The Needle's Eye... Trends and Technologies Driving the Sewn Products Industry
October 1949 Front Cover
The cover of this issue featured various basic materials by saluting the leather industry and the many manufacturers who made leather products.
The fact that leather is vital to our ease of living is confirmed by a glance at our well-shod feet. Shoes may seem commonplace to us today, but imagine life without them! How joyful was the discovery, by one of a tribe of ancient men, that the skin of an animal wrapped around his foot would give protection and comfort? With that ingenious device, civilization's progress on foot was limitless.
When we think of leather, we usually visualize cowboys and cattle in the romantic setting of the West. Actually, leather spans all the continents and oceans. Almost every country, with animals both familiar and strange, contributes to the raw materials of the leather industry. Read More
The 1949 "Carrihim" Machine
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A machine, known as the "Carrihim," (pronounced "Carry Him") was introduced by the Crown Manufacturing Company, St. Louis, Missouri. The "Carrihim" was an electrically driven device that ran on the floor, adjacent to the cutting table, which propelled the spreading machine and rode the fabric spreading operator. Read More
Textile cutting - productive and economical: Knitted, woven, non-woven, fleece, felt - the range of technical textiles is broad and so are their demands on cutting. Zünd's cutting solutions are consistently geared towards processing these types of materials. A powerful vacuum system reliably holds down porous materials on the cutting surface.
Industry News
With Reshoring Latin America can be the Factory of the World
BY Hugo Ivan Domínguez, IberoNews
Covid-19 and trade tensions between China and the United States have revived the interest in an eventual reshoring phenomenon in Latin America. This concept consists of returning production operations to the country of origin or others nearby. Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic have the upper hand.
That virus emerged in the city of Wuhan, China turned the world upside down. And it caused multiple havoc in different parts of the world. For example, there were interruptions in the supply of products and components. This is one more argument to detract from China’s prominence as a manufacturing center. It’s something the U.S. has been trying since Donald Trump’s administration. Read More
DuPont Joins Forces With Heriot-Watt University To Develop PPE For A Changing Workforce
DuPont has partnered with a leading UK fashion design university to develop Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) that is fit for today’s changing workforce. The collaboration between Heriot-Watt University’s School of Textiles and Design and DuPont Personal Protection aims to innovate protective clothing in line with evolving worker needs.
The demographic makeup of the workforce is evolving. The share of European women in employment rose from just over 58% in 2009 to over 64% ten years later and is continuing to grow. Read More
C and C Enterprise has teamed up with JACK, one of the world’s finest industrial sewing machine manufacturers, to form Jack of the Americas. Jack of the Americas distributes JACK machines throughout North America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean Basin. When you buy from Jack of The Americas, we don’t just ship you a box! We help you get set up and answer any questions you may have! With over 100 years of combined experience in the industrial sewn products industry, we are proud to say that we are one of the world’s leading industrial sewing products authorities and are here to serve you!
Not sure if Jack is right for you? Click on the button below for a short video showing off some of our machines. Watch it and see what Jack can do for you!
Not sure if Jack is right for you? Click on the button below for a short video showing off some of our machines. Watch it and see what Jack can do for you!
Lectra Recognized as One of the Best Managed Companies by Deloitte
Lectra, whose connected industrial equipment and software facilitate the digital transformation and Industry 4.0 transition of fashion, automotive, and furniture companies, announces that it has been named one of the 11 French companies selected for the 2022 edition of Deloitte France’s Best Managed Companies program. Read More
The LYCRA Company Accelerates Digital Transformation Through Partnership with Browzwear
The LYCRA Company, a global leader in developing innovative and sustainable fiber and technology solutions for the apparel and personal care industries, announced a partnership with Browzwear that will provide designers using VStitcher and Lotta, the pioneering platforms for 3D fashion design, the ability to quickly and easily develop products incorporating fabrics containing LYCRA®, LYCRA® T400®, and COOLMAX® fibers. Read More
Industry Technology
Spreading/Cutting Room Optimization — Part 1: Fabric Spreading
By Dr. Trevor Little, Professor Emeritus, North Carolina State University
& Dave Gardner, Editor/Publisher, The Needle’s Eye
Today's market conditions are changing and redefining the way companies buy, produce, and sell their products. What is clear is that sewn products manufacturers are now focusing on becoming more agile and flexible to take advantage of new business opportunities and to meet the current needs of consumers by producing a wider variety of products in different volumes.
Achieving operational excellence and reducing production costs in spreading/cutting rooms is becoming not merely a basic improvement but a paramount necessity to create a solid base to face today's business environment. This means investing to take advantage of the best available resources, avoid errors and rework, increase machine uptime, improve operationally, and maintain training and teamwork.
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Pathfinder FabricPro™ Tension Free Automatic Material Spreader
In traditional manufacturing, cutting and spreading become important determinants of productivity. Hence, they determine order quantity, cost, and quality. The "cutting" room, therefore, sets the requirements for the remainder of product assembly. Of course, there are many variations of the practice, but as the industry moves more and more to "mass variety" there will be a need for a more flexible spreading/cutting room. In the interim, it may be two or more systems operating to match the order activity and optimize production. Read More
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The Pathfinder M-Series® range of automated cutting machines is known for precision, very high productivity, reliability, and lowest power consumption. All 16 models are easily configured to suit most cutting applications, and, thanks to clever design, Pathfinder cutters require very little maintenance to continually deliver exceptional cut quality over a long working life.
Spreading Machine Buyers Guide
A fabric spreading machine spreads fabric in preparation for manufacturing. It smoothly lays out fabric in preparation for cutting and is the first step of the production process. Machines remove the need to manually spread material, which is time-consuming, exhausting, and leads to inaccuracies. Any mistakes made at this stage can impact the finished product, causing problematic and costly product defects. Click the button below to locate the appropriate fabric spreading machine for all industry sectors from home textiles to clothing to technical fabrics.
