California Apparel News

The co-located Texprocess Americas and Techtextil North America shows took place May 17–19 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, returning for the first time since 2018. The shows provide the largest event in the Americas to source materials, machinery, equipment, technology, services and more for the technical textiles, nonwovens and sewn-products industries.

“After such a long hiatus it was really wonderful to finally hold these events together under one roof,” said Kristy Meade, vice president technical textiles & technology shows at Messe Frankfurt North America. “COVID-19 proved to be a challenge for everyone, but it is clear that these industries are resilient overall and more motivated than ever to continue to push for innovation and advancement. We’re happy to be able to provide a platform for them to do so.”

The three-day event offered attendees the chance to see products up close, view live demonstrations and meet with exhibitors providing the latest solutions for the ongoing supply-chain issues. The shows featured 16 paid symposia as well as 20 complimentary sessions on the show floor regarding topics such as Automaton and Robotics in Sewing and Military and Protective Textiles.

The show floor featured innovations and technologies from leaders in the industry including Kornit Digital Ltd., Lectra and CGS, who demonstrated solutions that support on-demand production processes.

Kornit invited attendees to learn more about how to streamline, optimize and grow their businesses by using roll-to-roll on-demand sustainable production and digital printing.

Lectra displayed a unique experience that showcased a number of its integrated technologies including the latest releases of Retviews, YuniquePLM Product Lifecycle Management software, and AccuMark and Modaris interoperability.

CGS, a provider of business applications, enterprise learning and outsourcing services announced the launch and global availability of Shop Floor Control Essential, the newest addition to its BlueCherry suite. The new cloud-based solution enables manufacturers, brands and subcontractors to gain real-time visibility and insight into their supply-chain and factory-floor operations.

“I’m thrilled to be at Texprocess Americas because innovation in manufacturing and textiles is where my focus is,” said Sherri Barry, owner of Adea Everyday Luxury and a speaker at the show. “It is so great to have an opportunity to collaborate with people who are like-minded and to learn the newest and greatest things happening in the industry. I’m already planning on coming back next year.”

Twine Solutions Ltd. attended to launch the Twine TS-1800 to the Americas market. Attendees were able to see in real time the impact of being able to digitally dye thread matched to a fabric.

Americas Regional Sales Manager at Twine Solutions Gary Feltham said that the rise of on-demand manufacturing and how it is at the forefront for manufacturers, buyers and brands is driven by the growing requirement to supply product in a sustainable way while simultaneously delivering shorter lead times.

Feltham also noted that the increase and newfound comfort in shopping online has led to the increased demand for on-demand manufacturing. Research shows that Millennials and Gen Z are becoming the mature buyers in both corporate and retail buying and are focused on short to immediate response to customized fashion manufactured sustainably.

“We exhibited at our distributor Henderson Sewing’s booth and participated in the On-Demand manufacturing display that Tukatech and Henderson created with our mutual customer, Los Angeles Apparel, whose employees operated all the equipment,” said Feltham. “We exhibited in real time product being manufactured and then finishing the product with sewing utilizing digitally dyed thread matched to the fabric’s color.”

Yoram Burg, vice president of sales for Embodee, a platform that helps companies supercharge their existing 3D processes, said the shows provided the company the ability to showcase what it can do. Burg noted that platforms seemed to be a big trend at the show as opposed to individual products or technologies as platforms allow for more of a collaborative and team-based process.

“Typically we would go to events where technology only would be displayed. This was an attempt we’ve made to bring it down from a conceptual discussion about what the technology could do for a business into how it applies to the actual business. What we were showcasing was how you can actually take 3D products that are made in any 3D solution. Our whole approach with Embodee is we’re agnostic to all 3D tools, and you take those models and bring them to a cloud environment,” Burg said. “This is where we break out from the mainstream because 3D is typically designed for a person on a computer in a location whereas we’re in the cloud so you can now work as a team.”

The next edition of Texprocess Americas and Techtextil North America will be held next year, May 10–12, 2023, in Atlanta.

Photos corutesy of Messe Frankfurt.