully manage our way through these extraordinary times,” McDonald said.
On July 7, the company announced that it had signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Nautica Enterprises, Inc. for about $585.6 million.
By Odyll Santos
Those watching the U.S. cotton market also are likely to be closely watching China in the 2003-04 marketing season. China may be the most important factor affecting the market this year.
China continues to represent both an opportunity and a problem for the U.S. cotton industry. While exporters look forward to supplying Chinese textile mills with cotton later this season, U.S. textile makers, whose business has suffered financial difficulties, continue to try to find ways to cut the amount of Chinese goods entering the country.
At a cotton forum earlier this month, part of the Agricultural Teleconference Network, merchant William B. Dunavant Jr. of Dunavant Enterprises, Memphis, TN, Jarral Neeper of growers cooperative Calcot in Bakersfield, CA, and marketing specialist O.A. Cleveland cited China as the key influence on the cotton market.
China is a major producer and consumer of cotton, with huge crops and stocks recorded in the last decade. Its mills use cotton from domestic as well as foreign sources, with China memorably importing large amounts of fiber in the 1990s. This season, domestic production may not meet demand. China’s mills are projected to use close to 30 million bales of cotton, but many market watchers believe that production is much less, possibly below 27 million bales. That means that China is likely to import cotton to meet the needs of its mills.
The U.S., which has supplied cotton to China in the past, could see substantial export business from this scenario, and that has some cotton watchers seeing U.S. futures prices rallying. This month, USDA projected the U.S. crop at 16.6 million bales, 3.5 percent lower than its June forecast, with exports seen 2.6 percent higher at 11.8 million bales. If current projections hold, U.S. new-crop cotton prices are expected to trade within a range of 57.00-73.00 cents per pound. Influential merchant Dunavant said that if the Chinese crop encounters problems and turns out to be smaller than expected, exports could shoot up to 12 million bales. That likely would give U.S. prices an even bigger boost.
The market, however, may have to wait a while to see higher prices. “The Chinese will not be early buyers, as they will wait for a better estimate of production,” said marketing specialist Cleveland in a newsletter for the week ended July 18. “Thus, the higher end of the price range, high 60s to low 70s, will likely not occur until after January.”
Still, while there is optimism among merchants and exporters about gaining a substantial chunk of exports to China, there is frustration among textile makers about the flow of Chinese imports into the U.S.
Mills in the U.S. are plagued by financial troubles, partly because of competition from cheaper Chinese-made goods. Many mill officials have complained about the influx of imported apparel and other products, and the industry continues to press the Bush administration for some form of protection from what members see as massive amounts of imports. Earlier this month, fiber and textile organizations, along with the National Cotton Council, asked the administration to self-initiate safeguards to curb Chinese imports.
“The safeguard action our coalition is seeking is authorized if Chinese-origin textile or apparel products disrupt markets and threaten to impede the orderly development of trade,” said Mark Lange, president and chief executive of the NCC in Memphis. “Members of the (textile) coalition unanimously agree that markets are being disrupted as evidenced by reduced U.S. mill cotton consumption, textile mill bankruptcies and closings and job losses in that sector.”
The NCC noted that in the first 15 months that followed the removal of quotas in January 2002, China’s share of the U.S. market for textile products increased from 9 percent to 45 percent.
Authority for the U.S. government to self-initiate the safeguard action is included in the accession agreement under which China gained entry into the World Trade Organization, according to the NCC.
Whether U.S. mills are successful in their efforts and whether U.S. exporters see increased business in the Chinese market remain to be seen. No matter what, China has been and is likely to remain a major force in cotton.
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks.
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your
hometown.
- Bruce Springsteen, "My Home Town"
PILLOWTEX CORPORATION, one of the largest and most venerable American home textiles producers, died July 30. It was 116.
Previously known as Fieldcrest Cannon and before that, separately, as Cannon Mills and Fieldcrest Mills, the company has long been known around the world for its famous brands, including Cannon®, Fieldcrest®, Royal Velvet® and Charisma.® As a matter of fact, in parts of the United Kingdom, towels over the course of the last century became affectionately known simply as "cannons."
Pillowtex is survived by 7,650 salaried and hourly employees, about 6,450 of whom immediately were pink-slipped when the news of the manufacturer's passing was announced. Its untimely death also is being mourned by about 1,200 survivors who have been temporarily retained to assist with funeral arrangements.
Survivors include 3,740 people in Cabarrus and Rowan counties of North Carolina and more than 4,000 statewide. Grief counselors have converged on Pillowtex's hometown of Kannapolis, NC, to assist the grieving. Other survivors are spread out from Fieldale, VA, to Los Angeles, including scores of them in Mauldin, SC, Union, SC, Scottsboro, AL, Phenix City, AL, Chicago, Dallas, Hanover, PA, Tunica, MS and Toronto.
THE COMPANY was born in 1887 to proud father James William Cannon, an industrialist who opened a small yarn-spinning plant with a $75,000 investment. The Cannon Manufacturing Company opened as the first towel manufacturer in the South in Concord, NC, a small community located about 20 miles north of Charlotte. Four years later, Cannon opened a second mill there to manufacture terry cloth. Demand for Cannon towels outpaced the small company's capacity, leading Cannon to invest in a third property, a 600-acre farm north of Concord, where he built new facilities and named the community "Kannapolis" - Greek for "City of Looms."
Meanwhile, up the road a couple of hours, in the area now known as Eden, NC, industrial tycoon Benjamin Franklin Mebane in 1893 developed an ambitious plan for a textile company manufacturing terry cloth towels. From 1898 to 1905 he executed his plan and built a mill a year on his 600 acres. After nearly a century of success for both entities, Fieldcrest acquired Cannon in 1986, forming Fieldcrest Cannon Inc.
IN 1997, then 44-year-old Pillowtex Corp, a Dallas, TX-based producer of bed and bath products, bought Fieldcrest Cannon. Pillowtex, strapped with massive debt and a declining manufacturing environment, began to fall ill shortly after the acquisition and, in 2001, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection. The company emerged in May 2002 with a new lease on life, but continued to be racked with pain, which was only exacerbated by trade policy by the U.S. government. Several physicians, with the hopes of breathing new life into the patient, examined the company, but each walked away muttering, "there's not much we can do to help."
With many of its survivors away on furlough, the company died fitfully the
morning of July 30. Its demise has been felt throughout the Southeast and
the entire textile industry.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by GGST, LLC, an entity formed by SB
Capital Group, Gibbs International, Gordon Brothers Retail Partners and Tiger
Capital Group. The outfit is looking to sell Pillowtex's organs, perhaps to
someone who has the capacity to resuscitate parts of the once-esteemed company.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Pillowtex Carolinas Care
Fund, organized by 107.9 The Link, WBTV and the Foundation for the Carolinas,
to 217 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28202 or by calling (704) 973-4450.
More information about the fund is available at www.fftc.org.