Industry Events
Furniture Manufacturing Expo — Bringing Together Suppliers and Manufacturers of Home Furnishings
By Dave Gardner, Editor/Publisher, The Needle’s Eye
ExpoDevCo’s Furniture Manufacturing Expo, the “Hickory Show”, just concluded with its biggest two-day event ever – including pre-pandemic times — on July 21. ExpoDevCo launched Furniture Manufacturing Expo in 2017 as a new show concept for suppliers offering the latest solutions to the manufacturers and importers of home furnishings.
For two-days suppliers showcased their latest products, services, machinery, and technologies for the home furnishings manufacturing industry. Read More
The ExpoDevCo management team close out a successful show. (Left to Right) Michelle Brice, Lorie Gross, Stephanie Everett, David Audrain, Alexandra Audrain, Penny Everett, Steve Everett.
C and C Enterprise is the United States agency for Highlead sewing machines. These high quality machines are available for your sewing needs and are sold only through local dealers and distributors. If you want more information on the Highlead brand, please feel free to contact us. www.candcenterprise.com
Interior Trends 2023 and Beyond: Calm Nature & Digital Realism
by Yvonne Heinen-Foudeh, Senior International Correspondent
In times of changing consumer awareness with a view of protecting the environment and an outside world seeming more threatening the cocooning trend is experiencing a revival. The possibilities opened up by technology for home entertainment, participating in cultural and even professional life from the home office, or the comfort of the sofa at home are reinforcing the trend.
(see report on the Furniture Manufacturing Expo, the "Hickory Show" at the end of July in this issue)
According to futurologists and trending augurs, social life with friends and family will also experience a retreat into their own 'four walls'. Splendid economic conditions for the furniture industry and its suppliers of materials and machinery.
Read More
Restorative bedroom retreat influenced by the desire for tranquility and escapism: Leading trend forecaster WGSN counted 19 million Google searches for how to create a boutique hotel bedroom: “Travel restrictions but also changing awareness have given rise to interest in hospitality inspired design.“ Source: K.Kong Home Decor
Schmetz...your manufacturer for household and industrial sewing machine needles. The product and service spectrum of SCHMETZ covers a complete range for the individual requirements of over 47 sectors in the sewing and textile processing industry, as well as for workshops and the hobby sector. Placing the highest demands on the materials used, the processing techniques, and product quality, combined with the goal of developing tailored solutions for every application, are both the focus and the mission statement of the company.
Snippets Around Texprocess & Techtextil 2022: Highlights for the RMG Industry
by Yvonne Heinen-Foudeh, Senior International Correspondent
“Mobilizing expertise, innovation, technology, and resources can only be achieved through strong partnerships,” a clear declaration on the part of Lucie Brigham during a panel discussion in front of the international trade press at the opening of the Frankfurt trade fair trio at the end of June.
(See the summarizing report in The Needle’s Eye, Issue 13, July 2022).
In this regard, the representative of the United Nations Office for Partnerships says a close, trusting cooperation between market partners is the key to accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But there is also a necessity to foster transformative sector engagement altogether. Here comes the good news… true implementation of collaborative concepts is now advancing with energy.
The current Frankfurt trade fair platforms for technical textiles and processing technologies underscored the trend — an immense range of new processes, innovative approaches to making processes more efficient and sustainable, and at the same time becoming more cost-effective — is based on partnerships between specialist suppliers, between commercial enterprises and universities, between established players and start-ups, along with scale-ups or even spin-offs from basic research. Read More
A prime example of collaborative concepts in the merging of technologies: Assyst GmbH based in Aschheim-Dornach, Germany), a solution provider for the digitalization of the apparel industry, along with their Model Suite module of 3D Vidya launched in Frankfurt, introduce a new generation of avatars, created together with Verce GmbH from Wuppertal, Germany: Shoulder to shoulder with the IT specialist and developer of virtual fitting models a new standard in photorealistic clothing display clothing arose.
37th IAF World Fashion Convention, Dhaka, Bangladesh: Transforming Fashion Together
Decision made: The International Apparel Federation (IAF) will hold its 37th World Fashion Convention in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka on November 13–16, to be organized in shoulder-to-shoulder collaboration with its Bangladeshi members, BGMEA and BKMEA.
The Convention will contain a full-day conference and a networking dinner, both held on Tuesday, November 15 as well as an industry tour held on Wednesday, November 16 and/or Thursday, November 17. Registration is now opened on the joint, dedicated convention website: www.iafconventiondhaka.com.
Read More
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Customer Centered Solutions Provider!
SPESA to Host 2022 Advancements in Manufacturing Technologies Conference this September in Detroit
The conference will be held Tuesday, September 13, and feature a full day of panel discussions with SPESA members and local industry leaders, a site visit to the Carhartt flagship store and Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center (ISAIC), and floor passes to the world-renowned North American International Auto Show. Read More
At Grindle Marketing Communications, we believe the right marketing strategy helps you win. Developing it comes from investing time to understand your customer's needs, your competitive landscape, and your brand's strengths, weaknesses, and goals.
For 30 years the founder of Grindle Marketing Communications has helped start-ups, mid-market, and fortune 500 companies to conduct research, build strategies, and tactical plans which build trust and differentiate brands from their competition leading to growth.
For 30 years the founder of Grindle Marketing Communications has helped start-ups, mid-market, and fortune 500 companies to conduct research, build strategies, and tactical plans which build trust and differentiate brands from their competition leading to growth.
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