FEB / MAR 2010 CONTENTS VOL. 21 NO.1 ■ ISSN 1015-8138 Feature Story 20 Road to full recovery might be rocky The year 2010 could potentially herald an economic recovery and buoy demand in the textile and apparel industries in the United States and the Europe Union, but the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel still remains elusive Market Focus 24 Apparel thrives in China market bonanza Despite declines in exports, textile enterprises in China maintained growth due to increases in domestic sales of textile and apparel goods Machinery Technology 26 Knitting process gets more efficient with advanced software Material Technology 32 Military manoeuvres New techniques developed for the military in the US and UK could revitalise the ailing textile coating industry Chemical & Auxiliaries 36 Garment dyeing speeds responses to market Environmental Watch 16 Fewer lamps light the world ecologically speaking Nonwovens / Technical Textiles 38 More than a carpet Innovative technologies in the technical textiles field have enabled floor coverings to perform important tasks that could even be life-saving China Focus 42 China-made textile machinery shifting to automation and digital technology 44 Producing in the market with biggest client base 46 Building up home textile industry from handcraft: Wendeng city Retail Scene 48 New springtime with soft wool 50 Creative designs, silhouettes and color combinations Corporate Profile 58 Value-addition preferred to ride out competition Commitment to quality at competitive prices is the key to success for PT Susilia Indah Synthetic Fibers Industries in Indonesia Regular columns 4 Editor's note 6 Industry news 55 Show watcher 60 Company bulletin 63 New product guide 66 Useful reference 69 Coming events calendar 70 Advertisers'index

FEB / MAR 2010 Editor's Note The optimists in the textile industry have anticipated the world economy to regain momentum in 2010, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) adjusted upward the estimated growth rate of the world economy to 3.9% for this year and 4.3% for 2011. However, there are concerns that the industry is undergoing a period of restructuring before it can fully recover from the global economic downturn, as the threats of rising unemployment and inflation remain, and the economic stimulus initiatives may come to an end. Under the current economic climate, consumption of textile and apparel products has yet to return to the levels in the boom days. Instead of relying on the export markets, Asian textile and apparel manufacturers are looking for demands from consumers at home. "Feature Story" and "Market Focus" timely discuss these trends. On the textile machinery front, knitting technologies supplement provides information on the latest software solutions. In addition, "China Focus" looks at the automation and digitalization trends, which have been growing fast in the country's textile machinery development and expected to advance further under the latest government directive to promote domestic innovation of key technologies and machine parts. This year, environmental protection and sustainability issues are likely to top the agenda of governments around the world. In the private sector, some international apparel brands have been tracking their environmental footprint, which led to similar actions taken by their suppliers. In the column of "Environmental Watch", some energy-saving approaches and possible beneficial alternatives are discussed. "Nonwovens / Technical Textiles" looks at the sector of commercial floor covering, which is a slow but steadily growing sector. Meanwhile, "Material Technology" gives an update on the textile coating technologies that target such growing application fields as outdoor advertisement and signage display. ATA JOURNAL for Asia on Textile & Apparel is published by Adsale Publishing Limited (a member of the Adsale Group) Address: 6th Floor, 321 Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2811 8897 Fax: (852) 2516 5119 Email: cta.ata@adsale.com.hk Web-site(Adsale Group): www.adsale.com.hk Adsale Industry Portal: AdsaleATA.com General Manager: Annie Chu Senior Executive Editor: Naomi Lee Associate Editor: Michelle Phong China Editor: Joany Hao Assistant Editor (China): Amy Xiao Editorial Emails cta.ata.edit@adsale.com.hk cta.ata@sz.adsale.com.hk Contributors Adrian Wilson (Europe) Ajay Sinha (India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka) Asep Setiaharja (S E Asia) Baari Inggi (S E Asia) Gail Taylor (Hong Kong) Ian Holme (Europe) Lucia Carpio (Europe) Manik Mehta (US & Europe) Ngo Tuan (Vietnam) Sanjay Gupta (India) Marketing and Advertising Janet Tong Advertising Sales Offices See page 70 Production Sonia Lai Circulation Circulation Department Publication Frequency 6 times in 2010 Distribution ATA JOURNAL is distributed free to individuals who meet the publisher's registered terms of control. Fill in the reader's form to apply for qualified readership. Subscription Rates (annual incl postage) Hong Kong: HK$455 Asia (surface mail): US$75 All Other Regions (surface mail): US$85 Cover Price: HK$76 / US$13 / US$15 Copyright©2010 All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form without the written permission of the publisher is prohibited. The publisher is not responsible for statements or opinions expressed herein nor do such statements necessarily express the views of the publisher unless stated as such. Printing Elite Printing (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd.

Industry News East Asia China GDP increases 8.7% in 2009 China's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009 stood at RMB33535.3 billion, up 8.7% from the previous year, in accordance to preliminary data announced by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of China on January 21. Sizable textile and apparel enterprises (with an annual operating revenue of at least RMB5 million) in the country registered a growth of 8.5% in added production value for the year of 2009. That growth rate was 10.2% in 2008. In 2009, China's retail sales of apparel, shoes, hats and knitted textile consumer goods reached RMB462.2 billion, up 18.8% from 2008, the NBS data showed. The retail price in this category fell 2%. Economists believed that the GDP growths were attributed by the massive stimulus package introduced by the Chinese government. Domestic consumption in China was encouraged during the year, offering momentum to the Chinese textile and apparel industry. In 2010, a moderate growth of the Chinese textile and apparel industry is expected. Investment of the industry may come from enterprises focusing on the domestic textile and apparel market. Exports might be shadowed by possible risks, such as renminbi appreciation and rising material costs. Cotton yarn exports dropped last year China's aggregate cotton yarn import and export reached 920.4 kT in the same period, up 25.87% from the previous year. Of which, the country's total cotton yarn export reached 488 kT (kilotons) from January to November 2009, down 5.7% compared to the same period of the previous year. The total export was valued US$1.659 billion, down 11.4%. The export price decreased 6.08% in the period under review. Meanwhile, the total import increased 20.82% to US$2.096 billion in the same period under review, although the import price dropped 3.8%. In the area of cotton textiles, such exports from China in general decreased during the first 11 months of 2009, except the export of combed cotton yarns and cotton yarns that increased 7.25% and 1.31% in volume respectively. Falling export volumes were recorded in the fields of cotton sewing threads (-4.13%), cotton yarns/threads (-5.07%), blended yarns/threads (-10.82%) and carded yarns (-11.23%). Outputs of chemical fibers and textiles rise in first 11 months The total output of chemical fibers in China reached 25,007.9 kT (kilotons) from January to November 2009, up 14.9% from the same period of the previous year, according to the latest figures of China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The output of chemical-fiber-made gray goods was 51.336 billion meters, up 4.4% from previous year, whilst about 21,690.2 kT of chemical-fiber-made yarns were produced in the first 11 months of 2009, up 11.8% year-on-year. Southeast Asia Indonesia Textile industry expects 13% growth in 2010 After going through a hard year in 2009, Indonesia expects to have a 13% growth on textile and apparel exports in 2010, according to the Indonesian Textile Association (API). Chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API), Benny Soetrisno, in an annual press conference at the end of December 2009 in Jakarta. "2009 is a rainy day for Indonesian textile industry. Slowing demand in developed countries caused a drop in the global demand of textile and clothing goods. As a result, Indonesia's export of textile and clothing products decreased this year (2009). Up to October 2009, textile and apparel exports from Indonesia reached US$7.8 billion, sliding 11.26% compared to the same period of 2008. The API projected the figure will be around US$9.4 billion for the full year of 2009, or 6.37% short of the target at US$10.04 billion," said Mr Soetrisno. Mr Soetrisno expected the situation in 2010 to improve, considering the economic recovery of developed countries will likely be observed by mid-2010. Assuming the global demand will resume to normal, the API expected the Indonesian textile and apparel exports to reach US$10.66 billion in 2010. However, this estimation is subject to the pace of the global economic recovery. Indonesia to re-negotiate FTA with China In early January, Indonesia notified the ASEAN council of its plan to modify the implementation of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by re-negotiating 228 tariff categories in eight industrial sectors, including textiles and footwear. A government official said that the Indonesian authorities would like to re-negotiate with the ASEAN and China regarding the agreement because it has a potential to weaken local industries, according to local media reports. The Indonesian authorities targeted a delay of the implementation of tariff cuts to give local industries a chance to become more competitive to withstand the possible inflow of Chinese imports. In return, it is offering to accelerate the implementation of tariff cuts on 153 tariff categories. The ASEAN-China FTA took effect on January 1 this year. Producers expected to turn to be traders Following the implementation of China- ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Industry News ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) this January, textile and apparel producers, especially small and mid-size enterprises from Bandung West Java, had concerns over the possible inflow of Chinese textile and apparel goods under the FTA. Chairman of the API Jabar, or the Indonesian Textile Association in West Java, Ade Sudradjat said that some traders started to cut their orders from locally made products and wait for imports from China four months before the FTA became effective. Local manufacturers were thus forced to cut production. Chairman of the API, or the Indonesian Textile Association, Benny Soetrisno said that some textile and apparel manufacturing SMEs in face of the market pressure may switch to be traders as they worry that their own making cannot compete with imports, particularly those from China. "It is likely that some SMEs will buy cheaper import products to sell them at home," he said. The collapse of local textile and apparel makers had already started since 2008, due to intense competition from imports, he continued. With reference to the API data, 155 local companies in 2008 and additional 271 in 2009 in the industry closed down, mostly from the sectors of spinning and apparel making, for instance. The Philippines Natural fibers developed by Filipino researchers The Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) held the country's first national conference on natural fibers last December, showcasing the most recent studies and developments done in the country's indigenous fibers. PTRI director, Dr Carlos Tamboc, said the conference brought together all the players and stakeholders in natural-fiber research and development. For instance, Abaca fibers are used in making textile and composite materials, and even in printing monetary notes. Researchers at PTRI also found hyacinth fibers as potential raw material for the manufacture of clothing and home fabrics. According to their study, processing the fibers with polyester staples initially produced blended yarns with 20-35% water hyacinth component. The stalks went through a series of chemical and mechanical treatment to achieve the crimp property of wool for better processing, reduce the plant's glue-like content, and soften the fibers to make them fine and fit for knitting and weaving. Additionally, researchers from the University of the Philippines are working to use natural fibers for the fabrication of composite materials, particularly as a possible replacement for fiberglass fillers for plastic matrices widely used in automobile and construction industries. Vietnam Textile and garment export up 1% in 2009 The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) reported that textile and apparel exports turnover of the country reached over US$9.1 billion in 2009, up about 1% over the previous year. Though the growth was slight, the Vitas saw it a positive signal showing Vietnam's textile and apparel industry was able to survive through the global economic recession last year. During the year, the US, the EU and Japan remained the three major markets of made-in-Vietnam products of textiles and apparel. At nearly US$5 billion, exports to the US accounted for about a half of the total turnover in 2009, down 5% in value but 18% up in volume compared to 2008. Exports turnover to some other major markets also enjoyed fruitful results, the Vitas said, including Korea (+45%), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (+23%), Switzerland (+12%) and the Southeast Asian region (+7.8%). Importing materials for the textile and apparel production in 2009 witnessed a strong decline compared to 2008. Import turnover of fabrics reduced 6.4% in 2009 from the previous year to US$4.17 billion, while raw material imports also slid 20% to US$1.08 billion. The Vitas estimated Vietnam's textile and apparel industry to reach an export turnover of approximately US$10.5 billion in 2010. Training for Tanzanian textile workers The A to Z Textile Mills sent about 90 of its workers to Vietnam in a program on improving techniques of producing the mosquito net. Based in Arusha city in northern Tanzania, the A to Z Textile Mills is a long-lasting insecticidal net manufacturer in central East Africa. A large amount of Vietnamese mosquito nets are exported to the African countries in these years, gaining reputation among African consumers. Therefore, the A To Z Textile Mill decided to learn from Vietnam. The Afrian producer's current production capacity is 65,000 nets/day, and 90% of the products are sold to the neighbouring countries in the region. Police raids counterfeiter in Hanoi Hanoi's local intellectual property police announced that they caught the owner of Huong Shop in central Hanoi, where 60 allegedly fake jean trousers of Louis Vuitton brands were available for sale in addition to hundreds of apparel goods labelled with other international fashion brands. Located at Old Quarter, the busiest area of Hanoi, the store was selling allegedly fake Louis Vuitton jean trousers at a price of VND240,000 per piece (equivalent to US$12.5) while the genuine product sold by the brand in Vietnam is about ten-fold more expensive. The action was supported by the Louis Vuitton distributor in Vietnam who cooperated with the local government to fight against fraudulent goods, officials of Hanoi's Intellectual Property Police said. ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Industry News Puma builds product development center Puma AG opened a new product development center in Ho Chi Minh city late last year in a bid to help its local suppliers improve the creation of new apparel products as well as reduce costs. The center is the new home for footwear and apparel prototype and sample suppliers covering 85% of Puma's footwear and 15% of Puma's apparel development needs, the company explains. Over 40 Puma suppliers are put under one roof and work tightly together, said Jochen Zeitz, Chairman and CEO of Puma. Further integrated in the new center are material and component suppliers as well as sourcing, engineering, material management, laboratory and research & development centers of Puma's sourcing organisation. Prior to this, these facilities had been spread all over Asia. The new center was built in line with the company's sustainability concept, featuring a water reservoir on rooftop to collect rain water for cooling purposes in the hot season and for gardening. A louver was installed to protect the office and factory building from direct sunlight, which reduces the heating up of the building. Solar panels provide energy for warm water consumption and air-conditioning. Concerns over wages in Ho Chi Minh City Demands of apparel factory workers for higher wages in Ho Chi Minh City aroused concerns from some overseas investors late last year. An American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (AmCham) representative, Herb Cochran, in a meeting with a delegation of international importers in late 2009, commented that Vietnam was not as attractive as before with rising wages, considering that the productivity of the country's textile and apparel workers is about 70%-80% of that of Chinese laborers. Indonesia could be a substitution. A senior official at the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Garments, Textiles, Embroidery and Knitting was quoted by local media reports, saying that higher labor costs are found in big cities like Ho Chi Minh City. Labor cost remains attractive in other provinces in Vietnam. More than 500 workers at a garment plant of Hamlin Vietnam Company located in Ho Chi Minh City went on a strike last December for higher wages. The workers did not agree with the company's change of calculating the salary from time-based to volume-of-products-based. In addition, the quality of meals for workers was considered bad. Hamlin Vietnam is a wholly foreign invested factory by a Filipino firm, producing knits such as men's polo, blouses, men's boxers and woven bottoms for men and women. The products are made for international brands including Phillips Van-Huesen and Calvin Klein shipping to markets like the US, Europe, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong. Spinning sector being developed In order to nurture the underdeveloped sector of spinning, the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) is building a new yarn-making plant. The ground-breaking ceremony of the Hong Linh Spinning Plant in Hong Linh town, Ha Tinh province was held in December 2009. Invested with VND450 billion (or about US$24 million), the plant is a joint venture of Vinatex and some leading textile and apparel enterprises in the region, including Hanosimex, Phu Bai Spinning Mill Company, Ha Dong Textile Company, Hoang Thi Loan Textile and Garment Company and Ha Tinh Trade Corporation. The plant is designed with 50,000 spinning reels to achieve an annual capacity of 6,000 tons. Expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2010, it will recruit about 510 local workers. Industry experts commented that the Vietnamese textile and apparel industry has been developed for years, but its spinning section is still underdeveloped and local enterprises have to import fibres and yarns for production. Therefore, the Hong Linh Spinning Plant will make a great contribution to the development of the spinning sector as well as the country's textile and apparel industry as a whole. New apparel factory helps reduce poverty in poor district The Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) also continued its expansion in apparel making sector with a new investment in a plant at VND42 billion (or US$ 2.3 million) producing garment for both domestic and export markets. Located in the Son Dong district of Bac Giang province, the plant was planned to reach an annual capacity of 3.5 million pieces of apparel products, and the revenue per annum will be about VND 52 billion (or US$2.9 million). Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, Bui Xuan Khu, said that building a garment plant in this location is not only for commercial purposes. It also helps reduce poverty and eliminate hunger as Son Dong is a poor district where 47% of its total population is ethnic minority. When it operates in April 2010, the plant will need about 1,000 local labors. South Asia US cotton association to tour South Asia The International Cotton Association Ltd (ICA) met with mill owners from Bangladesh and Pakistan in mid-January 2010. The US organization's President and Managing Director first visited Bangladesh during mid-January to host a workshop and meet with leading cotton officials to hear the views of mill owners about ICA Rules and to encourage companies to join the Association. From Bangladesh they traveled to India to meet with Indian cotton officials before finally stopping off in Dubai, where they met representatives from the Karachi Cotton Association. ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Industry News India New changes seen in local luxury market International luxury apparel retailers are trying to enter the market of India with affordable luxury apparel products targeting value-conscious consumers. Indian retail chain major, Shoppers Stop, is set to launch Playboy brand of unisex wear, and a textile conglomerate, S Kumars group, has decided to bring in three international brands by the end of this fiscal year (i.e. the first quarter of 2010). Some luxury international apparel brands witnessed sluggish demand in the country last year. The distribution of Jimmy Choo and Bottega Veneta changed hands from the Murjanis Group to other local distributors. Some overseas apparel brands now try to work with Indian retailers, who have a good understanding of the local market. A variety of business models are possible, including franchise, according to Rahul Mehta, president of the Clothing Manufacturers Association in India. Shoppers Stop, which had launched foreign brands like Mothercare and Austin Reed, planned to add about half a dozen foreign labels to its product offerings in India. A recent addition was a German jeans brand called Mustang. S Kumar Group's Brandhouse Retail, already tying up with an Italian brand Oviesse, is also trying to expand in India's luxury apparel market. Managing director of S Kumars Nationwide (SKNL), Nitin Kasliwal said, "We are in an advanced stage of talks with international apparel brands keen to tap the Indian market soon. Some of these brands are top-end luxury brands." According to industry analysts, the market for luxury and premium brands in India is estimated at about Rs 6,000 crore- Rs 7,000 crore, growing at about 25-30% a year. Luring foreign investment As part of Indian government's strategy to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in the textile sector, an Indian trade delegation led by the Textile Minister, Dayanidhi Maran, initiated trade talks with manufacturers and business groups in Switzerland, Italy and Turkey. The Indian textile sector attracted US$200 million in 2008, representing a meager fraction of 0.6% in the country's overall FDI of US$33 billion in the year. The Indian authorities targeted a total of foreign direct investment at US$6 billion for the domestic textile industry by 2015 so as to tap foreign capital towards establishing eco-friendlier production units in such fields as textile machinery, fabric and garment manufacturing and technical textiles. The delegation organised road-shows in Zurich (Switzerland), before visiting Milan (Italy) and Istanbul (Turkey). The Indian contingent also visited Frankfurt (Germany) ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Industry News and Paris (France), with an aim to attract investments in technical textiles. Companies being visited included machinery builders and textile manufacturers, including Benninger, Rieter, Jacob Müller and Weisbrod-Zuerrer in Switzerland; Miroglio, Vincenzo Zucchi and Zegna in Italy; and Bilsar in Turkey. Mr Maran said that the authorities expected to attract 20% of the US$6 billion FDI target in the first year (FY 2009-10). Synthetic fiber exports rise India's exports of man-made fiber (MMF) textile exports are on a recovery path with fresh demand seen from Europe and West Asia, according to the country's Synthetic & Rayon Textile Export Promotion Council. The worst is over and the Indian MMF textile exports could register a positive growth for this calendar year (2010), said Mr Ganesh Kumar Gupta, Chairman of the Council. Between April and September 2009, MMF exports increased by 10% in US dollar and 26% in Indian rupee terms compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. "The recovery in exports was mostly seen from the Middle East region, especially the United Arab Emirate and Europe. The US market, however, continues to remain comparatively weak," said Mr Gupta. Jute geotextiles appear promising The Indian authorities planned to promote the use of jute geotextiles (JGT). A five-year, US$3.6-million project to identify potentially important JGT for use in control of soil erosion and rural road construction and standardisation of design, methodology and specifications for use of jute geotextiles was formally launched by the Union Textiles Minister, Dayanidhi Maran, in late 2009. Under the project, 26 field trials would be conducted - 16 in India and 10 in Bangladesh - to certify and standardise the effectiveness of JGT. While the Indian government would invest US$1.25 million to implement the project activities in India, the Bangladeshi government would contribute US$0.57 million. The Common Fund for Commodities, based in Amsterdam of the Netherlands, an intergovernmental body within the framework of the UN, will also finance the project with the Dhaka-based International Jute Study Group (Bangladesh) being the supervisory body. The Jute Manufacturers Development Council (JMDC) in Kolkata (India) serves as the executive arm for the project. Mr Maran said that jute geotextiles command a business potential of Rs 1,260 crore in the 21,000-km national highway being upgraded by the Indian government. The Bharat Nirman, a business plan for rural infrastructure, envisages laying of 24,000 kilometers of roads for connectivity to rural areas. This could present a further market potential of Rs 868 crore for the jute geotextile industry. Pakistan More raw cotton exported in 2009 Raw cotton exports of Pakistan registered an increase of 107% in first five months of the current fiscal year (i.e. July-November 2009), mainly due to a rising demand in the international market. Major cotton producers, including China, are estimated to face short cotton crop this year. Therefore, the demand for cotton in the world market is higher than previous years. Pakistan is expected to yield over 12.5 million bales of cotton crop during 2009-10 as compared to 11.2 million bales in 2008-09, industry players in Pakistan said. The expected crop yield will not be sufficient to meet the country's overall demand, which presently stands between 15.5-16 million bales. Meanwhile, exports of the Pakistani raw cotton are on surge as the commodity is now freely imported and exported under the WTO agreement. Pakistani export of raw cotton has been rapidly and constantly rising since July 2009. The country exported raw cotton at a value of US$108.497 million in July-November of current fiscal year 2009-10 against US$52.308 million during corresponding period of 2008-09, depicting an increase of 107.42% or US$56.189 million in value, as per the government's official statistics. A local exporter explained that Pakistan's exporters and traders are offering better quality cotton at a reasonable price of 73-75 US cents per pound, as compared to about 80 US cents per pound by Indian traders, for instance. As a result, they are getting massive export orders. This exporter also expects a record export of raw cotton in 2010. Reaction against MOU with US firm Farmers of Pakistan (FOP), Pakistan Kisan Board (PKB), Pakistan Kisan Committee, Anjuman Kashtkaran and ActionAid did not welcome the proposed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an US biotechnology company for introducing insect-resistant Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton and other advanced seed technologies in Pakistan. Cotton is an important cash crop of Pakistan, which comprises two thirds of country's agricultural exports, the Pakistani associations said. Local farmers showed concerns over genetically modified cotton. An official of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture explained that the authorities planned to sign this MoU as Bt is a live micro-organism that kills unwanted insects from forests and agriculture crops. Provided in cottonseed, it boosts the yield and protects the crop from most of the pests. Currently, farmers are using Bt cottonseed on around 2.7 million acres of land against cultivation out of the total eight million acres in the country. Though Pakistan is the world's fourth-largest cotton producer, third largest raw cotton exporter and a leading yarn exporter, its yield per acre is at 13th position in the world. Pakistan's cotton requirement is about ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Industry News 16 million bales, and it produces around 12 million bales. The gap is bridged through imports. Establishing a garment city in Hyderabad The authorities of Sindh province in Pakistan approved in principle the establishment of a garment city in Hyderabad and allowed allocation of Rs 100 million for feasibility preparation. The project on 500 acres of land will cost Rs 225 million and its completion will take two years. Minister for Industries and Commerce of Sindh, Rauf Siddidi, said the garment city in Hyderabad would be the biggest in Pakistan, whereas Faisalabad garment city company, which is incorporated by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has a land area of 40 acres. He added that the project will include facilities and necessary infrastructure to the textile and leather garment sector to enhance the export of value added garment, made-ups, accessories and leather garments to the international markets. Foreign investors and entrepreneurs are welcomed and the project is expected to generate sizeable employment opportunities, especially for women. The authorities pointed out that garment cities are successfully operated in China, Singapore, Vietnam and Bangladesh and India has set up large industrial parks for the same purpose. The Pakistani government thus planned to establish three garment cities in Lahore, Karachi and Faisalabad respectively for the sustained development of the textile and apparel industry. Bangladesh Stimulus package to exporters The government of Bangladesh, in late 2009, announced the second stimulus package worth Tk10 billion for helping the export-oriented enterprises, including those in the sectors of textile and ready-made garment in face of the global economic downturn. "The government will require at least Tk 10 billion for financing the second stimulus package, which include direct export subsidy, fiscal and other policy support, for the export-oriented sectors," said Finance Minister AMA Muhith. The government has also announced a conditional incentive support for the country's readymade garment sector, under which a 5% cash subsidy will be available in the first year against exports to the markets other than the EU, the US and Canada. The rate of such subsidy will decrease to 4% for the second year and 3% in the third year, the finance minister said. The Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) would get additional cash support for direct export of yarn to any overseas market, he added. ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Industry News Country Focus: Bangladesh maintains apparel exports with low cost advantages by Ajay Sinha and Staff Reporters Situated in South Asia adjacent to India, Bangladesh was ranked as the 48th largest economy in the world in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2008. The country's per capita income was US$621 in the financial year (FY) of 2008-09, with a rise of US$62 compared to the previous year (2007-08), according to figures of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) announced in June 2009. The textile and apparel industry is one of the biggest sources of national economic revenue. About 75% of Bangladesh's total export earnings come from ready-made garment exports, according to experts at the World Bank. The major markets are North America and Europe. Ready-made garment made in the country are mainly divided into woven and knit products. Wovens are usually shirts, T-shirts and trousers, whereas knits from Bangladesh are mainly intimate wear, stockings, sweaters and casual wear. Bangladesh's textile and apparel industry has been greatly benefited from quotas under Multi- Fibre Arrangement (MFA) in the North American market until 2005 and the preferential market access to the European Union. The apparel sector thereby grew phenomenally from US$3.5 million in 1981 to over US$10 billion per annum in recent years. In the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, Bangladeshi knitted and woven apparel exports reached US$12.35 billion, the government's Export Promotion Bureau said. Industry observers believed that as a number of Asian textile and apparel factories closed down partly due to higher wages and costs, some buyers shifted orders to new global sourcing destinations. Bangladesh was one of the beneficiaries. Looking ahead, Bangladesh has opportunities to boost apparel exports to the US and the EU countries where the demand for low cost apparel is increasing. However, it remains unsure how far the two major markets will improve their economies in 2010. Public policy is also crucial to boost Bangladeshi apparel industry. The government policy of liberalization of the economy encouraged private sector investments. Low cost energy and natural gas provides Bangladesh's textile industry with a competitive advantage in producing labor-intensive goods. A large domestic market is also an advantage for the country's apparel industry. Cheap and abundant labor forces have been an advantage for Bangladesh's apparel industry. Wage of the garment workers was last reviewed in 2006 to Tk 1662. With the rising living cost in these years and unrest among the workers during 2008 and 2009, a number of leading international buyers, including WalMart, H&M, Levis, Nike and Tesco, expressed concerns in early January over the issue of wages in the country. They wrote a letter to the country's Prime Minister for this matter. The wage issue affects over 4,000 factories and three million workers. Moreover, the rate of interest for the textile sector would be cut to 10% from the existing 13%. Expiry for rescheduling loans for the sector would be extended until June 2010 from November 1, 2009. The government also offered more support to small and medium-sized textile mills (SMEs) with an extra 5% incentive on their additional exports of the fiscal year (FY) 2009-10 to that of the previous fiscal. Textile and apparel exports of SMEs reached US$ 3.5 million in FY 2008-09. Besides, the SMEs in the textile and apparel sector, without captive or diesel-run electricity generators, would receive a 10% subsidy on their electricity bills until June 2010, the stimulus package revealed. It, however, said such support is applicable for those who have not enjoyed any loan rescheduling facility. More favorable measures are given in the stimulus package. Jute export banned Bangladesh banned the export of all grades of raw jute in December 2009 following a supply scarcity of the fibre faced by the domestic jute mills. "The government has decided to keep export of all kinds of raw jute suspended with an immediate effect in order to ensure its supply in the internal market, said a circular issued on December 7, 2009, by the textile and jute ministry. The ban will be in force until further notice. The circular added that raw jute, both in the forms of kancha and pacca bales, which had been taken to ports but yet to be shipped was not allowed to export. The price of raw jute rose significantly in recent times, mainly due to an inadequate supply of the natural fibre. Jute mill operators said that the raw jute price had jumped to Tk1,700-1,750 per maund from Tk 1,200-1,250 some months ago, and they were unable to afford such high prices. The country's total availability of raw jute could be 4.5 million bales in 2009. It was estimated that local jute mills - both private and state-run ones - consumed 3-3.2 million bales of raw jute per annum, while the country's raw jute export is about 1.8 million bales a year. ■ For daily news of the textile industry, please visit AdsaleATA.com ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Association News Associations aims higher for Bangladeshi textile industry by Ajay Sinha Anumber of industry associations represent the interests of Bangladesh's textile and apparel industry, including BTMA, BKMEA and BGMEA. Reflecting industry views to the authorities The Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) is a national trade organization representing yarn, fabric manufacturers and textile product processing mills in the country's business sector. The private textile community in Bangladesh jointly established the BTMA in 1983 with an initial membership of 22 mills, so as to promote and protect the trade, commerce and manufacturers of Bangladesh in general and of the textile related trade in particular. Abdul Hai Sarker, President of the BTMA explained that the association has over 800 members including 458 weaving mills, 222 spinning mills, and 141 mills of dyeing, printing and finishing. Over US$3.3 billion (2.5 billion euros) has been invested in these mills and about 3.5 million people are employed. The BTMA is run by an executive committee of 27 members, headed by a president and three vice-chairmen, who are elected for a two-year tenure. "We aspire to making the BTMA an institution of excellence, so that its reputation as a think tank and policy advocate spreads far and wide and that international bodies recognize its contribution to our national development," Mr Sarker told ATA Journal. While talking about the problems confronting the industry, he raised out concerns of the textile industry over the gas shortage. Production of some regions reduced by about a half in regions where gas supply was severely interrupted. In addition, the association offered industry views to the government in regard to the industry development. After gathering views from the business sector, the Bangladeshi authorities have recently announced the second stimulus package (details on Industry News, page 11) worth Tk10 billion to assist export-oriented enterprises, including textile and readymade garment makers. Caption: Apparel making is an important foreign exchanger earner in Bangladesh (Photo: BGMEA) Liasing for trade promotion Knitwear is a major apparel export category in Bangladesh. Exports of knitwear earning reached US$6429.26 million in financial year 2008-09 (i.e. July 2008-June 2009), according to the Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) was established to represent the interests of this segment in 1996. It has now 1,500 corporate members. Md. Fazlul Hoque taking over the charge as the President of BKMEA for the third time (2008-10) explained that the association is run by a 27-member board of directors. The board is elected for a period of two years and there are 21 different sub-committees to facilitate the operation of the association. Mr Hoque commented that the BKMEA has established liaisons with domestic and overseas associations to encourage industry growths. For instance, it works with international agencies and maintains close relationships with diplomatic offices in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It also works with industry organizations in Europe and the US, e.g. the Global Alliance for Fair Textile Trade (GAFTT) and the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC). Aspires to building healthy business environment For apparel makers in general, the representing organization is the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), which has members in the export-oriented woven knit and sweater making manufacturing sectors. Abdus Salam Murshedy, President of the BGMEA, explained that the BGMEA has two main missions. The primary objective of the BGMEA is to establish a healthy business environment for mutually beneficial relationships among the manufacturers, exporters and importers. Second, it aims to implement all legitimate rights and privileges of garment workers regarding health, welfare and safety. The organization also stands to ensure child-labor-free factories, women empowerment, gender equality and other social standards, and seeks to keep the environment clean and unaffected, he added. Bangladesh has its advantages and can take opportunity amid the current economic climate, however, some measures are needed, such as a technical upgradation fund, an export-performance-benefit scheme and export incentives on retention, Mr Murshedy concluded. ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Environmental Watch Fewer lamps light the world ecologically speaking So far as economic and/or environmental benefits are concerned, textile and apparel producers, like those in other industrial sectors, have come up with new initiatives to improve energy efficiency by Michelle Phong At the global climate change conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark, late last year, officials from the world's governments promised to reduce carbon emissions. China, the European Union, Japan, the United States and more nations made their pledges. With these vows, it is likely that factories and households will find their energy bills more expensive as the governments will need to introduce energy-saving measures and develop reliable and eco-friendlier energy sources. The price of electricity for non-residential use in China was raised RMB0.028 (or 2.8 fen) starting November 2009. Chinese textile enterprises showed concerns over rising energy costs. A Hunan-based textile enterprise, for instance, paid about RMB4 million per annum for electricity while its yearly sales of production were about RMB200 million. The unit cost of electricity in terms of production is substantial. The company worried that it would take a radical change in production to bring down the cost of electricity. Another textile enterprise headquartered in Zhejiang province explained that it has been using energy-saving lighting fixtures and looking for less-energy-hungry machinery for production. Apart from these efforts, this company considered moving the factory to lower-cost provinces (e.g. lower electricity prices for industrial sectors) like Hubei. Energy consultants say there are ways to further enhance energy efficiency. Three major areas of energy consumption at a textile factory are air-conditioning (or fans / ventilation), illumination and machine operation. "The easiest way to save energy starts with the optimization of lighting system at a factory, which gives a relatively short pay-back period," said Benny Yu, Business Development Manager of Nanoflex Limited under Hong Kong-based Inergi Group. Textile factories work 24 hours a day with shifts in China and about a third of the total energy cost paid by a textile factory is spent on illumination. He explained that the lighting cost can be reduced by using energy-saving fluorescent tubes and de-lamping. Caption: Specially coated reflectors can increase the illuminance level when using an energy-saving tube, Benny Yu from Nanoflex told ATA Journal Costly operation impairs energy efficiency In the case of luminaries, the costs of purchase and maintenance are less significant than the operation cost during the life span. The operation cost is the multiple of quantity of lamps, wattage per lamp, operation hours and electricity tariff. The amount of electricity consumed (in watts) by a T5 tube is lower than that of a commonly used T8 tube, when they are turned on for the same period of time. However, the energy-saving T5 (unless they are high-output) can give a lower illuminance level than a T8. With specially coated reflectors that enhance light diffusion, a T5 can well light up an area while lowering the electricity consumption, according to Mr Yu. In addition, a simulation report on light distribution in a given indoor area with existing luminaries allows users to gain the maximum benefit of necessary illumination with minimal lamps. At a textile factory in Jiangmen city, Guangzhou province, there were about 6,000-7,000 tubes. Taking the advice from Nanoflex Limited, the factory removed unnecessary lamps by 33% and 50% in different areas of the factory, and installed reflectors to remaining tubes to boost illumination. ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Environmental Watch "As a consequence, the factory was able to reduce about a third of the illumination cost, or about 6-15% of the total energy bill. This is a piece of good news for the factory's financial controller. It also means a considerable portion of carbon emissions waived,"explained Mr Yu. It took about six months to cover the investment cost involved, which depends on hours of operation, he added. Apart from illumination, textile factories can also save energy costs in the areas of ventilation and machine operations. Keeping the indoor at a temperature of at least 25℃, for example, can be a rule of thumb. Energy-efficient servo motors are also useful to enhance the energy management of the machines. Newly commercialized green energy source from sugar cane Looking at a larger picture, energy experts believe that it is important to explore more alternative energy sources other than coal and oil. Technologies to generate energy from radiation of the sun, biofuels, wind and more are constantly under development. A São Paulo-based company, Brazilian Pellet, planned to generate energy by turning bagasse, a byproduct of sugar cane production, into dense pellets, which can be burned as fuel. Production is expected to begin by the second half of this year in Brazil, the world's largest producer of sugar cane. Brazilian Pellet estimates that it will reach an annual pellet production of 520,000 tons by 2015 for users in the fields of textile, dairy and brewing in the country. The company also has a plan to export the pellets to European Union, where the authorities have called for a 20% of energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020. With reference to the United Nations report on biofuels published in October 2009, traditional biomass use currently provides 13% of global final energy demand. Biofuels currently under use include bioethanol from wheat, sugar cane and corn, as well as biodiesel from palm oil, sunflower, wood, manure and etc. Biomass contributed about 1% of the total global electric power capacity of 4,300 GW in 2006. However, there is a dilemma with the use of biofuels. The fact that biofuels are crops grown or wastes from the land has a number of environmental and social impacts that need to be assessed throughout the entire life-cycle. Experts at the United Nations agreed it is more sound to promote energy from residues or wastes rather than energy crops (e.g. corns), and others are concerned that any imbalance of demand and supply might bring problems. Others say that the supply of biofuels is often finite and cannot be increased to lower costs when the available sources are used up. In addition, the supply of some renewable energy sources is intermittent. Caption: Byproduct of sugar cane has been turned into an evironmentally friendly energy fuel in pellet form (Photo: Brazilian Pellet) The sun nurtures life, and generators The UN report stated that turning solar radiation into useable energy can be more efficient, requiring lower land requirement and thereby less environmental impacts. Based in Langfang city, Hubei province, ENN Solar Energy introduced a new generation of solar energy panels to China in March 2009. ENN's high-efficiency thin film photovoltaic (PV) panels use a SunFab Thin Film Line represents the latest technology offered by Applied Materials, which is a US equipment supplier to the solar photovoltaic industry. "By combining the high efficiency of tandem junction technology with ultra-large 5.7㎡ substrates, we're able to deliver modules that dramatically reduce installed cost per watt," said Dr Rick Wan, General Manager of ENN Solar. These panels are nearly four times larger than conventional modules on the market. To further promote the use of solar energy, Applied Materials opened an advanced solar research and demonstration facility in Xi'an, China. This 400,000-square-feet solar technology center, the largest non-government solar energy research facility in the world, has a solar technology center for R&D and offers product demonstration. The company hopes that this new facility will help enhance the development of clean energy technology and contribute to decreasing the cost of solar. At the moment, it takes years to gain back the return on investment of solar, making it a niche product for few. Solar for a manufacturing factory such as textiles is one of the energy sources, and the use of it iconizes a deed of caring for the society. Caption: Applied Materials from the US recently erected an advanced solar R&D center in China to capture growths in the emerging market ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Environmental Watch Dow Corning promotes eco-friendlier denim washing Dow Corning Corporation highlighted the company's eco-solution for denim finishing at AATCC's Fashion Garment Washing Symposium last December in the United States. Traditionally, processing and finishing denim to achieve the well-worn, soft look and feel desired by brand owners and consumers requires large amounts of water and energy. Hence, Dow Corning GP 8000 Eco Solution, which can achieve savings up to 50% of water and energy consumed during denim finishing without compromising the final aesthetics of the garment, according to Charles Zimmer, Dow Corning's global textiles strategic marketer. Mr Zimmer told attendees of AATCC symposium ways to achieve significant water savings during denim finishing, to enable softening to be combined with previously incompatible processes, and to eliminate steps and reduce the amount of water, energy and time required to produce denim garments. Indians aim to bring about green industrial evolution Two non-profit NGOs, the Helping Hand Foundation in association with Indian Merchants'Chamber-ERTF, organized a conference in India to arouse awareness on the "Green Evolution" and to let people from the concerned industries learn more about sustainable measures. Held in January early this year, the Green Industrial Evolution 2010 conference will provide a platform to bring together all the stakeholders: the policy makers, the business and the representatives from three industries: a) energy (energy efficiency), b) carbon credit/CDM (clean development mechanism), and c) composite textiles. The objective is to exchange ideas and come out with an action plan to combat climate change with respect to these three areas. Hong Kong firm markets organic woollen yarns Being certified by GOTS, Novetex in Hong Kong supplies organic wool while ensuring animal welfare at source and respecting the nature in alignment with the Oeko-tex Standard 100. Novetex is certified by Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) awarded by Control Union. The wool raw fibre is purchased directly from a fully traceable certified organic sheep farm. Wool from the sheep is cleaned using specially approved biodegradeable cleansing agents. Water sources in the processing must be sustainable. All agents and oils used in the spinning process must not be synthetic. The dyes, if used, are metal-free, with low environmental impacts, therefore producing little wastage and run off, according to Novetex. US organic cotton plantings break records US growers of organic cotton increased plantings of organic cotton acreage by 26% in 2009 over that planted the previous year, according to preliminary data collected by the Organic Trade Association (OTA) in a survey funded by Cotton Incorporated. Analysis of available data collected by an OTA survey of US organic cotton producers and preliminary data from the Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative (TOCMC) put planted area at 10,731 acres in 2009, up from an estimated 8,539 acres in 2008. The 2009 plantings are the highest since 2001, when 11,586 acres were planted by US cotton growers. Harvested acreage figures for 2009 are not yet available. However, estimates show that this could be as much as 9,555 acres, up from 7,289 acres harvested in 2008. Harvested organic cotton area in 2008 yielded 7,026 bales, of which 6,466 bales were upland cotton and 560 bales were pima cotton. This yield was significantly less than that in 2007 due to difficult weather conditions, including wind, hail and drought, in 2008. Pacific Textiles wins award in Hong Kong Pacific Textiles was awarded the "Hang Seng Pearl River Delta Environmental Award 2008/09" as well as the "Hang Seng Pearl River Delta Environmental Category Awards - Air Emissions and Noise Abatement" jointly issued by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries and Hang Seng Bank last December. Established by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI) and Hang Seng Bank in 2007, the "Hang Seng Pearl River Delta Environmental Awards" was set up under the manufacturing category of the One Factory-One Year-One Environmental Project (1-1-1) Programme. Entering its second year, the Awards aim to recognize and encourage sound environmental practices by manufacturing companies in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. Caption: Zhao Qi-zhi(far left), Deputy General Manager of Pacific Textiles received awards for its green efforts. ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Feature Story Road to full recovery might be rocky The year 2010 could potentially herald an economic recovery and buoy demand in the textile and apparel industries in the United States and the Europe Union, but the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel still remains elusive by Manik Mehta, New York As the year 2009 drew to a close, some pundits in the textile and apparel sector predicted an economic recovery could take place in 2010 in the United States and Europe, the world's two largest markets for such products. Nevertheless, the global textile and apparel industry did provide some pointers on the future outlook in a year that offers hope but is still riddled with uncertainties. Garment manufacturers and garment companies in developed countries will still continue to look for cheap sourcing of garment production, even though there were complaints about the quality and hazardous materials used in manufacturing at certain external locations. Global garment exports exceed the value of US$310 billion a year, of which the world's top 15 clothing exporters account for more than 80% of the exports. China was able to keep developing its textile and apparel exports despite the re-imposition of quotas by the USA, Europe and other countries until December 2008 as a temporary safeguard measure on exports from China. The gain is attributed to China's change of strategy in diverting its clothing wholesale destinations from the US and the EU to other Asian countries in recent years. Developing countries in Asia have continued expanding their textile and apparel industry due to their very-low-cost production. In addition to China, other gainers of the post-quota period have been India, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam. More pressure to offer creative products The general trend has been for textile companies in the industry to modernize quickly in order to survive in a fiercely competitive environment. The key to survival has been developing new products and services such as creative clothing out of recycled materials or incorporating other materials into their products. Merging with other companies is another way to fight competition. Many companies were quite successful in asserting their positions in niche markets. The current economic downturn has led to a fall in demand, making many consumers tighten their belts and become extremely price-conscious. A cutback in spending has created a "treasure-hunt" mentality amongst US shoppers, and this in turn is putting a squeeze on department stores. It is predicted that manufacturers, the so-called cheap-chic stores, such as Target and Kohl's in the US will see sales and profits rise. Other higher-end manufacturing companies may begin creating low-priced lines or looking for outsourcing opportunities to cut production costs. In the tight consumer spending environment, the players in the textile and US textile and apparel imports (Jan-Oct 2009) Million US$ % Change from the same period of previous year World total 68336.791 -14.49 Bangladesh 3029.469 0.28 China 26776.504 -4.27 Colombia 205.514 -36.66 Hong Kong 279.403 -81.09 India 3906.010 -10.42 Indonesia 3431.088 -5.94 Japan 249.580 -30.18 Korea 673.206 -30.55 Macau 159.087 -78.89 Malaysia 401.257 -29.45 Pakistan 2303.746 -10.99 Philippines 902.383 -26.67 Sri Lanka 1039.632 -16.87 Taiwan 690.502 -33.18 Thailand 1231.681 -27.09 Turkey 528.078 -34.37 Vietnam 4508.043 -2.15 Caption: US textile and apparel imports by country (major Asian suppliers only) between January and October 2009 (Source: US Office of Textiles and Apparel, compiled by ATA Journal) ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Feature Story apparel industry will need to innovate business ideas to stay in fashion. Kohl's is a value-oriented department store in the US offering quality merchandise and branded products. It reported improved December 2009 sales compared to a year earlier. The total sales for the five-week month ended January 2, 2010 increased 8.8% compared to the same period 12 months ago. It strategically improved the inventory management through a conservative inventory planning that resulted in less clearance and improved gross margin. Regional assortments were placed to meet consumers' individual needs based on climate and lifestyle. In warmer areas, season-appropriate clothing, e.g. shorts, swim tops and bottoms, were put onto the shelf earlier than colder areas. In the US, the slowdown in household consumption has had a significant impact on the clothing sector with the sales of specialised chains already in decline. Sourcing decisions by brands and retailers have considerably influenced global patterns of production. Gregg Nebel, head of social and environmental affairs at the Adidas group (Americas), and responsible for the group's operations in footwear, apparel and accessory supply chain, says that the historic migration of the garment industry was driven by the need to move closer to fabric and raw-material supplies, as illustrated by the growth of vertically integrated operations that strategically and commercially ally textile manufacturing and garment cutting, sewing, embellishment, and packaging. Caption: Affordable apparel is promoted by the Target department stores amid economic downturn in the US Migration of factories goes on Mr Nebel contends that once they have migrated, factories do not return to the countries of origin. He cites examples of the industry's migration from Europe to the US, the US to Asia, and more recently, within Asia itself -- such as from Taiwan and Japan to China and Thailand, from China to Vietnam and Cambodia, and most recently to Bangladesh and India. This shows that the critical mass of the garment manufacturing component has migrated and does not return to the country of origin. While there has been a lot of speculation over the future of US-China textile and apparel trade, it is an established fact that the two countries have seldom been able to avoid the heavy intervention of trade policy. Despite fierce opposition by the US textile industry, particularly by the National Committee of Textile Organizations (NCTO), many industry experts envisage fewer trade restrictions in 2010. Although protectionism still finds many followers in the US textile industry, President Obama's administration will find it extremely difficult to use the so-called "transitional textile safeguard" that was provided to restrict Chinese products, because such a step would require a "legitimacy basis" which was possible until 2008 under Article 242 under the working party report of China's WTO accession, when the Article expired. Also, it would not be easy for the US to resort to other traditional trade remedies such as anti-dumping and countervailing duties for protection. For invoking this remedy, the US needs to prove first that the US domestic industry producing the directly competing "like product" has suffered injury caused by the Chinese imports. Currently, it is the US textile industry that is more interested in trade restrictions on Chinese apparel imports while the apparel industry of the country favours lower trade barriers because a large part of its business activities rely on sourcing from China. Thus, unless the US textile industry can justify why it is hurt by imports that do not directly compete with it, the chances of US textile industry winning the case are slim. As the global textile and apparel demand dropped in 2009, there presented a golden opportunity for the textile and apparel industry both in the US and China to reform and change. New York-based analysts believed that the US textile industry needs to figure out some new business models and explore more overseas markets to meet the challenges of lessening domestic demand. China, on the other hand, will have to look for ways to prop up domestic consumption instead of its asymmetrical reliance on overseas markets. Tensions in textile and apparel trade are not expected to disappear, and will likely surface in or after 2010 leading possibly to trade restrictions in other forms. Demand weak in European Union The European Union, hit by the economic downturn, experienced a weak demand for textiles and apparel. The 2008 negative trend continued into 2009 but some pundits hope to sight soon the light at the end of the dark tunnel. Eurostat figures for the first quarter of 2009 showed a dismal picture: textile production had declined by 23% and clothing by 14% over the year-earlier period. Retail sales in the textile and clothing sector deteriorated for the first time since the 1990s (in annual terms). Indeed, the retail turnover in the 27-member EU showed a slight decline both in value and volume (-0.4% and -0.1% respectively). However, the 12 new member states of the EU recorded strong growths while out of the old 15 member constellation of the EU, only Belgium, Finland, France and Germany posted growths between 0.4 and 4%. Germany's textile industry better than expected "It was a sensationally normal year!" said an elated Steffen Jost, president of the Federal Association of German Textile Retail Trade (BTE) recently in Cologne, Germany. Despite the economic crisis, ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Feature Story many segments of the textile trade did pretty well. The German fashion trade, for example, closed the year 2009 with a turnover of some 56 billion euros, roughly the same as in the previous year. "There was no hysterical restraint on buying because of fear of the crisis," said Mr Jost. According to Mr Jost, the small and medium-sized fashion industry of all the textile segments emerged as the clear winner. Those manufacturers who had "courted the old customers", benefited a great deal. The old customers are considered to be well-placed, tradition-oriented and quality-conscious. On an overall basis, he added, the trend was toward buying less amount of clothing pieces but paying higher costs of the individual pieces. But the upper-end luxury segment did not benefit from this trend. Mr Jost does not believe that this top segment will stage a recovery in 2010. This was also reflected in the estimates of the consultancy firm Bain & Company, which maintained that the global sales of luxury items in 2009 had probably declined by some eight percent down to 153 billion euros. The consultancy firm does not expect the industry to fully recover before 2011. "The world of luxury goods will pass through enormous changes in the coming decade," Rudolf Pritzli, a partner at Bain, recently said. The luxury fashion goods supplier Escada provides a glaring example of this trend. Escada declared bankruptcy and received a reprieve only through the timely takeover by the family of the Indian steel tycoon Mittal. According to Mr Jost, the online textile trade was inherent with impressive growth rates. The 14% growth, which the German clothing industry had achieved in its mail-house business, is generated today by the Internet, particularly during the recent Christmas season. Italy's luxury article makers pin hopes on 2010 Italy's upper-end textile producers have not abandoned hope. Textile production has started to surge. Indeed, business enquiries for the just-concluded Christmas shopping season constitute a good basis for cautious optimism. Nevertheless, there was still talk about an upturn in business amongst Italian manufacturers. Italy's textile industry has had tough times behind it. Although the crisis hit Italy's luxury apparel industry much later than other industries, the industry reeled under the severe impact of the crisis. Following consumers in the United States, the Europeans also lost their interest in shopping. The Russian high fashion selling also turned quieter after growing quite strongly in previous times. Then came the crisis in Dubai as 2009 came to an end. That left many Italian fashion and garment manufacturers in bad shape. Textile pundits now derive hope from the latest production figures of the Italian textile industry. According to the country's statistics office Istat, Italy's textile industry produced 3.3% more in October 2009 than in the previous month. Cecilia Gilodi of the research division of Italy's textile association, Sistema Moda Italia (SMI), attributed the growth to the fact that the warehouses are, finally, empty and the trade is once again placing orders. Over and above, expectations for the Christmas business were good. This was also reflected in the production figures. As Altagamma Armando, president of the luxury articles association, put it aptly, whenever there is a decline in the luxury textile sector, it tends to be drastic; also, whenever there is a surge, it tends to be a steep one. ■ Imports of EU27's textile yarn, fabrics and related manufactured products (SITC 65) Jan-Jul 2009 2008 Value (million euros) Annual variation (%) Value (million euros) % share (%) Top 10 external trading partners 8,115 -15.6 16,051 84.2 China 3,015 -10.8 5,687 29.8 Turkey 1,633 -19.4 3,337 17.5 India 1,043 -17.4 2,139 11.2 Pakistan 769 -9.2 1,468 7.7 United States 432 -17.6 874 4.6 Switzerland 417 -24.3 874 4.6 South Korea 275 -20.3 562 3.0 Japan 213 -20.8 464 2.4 Egypt 159 -13.3 290 1.5 Indonesia 157 -30.1 356 1.9 Total 9,576 -16.4 19,049 100.0 Imports of EU27's clothing and clothing accessories (SITC 84) Jan-Jul 2009 2008 Value (million euros) Annual variation (%) Value (million euros) % share (%) Top 10 external trading partners 31,679 4.6 54,193 85.3 China 15,672 12.3 27,202 42.8 Turkey 4,306 -13.8 8,065 12.7 Bangladesh 3,180 18.4 4,745 7.5 India 3,006 8.1 4,332 6.8 Tunisia 1,412 -16.1 2,613 4.1 Morocco 1,262 -16.6 2,416 3.8 Sri Lanka 739 12.4 1,175 1.8 Vietnam 722 3.2 1,312 2.1 Indonesia 705 5.3 1,182 1.9 Pakistan 676 3.3 1,151 1.8 Total 36,364 1.6 63,505 100.0 Caption: External trade data of the European Union (27 members) in 2008 and first-half of 2009 released by the Eurostat in January 2010 ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Market Focus Apparel thrives in China market bonanza Despite declines in exports, textile enterprises in China maintained growth due to increases in domestic sales of textile and apparel goods, reports Amy Xiao World exports of apparel declined last year, and it was no exception to China. According to the Chinese customs data, China's total textile and apparel exports was about US$150 billion during the period from January to November 2009, down 11.15% compared with the corresponding period in the previous year. The total textile exports valued at US$53.76 billion while exports of apparel stood at US$96.486 billion during these 11 months of 2009, down 11.2% and 11.6% respectively from the same period in 2008. Despite declines in exports, textile enterprises in China maintained growth due to increases in domestic sales of textile and apparel goods, according to Du Yuzhou, President of the China National Textile & Apparel Council (CNTAC). China's sizable textile enterprises (with an annual operating revenue of at least RMB5 million) witnessed an 11.67% growth in domestic sales in the first eight months of 2009, while majority of the textile and apparel production in the country was consumed domestically, the data of the CNTAC indicated. At a recent industry meeting organized by the CNTAC in mid-January, the China Textile Economic Information Center under the CNTAC reviewed the industry's development in 2009 and forecast its outlook this year. China's domestic sales of textile and apparel improving With the Chinese government's supportive policies, the textile and apparel industry remained stable in the first 11 months of 2009 and started growing in the later months of the year -- production value and volume, as well as domestic sales, appeared to rebound; investment returned and profits increased. Exports to the developed economies like the US and Europe appeared to improve, but those to the developing economies remained weak. "The outlook of 2010 is relatively complicated," said a senior official at the CNTAC at the meeting, Sun Huai-bin. He explained that the international economic environment would turn better this year, but the adverse impact of the global economic crisis had not vanished. Unemployment in major developed countries remains high, and consumer markets have yet to fully recover. Uncertainties may arise in the international trade. New economic trends like development in low-carbon emissions (More information on the carbon issue can be found in ATA Journal Dec 2009/Jan 2010 issue, page 17) and balanced growths have important impact on the Chinese textile and apparel industry. Macro-economic climate in China is improving as the country continues its proactive and robust fiscal policy and moderately loose monetary measures, Mr Sun continued, the textile and apparel industry is on the track of further structural adjustment. In addition, domestic consumer demand is expected to improve in 2010. All these are positive factors for the industry while inflation is a possible downside factor, he concluded. Characteristics of China's garment market Rural consumption on the rise Some apparel sellers have placed their hopes on the vast rural population in China. Per capita spending on apparel in China was RMB212 for rural residents and RMB 1,166 for urban dwellers in 2008. As more rural areas are being urbanized in China, industry observers believe that apparel consumption within the country will grow further. Increasing number of international brands Both local and overseas apparel brands are optimistic with China's garment market. Zara of Inditex Group from Spain and Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) from Sweden have been opening new stores in China at a faster pace. Their stores can be found in first- and second-tier cities of China, such as Beijing, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Wuxi and Qingdao. H&M opened its first store in Beijing in spring 2009. Later in the year, the retailer opened another three stores in the Chinese capital. Three franchised stores of H&M were subsequently opened in Zhejiang in November 2009. It currently has over 20 stores across the country, including Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shenzhen, Jiangsu province and Zhejiang province. On the other hand, Zara ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Market Focus expected that half of its new stores in future will be opened in Asia to diversify its markets. Retailers already present in China are seeking to intensify their market penetration. For instance, in early January, Reebok, a member of Adidas, has joined forces with Pou Sheng International, a sportswear distributor in China. Starting from April 1 this year, Pou Sheng will have a professional team to participate in the design, production and marketing of Reebok products in China. This is part of the China-oriented strategy of Reebok for localized designs and production to reduce the delivery cycle and speed up the launch of new products to market. Chinese apparel brands entering overseas markets As international exports were weak in the past year, more Chinese apparel manufacturers have started to build up their own brands and turn towards retailing to improve profitability. Among the Chinese apparel retailers, Li-Ning company, one of the most famous local sportswear brands, has initiated its overseas expansion plan. Early this January, the company officially opened a franchised store in Portland, marking the company's debut presence in the United States. As the US is the largest apparel buyer in the world, entering into this market is significant to Li-Ning company. New products under the theme of Chinese Kungfu in the new US store are even not yet available in the home market of China. Additionally, Li-Ning company opened its first flagship store in Singapore in July 2009 to expand into the badminton market in Southeast Asia. Another forerunner in overseas expansion is Bosideng (波司登), which has opened franchised stores of menswear in England. Online purchase becomes way of life China is one of the largest populations on Earth as well as in the cyberspace, and this is translating into business opportunity. For example, one of the best known online marketplace, Taobao, claimed to have almost 100 million registered users by the end of 2008. Online buying is getting more and more popular among the younger generation of China. These young people are familiar with the use of the internet and are fashion-conscious. They are more willing to pay branded apparel goods than their parents. Some of them, such as those born in the 1980s and 1990s, prefer to buy online at a discount rate than from a brick and mortar. The number of online buyers reached 87.88 million in China by June 2009, according to the report of the China Internet Network Information Center released in December 2009. The number increased 38.9% in an annualized growth. Consumption done through the internet valued at RMB 119.52 billion in the first half of 2009, the report says. The figure for the full year was estimated at RMB 250 billion. Among all the products, apparel topped the list with the largest number of online buyers and highest sales value. Clothes that sell Children's wear Children's wear enterprises in China mainly make clothes for children under 10. There are relatively few products developed for those between 10 and 18. Children in China are generally well-provided for as a result of the rising disposable income and the one-child policy, which has been implemented since 1979. Disney and Adidas announced to join efforts in late 2009 to introduce apparel for infants and children. More international sports brands, including Adidas, Nike and some Japanese labels, have paid more attention to the lucrative children's wear market of China. Womenswear Shenzhen city in South China is known for the manufacturing of womenswear. The Shenzhen Apparel Industry Association (SGIA) anticipated further development in this segment in the next decade. Multi-brand strategy covering a wider spectrum of the segment from medium- to high-priced has been adopted by manufacturers, according to the association. One of the successful examples of applying such multi-brand strategy is Yiner Fashion Group. Positioned as an elegant fashion brand for Chinese metropolitan women, Yiner has built up three womenswear brands namely Yiner, a younger and elite line called Insun, and newly-launched Psalter. The company currently operates nearly 1,000 stores across China. Caption: Yiner is projecting an elegant image to attract Chinese modern women Intimate wear Modern women in China are willing and able to buy quality intimate wear. Large-scale intimate wear enterprises are looking to expand their product offerings, e.g. evening gowns and beach wear in 2010 to attract the attention of consumers. Warp-knitted fabric is increasingly used in women's shaping underwear, according to Wu Honglie, chief engineer of Jiangsu AB Group. Added value (e.g. healthcare and anti-bacterial properties) is progressively welcomed by consumers as well. Embry Form, an established intimate wear producer from Hong Kong, announced its investment of RMB10 million in an advanced research and development center last December. The center will further innovate for new design and technological advancement. (Continued on p65) ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Machinery Technology KNITTING TECHNOLOGIES SUPPLEMENT Knitting process gets more efficient with advanced software by Staff Reporters The market of knitting machinery was affected by the global economic downturn. Imports of various knit products to the United States, for instance, fell in 2009. In order to help the apparel industry revitalize, more machinery builders have focused on the development of software to make the knitting process more efficient for designers as well as manufacturers. Amid the relatively weak business climate, users were hesitant in major capital investment on textile machinery. However, there were needs to mechanize production in face of growing labour costs, for example, in China, observed Shima Seiki. Shima Seiki is a Japanese computerized flat knitting machinery supplier. In general, flat knitting machinery suppliers marketed their machines with competitive prices as well as promises on ever-faster production speeds. Mechanization in knit production lags behind in the South Asian region including Bangladesh, though it is a key industry at the moment, Shima Seiki mentioned in its recent investor relations report. The company believes that the South Asian region (e.g. Bangladesh) will be a potential market in the future. Total US imports (Jan-Oct 2009) Million US$ % Change from same period of previous year Category 338: Men's cotton knit shirts 4279.569 -15.25 Category 339: Women's cotton knit shirts/blouses 6209.519 -12.31 Category 438: Wool knit shirts /blouses 279.103 -20.71 Category 638: Men's man-made fiber knit shirts 1193.505 -19.47 Category 639: Women's man-made fiber knit shirts / blouses 2036.251 -4.07 Category 738: Men's silk knit shirts 9.708 -65.74 Category 739: Women's silk knit shirts / blouses 91.320 -28.04 Caption: Some US knits apparel imports by category in million US dollar between January and October 2009 (Source: The US Office of Textiles and Apparel) Designers work more freely with innovative software Tapping the potential opportunities, Shima Seiki has further improved its design and software solutions. The latest SDS-One RD2 is developed with upgraded hardware and software to provide essential technical support in the manufacturing of high-quality consumer apparel. The company explains that the solutions support varied stages of production, from product planning to design, virtual sampling, machine programming, merchandising and retail promotion. As a result, a smoother and more efficient workflow is made possible to allow a faster design-to-production cycle, higher quality, shorter lead times and increased profits, Shima Seiki says. The company also recently introduced the SDS-One Apex system that makes photo-realistic simulations without the need for costly and time-consuming pre-production sampling. Layering of multiple garments for checking coordinated items is also possible. On the machinery front, Shima Seiki launched a new model of computerized flat knitting machinery that works very rapidly. The new Mach2 was positively received at the ShanghaiTex 2009 exhibition last June in China. The maximum knitting speed of Mach2 is increased to 1.6m/sec. With various improvements, it is able to more than double the productivity, the company says. Another leading developer of computer-controlled flat knitting machinery, H. Stoll, also emphasizes the importance of software. Caption: WholeGarment (left) and intarsia loop simulation is made possible with Shima Seiki latest design software ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Machinery Technology KNITTING TECHNOLOGIES SUPPLEMENT Users need to work more economically and flexibly, and they would like to attain an optimized capacity utilization of their machine pool, said Dr Martin Hermann, Managing Director of H. Stoll. Time management is a major topic as well. For example, the use of advanced software allows users to monitor and control the machine pool from a central point, and to find out if any machine in the machine pool is running or not so as to enable an immediate action to reduce downtimes. The M1plus is the latest development of Stoll for users to work faster while enjoying greater designing freedom. Compatible with patterns from its preceding version, the M1plus has new features such as Design Mode, Module and Color Arrangements so that users can complete a pattern faster. Numerous automatic functions free users from the programming of standard procedures. The new version is also user-friendlier with improved menu guidance system, according to Stoll. Another highlight, Stoll says, is the exclusive cooperation with Eneas Informatica in flat knitting that allows users a higher degree of freedom regarding design, fabric simulation and presentation. New features of this new software are also offered on Stoll-knit and wear systems. The company provides a number of models in the class of knit and wear for different needs of users such as productive and specialist production (including oversizes), as well as from coarse and fine knitting. Caption: The M1plus system can help users work faster on Stoll-knit and wear systems Further, Santoni from Italy offers software solutions to provide assistance to knit designers and manufacturers. Pulsar is a new product developed by Dinema together with Santoni to program a seamless machine. The levels of detail and variety of items, which can be knitted on a seamless machine, has reached complex levels that new knitting methods are needed. In contrast to most software packages, Pulsar is an expert system that allows users to create their desired knitted articles without the worry on the mechanical aspect, according to Santoni. The program allows the designer to first view the color composition of the article and then in details the stitch structure. It also uses identical pattern development methods allowing the designer to match different combinations of stitch structures to the visible aspects of the articles (colors). Santoni says that the main feature of the Pulsar program is a significant reduction of the knitting time of knit articles. After analyzing the designer's work, Pulsar can also recommend to the user the yarn set-up on the machine which, should the user confirm, would then automatically create and send a program directly to the machine for knitting the article. It is compatible with Santoni's Digraph3 Plus advanced graphic system. Computer-aided design / manufacturing (CAD/CAM) solutions are provided by Asian firms as well. Based in Hong Kong, ASP Creation has developed a CAM solution, SmartKnitter, to help users save costs and time. Users can access the Smartknitter software through the Internet around the clock with an affordable monthly subscription fee. Regular updates are provided without additional costs. With the help of the artificial intelligence and user-adaptive technology, this intelligent tool is capable of "learning" and can adapt to the work habit of individual knitting technicians, explained Wong Fai, CEO of ASP Creation. Caption: Smartknitter software of ASP Creation Mr Wong told ATA Journal that the software delivers an array of cost-saving efficiency improvements. Sample order processing and management is provided to enhance coordination among working partners. Composition of mixed-yarn, yarn weight and consumption prior to sample making is calculated easily, and knitting instructions can be automatically generated. Users can preview colour stripe placement and make modifications to produce the desired effects. Enhanced plastics keep the machine new for longer Apart from the advances in software solutions, textile machinery builders have sought for new improvements in the machinery. Karl Mayer will introduce the first raschel machine equipped with carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) components by April 2010. Karl Mayer's RSE 4-1 is the fastest four-bar raschel machine in the world, the company says, and will set new speed standards and operate with precision accuracy independent from climatic conditions. The speed has been increased by integrating innovative CFRP components into the machine construction, which has been specially adapted to handle these components, the company explains. The weight of the CFRP bars has been decreased by as much as 25% compared with the conventional type, whilst the rigidity ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Machinery Technology KNITTING TECHNOLOGIES SUPPLEMENT Caption: Karl Mayer's RSE 4-1 raschel machine has been increased. This has opened up more scope for setting the maximum achievable speed. Above all, however, the use of CFRP materials results in temperature stability during production. The temperature window for problem-free machine running has been extended from +/- 2℃ to +/- 7℃. Extending this tolerance range has minimised any loss in efficiency caused by having to adjust the needle tool as a function of the climatic conditions, or to reduce the speed following a machine stoppage. The result is that the machine availability of the RSE 4-1 is higher than ever before, which has increased the total overall performance of this high-tech production machine, Karl Mayer concludes. Improved positive feeder avoids machine stoppage Being part of Belgian Van De Wiele group, Germany-based Memminger-Iro offers the yarn feeding system, monitoring system and lubrication system for knitting machinery. The MPF-L is a new generation of the Memminger positive feeder series MPF. The 100% positive yarn infeed with the MPF-L considerably influences the knitting quality and the machine efficiency, the company explains. The task of the MPF-L is to evenly feed the yarn from the yarn bobbin to the needles by applying only minimum tension and to avoid yarn tension fluctuations. Caption: MPF-L positive feeder of Memminger-Iro By means of the MPF-L, a wide variety of non-elastic yarns as well as covered or cabled elastane can be processed. Furthermore, the feeder is equipped with a vibrating yarn tensioner to ensure smooth production. The magnetic tension rings are continuously kept in rotation against the yarn feed in direction. Frequent machine stops caused by contaminated tension rings are thus avoided to ensure enhanced machine efficiency, according to Memminger-Iro. In the aspect of circular knitting cylinders, Groz-Beckert KG provides those of ensure maximum precision. The company explains that the use of quality cylinders and components helps ensure durability of circular knitting machines and allow them to reach full potential for high-performance operation on the factory floor. A selection of 60,000 knitting cylinders and around 50,000 different needles and system parts for the manufacture of textile surfaces are offered. With needles available in thickness from 0.21 mm in gauge E68 knitting cylinders, the company provides machine constructors and users the widest product spectrum. Caption: Cylinder of Groz-Beckert KG New battle fronts for creative knitted fabrics In the field of circular knitting, Mayer & Cie offers a range of machines for different segments of the mattress market. Knitted fabric has good point elasticity, is pleasantly soft, voluminous, permeable to air, washable and capable of production in wide-ranging different weights, the company mentions. Knitted fabric eliminates the need to use cost-intensive special yarns to achieve sufficient elasticity. Circular knit goods are less susceptible to warping and bulging, permit better further processing due to their volume, can be produced in tubular form and eliminate the need for quilting as an additional work step. Modern mattress covers are predominantly removable and washable. The use of knitted fabric allows the cover to be easily removed and replaced. The top-tier segment of mattresses currently ranges between 1,400 and 1,700 euros, and the Mayer & Cie OVJA 1.6 EE and the OVJA 1.1 TTRB are designed for this segment. ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Machinery Technology KNITTING TECHNOLOGIES SUPPLEMENT Caption: OVJA 1.6 EE system of Mayer & Cie Mayer & Cie also offers optimum machine equipment to supply the medium segment accounting for about a quarter of the total market with its OVJA 1.6 E model and most recently the OVJA 1.6 EM. These two systems allow extensive patterning versatility and simple resetting, as well as efficient knitting of even small production runs, the company says. Over half of the market is shared by mass-priced mattresses between 50-300 euros and Mayer & Cie provides OVJA 2.4 E with 92 feeders and higher output for this segment. Advancements by suppliers of Greater China A number of knitting machine builders from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China have made new development in the knitting technology. In the area of jacquard knitting, a new fully electronic double jacquard knitting machine, TF-DEJ, was introduced by Fujian Shishi Taifan Machinery Industry. Located in Shishi city of Fujian province, the company offers this new machine to produce quality large-size home textiles. Equipped with well-designed cylinder and cam box, the machine is said to obtain a higher level of reliability, stability, durability and performance. A variety of jacquard patterns can be knitted, the company adds. Hong Kong Nan Sing Machinery offers well-designed flat knitting machines manufactured by cutting-edge automation technologies from Japan, the company says. Needle beds of Nan Sing's flat knitting machines are made with high-carbon steel flat bars that are harder and more resistant to wear than other materials. The rail is made of high-carbon steel for good performance and reliability over a long period. High-grade stainless steel is also selected for gauge scale ruler in order to achieve a longer service life. In addition, the company provides an extensive portfolio of knitting machinery, including automatic glove knitting machines, circular knitting machines (e.g. single-jersey, terry, fleece, double rib circular, single knit circular machine with auto stripers) and computerized flat knitting machines. The new DEJ/DCJ double-side computerized jacquard machine developed by Quanzhou Baiyuan Machinery is equipped with an advanced electronic system to control needle selection. Moreover, the machine is offered with high-precision knitting components that allow users to produce jacquard knit fabrics in a wider variety of patterns and designs. The high-precision components also ensure a high level of accuracy and stability, the company adds. Manufactured with quality alloy copper materials under a special heat treatment, the needle cylinder is durable, according to Quanzhou Baiyuan Machinery, which is situated in Quanzhou city of Fujian province in China. Meanwhile, Quanzhou Zhengxin Machinery supplies differing needle cylinders as well as key components and parts for circular knitting machines. Over 500 types of needle cylinders are available with the company, which are made on advanced machine tools. Sizes of the cylinders are made upon requests of clients, and imported materials of S48CLN are used. Caption: Taifan's jacquard machine Production better managed with RFID Traditional sweater manufacturers carry on through increased quality standards and design variety demands from clients, shorter delivery cycles, and mounting costs of materials and labour. Manual analysis of data is no longer preferable as faster, well-informed decision-making is needed, according to the Zymmetry Group, a Hong Kong radio-frequency identification (RFID) solution provider. Apparel producers have thus adopted the solutions, such as Texford Knitting Co Ltd Of Huizhou in China. With the ZymFactory RFID solution, this user company is able to share identical and real-time data within the company. Communications with clients and partners are smoother as well. Cost analysis and budgeting is done much more efficiently. The transparent and easy-to-analyze data facilitate this user company in providing the client a more accurate quotation. More business opportunities are thus open to it. The ZymFactory can capture data from each production checkpoint every 5-10 seconds, making the entire apparel production process highly transparent, the Zymmetry Group adds. In the case of Texford Knitting, the production planning and management can be improved substantially, shortening the production cycle by one week, and defective products are reduced by 5%. ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Machinery Technology Military manoeuvres New techniques developed for the military in the US and UK could revitalise the ailing textile coating industry, writes Adrian Wilson Coated fabrics have long been the mainstay of many technical textiles businesses, but inevitably, over the past 18 months, the recession has taken its toll. The Coating Division of Sioen Industries, for example, reports that in the nine months to the end of September 2009, its sales of 201.1 million euros were down by 34.5% over the same period in 2008. Sioen Industries, headquartered in Ardooie, Belgium, defines its coating activities as simply “overing a textile substrate with PVC, PU, silicone or other polymers to enhance and alter the physical properties and appearance”. It applies five main coating processes-direct, transfer, online, extrusion and calender-on eight coating lines -five of them in Belgium, two in France and one in Portugal. The end results are technical textiles with properties such as chemical resistance, anti-stain, vapour and gas resistance, electrical conductivity, water resistance, abrasion resistance, anti-static, printability or fire resistance. The company also points out that its highly vertically-integrated structure allows it to maintain a lead in the coated textiles market and be independent from third party suppliers. With four key divisions-Coating, Apparel, Industrial Applications and Chemicals-the company has 4,869 employees at 38 plants and offices in 13 countries. Its spinning mill in Mouscron, Belgium has an annual capacity of 16,000 tons of polyester and/or polyamide hightenacity yarns of 1,100, 550, 280 dtex. Sioen also has two plants at Mouscron and Kerksken, also in Belgium, with a total of 250 looms manufacturing fabric in widths from 150 to 640cm. At other plants, it produces its own pigment pastes, inks, varnishes and colour dispersions. Recent innovations in this area have seen the production of new flame retardant pigment pastes and also the development of black water-based paste (aqua paste) for the colouring of seats-an application with strict technical specifications. Caption: At its Saint-Freres plant in France, Sioen Industries manufactures a special inflatable silo capable of containing 30,000 tons of grain. It is constructed from a single piece of fabric spanning 6,000 square metres and weighing seven tons. When inflated, it has a diameter of 51 metres and is almost 28 metres high Major textile coating processes There are five key methods for textile coating, according to Sioen Industries: •Direct coating, in which PVC coating paste is directly applied to the fabric. Sioen's main end-products from this process are curtains, tilts and tarpaulins for trucks, railway wagons and containers and other uses, sports mats and swimming pool covers. •Transfer coating, which applies a coating paste primarily of either polyurethane or silicone being applied to the fabric via a paper support. The resulting Sioen fabrics are used in protective clothing, outdoor sports clothing, shoe protectors, mattress protectors and airbags. •Online coating, where the fabric passes directly from the weaving loom into a coating bath. This technique is used to coat textiles with very open structures such as those employed as geogrids, swimming pool covers, reinforcement nets, windbreak nets and filters. •Extrusion coating, which allows base materials-which can be woven, knitted or nonwoven-to be coated with a range of polymers for end-use in ventilation tubes, plastic sheeting for ponds, plastic films for windows, sewer renovation fabrics etc. •Calendering, to add TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin) or PVC films for materials used as car dashboards and door panels, sun-visors, pond liners and certain wallcoverings. Coated fabric demand affected by recession Sioen points out that 25% of its 2008 sales consisted of products that had been developed in the previous five years, while 40% of sales were to markets the company was not active in a decade earlier. Sioen-which claims to account for over 40% of all European coated fabric capacity-says that during 2009, the key areas where its business has dipped significantly are in the transportation and ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Machinery Technology advertising sectors. As far as transportation is concerned, tarpaulins and truck covers are the largest application for heavy coated fabrics in Western Europe, with an estimated market volume of 90 million square metres. Before the current recession, this market was on target to grow to 122 million square metres by 2012, but it may now take longer for such growth to be achieved. For the advertising market, Sioen manufactures printable laminated textiles that are used for publicity banners, and despite strong competition, has achieved a substantial part of its sales to this market in Asia. But the advertising market has been significantly affected by the recession. In the USA, for example, graphics and displays was a strong emerging market, involving around 1,750 companies in the USA and Canada, with growth of 10% in 2008. A decline of 15-20% in sales, however, was experienced in 2009, according to the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI). Nevertheless, the finished product market for this sector in the US is still valued at US$120 million in 2009. Safety issue concerned with textile architecture Another key market for coated fabrics has been in textile architecture, but in the US a setback was experienced with the collapse of the Dallas Cowboys stadium at the beginning of May 2009. “Despite a ruling that the structure collapsed because of the frame, the accident was filmed and appeared across the media, and without doubt will have a significant impact on the industry,”said IFAI president Steve Warner. “There are some 30,000 such structures already in existence.” Acquisition resulted in economic downturn A second European leader in the field of coated fabrics, Gamma Holding, has just sold virtually its entire Coating and Composites business unit to Germany's Jagenberg AG-a company mainly active in the field of industrial machine building. The Gamma Coating and Composite Technology business unit consists of four product groups: •Printable media fabric (Seemee) •Tent cloth and roofing structures (Duraskin) •PTFE-coated woven glass fabrics •Anti-ballistic materials With 271 employees, Gamma Coating and Composites had an annual turnover in 2008 of 76 million euros and EBITDA of 2.5 million euros. Like Sioen Industries, the company reports that during 2009 its business for printable media fabric has been particularly badly hit. ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Machinery Technology During 2008, the business also supplied coated fabric for a host of roofing structures in architecture projects, including that at Alicante airport in Spain and new sports stadiums in Jakarta, Indonesia and Coquimbo, Chile. It also supplied the fabric for all of the banners for the 2008 European Championship football tournament in Switzerland and Austria. The sale of the business, for 37.5 million euros, is to help Gamma to reduce its debt. Caption: A section of fabric for the interior of Hugendubel, a book store in Frankfurt, Germany Newly commercialised technologies Microwave grafting One potentially ground-breaking new surface coating technology, developed initially in a US Department of Defense Laboratory, is poised for commercial launch in the next year or so. Alexium, based in Cambridge, UK, holds proprietary patent applications for the new process, which allows for the surface modification and attachment of nanoparticles or multiple functional groups to surfaces or substrates in a matter of seconds. The process involves a unique new microwave grafting technique for employing commercially available chemical compounds to produce multi-functional materials, including textiles, paints, packaging, glass and building materials, as well as textiles. It is suitable for treating a wide range of textile materials including wool, cotton, viscose, nylon aramids and leather. In addition to being super fast, the low energy treatment involves no heat, with the microwave graft providing triple point attachment of the silane and the ability to crosslink multiple functions simultaneously. In a single treatment completed in a matter of seconds, a 50/50 cotton/nylon battled dress uniform (BDU), for example, can be made: •Machine washable •Self-extinguishing •Super hydrophobic •Super oleophobic •Reactive to chemical and biological agents •Infrared suppressing The initial focus of the US military for the technology was the production of lightweight CBRN suits and it is now being scaled-up for initial production of these. The Alexium shell fabric of the new CBRN suits is said to enable them to be lighter, thinner, more flexible and more breathable. Initial non-defence applications are envisaged in flame retardant textile treatments for upholstery and furnishing fabrics, in the treatment of aramid fabrics, oil filters and medical textiles. Alexium's technology received the platinum prize at the 2009 WBTshowcase-the leading global investment and licensing forum for emerging technologies. Ion-mask A second technology developed by the military is ion-mask, which is now being very successfully commercialised by UK company, P2i. In December 2009, the company installed its latest ion-mask liquid-repellent nanocoating line for Adidas in Guangdong, China, and now has 15 such machines in place, primarily in Asia, but also in Europe and the USA. The proprietary lines are both for P2i's own production and those licensed to third parties. P2i was established in 2004 to commercialise liquid-repellent treatments developed by the UK's Ministry of Defence. Now on a commercial scale, P2i's process-covered by 33 patents-has been successfully applied to a wide range of products in a many markets, including performance textiles, filtration media and bio-consumables. Caption: P2i recently installed its latest ion-mask liquid-repellent nanocoating line for Adidas in Guangdong, China-initially for treating golf shoes The technology works by applying a nanometre-thick polymer layer over the entire surface of a product. Using an ionised plasma gas, this layer is molecularly bound to the surface and will not leach away. The process confers superior oil and water repellency by reducing the surface energy to ultra-low levels-down to one third that of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene). In footwear and textile applications, P2i's technology also minimises liquid absorption from outside elements and evaporated perspiration. Adidas Golf has signed up to use P2i's ion-mask liquid-repellent nanocoating to create a new generation of high-performance golf footwear. Ion-mask is already available in premium products from Hi-Tec, Magnum, Ecco and others. Hi-Tec, as a committed partner, has increased its number of styles featuring ion-mask from one for Autumn/Winter 2008, to 19 for Spring/Summer2009 and to 38 for Autume/Winter2009. ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Chemiacals & Auxiliaries Garment dyeing speeds up responses to market Garment dyeing, allowing a faster response by retailers to the market preferences, is gaining attention, so as the relevant dyes and chemicals, observes Ian Holme Over the last decade preferences in apparel have favoured casual wear and leisure wear because of the more relaxed and less formal approach to modern lifestyles. Casual wear and leisure wear garment sales are very dependent upon colour and fashion and retailers have developed good lines of communication with garment dyeing companies because garment dyeing can provide the rapid response to the market demands. Bar code retailing and electronic point of sale (EPOS) information now enable retailers to maximise sales and minimise stockholding by reordering smaller batches of garments in colours, sizes and designs to replace the garments that are selling in the stores. The short lead time and rapid turn round that can be achieved for cut and sew and fully fashioned garments using garment dyeing can thus outweigh the greater costs incurred by garment dyeing compared with the longer lead times expected from fabric dyeing. Last year, the lower level of economic activity in the textile and clothing industries has stemmed from consumers using less of their disposable income to expand their wardrobe. Garment dyers in Asia have experienced a fall in orders from the USA and Europe, and have been looking at ways in which they can be more certain of right-first-time dyeing in order to improve productivity and profitability. Increasingly stringent regulations over the release of colour and chemicals into waste water treatment facilities have also forced garment dyers to look at more eco-friendly dyeing processes that can improve batch-to-batch reproducibility for repeat orders. The class of dyestuffs used in garment dyeing is dependent upon the fibre substrate(s) present in the garment and the colour fastness levels required. Direct dyes are used for cellulosic fibres where the colour fastness levels required are low but acceptable to the retailer. The majority of cotton and other cellulosic fibre-based garments are normally dyed using reactive dyes that offer the consumer brightness of colour combined with high levels of colour fastness, especially to multiple domestic wash / wear cycles. The move towards lower temperatures in domestic washing machines in Europe has led to the use of washing powders whose cleaning performance is boosted by a cocktail of enzymes for removing stains and the use of a bleach activator. Dyemakers have evaluated their ranges of reactive and other dyes to ensure that the dyes used in garment dyeing do not change colour under multiple washing cycles using activated detergents. More freedom for producers if dyeing is delayed Garments are traditionally made from pre-dyed fabrics before the cutting and sewing process as this is considered a cost-effective way in mass production.However,the drawback is that retailers often face a resk of keeping a large inventory of clothes in a particular colour .Markdown of less popular stock in a certain colour is thus resulted ,which often hurt the real profit. Garment dyeing,in contrast,has changed the industry by allowing retailers and distributors to respond quickly to the rapid changes in colour,styles and finishes demanded by consumers.Hence,garment dyeing can be regarded as a "just-in-time dyeing ,"in which manufacturers can produce batches of garments in more diverged colours and styles,and retailers can respond to the market sales more efficiently. Caption: Some producers dye apparel rather than yarns to better meet empirical consumers' preferences at the end market (Photo: Uniqlo) Garment dyers are now looking for eco-friendlier garment dyeing processes and dyestuff manufacturers have responded to these demands in a number of ways. For the dyeing of garments containing cotton and/or other cellulosic fibres the ranges of ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Chemiacals & Auxiliaries reactive dyestuffs have been tailored for appropriate types and depths of colours. Huntsman Textile Effects, for example, recommend the following specific ranges of reactive dyes for garment dyeing. For pale to medium shades and / or for special / high colour fastness requirements, Novacron FN dyes are recommended. Novacron NC reactive dyestuffs are recommended for dyeing pale to medium earth tone shades. For medium to dark and ultra dark shades Huntsman recommend Novacron S dyestuffs, and Novacron Super Black dyes for all kind of black shades. Caption: Garment dyeing allows a faster response to the consumer purchasing preferences (Photo: Dye Pro Services Inc) Huntsman Textile Effects have introduced their Novacron S reactive dyestuffs based upon novel molecular chemistry that incorporates the use of strong and powerful chromophores with multiple and complementary reactive groups in concentrated formulations. These Novacron S dyestuffs thus provide very high build-up so that deep dyeings can be achieved economically. High build-up reactive dyes are eco-friendly because of their high fixation profile. This minimises the amount of unfixed or hydrolysed reactive dye in the dyeing effluent, which translates into lower waste water treatment charges, as well as facilitating ease of wash-off combined with high colour fastness. Rapid wash-off minimises water consumption and saves on processing time thereby contributing to higher machine productivity. An important feature of the reactive dyestuffs used in garment dyeing is that ternary (i.e. trichromatic) combinations of yellow, red and blue dyestuffs should be compatible and exhaust on-tone so that the colour depth builds up on-tone. In addition it is important that dyed garments that are likely to be washed frequently and line dried (as opposed to tumble drying) should not be subject to colour change on washing with activated detergents, i.e. so-called bleach fading. Another important parameter to retailers is that any fading that does occur, either due to washing or through exposure to sunlight during wear or line drying, should give rise to on-tone fading in order to minimise customer returns. Caption: Deep shades are achieved with Huntsman's Novacron S reactive dyes Drum dyeing machines require use less water There are various categories of garment dyeing, each with its specific processing methods. Fully fashioned garment dyeing can be carried out with minimum agitation and a relatively high liquor ratio of 1:25 to 1:40 in paddle dyeing machinery. These have been particularly favoured for dyeing wool garments because the lack of agitation minimises the potential for felting during dyeing. More eco-friendly machines for garment dyeing include the drum dyeing machine that can be operated at a low liquor ratio and can be utilised for a variety of wet processing operations. Fully fashioned and cut and sew garments can be dyed in drum dyeing machines. Cut and sew garments dyed to high colour fastness and boutique garments that may be dyed to a relatively lower level of colour fastness may be dyed in drum dyeing machines or in rotary drum dyeing machinery. The latter machine normally consists of a perforated stainless steel drum, which is suspended on a horizontal axis and divided into a number of compartments separated by perforated dividing walls. The drum can be rotated in both directions through the dye liquor, which is held in the bottom of the front loading machine, and the rotating drum machine operates at a more eco-friendly liquor ratio of 1:10. Such machines can operate at temperatures up to 140℃ (e.g. for polyester garments) according to the machine design. Seam penetration during dyeing can be difficult for some garment constructions, while other difficult dyeing conditions include the dyeing of garments containing viscose or elasticated waist bands. In order to achieve complete penetration of the structure, DyStar recommends the hot migration technique at 95℃ using Procion H-EXL reactive dyes. This approach ensures that full penetration of the garment structure and level dyeing are achieved before the dye liquor is cooled back to a lower temperature when alkali is then metered in to ensure high levels of dye fixation. Procion, Remazol and Levafix reactive dyestuffs from DyStar are all used in garment dyeing. These high performance reactive dyestuffs meet all the colour fastness requirements set by retailers as well as being supplied under DyStar's well-established and highly valued Econfidence Program. Procion, Remazol and Levafix dye ranges thus meet the requirements of major ecology standards. For deep saturated shades, DyStar introduced the Remazol Ultra RGB dyes with outstanding build-up and near perfect compatibility in ternary combinations. Shorter processing times, higher productivity and elimination of non-conformance thus provide garment dyers with higher cost-effectiveness. The innovative dye chemistry used in Remazol Ultra RGB dyes ensures high colour fastness in multiple wash cycles using activated detergents. Two other factors of increasing importance to retailers and brands are the minimal photochromism and minimised colour inconstancy between different light sources exhibited by Remazol Ultra RGB dyestuffs. ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Nonwovens/Technical Textiles More than a carpet New technologies in the technical textiles field have enabled floor coverings to perform important tasks that could even be life-saving by Sanjay Gupta Contract or commercial floor coverings is one of the slow but steady growth sector world over which is all set to accelerate in the coming years. It represents an area of technical textiles that's just beginning to see intervention of smart and intelligent technologies aimed at making the floor coverings more functional and responsive. Contract floor coverings have a completely different market structure from the basic consumer market, broadly divided into governmental and commercial organizations (offices, health and hospitals, hotels, spas, cruise liners etc.) and manufacturers of automobiles (cars, trains, aircrafts and etc). New technology interventions foresees equipping textile flooring with microchips integrated into the floor coverings, networked with each other and artificial intelligence to register several, even different sensory signals at the same time and analyze them in real time for functionality deployment in areas such as security alarm, climate control and guidance technology. For instance, pressure sensors can be fixed in security zone to act when traces of movement are registered on a window or an emergency exit triggering an alarm. However, movement on free-access areas will have no reaction. Intelligent software solutions will be able to analyze the signals, based on individually defined and individually controlled security zones on a time-frame basis. Similarly heat sensors can detect a fire and as soon as registered signals are relayed to a security control centre, the point of alarm (break-in or fire) can be identified precisely in a matter of seconds. Besides these pressure sensors in the carpet can also be utilized as door-openers and light switches or as electronic counters for counting people. In combination with shatterproof LED modules, the carpet can also become a controllable guidance system. For example, they can mark the shortest route to an emergency exit. The combination of pressure and temperature sensors with motion sensors can additionally enable the detection of people lying motionless on the floor, triggering a call for emergency help. Intelligent carpets Vorwerk Teppichwerke, the manufacturer of creative carpet solutions have in association with the German chipmakers, Infineon - an innovative company in the field of semiconductor technology unveiled what's called the "Thinking Carpet", an electronically networked, high-tech carpet to take over "intelligent" functions towards controlling alarm, climate control, regulatory, maintenance or guidance systems technology. Microchips of the size of about only seven square millimeters are integrated into the carpet backing, linked to one another via fine wires forming a self-organising network. In such a network even if a sensor fails for some reason, the neighbouring processors use their own positioning to look for a new connecting route circumventing the defective region and thereby maintaining functionality. This also makes it possible to cut the carpet, replace segments or add new ones at any time to increase the production widths without interrupting the network. A special backing construction was developed by Vorwerk specifically for this purpose which has integrates the entire technology invisibly and safely into the carpet, yet at the same time maintaining the usual look and feel of a contract carpet. Caption:Thinking Carpet developed by Vorwerk can control alarm and temperature Power can be supplied via any conventional outlet and the operating voltage is 12 volts. Depending on the desired dispersal of signal detection, a carpet can carry up to 25 sensors per square metre in its backing requiring 2.5 watts of power. One single computer connection can thus provide for approximately 100 square metres of space. Even if the carpet is soaked, an intelligent safety system makes additionally sure that a short circuit does not render the entire intelligent network useless. Wet areas are instead automatically shut off and then put back into operation after they have dried. In another development Vorwerk and Infineon integrated the RFID technology in carpets to provide intelligent navigation for a service robot moving along a carpet. Such robots equipped with ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Nonwovens/Technical Textiles an RFID reader to automatically and intelligently navigate a floor space can be used for example, in transport units or self-propelling automated cleaners. RFID tags consisting of a flat ultra-thin sheet of PET equipped with metal conductors, an antenna coil and a tiny silicon microchip are integrated into the carpet backing to form a network across the entire carpet surface. Each of the RFID tags has its own ID number which can be detected and identified by an RFID reader via wireless data transmission (13.56 MHz) across a distance of 10 centimetres. The power required for this process is supplied exclusively by the reader. The RFID tags themselves are completely passive, meaning that no electrical voltage whatsoever is laid down on the carpet. The lack of voltage also means that there would be no short circuits. Individual "signal transmitters" are linked into a virtual map by reading out the individual RFID tags in the carpet by the robot, which can then move precisely along the routing network. The Smart Carpet Systems can go further. It is possible, for instance, for a robot to be programmed go to different areas on a scheduled basis, e.g. when experience has shown that no one else will be moving around there at that time. Robots using RFID technology would be considerably less expensive to construct than conventional laser-radar-assisted or 3D-camera-supported devices. Meanwhile, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan has come up with a carpet that determines the weight, age, and sex of the individuals strolling across. The carpet's intelligence is derived from the data generated by a layer of silicone rubber with built-in electrodes that measure the changes in electrical resistance and current flow caused by someone walking across it. Through analyses of this data, the software is able to predict with near perfect accuracy, ages between 20 and 60. Gender is identified with about 75% accuracy. The application is aimed at analyzing shopping patterns and audience demographics at various public venues. Carpets for transport Floor coverings in automobiles, trains and aircrafts form an essential part of the interior trim, providing not only the aesthetics looks and sensual comfort, but also playing a critical role in noise and vibration control. For example, a single car can contain about 3.5-4.5 square meters of carpets forming roughly 19% of the total weight of textiles used in a car. Automotive carpeting typically comes in two types: needle-punched and tufted. Tufted carpets are primarily Nylon based and are classified into either loop pile or cut pile (more used). Needle punched materials predominantly uses polyester as the raw material and are classified as flat (unpatterned) or random velour (Dilour or patterned). Compared with needle punched, tufted materials offer enhanced performance and functionality, particularly in respect of clean ability, but also in terms of a wider range of aesthetics, coverage at reduced weight, wear resistance and perceived quality. Tufted carpets have more resistance to wear and tear but needle punched are more mouldable. There is a correlation between the choice of carpet type and the categorization of cars. Global Insights (formerly DRI) has divided cars into six groups, ranging from the most economical models in ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Nonwovens/Technical Textiles group A to the most expensive in group F. Needle punched carpets are the material of choice for categories A to C primarily because of cost - generally as 100%, 350gsm Dilour type products on the main floor. In categories D to F, the sedan and hatch models prefer 350gsm plain needle punch carpet, while estate cars have a mix of tufted and needle punched materials. The main floors of these vehicles, however, are 100% tufted. Traditionally tufted carpets had the major market share in automotive interior markets. Lately however needle-punched non-wovens are finding their way into some higher class vehicles as well. The total market size for these carpet materials, which is around an annual 60 million square metres is today divided 55:45% in favor of needle punched. Caption:RFID-tagged carpets are another option for providing enhanced functions Carpets are used in two ways, one kind is molded on the entire floor of the car and another is used in mat style, which is laid on the floor of the car. Since the carpets of the cars must be molded according to the shape of the car, these materials demand high plasticity. On the other hand, mats do not face this type of demand because they are cut in a certain shape and only partially cover the car floor. Mats are almost 100% made from tufted piles whereas needle punched carpets are preferred for moulded carpets in modern cars. Construction of special carpets Needle punched carpets possess a high thickness for a given weight per unit length and are so voluminous and more comfortable. They can be easily moulded, will cover sharp contours without displaying cord effects or channels and are relatively dense with respect to their weight. Further they have the advantage of higher productivity and lower costs. Nonwovens have better adhesion property than woven fabrics and so binder application is uniform. Caption: Needle punched carpets (photo: Alt Import and Export Co Ltd) Generally, carpets are made by the combination of a variety of functional layers into a single unit. A layer (70-100 g/sq.m) of adhesive is applied on these carpets during the initial stages to stiffen the whole carpet structure. Specially formulated backing compounds are used to impart unique functional properties such as sound-proofing, vibration reducing or noise absorbing. Suitable material such as polyethylene powder is also added to make the carpet thermo-mouldable. In European market visco-elastic polyurethane foam is used for backing while in American market, cotton fibre pad is used. The US market is also moving towards more molded polyurethane foam due to its superior acoustical and physical properties. Carpets made with synthetic fibers are more prone to soiling as they attract organic contaminants. While soil and stain resistance can be imparted by applying a finish that repels oil, the finish would be lost when the fiber is washed. Fluoro-chemical soil releasing agents, coated on fibers minimizes contact between the fiber and the soil and thus making it easier for the soil to be removed. These finishes are easily removed during cleaning. The latest development in this area is a fluoro-chemical ester invented by 3M which can be incorporated to the polymer melt giving the fiber a good combination of oil and water repellency, imparting stability, inertness and non-flammability. Additionally, it makes the fiber antistatic. Dr Sanjay Gupta is the Professor of Textile Design and Development at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India ■ Freelance Contributors ATA Journal (Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel) is a long-established bi-monthly magazine serving the textile and garment sector in Asia. To widen our scope of content, we are looking for writers or journalists to work with us on freelance basis. If you are interested, please send to "he Editor, ATA Journal"your biography, stating the areas of interests and preferably with samples of articles, via one of the following channels: Email: cta.ata.edit@adsale.com.hk Fax: 852-2516-5119 Post: Adsale Publishing Limited, 6th Floor, 321 Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong. ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

China Focus China advancing to automation and digital technologies 国产纺机向自动化、数字化技术转型 by Staff Reporters Automation and digitization are two catchwords in the current development of China-made textile machinery. The potential market of automated machinery in China's textile industry is estimated to exceed RMB 2 billion a year, such as in the areas of various controllers, servo systems and so on. Getting stronger with automated textile machinery The global economic downturn, though bringing adverse effects to the textile industry, has presented an opportunity for stronger textile manufacturers to grow bigger in the market, while producers less competitive are under more intense pressure. In the meantime, the Chinese authorities has continued its policy to advocate industry optimization (see the latest official directive on the right), which can fuel the growth of the textile machinery industry. To phase out obsolete equipment, the Chinese authorities encourage industry players to invest in more advanced machinery for their own sustained development in the global supply chain, as well as for catching up with higher requirements in energy and water consumption for the society. Frequency converters Frequency converters are extensively used in textile machinery and processes, ranging from carding, drawing, roving, spinning, winding, warping, sizing to shuttleless looms. The use of frequency converter is also critical in auto-winding machines. A frequency controller can act as the main command unit for a motor, which in turns drives a textile system. This is often the case in a drawing machine, roving machine and spinning machine. In addition, a system can also consist of several frequency controllers so as to command multiple motors, which are synchronized by the computer. This can be found in a more advanced version of the roving machine, yarn sizing machine and section warping machine. It is projected that China annually demands about more than 200,000 sets of textile-specific frequency converters. At the moment, the frequency converter is made locally as well as imported. The traditional stenter setting adopts a single line-shaft transmission and thus makes it hard to achieve a change of speed when required. Internationally advanced enterprises, such as those in Germany, started to substitute the traditional line transmissions with multi-chain synchronous transmissions. In order to meet this technological trend in the market, Shaoyang No.2 Textile Machinery Works in China adopts Danfoss frequency converters in Latest directive to advance China's textile industry The Ministry of Information Technology of China announced in December 2009 a directive regarding the adjustment of the Chinest textile and apparel industry (工业和资讯化部关于纺织机械工业结构调整的指导意见）。 This Directive was formulated to achieve obiectives laid down by the support plan declared by the State Council of China in April 2009,to adjust and strengthen the textile and apparel industry between 2009 and 2011. The Directive aims to increase the competitiveness of textile machinery made in China,so as to provide technological support and machinery for the country to develop from a large production base into a strong textile and apparel supplier. The authorities has set out three major objectives: 1.Improve the proprietary innovation and hte level of product quality Shuttleless loom and main knitting mahinery desing,manufacturing technologies should see new breakthroughs.It is aimed that China-made textile machinery will share the domestic market from the current 60% to 70%. 2.Optimize the product structure More efforts are needed to develop and promote the use of Chinese technical textile machinery .Itis aimed that China-made textile machinery will share the domestic technical textile machinery market from 10% at present to 30%.Another aim is to increase the use of energy-saving and green textile machinery. 3.Manufacturing techniques should be improved significantly Pollutants from the textile and apparel manufacturing activities should decrease 10% in emissions.The utilization rate of materials should be increased from the current 80% to 85%.It is aimed that the rate of numeric control in the machinery and equipment used by major enterprises will increase from the current 10-12%to 15-20%. Aother aim is that main parts and components in China will be up to the par with similar products in the international market;product reliability and stability will be substantially enhanced. Detailde targets are outined in the directive in the fields of traditional textile machinery,technical textile machinery,energy-saving machinery,and parts and components. ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

China Focus its latest product (e.g. Shaoyan's M5469 stenter setting machine). Germany-based Danfoss offers improved flexibility by providing frequency converter with a synchronous card so as to achieve multi-chain transmission. In addition, Siemens, Lenze, the ABB Group, Schneider Electric and Fuji Electric Group are also suppliers in this field. Programmable logic controller Programmable logic controller (PLC) is more and more important in the complex and increasingly automated industrial setting. Advanced PLC assures programming of various applications via USB port or other forms of electronic communications. They are often in compact sizes and can withstand severe industrial environments. Some major technical suppliers in this aspect are Siemens, Schneider Electric, Mitsubishi and Fuji Electric Group. For instance, Modicon M340 of Schneider Electric manages applications up to 70K instructions and 256KB data. It accepts from four to 12 modules with maximum density of 64 channels per module. Human-machine interface In the industrial design field of human-machine interface (HMI), the user interface is an interactive platform between the operator and the machine. Generally, HMI is essential to equipment built with PLC. The demand for HMI is therefore closely linked to that for PLC. In recent years, more textile machinery builders in China have developed systems with a user-friendlier touch-screen interface rather than the previously used text-based interface. Suppliers in this field include Siemens, Advantech (研华) and Arbor (磐仪科技). Headquartered in Taiwan, Arbor offers an open HMI platform, HMI 2.0. The computing system provides upgraded hardware and OPC (Object linking and embedding for Process Control) sever support for various automated communication requirements, the company says. The open operating system can also provide special features such as smart data recovery, CAN (Controller Area Network)-bus function and RFID (radio frequency identification) module. AC servo system and on-site bus China's textile machinery industry started to adopt the AC servo system in these years. A number of shuttleless loom manufacturers have developed AC servo systems for electronic warp feeding and winding. The use of the AC servo system is expected to grow substantially in China's future industry. Also on the rise is the use of on-site bus that takes up the job to control a variety of systems at the factory floor. The textile manufacturing process is often comprised of several closely linked stages. Adopting the on-site bus helps users coordinate the different stages more efficiently. Automated systems Automation is another keyword. One of the active developers is Hangzhou Kaiyuan Computer Technology Co Ltd (杭州开源), based in East China. The company's marketing manager, Xu Changyuan (许昌元), said that Hangzhou Kaiyuan has put great emphasis on automation so as to further modernize China's textile and apparel manufacturing. Caption: Hangzhou Kaiyuan's CCK system Hangzhou Kaiyuan has developed by itself a fully automatic size-mixing system that can double the production efficiency compared with the conventional printing, dyeing and mixing process, said Mr Xu. Users are able to save as much as RMB1.5 million a year previously spent on sampling and associated costs. The automatic CCK system for printing/dyeing developed by Hangzhou Kaiyuan provides dosing of dyes (liquid). Featuring advanced recipe management software and a high-precision electronic scale, the system is able to memorize a number of recipes for repeat orders. In 2009, Chinese textile machinery suppliers felt the chill from abroad, but some of them remained upbeat considering the domestic environment, industry players told ATA Journal. Hongda Textile Machinery (宏大纺机) under China Textile Machinery (Group) Co Ltd is one of them. Hongda Textile Machinery launched its automatic winding machine in 2008 after six years'research and development. Although the global economy receded starting the second half of 2008, Hongda Textile Machinery was able to sell its newly developed machine, thanks to its use of integrated circuit drive instead of a mechanic link. The new China-made automatic winder offers users the chance to increase output while reducing costs and the number of operators. The company's marketer said that automatic winding machines in China were under-supplied last year. In addition, electromechanical integration is crucial in textile machinery, for instance, with the help of a transmission system that synchronized multiple motors and drives. A simple mechanical structure is thus possible, and it is easy to make adjustment during the production process. This in turns allows the textile machine users to response market changes faster, to achieve higher product quality and variety, and to produce in smaller batches. Motion control Following the increasing use of frequency converter, PLC and HMI these years, motion control technology is expected to further develop in the Chinese textile industry. The current trend of motion control is to have the control command source close to the drive, Delta Electronics Inc (台达电子集团) explains. Hence, the Taiwanese supplier launched the new ASDA-A2 in 2009. As a new generation of the high-performance motion-control servo motor, the ASDA-A2 features a built-in electronic cam for flying shear, rotary cutoff and synchronized motion applications. (Continude on p52) ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

China Focus Producing in the market with biggest client base 在最大客户市场设生产线 Gerber Technology, a business unit of Gerber Scientific, a developer and supplier of automated CAD/CAM and PLM solutions for the sewn products and flexible materials industry, tells ATA Journal its experience in manufacturing in China by Pony Liu Gerber Technology, one of the world's largest suppliers, started to manufacture and sell the Infinity AE inkjet plotters in China since 2004. Later, the GERBERcutter XLc7000 was built and marketed in the country, followed by the GERBERcutter Z7, which is designed to operate with precision and without interruption at high speeds for around-the-clock production. The latest addition to the made-in-China product family is the XLp60 inkjet plotter. Caption:James Arthurs Moving the production line to China has brought down costs for its customers, explained James Arthurs, Senior Vice President, Gerber Scientific and President, Gerber Scientific Asia-Pacific. Producing in China allows Gerber Technology to save costs and the associated expenses such as freight and import duty. The payment method is also simpler when the product is manufactured and sold within China. Moreover, China is the largest apparel supplier in the world, considering its exports and domestic market. It currently accounts for more than 40% of the global total apparel exports, with an export value exceeding US$120 billion per annum. The country's domestic market is worth approximately US$170 billion a year. Every minute counts Talking about today's apparel market, Mr Arthurs highlighted the need of quick response from apparel makers. It is getting more important for an apparel manufacturer to be able to provide one-stop services. It means that a company can offer services from design, manufacturing of apparel, to cut and sew, he said. A key tool in this regard is the CAD system. According to Mr Arthurs, there's one area China has yet to adapt to-PLM (product lifecycle management) software that manages product specifications and adjusts the workflow to reduce expenses while taking new styles to the market faster. He added that PLM is useful to Chinese companies that have created their own brands and own retail chains. There are some 60,000 sizable apparel makers in China (with an annual operating revenue of at least RMB5 million), according to the China National Garment Association (CNGA). About a quarter of them, or some 15,000 firms, are using the CAD software. Within this portion, Gerber Technology serves about 3,000 corporate users in the country, and provides software solutions and support to about 42% of the top 100 enterprises listed by the CNGA. There is an estimated 1,500 cutters in China, of which, over 700 cutters were supplied by Gerber Technology, representing almost 50% of the market in volume and 32% in sales terms. Market evolution expected Currently, there are more than 30 CAD/CAM software suppliers in China. Half of them are local operators and the other half from abroad. In the segment of cutting Caption: Gerber's technology center in Shanghai ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

China Focus machines, there are three local players out of 13 suppliers. And among some 20 suppliers who are providing spreading machines and plotting machines, half of them are locally-based, with the rest being foreign-owned companies. He took Japan as an example, saying that Japan had less than three domestic suppliers in the field when Gerber Technology acquired a local company 20 years ago. By the 1990s, numerous suppliers emerged and there were once over 40 suppliers in this field. About 10 of them have remained in the market till today. Similarly, Mr Arthurs expects the China market to evolve as it develops. In 2005, Gerber Technology laid down a "5x5" plan for its development in China, targeting a five-time growth in five years in number of employees, revenue, number of customers and so on. It may take longer for the company to reach these targets following the global economic downturn. Moreover, competition is getting fiercer in Asia as there are more offshore investment activities within the region. For instance, China and India have started to invest abroad, such as in Vietnam and Bangladesh. Producers from Taiwan and Korea have also increased their production capacity in Vietnam. As the costs of fabrics and labour represent about 90% of the total cost for making an apparel, when these costs rise, it becomes critical to enhance productivity. The CAD solutions leading to improved operation and management thus lend a helping hand to apparel makers, Mr Arthurs said. ■ Market Statistics Key figures of China's textile machinery industry in first 11 months of 2009 The overall industry •Product sales revenue: RMB 57.388 billion, up 11.65% from the previous year (Note: percentages of yearly change below are compared to same period of the previous year) •Total assets: RMB 60.737 billion in (+7.59%) •Number of enterprises: 1,030 (+ 57 from the previous year) Production and sales •Total industrial output: RMB 57.660 billion (+12.61%) •Industrial sales value: RMB 56.898 billion (+13.61%) •Production/sales ratio: 97.82% Costs •Total cost and expenses of the textile machinery industry: RMB 54.822 billion (+10.57%) •Cost of goods sold: RMB 49.801 billion (+11.51%) Profits •Total profit: RMB 2.451 billion (+RMB 512 million from previous year) •Loss of loss-suffering enterprises: RMB 676 million (+RMB152 million) •Percentage of loss-suffering enterprises was 17.57% (unchanged) Performances Growth •Decline in overall growth capacity •Sales revenue rose 11.65% •Total assets value increased 7.59% Profit •Gross profit margins: 15.23% (+0.14%) •Sales margins: 4.27% (+0.5%) Debt •Asset to liability ratio: 59.16% (+0.71%) Operations •Total assets turnover ratio: 1.00, up 0.06 Investment •Fixed asset investment: RMB 4.012 billion (+4.2%) Some notes on textile machinery import and export •Declines in textile machinery exports; demand at home and abroad was inadequate •Decreasing rates of textile machinery exports are narrowing •Recovery is infirm. Affected by the economic downturn, consumers have adjusted their purchases and savings. Rising trade protectionism. •Total import and export of textile machinery: US$3.373 billion (-32.54%) •Export: US$1.074 billion (-27.21%) •Import: US$2.299 billion (-34.77%) Source: China Textile Machinery Association ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

China Focus Building up home textile industry from handcraft: Wendeng city 文登：从刺绣到家纺产业 Riding on the long tradition of embroidery making, Wendeng (文登) city is the home of numerous home textile producers by Amy Xiao Located in the east of Shandong (山东) province, Wendeng is a newly-developed, industrial city taking an active role in vitalizing the provincial manufacturing activities in northeastern China. Three major pillars support the economy of Wendeng, namely mechanical and electrical tools, automobiles and auto parts, as well as home textiles/leather. Scale of production is gradually achieved in these clusters. In 2004, Wendeng was honoured as a crafted home textile town in China. Wendeng's specially designed home textiles, usually with the help of various embroidery, are sold to US and European buyers. Home textile making fosters private business A large number of private companies started their business in making home textiles in Wendeng years ago where they were encouraged by local authorities's policies. These firms are situated across a group of towns and villages of the city. Until late last year, there were 4,076 home textiles enterprises in the city of Wendeng. The annual sales revenue of the city's home textile industry reached about RMB 13.61 billion during the year. The annual output value in this sector accounted for 26.5% in Wendeng's total industrial output value, according to the city's official data. Some larger enterprises include Yunlong Group (云龙), Yida (艺达), Wande Textile (万得), Yunxiang Embroidery (芸祥绣品), Yinfeng Home textiles (银丰家纺). Home textile manufacturers in Wendeng possess three famous brands in China, three nationwide inspection-free products and two famous trademarks in the country by late 2008. These recognized products include bedding textiles and textile goods used on the table, the wall and furniture. In addition, some decorative textiles in the car and at home made in Wendeng are also reputed. Overall, Wendeng's home textile products of exceeding 3,200 patterns or designs, are exported to more than 60 countries and regions such as the US, the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Caption: Embroidery products made by hand (left) have nurtured the growth of those made by machines (Photo: Yunxiang Embroidery) Embroidery from handcrafted to machine-made Shangdong was one of the famous areas providing exquisite embroidery made by hand in China. The handcraft techniques were gradually replaced by a mechanical hand as Wendeng modernized its industry with modern textile machinery. Yunlong Group is one of the pioneers in achieving this transition. "From hand-made production to machine-laden manufacturing, our company has come a long way and currently markets the products at home and abroad. However, we do some highly precise processes by hand such as putting on beads manually to create a beautifully structured and complex pattern. In this way, we can also preserve and pass the handcraft techniques of embroidery to the next generation,"said Bi Pengcheng, office manager of Yunlong Group. With 16 subsidiaries and over 5,000 workers, Yunlong Group is one of the major players in the field in Wendeng. Caption:Beddings made in Wendeng are sold domestically as well as exported (Photo:Yunlong Group) Another home textile maker in Wendeng nourished its growth through branding. "We produce for our clients when engaging an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) model. We did not develop the market ourselves. Creating our brands is a way to generate and maintain the demand of our end products. Moving from an OEM to establishing a brand is a road of getting mature for a corporation,"said Wang Jinguang, Chairman of Yida Group. Annual capacity to top 600 million pieces Currently, the city of Wendeng has a number of well-known and (Continued on p59) ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Retail Scene New springtime with soft wool Australian Wool Innovation believes the 2011 Spring season is filled with soft sensation Fashion trends Two fashion trends are identified highlighting inspirations from urban living and recharging with sports. Urban living Colors of cityscape Like tinted glass or the reflection on a metal wall. Cool greys and touches of organic shades make up an elegant range for contemporary, urban tailoring. Shiny fabrics and discreet patterns are featured in this trend for both womenswear and menswear. Wool satin, lustruous surfaces and calendering add discreet shine to modern tailoring. Wool/silk blends are important for a chic, contemporary look. Smart-looking menswear, often in various hues of greys, are given well-executed details. New pinstripes, linear constructions, barely there windowpanes and recoloured classics are some examples of discreet patterns. Cardigan in subtle harmonies is a key item. Floral highlights Apart from cityscape, the trend of urban living can also be characterized with floral highlights that remind us the value of nature. Scented mid-tones give a neo-poetic touch to natural beige shades, evoking the image of a small garden in the bustling city. Soft wool blended with cashmere, silk and stretch yarns add further comfort to the wearer, colored in pale shades. Drapey and soft wool crepes and textured weaves look elegant in white, ideal for light jackets and spring coats. Pastels can be also put on menswear for a light-hearted spring. Structures like mock-rustic weaves and airy double-weaves add substance to unlined jackets and tunic-dresses. Crepe yarn and discreet slubs give knits a cool, dry hand. In addition, fine gauge knits are played with geometric, stylilzed openstitches and linear compostitions. Trompe-l'oeil motifs add a retro couture feel. ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Retail Scene Rrend Reports Sporty break On the boardwalk While urban life is bustling on weekdays, city dwellers increasingly feel an urge to recharge themselves in sporty activities, or simply take a break by putting on relaxed weekend wear. A subtle range of softly coloured tones, as if washed and whitened by sun and the salty sea, represents the latest trend for the spring season in 2011. Basic gabardines, twills and sporty knits are washed and rinsed to get a more relaxed, worn look and a soft hand. Better fit and extra comfort are attained with wool blend cord weaves. Fine gauge striped knits, lightweight jerseys and fleece types give a warm, yet soft feel, to wardrobe staples like crewneck sweaters and polos. Graphic games Vibrant brights are teamed with off-whites to create intense graphic colour combinations for smart active wear and performance wear. Lightweight felt, flannel and denim looks are perfect fabric options for the sporty spring caban that protects you from rain and wind. Sporty ribknits are a wool favourite for the season between winter and spring. Update skinny sweaters and cardigans with fully-fashioned details, graphic ribs and thermo-regulating wool blends. Moreover, the sailor's sweater is back and will stay on land for the next season. Color trends Pure A range of raw, yet delicate natural shades for wool fabrics with textured surfaces, uneven dye effects, and new, natural fiber blends of silk, linen and more. Solid A mineral inspiration for shades evoking construction materials like wet asphalte, steel, slate and tinted glass. Colours that give a new, modern feel to fabrics with clean, even weaves and lustruous surfaces. Fresh The eco-mood continues to inspire us and is here symbolized by a range of lush greens and cool blues. A palette easy to use for subdued city harmonies as well as for more vibrant sportswear combinations. Vital Let this intoxicating range of scented and flavoured colours lift up your mood and stimulate your creativity! Go against convention and use these radiant shades not only for the evident knits and tops, but also tailored separates. Source: Australian Wool Innovation and PeclersParis ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Retail Scene Creative designs, silhouettes and color combinations A group of young talent in Hong Kong joined the fashion design competition held during the Hong Kong Fashion Week in late January Contemporary daywear wear Caption: The Devil wears Rococo by Lo Wai Him, Timbee Caption: Muse Walk by Fan Chung Pang, Stephen Caption: Pink Punk by Lee Wai Ling, Merilyn Caption: Oper-Evolutionism by Chan Ha Ching, Kathy (group winner) Caption: The Pleasant Business Trip by Wong Kwai Ching, Himma Caption: Armour by Wu Ka Man, Garbi Caption: Army-Patron Saint by Choy Wing In, Chalvy ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Retail Scene Trend Reports Casual wear and denim Caption: Heresy, Superstitiousness by Li Wang Hei, Travis Caption: Vanity Fair by Chu Man Ching, Vivian Caption: Seeking the Seed by Choy Fung Yi, Kemi Caption: Re-encounter the Memory by Law Ka Cho, Kathew (group winner) Caption: Paranoid Android by Chung Tsz Yan Party and evening wear Caption: The X-Rayed Poppy by Kan Kwok Yee, Lilian Caption: Dark Rain by Cheung Siu Yan, Anki (overall winner) Caption: Spread by Yeung Chun Yip, Seth (group winner) Caption: Heaviness or Lightness by Luk Wai Shan, Janus Caption: Sounds of Nature by Yam Ming Fai, Mountain ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Retail Scene Trend Reports Knitwear symphony of womenswear taken to stage Also at the Hong Kong Fashion Week, a number of fashion talents presented their latest designs of knitwear. "Knitwear Symphony 2010"staged in January presented innovative design from various young talents in Hong Kong. Dr Judyanna Ng, Senior Lecturer of the Institute of Textiles and Clothing (ITC) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), and three ITC graduates Matt Hui, Erik Tam and Clova Chan, displayed their innovative designs. Organized by the Knitwear Innovation and Design Society, the event aims to showcase Hong Kong designers?talents and capabilities and to reinforce the city's position as the world's leading knitwear sourcing centre. More than 600 local and overseas fashion experts and representatives from the industry were drawn to the event. Caption: by Erik Tam Caption: by Judyanna Ng Caption: by Matt Hui Caption: Designs using Shima Seiki technology (Continued from "China Focus"p43) Digitalization promise more market share As digitial technologies have been getting more mature, China has increaased its investment in digitalization to catch up with the international trends in machinery. Major digital technologies used in the textile and apparel industry are computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided engineering (CAE), computer-aided process planning (CAPP), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and product data management (PDM). Some Chinese suppliers have gained more recognition after spending years to innovate and advance themselves technologically. Pacific Mechatronic Group (太平洋机电) rolled out its development roadmap for digitalized textile machinery in 2002 to promote a more transparent information flow of a textile manufacturing unit. At the moment, the enterprise has integrated its self-developed digital technology into a range of machines, including the combing machine, roving machine, spinning machine, automatic winding machine, rotary screen printing machine and polyester staple fiber equipment. The EJK211 roving machine, equipped with a four-motor frequency-variable drive, represents a new height in the China-made digital textile machinery, according to the enterprise's president Li Peizhong. He said: "The constant product development has rewarded us a higher level of market share and prestige in the digital equipment market. We have gained substantial benefits with the quest for advanced digital technology being applied in the textile machinery." Meanwhile, Hangzhou Honghua (杭州宏华) is pleased with the potential of digital printing, which allows a faster and more efficient design process. Patterns can be changed quickly and the inkjet printer is able to produce the image without making a screen. Above all, users can swiftly respond to market changes and therefore achieve improved profitability, said Du Sien (杜斯恩), the company's marketing manager. A recent product development by Hangzhou Honghua is the VEGA DBP high-speed digital textile ink-jet printing system. It is equipped with 16 sprinklers, and each sprinkler has 256 nozzles, running at maximum 140 square meters per hour. The resolution is 1,080 dots per inch (dpi), and four or eight colors can be offered to ensure a vivid printing effect, according to the company. ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Retail Scene Online selling helps combat recession in UK Online commerce has become more important in the UK fashion industry, according to an industry report released last December. In an annual report that focuses on the challenges and issues faced by the UK fashion retail sector by Prologic, about 63% said the interviewees's top priority in 2009 is investment in eCommerce in fashion, followed by an increase in wholesaling (58%). The report examined investment priorities for IT budgets and satisfaction with current systems with 9,030 stores, or 18% of the UK fashion industry. In terms of sales performance, 55% of interviewed companies predict their sales will increase in 2010, with 33% predicting they will remain the same and 12% predicting a decrease. Website sales represent averagely 6.3% of total sales for most fashion industry companies, with reference to the report, and majority of companies have websites that are in profit (68%) and half say they achieve profitability within the first year of operation. However, this leaves a third that are still not trading profitably. Of those that are profitable, 68% say their website is more profitable than their stores. Companies reported that their IT spending averaged 2.3% of sales last year, compared to 1.8% in 2008. In terms of services available, 67% of retailers are currently able to offer their customers the chance to return products bought online at the store. However, checking store stock levels from the website, a capability that consumers are particularly keen on, is currently offered by only 30% of companies, the report says. Chinese firms demand HK designs More mainland Chinese apparel labels have tried to upgrade their design capacity with the help of Hong Kong designers. At the Inno Design Tech Expo held in Hong Kong in December 2009, a local fashion brand consultancy, Happening Design, returned to the expo after gaining clients from China in 2008. The company's Creative Director, Lau Kin-lun, reported to have received a number of enquiries in the three-day expo last year. "A large Chinese down producer and a kidswear company from Fujian province were interested in our services. They have their own design teams. Now they are considering inviting Hong Kong designers to develop new product lines giving more fresh elements to the brands,"said Mr Lau. The mainland firms have keen demand for services related to design and branding. Sales to the mainland Chinese have accounted for 30-40% of the total of Happening Design, he added. In total, 345 firms engaging with design, brand management and market promotion exhibited at the Inno Design Tech Expo. Three local designers also cooperated with the Taiwan Textile Federation and showcased for the first time their apparel designs on fabrics with such properties as air permeable and water proof, electromagnetic shielding, and anti-static, according to the organizer, Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). Caption: Hong Kong designers showcased apparel made with Taiwan-developed functional materials at a Hong Kong design expo (Photo: HKTDC) London stages menswear from new talent+B9 The British Fashion Council (BFC) announced the recipients of its designer support initiative, "Newgen Men", sponsored by Topman. New recipients Christopher Shannon and J.W. Anderson join inaugural recipients of "Newgen Men", Carolyn Massey and James Long, who received showcase funding and the opportunity to use the official BFC show venue at Somerset House to show their collections during London Fashion Week's menswear day, this February. Caption: Latest menswear collections by emerging designers were shown at London Fashion Week (Photo: Carolyn Massey) Newcomer Christopher Shannon's luxe sportswear inspired collections and wearable collaborations with Eastpak and Topman were impressive. JW Anderson's intriguing silhouettes and romantic detailing affirmed his stature as one of the most promising emerging menswear designers in London. Carolyn Massey's quintessentially English designs and James Long's ability to push the boundaries whilst creating truly wearable pieces impressed the "Newgen Men"Selection Committee made up of key opinion formers from media and retail, according to the BFC. US firms help designers offer custom fit clothing Thimbler Inc based in the US launched a service with its online platform to offer tailored sizes for customers. The service also provides a means for independent designers to market their designs to customers on a global scale. Charles Tse, president and founder of Thimbler Inc, says that the Fit-to-You service allows fashion designers to buy, sell, design, tailor and customize clothes for any size. Individual consumers may also order clothing of their own sizes. ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Show Watcher Eco-friendly textile machinery featured at Yiwu H&G 2009 Jointly organized by Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd., China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Zhejiang Sub-Council, China Commodities City Group Co Ltd, the 10th China (Yiwu) International Exhibition on Hosiery, Knitting, Dyeing & Finishing Machinery (Yiwu H&G 2009) held in last November attracted 5,078 professional buyers and visitors for sourcing onsite. The three-day exhibition occupied an exhibiting area of 7,600 square meters. About 130 exhibitors from 11 countries or regions, namely Turkey, Bangladesh, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan participated, showcasing 226 machines, including environmentally friendly and energy-saving machinery. Paris denim show meets more visitors The Denim by Premiere Vision in December 2009 received higher visits. With 1,689 visits, the exhibition showed a marked increase of nearly 18.5% over December 2008 (and 13.8% when compared with June 2009). Fabrics and designs for this category of apparel for spring summer 2011 were exhibited. International visits - which this session represented 68% of entries - also showed a 22% increase over December 2008. Major visiting countries include France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, the UK, Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium and the US. This edition of Denim by Premiere Vision paid tribute to Japan, a country known for its indigo dyes and the traditional know-how of selvedge jeans with the most advanced technologies. A collection of Japan-made jeans, as well as raw denim, treatments and related accessories was showcased. The next Denim by Premiere Vision will be held at the Halle Freyssinet in Paris on June 2-3 this year. Knit+tex dedicated to Bangladeshi knitwear sector The three-day "2nd Knit+tex Bangladesh International Expo"in Dhaka exhibited latest knitting technology and machinery from nearly 75 exhibitors of over 15 countries in December 2009. Organized by the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BKMEA) and Conference & Exhibition Management Services Ltd (CEMS), the Expo was dedicated to the knitwear sector of Bangladesh. The country's knitwear is exported to over 100 countries of the world and has surpassed the US$6.4 billion in its exports this fiscal year and is the 3rd largest supplier of knitwear in the world after China and Turkey, according to the exhibition organizers. The knitwear sector of Bangladesh is almost self-sufficient and has acquired the confidence of the investors and is the most potential export-earning sector of the country. Caption:Visitors from Wrangler, Zara, DKNY Jeans and more attended the recent Denim by Premiere Vision in Paris Pitti Filati focuses on research and creativity Approximately 90 exhibitors showcased their latest material developments on a fairground of 23,000 square meters at the Pitti Filati in Florence, Italy late this January. About 26 of these exhibitors come from abroad, including Filartex, Ima Filati, Emilcotoni, Monticolor, Manifattura di Legnano and the German firm, Stoll at the Fashion at Work section, the organizer said. "The strength of Pitti Filati lies in the fact that it is a real research lab" says Agostino Poletto, deputy general manager of Pitti Immagine, "It is the privileged vantage point for viewing fashion trends of the future. Our audience of top buyers from all over the world-as well as designers from the biggest names in fashion-comes to Florence to see excellence in international yarn manufacturing and to get new ideas and inspiration." The Fashion at Work area, or Spazio Ricerca, in this edition's Pitti Filati demonstrated the work from fashion designer Angelo Figus as artistic director and knitwear expert Nicola Miler who will present the 2011 Spring/Summer trends. The setting is designed by Alessandro Moradei. Versatile tire cord makers on show in Cologne Oerlikon Saurer showcased Allma Product Line, especially the Allma CC3 Combi machine with its unique two-for-one twisting package and assembling unit at the Tire Technology 2010 in Cologne, Germany, in early February. About two thirds of the worldwide tire cord production are produced on Allma cabling and twisting systems, according to Oerlikon Saurer. The Allma CC3 has been equipped with two-for-one package and assembling unit. In addition to cabling symmetrical two-ply tire cord, you can now twist single yarns and asymmetrical two-ply constructions as well as symmetrical and asymmetrical three-ply constructions according to the two-for-one twisting principle on the same machine. The new machine concept allows the yarn manufacturers to cover niches such as one-ply, three-ply or asymmetrical two-ply with just one machine, the company says. With the Allma CC3 Combi, two-ply and three-ply tire cord, cap ply, chafer and other technical yarns can be very economically cabled or twisted as required in top quality on the same machine. ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Show Watcher India to launch new filtration exhibition The first edition of the Asian Filtration Conference and Exhibition, "FILTREX Asia"which will be held in New Delhi, India, on February18-19 this year. Organized by EDANA, the association serving the nonwovens and related industries, and India's Business Co-Ordination House (BCH), the two-day exhibition will cover such topics as: •New filter media technologies •Market trends •Automotive filtration •Liquid filtration •Gas filtration •Water treatment Participating companies included Oerlikon Neumag, Andritz Kusters, Johns Manville, Freudenberg Filtration Technologies and Evonik Fibres, the exhibition organizers said. Japanese home textile designs displayed in Guangzhou Top Japanese designers Atelier Mineeda and Salon de Sakai will present their latest products at the Intertextile Guangzhou Hometextile China from March 18-21 in Guangzhou, China. Covering a display area of 20,000 square meters, the show will feature a preview of the latest products, designs and information in the world of home textiles from over 200 exhibitors. The 2009 show received over 16,400 professional trade buyers from 122 countries and regions. This included home textile-related importers, exporters, wholesalers, retailers, contractors, manufacturers and designers. Caption: Latest home textile designs will be showcased in South China this March Intertextile Beijing to eye luxury market The 2010 edition of Intertextile Beijing Apparel Fabrics, held from March 30 to April 1 in Beijing, China, will offer access to buyers from major largest apparel related manufacturing areas in the country, such as Shandong, Jiangsu, Hubei and Henan. The exhibition's organizer, Messe Frankfurt, highlighted the growing luxury market in China. The mass population in China provides huge market potential for suppliers of all kinds fabrics. According to the World Luxury Association, China surpassed the US luxury market and is the second largest one after Japan, spending over US$8.6 billion on luxury brand name products in 2008. China's luxury goods consumers mainly belong to the 20-40 age group, meaning that luxury spending will no doubt continue to rise. In fact, experts predict that China will overtake the Japan luxury market within the next five years. In addition, the exhibition will run concurrently with China International Clothing and Accessories Fair (March 28-31) and Yarn Expo Spring (March 31-April 2). Automation stressed at JEC's show in Europe The main topic at the JEC Composites Show 2010 on April 13-15 will be process automation in Paris, France, the organizer says. "Europe has the highest rate of automation: 83% of processes in Europe are automated, compared to 68% in Asia, for example. JEC Composites Show 2010 is a showcase for this. More companies choose to exhibit uniquely at the JEC trade fair, in order to create a huge platform with what it takes to show users the scope and innovative capacity of such an industry. This is what the big manufacturers of carbon, glass, aramid and basalt fibres are doing, and so are the most innovative processors,"said JEC President and CEO Frederique Mutel. Other topics for the 2010 event include engineering textiles and bio-composites. Pakistan and Indonesia to hold textile trade fairs in April Two textile machinery exhibitions will be held in Pakistan and Indonesia on April 10-13 and April 22-25 respectively. An official event of the Federal Ministry of Textile Industry of Pakistan, the International Textile Asia 2010 Exhibition will be held at the Karachi Expo Centre, bringing together suppliers and users of textile and apparel machinery and equipment, in addition to those of textile accessories, raw material supplies, chemicals and related services under a roof. To be held at Jakarta International Expo-Kemayoran in Jakarta, Bandung InterTex 2010 is one of the largest exhibitions of textile and garment machinery and accessories in the ASEAN region, featuring about 550 leading suppliers from around the world, according to one of the organizers, Peraga Nusantara Jaya Sakti PT. Spinning section largest at ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 received support from textile machinery makers and had sold over 95% of the exhibition space by December 2009, according to the organisers. Applications grossing over 95,000 square metres have been received from over 1,000 exhibitors. Chinese manufacturers make up the biggest country group, booking almost 50% of the space, with European and Japanese manufacturers taking up more than 35%, the organisers said. Suppliers from spinning will occupy around 30% of the exhibit space, the largest category this year, followed by finishing (25%), knitting, garment making and textile processing (20%) and weaving (15%). ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Corporate Profile Value-addition preferred to ride out competition Featured company: PT Susilia Indah Synthetic Fibers Industries by Asep Setiaharja Commitment to a growth strategy that revolves around value-added quality, reliability and competitive prices is the key to success for PT Susilia Indah Synthetic Fibers Industries (PT Sulindafin). Suresh Khurana, Director of PT Sulindafin talks to ATA Journal in Jakarta PT Sulindafin is the flagship company of Shinta Group, a leading integrated textile group in Indonesia. Established in 1978, PT Sulindafin pioneered in the manufacture of polyester (POY) in Indonesia. Together with its associate companies of Shinta Group, it supplies a wide range of synthetic fibers and yarns in polyester, nylon and various blends. Currently, the company has a wide range of products of synthetic fibers such as polyester chips, polyester staple fibers, polyester filament yarns, polyester textured yarns, nylon filament yarns, nylon textured yarns, ring spun yarns and their blends. It produces a variety of specialty and performance yarns including micro filament, bi-shrinkage, moisture-absorbent, anti-bacterial and flame-retardant yarns. As one of the leading synthetic fiber manufacturers in Indonesia, its products are marketed in domestic as well as export markets with a workforce of over 2,000 employees. It supplies about 10% of the domestic market share in synthetic fiber products, and exports around 35% of its production to more than 25 countries in five continents. Through a continuous process of re-investment, PT Sulindafin draws on the latest technologies from internationally leading engineering companies from Europe and Japan (e.g. Zimmer, Rieter Scragg and Oerlikon Barmag in Europe; Teijin Seiki and Murata in Japan). ATA: Established over two decades for now, what is the strategy of PT Sulindafin to stay competitive in the market? Mr Khurana: Our strategies are maintaining quality, controlling costs and focusing on customer satisfaction. We are facing a stiff competition not only from domestic producers but also international players particularly from India and China. To attract and retain good customers, you have to deliver better-quality products at a reasonable price. It is very difficult to maintain our survival if we only produce regular products. Price is a critical factor in this business. Production cost has to be controlled without sacrificing quality in order to be able to offer reasonable selling prices to our customers. Customer satisfaction is the core of our business philosophy, and in line with this fundamental belief, we strive to deliver products of exceptional quality to best meet our customers' needs. Caption: Suresh Khurana ATA: In the face of fiercer competition mentioned, how does the firm position itself? Mr Khurana: Our capacity is not very large and hence we cannot play on volume. Therefore, we developed products with value-added quality for premium segments. We produce a range of specialized fibers and yarns for apparel end-uses as well as for the home furnishing and automobile sectors. We have commercialized and trademarked five groups of specialized products. These fibers and yarns offer functional value including natural feel and properties of moisture absorbency, flame retardancy and anti-bacteria. SulCool, for example, is a polyester fiber with excellent moisture absorbency and wicking capabilities. It has wicking properties far superior to regular polyester and other man-made or natural fibers including cotton. It is able to meet customers's requirement for enhanced performance, often found in active lifestyle apparel. The best part is that we are able to offer this technology at attractive prices compared with competing brands. ATA: How about cost controlling, which may be even more crucial at times like the current economic climate? Mr Khurana: Cost reduction is the key to maintain our prices at a competitive and reasonable level. We do believe that only efficient ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Corporate Profile companies will survive this era of globalization. Efficiency has to be applied in every field of business, and production process and energy are two most important factors. PT Sulindafin, therefore, restructured some of its machinery using more advanced technology and changed over to natural gas, which is a cleaner and cheaper source of energy. This has resulted in cost reduction and improved efficiency. ATA: What are the future plans? Is the firm planning to expand? Mr Khurana: PT Sulindafin will stay focused to remain as a quality producer rather than volume producer. We have been at the forefront of Indonesia's polyester and nylon industry. We have placed ourselves as a key quality player in the global marketplace and we hope to maintain this position. Our current production capacity is 220 ton/day of polyester and 20 ton/day of nylon. Presently, we do not have any major capacity expansion plans. We will continue to regenerate our existing plant and equipment with newer technology, and our research and development will continuously work on new product development and enhancement. ATA: There are numerous free-trade agreements (FTAs) signed by the government. Do they help to bring positive impact to your business? Mr Khurana: In the globalization era, FTAs are a two-sided sword. On one hand, they allow us to penetrate deeply in the markets abroad, and on the other, our competitors in foreign countries are also having better access to our domestic market. The FTA between the ASEAN and China, for example, is surely going to have an adverse impact on our domestic market in the short-term as Indonesian imports of garment from China will get a boost. It will cut down the demand on fabrics in domestic market (as domestic apparel production reduces) and finally will result in reduced demand for yarns and fibers as well. However, Indonesian producers will also be able to boost their exports to China. At PT Sulindafin, we are looking at this positive side of the FTAs. We will continue to remain focused on quality and customer service to stay ahead of competitors. ■ PT Susilia Indah Synthetic Fibers Industries Year of establishment 1978 Product portfolio Caption: PT Sulindafin develops a variety of functional manmade fibers such as moisture absorbency Polyester •Textile grade chips •Staple fiber for spinning & nonwovens •Draw textured yarns (DTY) •Specialty yarns: micro-filament yarns, bi-shrinkage yarns (BSY) & cationic yarns Nylon 6 •Nylon mono & multi filament yarns (NFY) •Nylon textured yarns (NTY) SulSuite collection •SulCool ?Moisture Management •SulNatural ?Natural Feel •SulShield ?Flame Retardant •SulGuard ?Anti-Bacterial •SulWave ?Waves of Oceanic Charm Production capacity 220 ton/day of polyester 20 ton/day of nylon Market 65% domestic 35% export Employees 2,300 Certification ISO 9001:2000 Oeko-Tex Standard 100 (Continued from "Fhina Focus"p46) large-size home textile producers and some of them are ranked among the top 500 enterprises in China's textile and garment industry in 2008-2009. The annual production capacity reaches over 600 million pieces (sets) of home textile products, according to the official data. After the global financial crisis broke out and overseas home textile markets turned slack, the municipal government of Wendeng organized some trade promotion meetings for the local home textile makers under a collective brand name of "Home textiles made in Wendeng" These trade promotion meetings were organized across six provinces (mainly in North China) and 30 cities in China. This helped the enterprises gain more orders to survive the economic downturn. Over 400 enterprises participated and a sales revenue over RMB28 million was attained at the meetings, orders for goods exceeded RMB100 million were received. Further, the local authorities of Wendeng invested RMB3 million to establish a home textile public service center and provide free services for small and medium enterprises in regard of product innovation, human resources training and more. Director of Wendeng's Home Textile Bureau, Xu Fang (徐方), described that the large Chinese home textile market as a sweet watermelon with a thick skin. SMEs do not possess a big knife themselves to open the melon. However, they can join together to share the large market,"said Mr Xu. Background information was provided by the Wendeng government. ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Company Bulletin Chinese home textile maker to expand downstream Jiangsu Lianfa Textile Co Ltd, a manufacturer and exporter of home textiles based in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, was approved in December 2009 by the China Securities Regulatory Commission to launch an initial public offering in Shenzhen. Jiangsu Lianfa was reported to raise capital of RMB736 million by issuing A shares in Shenzhen's stock exchange. It expects to further expand downstream operations in the area of colored woven fabrics after the listing. The raised capital is expected to use for upgrading the company's machinery in the areas of high-end fabric weaving and dyeing, as well as the production of premium natural fiber yarns. It is a fabric supplier for well-known apparel brands, such as GAP and H&M. Bangladeshi maker improves quality with new compactor Navis TubeTex shipped a new Pak Nit SP Tubular Compactor to Meghna Knit Composite Ltd in Bangladesh in December 2009. The Pak Nit II SP Compactor was purchased to improve on the quality and production over the machinery Maghna Knit Composite had been using. Meghna's review of the Navis TubeTex machinery and the local Bangladeshi service center were key factors in the purchase of the new Navis TubeTex compactor. Caption: Meghna Knit Composite Ltd bought a new tubular compactor to better process sensitive fabrics The Pak Nit SP Compactor allows Maghna Knit Composite to process more challenging and sensitive fabrics to better control shrinkage and weights over the old compaction technology Maghna is replacing. Its production speed is over 50 meters per minute and compaction rates reach to over 25%, according to Navis TubeTex. Record number of Oeko-Tex certificates issued The Oeko-Tex Association announced that it issued more than 10,000 valid Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certificates in a year since the creation of the Standard. The most recent record level of certification processes was registered at 10,037 as of November 20, 2009. The Hohenstein Textile Testing Institute GmbH awarded the 10,000th Oeko-Tex last November to Anvil Knitwear (USA) for its dyed and printed cotton T-shirts. The main focus of certification activities continues to be on product class II articles which are worn close to the skin (59% of all certificates), followed by baby items (32%) in product class I as well as decorative materials (3%, product class IV) and textiles without direct contact with the skin (2%, product class III). Broken down by region, the majority of Oeko-Tex certificates were awarded to companies in Asia (51%) and Europe (45.8%). Even regions that normally have far fewer certificates, such as North America, registered significant growth, the Oeko-Tex Association said. China tops the list of awarded certificates (16.9%), closely followed by Germany (16.0%), and then Turkey (7.6%), Italy (6.9%) and Hong Kong (5.3%). Oerlikon Enka Tecnica bought out Oerlikon Textile announced that it now focuses on the component business and has sold Oerlikon Enka Tecnica with domicile in Ubach-Palenberg, Germany, in line with a management buyout. "This is the optimum solution for all parties concerned: Oerlikon Textile Components is concentrating on its core competences; due to the management buyout, all 110 jobs will be preserved, the new company has the possibility to operate in the market with more flexibility and latitude" Thomas Babacan, CEO of Oerlikon Textile and COO of the Oerlikon group said late last year. The buyer of Oerlikon Enka Tecnica with the German locations in Ubach-Palenberg (North Rhine Westphalia) and Grobzig (Saxony-Anhalt) is Uwe Gaedike Beteiligung GmbH, Bonn. The transaction was concluded with effect in November 2009. Enka Tecnica GmbH would continue to concentrate on the production of parts and components for the construction of high precision machines, the company added. PGI invests more to tap hygiene and healthcare markets Polymer Group Inc (PGI) planned to invest in industry-leading technology in both the US and Asia to serve the hygiene and healthcare marketplace. PGI planned to install new state-of-the-art, custom-designed, spunmelt machines in the U.S. and China. Construction associated with the projects is expected to begin early in the first quarter of 2010 and material is expected to be commercially available in mid-2011. With the expansion, PGI planned to employ industry-leading technologies, combined with recent proprietary technological developments, to deliver differentiated products to help customers achieve improved barrier, softness and opacity versus current marketplace capabilities for use in such products as diapers, and surgical gowns and drapes. "This expansion in product capability and capacity is part of PGI's ongoing strategy to provide superior solutions to the marketplace and meet customers'stated needs for higher performing products with an optimum combination of barrier and comfort,"said Veronica Hagen, chief executive officer of PGI. Besides, the firm completed the initial phase of the acquisition of the Barcelona, Spain-based Tesalca-Texnovo nonwovens businesses from Grupo Corinpa. ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Company Bulletin PGI says that the acquisition expands its manufacturing capabilities with presence in Tarragona, Spain consisting of six spunlaid lines serving the hygiene, medical and industrial/agricultural segments. The additional capacity brings its global spunlaid capacity to more than 285,000 metric tonnes. Rieter awards given to young textile professionals The Rieter Award, an international award for future textile professionals since 1989, annually honoured outstanding students and young professionals in the field of textile engineering. The Rieter Awards 2009 were given to Ajit Singh (India), Caio Sado (Brazil), Saidur Rahman (Bangladesh) and Bakhriddin Turakulov (Kazakhstan). The winners were able to gain an insight into Rieter's world during a week's stay in Switzerland. On the program were visits to several textile production companies and to some famous tourist attractions. The award week was an unforgettable experience not only for the students, but also for the Rieter staff taking part, the company says. Rieter sells nonwovens activities Rieter signed a contract with the international technology group Andritz, based in Graz, Austria, for the sale of the French company, Rieter Perfojet S.A.S, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rieter Group last December. Caption: From left: Andrea Ott (Rieter), Peter Illi (Rieter), Ajit Singh (winner from India), Caio Amaral Sado (winner from Brazil), Reto Thom (Rieter), Erwin Wuthrich (Rieter) Located in Montbonnot, France, Rieter Perfojet develops products and technologies for nonwovens, especially in the field of the hydroentanglement of nonwoven fabrics. As a consequence of the global economic crisis, Rieter intensified the efforts to concentrate on the Textile Division and its core competencies in the field of spinning machinery for short staple fibers and related services. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Completion of the transaction is subject to the consent of the anti-trust authorities. This is expected at the beginning of this year. Andritz had more than 13,000 employees and generated sales of some 3.6 billion euros in 2008. The Andritz Group already operates in the nonwovens business through its subsidiary Andritz Kusters GmbH in Krefeld (Germany). Korean investor upgrades dyeing technology in Vietnamese plant A Korean producer of terry towelling products, aspiring to becoming a major international supplier with its newly created Terry Gallery brand, built a new plant in Vietnam, which is equipped with Thies dyeing technology as the major part of its expansion strategy. Songwol Co Ltd recently installed Thies fabric and yarn dyeing technology for its newly constructed plant near to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Kim Woo Ram, President of Songwol Vina, said that the company is targeting markets across the US, Europe and Japan with the Songwol Vina production. He said: "Thies machines give us high temperature, high pressure and accurate colour, and by reducing the dyeing process time, we minimise damage and faulty production." The Thies equipment is for the dyeing of both yarns and fabrics, with an initial capacity of 3,500 kg/day for yarn dyeing, and 10,000 kg/day for fabric dyeing. When the factory is fully operational, the capacity for yarn dyeing is expected to be 6,000 kg/day and for fabrics 30,000 kg/day. For fabrics, our ultimate target is 11,000 tonnes per year, the company says. Caption: Songwol produces premium quality terry products with Thies'dyeing technology French textile machinery makers meet students at forum The French Textile Machinery Manufacturers'Association, UCMTF, brought together students from four French universities with the textile machinery industry players in December 2009. The forum was organized on the campus of l'ENSISA (Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Ingenieurs Sud Alsace) located in Mulhouse. Students being trained as engineers for the textile industries from l'ENSISA, ENSAIT (Roubaix), ITECH (Lyon) and the textile department of HEI (Lille) joined the event. More than 250 manufacturers, teachers and students were present. Panel discussions were held and a number of French makers presented their strategies and new machines, including N. Sclumberger, RITM, Petit, Superba, Staubli, Asselin-Thibeau, Laroche, Rieter Perfojet, Alliance, Roussselet, Dollfus & Muller and AESA. The thirty companies, which make up UCMTF, achieve a turnover of nearly one Caption: Some 250 French textile machinery manufacturers, teachers and students met in Mulhouse in eastern France ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Company Bulletin billion euros, ranking sixth in the world, according to Bruno Ameline, chairman of UCMTF. German textile machinery industry honours talent The Walter Reiners-Stiftung (Foundation) of the German textile machinery industry honoured four successful junior engineers in Aachen, Germany, late last year. Foundation's President and Chairman of the Board of Lindauer Dornier GmbH, Peter D. Dornier, honoured the laureates during a celebration in the new building of the Institute for Textile Technology of the Aachen University (RWTH Aachen). The promotion prize endowed with 5,000 euros in the category dissertation has been awarded to Dr Gunnar Seide of RWTH Aachen. In the diploma/master category, two theses stood out among numerous other candidatures. The board of directors of the foundation has been glad to bestow two promotion prizes of 3,000 euros each: one for the diploma thesis of Wolfram Kretzschmar of Dresden University and the other for the master thesis of Christoph Rieger at Reutlingen University/ITV Denkendorf. The creativity award for the cleverest seminar paper-endowed with 2,000 euros-was given to Helga Krieger of RWTH Aachen. Caption: From left: Peter D. Dornier), Dr Gunnar Seide, Helga Krieger, Wolfram Kretzschmar, and Karlheinz Liebrandt (Board member of foundation) X-Rite's ColorMunki Design product awarded in China A Chinese industry organization for fashion color research, forecast and design gave X-Rite Incorporated an award for innovation recently for ColorMunki Design, an instrument/software package that delivers color control and color creation tools for digital workflows. The award was given to X-Rite at the 5th Annual Color China event held in Beijing by the China Fashion Color Association (CFCA), in December 2009. Caption: X-Rite's ColorMunki Design was awarded by the Chinese authorities for innovation "We are extremely honored with the association's recognition of ColorMunki Design, a new and inspiring tool for designers in China to apply their craft in a wide range of industries,"said Terence Lam, Vice President of Pantone Asia, at the Beijing ceremony, who accepted the award from Cheng Donghong, Secretary of China's Association for Science and Technology. Indian investor might buy DyStar Operations at DyStar Textilfarben GmbH and the production at three German sites are set to continue after the company found an investor in India-listed manufacturer and supplier Kiri Dyes & Chemicals Ltd. (KDCL). "We have found an investor willing to buy the operations and the sites in Frankfurt/Main, Leverkusen, Ludwigshafen and Brunsbuttel. This means that up to 800 jobs in Germany and some 2,000 worldwide may be saved,"insolvency administrator Miguel Grosser from the law firm Jaffe Rechtsanwalte Insolvenzverwalter and Dr Stephan Laubereau from PLUTA Rechtsanwalts GmbH announced in December 2009. Under the purchase agreement signed, KDCL planned to take over the operations of the DyStar Group and its German sites in Frankfurt/Main, Leverkusen, Ludwigshafen and Brunsbuttel, along with 36 international subsidiaries. The Geretsried site is not included in the deal. The creditor committees agreed to the deal, which would still be subject to other conditions . If all requirements are met as planned, the purchase agreement may be executed by January 2010, the DyStar press release stated. People Veteran textile journalist passed away at 90 Kayser Sung Winsiang, editor-in-chief and publisher of Textile Asia, passed away at the age of 90 on January 12 in Hong Kong. Born on October 1, 1919 in Nanjing, China, Mr Sung was a devoted journalist, who had worked for Chinese newspapers, the Reuters News Agency and Far Eastern Economic Review. Since 1960, Mr Sung applied his journalistic acumen to the reporting on the Asian textile industry. His expertise was recognised in 1965 when he was asked to join a textile experts group in a joint research project on the Asian textile industry for the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) of the United Nations. In 1970, he established and co-founded Business Press Ltd and started publication of the monthly journal Textile Asia, of which he remained editor-in-chief and publisher for 40 years until his passing. Mr Sung garnered numerous citations during his long career. He was chairman of the Textile Institute (Hong Kong Section) from 1986 to 1996, and world vice-president of Textile Institute International from 1993 to 1996. ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

New Products Guide Beck launches jacquard circular knitting machine in E 44 Beck GmbH supplies a jacquard machine in E 44, an ultrafine gauge openwidth frame model with mechanical needle guidance up to E 70. Beck started a joint development with its German pilot customer, Handel + Diller knitting company, in regard of a worldwide unique ultrafine jacquard circular knitting machine in E 44. After intensive development work and comprehensive knitting tests, the E 44 jacquard machine went into production to knit premium segment lingerie fabrics fully plated with spandex yarn. This ultrafine jacquard machine is equipped with a radio-frequency controlled openwidth take down in order to guarantee a crease-free winding up of the fabric, the company says. In addition to application fields in the lingerie, sportswear and outerwear segment, Beck also sees future market potential for this machine in the area of technical textiles. Beck is a supplier of single and double jersey circular knitting machines in Germany. DiloSpinnbau carding systems designed for hydroentangled goods The need for hydroentangled lightweight products in the medical and hygiene sectors is still fast growing especially in Asia where the Chinese market plays a major role, a technical textile machinery supplier observes. The carding systems of DiloSpinnbau for web forming in wide working widths are intended for high web speeds as they are used as direct cards. They have been accepted in the market as a standard for highest productivity. Four carding installations of this type by DiloSpinnbau were sold to producers in working widths from 3.7-5.1 metres in the last few months, DiloGroup said in December 2009. The company explains that DiloSpinnbau has made a breakthrough in regard to fibre throughput and evenness with the newly developed "Multifeed" At highest throughputs of about 400 kg/m of working width per hour with 1.7 dtex fibres, an evenness in the cross direction of CV 2-3 within the flock mat before the card infeed can still be realized. Evenness in the machine direction is controlled by an additional apron scale, which controls the card's infeed speed. Caption: DiloSpinnbau's carding system ExxonMobil Chemical introduces tackifiers to China market Launched by ExxonMobil Chemical to the China market, Escorez 5000 family of tackifiers, which are hot-melt construction adhesives, are used for disposable adhesive applications in the manufacture of baby diapers, training pants, feminine pads, and adult incontinence products. Escorez 5300 resin series are tackifiers for disposable adhesive formulations requiring a high level of stability and water whiteness. Escorez 5400 and Escorez 5600 resin series are light in color, have low odor, offer outstanding end-use performance, quality consistency and excellent balance of adhesion and cohesion properties, the company says. Fong's promotes water reuse system Water Reuse systems provided by Fong's Water Technology has been developed to reduce discharge from the start. The company explains that since the water used in textile manufacturing must be non-staining, water to be reused must be low in turbidity, colour, iron, and manganese. Hardness may cause curds to deposit on textiles and causes problems in processes that use soap. As such water to be reused must first go through a desalination process that reduces its hardness and impurities. Reverse osmosis, an advanced treatment process materialised through modern-day membrane technology, is most commonly used in water reuse to physically remove salt and impurities from wastewater. According to Fong's, membranes, used with the combination of other traditional filtering processes, can efficiently retain microscopic elements, and lowers the content of organic materials, colour, water hardness and other undesirable substances in wastewater. Treated water can readily be reused in production, reducing water costs, discharge costs, hence reducing operating costs. The water reuse unit designed by Fong's takes three phrases to implement, which are preliminary water test, pilot test and full implementation. New Genencor product promises greener denim finishing Genencor, a division of Danisco A/S, introduced PrimaGreen EcoLight 1, the latest in the company's portfolio of products for more sustainable denim bleaching. The PrimaGreen portfolio gives textile manufacturers the tools to produce denim apparel in a variety of finishes. In addition, with PrimaGreen, denim can be stonewashed and bleached using a single bath, requiring significantly less water and energy than the established process. PrimaGreen EcoLight 1 is a liquid esterase enzyme that can be used to achieve a vintage-style look, but is biodegradable and made with renewable resources. In addition, when denim is treated with a combination of PrimaGreen EcoLight 1 and PrimaGreen Super, a cellulase enzyme, the vintage-style look can be achieved while cutting water by more than 50% and energy usage by more than 40%, based on the company's current estimates. Multiple benefits achieved by Huntsman's diffusion agent Univadine DFM is the newest diffusion agent from Huntsman Textile Effects ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

New Products Guide developed for polyester and its blends, which provides migration and tone-in-tone build up properties. The diffusion accelerating effect produced by Univadine DFM helps on the one hand reduce dyeing temperature and at the same time shortens the dyeing cycle. It improves dye yield, reaching the final tone quicker and small process variations do not negatively affect either the reproducibility or the required fastness, the company says. Further, Univadine DFM actively support high dye migration, which is essential for perfectly level dyeing across the whole batch. This property pays off when dyeing under critical conditions or with difficult fabrics. The new product also assures a tone-in-tone build up no matter different energy level dyes are used. Univadine DFM accelerates the dyeing process and works towards achieving level dyeing and ideal reproducibility. The product, while giving reliable results, helps save cost, time and energy, the company concludes. Improved universal strength tester from James H. Heal With the increased ability to work in tension and compression and the introduction of a wide variety of new tooling and accessories and updated software, users will find Titan3 from James H. Heal offers new opportunities. The instrument is suitable for testing a wide variety of materials including textiles, nonwovens, paper and plastics. It conforms to test standards from around the world including those of ISO and ASTM, along with the world's largest retailers, James H. Heal says. Titan3 software has been written with the support of test house laboratory managers, technicians and operators to bring you a superbly configured, innovative and easy-to-use quality analysis software system. Karl Mayer demonstrates new DJ machine series Karl Mayer held an open-house event to demonstrate the DJ machine series in January, in Obertshausen, Germany. The new machines help Karl Mayer extend its activities range in the sector of seamless fashion. The DJ is suitable for newcomers to the seamless goods market, for processing small orders, and for producing sample collections. The double-bar raschel machine range with jacquard facility has been upgraded and comprises two models, the DJ 4/2 and the DJ 6/2, which are both available with electronic guide bar control (EL). The EL facility in particular enables a wide range of patterns with long repeats to be produced. Whether it is being used to produce pantyhose, stockings, dresses, underwear or sportswear, the DJ 6/2 EL can efficiently turn the design ideas of the various sectors into reality, and the size of the batch makes no difference, mentions Karl Mayer. Caption: Karl Mayer's DJ machine Compact DTY laboratory unit unveiled by Retech Retech from Switzerland introduced a piece of equipment for a false-twisting draw texturing process on a small to medium scale, TEX2000-L. With the smallest possible number of positions, the equipment allows users to develop and process new generations of draw textured yarns (DTY). Users can thus set a number of parameter individually for yarns in various fields, from high-end fashion to technical and medical application. The system can process polyamide, polyester and polypropylene as well as bicomponent yarns and other specialities, according to Retech. In addition to fine yarns such as microfibers as well as nano-fibers with a large number of very tiny filaments, it is possible to process also coarse yarn counts, the company concludes. Caption:TEX2000-L laboratory unit of Retech Steel Heddle offers zero-degree eye heddles Steel Heddle announced a recent research on its "zero degree"eye design as high-quality special formed eye on the market for minimal filamentation. Steel Heddle's study reports the weaving efficiency and number of warp stops on three types of fabrics woven with Jet Eye and with the special formed eye from the competition. The specialty of the Jet Eye is that it has a "zero-degree"eye whereas a regular heddle has a 27°angle and competitors special heddles have 7-9°heddle eyes. The warp yarn is 100% parallel with the heddle and thus provides the lowest friction to the warp yarn. Therefore, it handles gently the warp yarn, resulting in less warp stops, less filamenation and better fabric quality, the company explains. Regular Special eye competitors JET EYE 27° 9° 0° Caption: Jet Eye has a zero-degree eye, and heddles available in the market have an angle from 7°to 27° Additionally, it enables to increase the heddle density up to 32% and the number of warp stops with Jet Eye is lower than that of the competition, Steel Heddle says. ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Market Focus (Continued from "Market Focus"P25) Menswear Variety in brands with different designs and styles are flourishing in the segment of menswear as apparel enterprises seek to increase market share. The aforesaid multi-brand strategy is being applied in this segment. Fujian Septwolves specializing in menswear has established four brands, with different positioning. Formal business wear of the"Red Wolves"brand and comfortable smart casual wear of the "Green Wolves"brand are the company's two major product lines targeting men aged 25-55. Another brand, Blue Wolves, was launched in late 2008 for young Chinese men who prefer fashionable casual wear. The company also invited a French designer to jointly roll out a premium brand in 2008 for male elites of the society. This line of premium menswear is available at selective department stores and Fujian Septwolves'spremium retail stores. Fujian Septwolves currently has 2,957 points of sale in China including 282 self-owned stores and 28 premium retail stores. The company registered an operating revenue of RMB879.7 million for the first half of 2009, representing a 4.14% increase from the same period of 2008. The gross profit margin was 37.44%, with reference to its interim report. The company attributed the growths to the stimulus package introduced by the Chinese government resulting in improved national economic performance and relatively upbeat consumer sentiment. It also reported fast growths in the northeastern and southwestern parts of China. Functional garment Functional garment is also getting popular. Since the beginning of the global financial crisis, the sportswear market has experienced a sharp downturn. However, functional apparel has a great potential for enterprises strong in product development, said Yang Jianguo, General Manager of Shanghai Jiale. The company is a supplier of Reebok, Quiksilver and Decathlon. "We have launched engineered double-face fabrics that keep wearers warm, and fabrics delivering moisture absorbency, for instance,"he said. ■ Caption: More Chinese apparel brands have employed well-known celebrities as their image ambassadors (Photo: Fujian Septwolves) ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Useful Reference Body measurements of German people The German representative size survey, "SizeGERMANY" is a joint project of the international textile research centre, the Hohenstein Institute in Boennigheim, and Human Solutions GmbH of Kaiserslautern, a leading manufacturer of body scanning equipment. Up to now, more than 100 companies from the apparel and automotive sectors have taken part in financing the project and are ensured exclusive access to the measurement study results. From July 1, 2007 to October 31, 2008, four measurement teams in working in 31 stations all across Germany took the measurements of 13,362 men, women and children ranging from 6 to 87 years of age. State-of-the-art, contact-free, 3-D body scanner technology was used to measure the subjects in one sitting and three standing positions. On the basis of some 400,000 measurement points gathered per session, electronic duplicates (scans) of the subjects were created on PCs. This data was used to extrapolate 44 body dimensions, such as hip and chest circumference, as well as 53 body dimensions for the purposes of technical ergonomics. The anonymous scans were coupled with socio-demographic data such as gender and age and are available at any time for further analysis. Participating companies can access this wealth of data from an internet portal for target groups and company-specific analyses. Reasons for the representative size survey The body proportions of Germany's population have clearly changed in the last decades. Today, we are taller and more substantial on average than our parents and grandparents. This means that more and more people are having difficulties finding optimally sized garments in retail stores. The first step towards resolving this is carrying out a representative survey of current body sizes, as is being done by the international research centre of the Hohenstein Institute and Human Solutions GmbH. These two partners are attacking the problem with the support of the garment industry, retailers and the automotive industry. The most significant changes in body measurements The last representative size survey for women was carried out in Germany in 1994. The following changes from the average values gathered in 1994 were identified for women between the ages of 14 and 70 years old-independent of clothes size. A shift towards larger clothing sizes has taken place. •Height: increase of around 1.0 cm •Chest: increase of 2.3 cm •Waist: increase of 4.1 cm •Hips: increase of 1.8 cm Average German Woman Hgight 165.8cm+0.9cm 98.7cm+2.3cm 84.9cm+4.1cm 102.9cm+1.8cm Caption: Current measurements of the average German woman in contrast with measurements gathered in the representative size survey of 1994 (from the top): height, chest, waist and hip measurements 1994 167.0cm 165.8cm 163.3cm 161.3cm 2009 167.2cm 168.5cm 164.5cm 161.5cm Age 14-25 26-45 46-65 66-70 Caption: Height of Women-Average According to Age Size Surveys of 1994 and 2009 in Comparison The last representative size survey for men took place in 1980. The following changes from the average values gathered in 1980 were identified for men between the ages of 16 and 70 years old-independent of clothes size. The results for men also indicate a shift towards larger clothing sizes. •Height: increase of around 3.2 cm •Chest: increase of 7.3 cm •Waist: increase of 4.4 cm •Hips: increase of 3.6 cm The correlation between body measurements and size tables The body measurements gathered in the course of the SizeGERMANY project provide the basis for what is known as the Hohenstein Sizing Chart, which has been in existence since 1957. It sets 44 dimensions for garment sizes that serve as the basis garment manufacturers use to create fashions for women (German abr. DOB), men (German abr. HAKA) and children (German abr. KIKA). Chest measurements are the fixed point of reference for garment sizes. In women's sizes, for example, Size 36 always has a chest circumference of 84 cm. Following every representative size survey, all the other ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Useful Reference Average German Man Height 179,1cm+3,2cm 106,1cm+7,3cm 94,7cm+4,4cm 102,9cm+3,6cm Caption: The average German man with measurements in contrast to those gathered in the representative size survey in 1980 (from the top): height, chest, waist and hip measurements dimensions are revised for the respective sizes. The virtual human bodies are classified into groups (clusters) according to their chest measurements. Their other individual dimensions will be considered by experienced clothing technologists. In order to arrive at a good size for as many people as possible, further clusters are determined in relation to chest measurements and the secondary body dimensions, such as hip measurements for women and waist measurements for men. Shifting of market shares The data from the representative size survey are used in addition to the Hohenstein Sizing Chart to determine the distribution of garment sizes throughout the entire population. Using the SizeGERMANY website, the companies taking part will in future be able to access individual analyses according to specific socio-demographic groups, for example, the market share of garment sizes for specific age groups. 1980 178.1cm 176.6cm 174.8cm 172.8cm 2009 180.6cm 181.8cm 179.7cm 174.8cm Age 16-25 26-40 41-55 56-70 Caption: Height of Men-Average According to Age. Size Surveys of 1980 and 2009 in Comparison Comparisons of average values from the previous representative size survey and SizeGERMANY show a shift towards larger garment sizes for both men and women over 18 years of age. The market share of the smaller and taller sizes has remained relatively stable. Effects of changes in body dimensions on vehicle development and ergonomics Changes in body dimensions must of course also be considered in the development of new vehicles for the future. The need, however, is not quite as urgent as it is in the garment industry. Automobile manufacturers develop their products to fit some 95% of the population. While doing that, they also account for-to put it simply-shorter women (5th percentile) and taller men (95th percentile). And, in recent years, car makers have also made what they call an "acceleration allowance"for older body measurement data. These allowances account for the increase in size in younger segments of the population. This data has been programmed into computer-aided, or 3D CAD systems, such as the ergonomic tool RAMSIS, for years. Therefore, the results from SizeGERMANY will require hardly a change to the design of current vehicles. Current Size 36 Height 168cm+/-0cm 84cm+/-0cm 69cm+1cm 93cm-1cm Caption: The current Size 36 incorporating changes since the representative size survey of 1994 (from the top): height, chest, waist and hip measurements The new data, however, will allow predictions for the future to be made much more precisely. And Human Solutions is already working in preparation for that time. A new acceleration simulation for partners in the automotive industry will be able to forecast the increase in size of the German population until 2040. Implementation in the garment industry The retail companies that have taken part in the SizeGERMANY project are currently examining the results of the representative size survey. The aim is to be able to offer consumers optimally sized apparel in future. But due to the long ordering run times, it will only be possible to incorporate the new measurement data in upcoming product pre-runs. Unlike previous representative size surveys, the results of SizeGERMANY will not be published in print form. Instead, they will be made available to participating companies via an internet portal developed by Human Solutions that may be used for company-specific analyses. This will allow the greatest degree of flexibility for dynamic analyses that can, for example, be tailored to customer profiles based on age or other socio-demographic characteristics, and give SizeGERMANY partners a considerable advantage in the market. In addition, the data on the site are shielded from unauthorized access through a multi-layered system that guarantees the security of partner companies' investments. Source: SizeGERMANY ■ ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook

Coming Events Calendar Date Event Location Organizer Tel/ Fax/ Email/ Website 2010 Mar 4-6 Megatech Pakistan 2010 Karachi / Pakistan Pegasus Consultancy (Pvt) Ltd (92) 21 1117 34266 / (92) 21 2410 723 info@megatechpakistan.com / www.megatechpakistan.com Mar 4-6 Textech Sri Lanka Colombo / Sri Lanka CEMS - Global (880) 2 8812 713 / (880) 2 9894 573 ssarwar@cemsonline.com / www.cemsonline.com Mar 17-19 Interstoff Asia Essential - Spring Hong Kong / China Messe Frankfurt (852) 2238 9917 / (852) 2598 8771 cindy.chee@hongkong.messefrankfurt.com / www.messefrankfurt.com.hk Mar 22-28 Japan Fashion Week Tokyo / Japan Japan Fashion Week Organization (81) 03 3242 8551 info@jfw.jp / www.jfw.jp Mar 23-25 Premiere Vision Tokyo/JITAC Tokyo / Japan Premiere Vision (81) 06 6228 6229 / (81) 06 6228 6209 jitac@mac.com, mc.annequin@premierevision.fr / www.premierevision-jitac.jp Mar 29-Apr 1 The 11th China (Dongguan) Int'l Textile & Clothing Industry Fair Dongguan / China Paper Communication Exhibition Services (852) 2950 1910 / (852) 2341 0379 connie@paper-com.com.hk / www.paper-com.com.hk Mar 30-31 Prime Source Forum Hong Kong / China APLF Ltd (852) 2827 6211 / (852) 2827 7831 info@primesourceforum.com / www.primesourceforum.com Mar 30-Apr 1 Intertextile Beijing 2010 Beijing / China Messe Frankfurt (852) 2238 9967 / (852) 2598 8771 textile@hongkong.messefrankfurt.com / www.messefrankfurt.com.hk Apr 10-13 Textile Asia 2010: The 7th International Textile & Garment Machinery Exhibition Karachi / Pakistan Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd (92) 21 111 222 444 / (92) 21 453 6330 info@ecgateway.net / www.ecgateway.net Apr 14-17 Vietnam Saigon Garment & Accessories Machinery Expo Ho Chi Minh City / Vietnam CP Exhibition (852) 2511 7427 / (852) 2511 9692 jason@cpexhibition.com / www.cpexhibition.com Apr 22-25 The 9th Bandung Int'l Textile & Garment Accessories Exhibition Jakarta / Indonesia P.T. Pergaga Nusantara Jaya Sakti (62) 21 649 3717 / (62) 21 639 0062 info@peragaexpo.com / www.peragaexpo.com May 15-18 Hightex 2010 Istanbul / Turkey Teknik Limited (90) 212 592 5992 / (90) 212 599 3882 info@hightex2010.com / www.hightex2010.com Jun 22-26 ITMA Asia + CITME 2010 Shanghai / China CEMATEX, BJITME, CTMA and etc (86) 10 8522 9422 / (86) 10 8522 9026 www.itmaasia.com, www.citme.com.cn Jul 28-31 Textech Bangladesh 2010 Dhaka / Bangladesh CEMS - Global (880) 2 8812 713 / (880) 2 9894 573 ssarwar@cemsonline.com / www.cemsonline.com * ATA Journal will be distributed at booth / media stand * These events are accurate to the best of our knowledge and are subject to change without prior notice. Event organizers are welcome to email information of their coming events to The Editor, ATA Journal cta.ata.edit@adsale.com.hk ATA JOURNAL•FEB/MAR 2010 AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/ebook