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AUG / SEP 2010 CONTENTS VOL. 21 NO.4 ■ ISSN 1015-8138 Feature Story 24 Alluring resource-efficiency technologies at centrestage The prime issue in this year's ITMA Asia + CITME is resource-efficient production as demand for greener textiles is on the increase while textile mills are facing the rising costs of resources, oil, gas, electricity and water Market Focus 56 Niche and popular markets for digitally printed products Globally digital textile printing has been growing rapidly in recent years as it penetrates into the apparel, fashion, home textiles and other markets Machinery Technology 58 Latest textile finishing and testing technologies play up much-needed values Material Technology 64 Up-to-date finishing innovations applicable for woven fabrics Chemical & Auxiliaries 66 New coating chemicals with cross-industry features Varied properties are provided by innovative coating technologies using nanoparticles, conductive coatings, sol-gel treatments, hybrid coatings and more Environmental Watch 18 An analysis of green shoppers in US Nonwovens / Technical Textiles 68 New engineered textiles used in infrastructure New developments in agricultural, environmental and construction end uses are providing technical textiles with a greater role in these fields China Focus 72 Enhanced machines from China targeting emerging markets Machinery builders from Mainland China and Taiwan have an edge not only in cost but also in technological improvement as shown by their latest machines at the ITMA Asia+CITME 2010 78 Zhutang knitted products get sophisticated Retail Scene 80 Fall/Winter 2011-2012: Off-trend is chic 84 Multiplicity embraced by Hong Kong young talent Corporate Profile 92 Korean firm benefits from synergy effects in Vietnam Mirae Fiber Vietnam was set up by Korean-based Mirae Fiber Technology to benefit from lower-cost production of polyester textiles with materials imported from Korea Regular columns 6 Editor's note 8 Industry news 88 Show watcher 96 Company bulletin 97 New product guide 97 Readers' comments 99 Coming events calendar 100 Advertisers' index Cover Advertisement Enquiry code: 101 Source One Redefining Sourcing for Apparel: Fabrics & Accessories Show For further details, please contact: Apparel Export Promotion Council (Sponsored by Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India) Apparel House, Sector - 44, Gurgaon Phone: +91 124 270 8082 Email: ssarcar@aepcindia.com Website: www.source1fair.com / www.aepcindia.com Register now! AdsaleATA.com/members Free subscriptionof“Weekly eNewsletter” and members' benefits AdsaleATA.com/eBook eBook of all issues are available With over 100 reporters & contributors' support

AUG / SEP 2010 Editor's Note The ITMA Asia+CITME exhibition held in Shanghai in June has encompassed textile technologies with the most attractive machine features today: resource efficiency, green processing, good performance-price ratio, as well as simpler and lower-cost machines for the middle market in Asia. The rapid surge in demand for textile machinery since late last year has delighted a lot of exhibitors; many of them reported good flows of visitors from China and afar. However, there were also concerns over an overheating market, especially in the low to middle market segments. During the five-day show, we have interviewed a good number of exhibitors from around the world, viewing the demonstrations of their exhibits, and included the review reports in this issue. More reports about the show, as well as other industry articles, can be found on our daily website: AdsaleATA.com. “Market Focus” looks at the latest developments of digital printing for textiles. An increasing number of textile manufacturers have employed the technology of digital printing, not only for sampling and signage, but also apparel decoration so as to create personalised, on-demand clothing. The apparel market in China, on the other hand, has shown a lot of interest in producing mass-market garment for quick delivery, as well as affordable carpets using digital printing technology. Meanwhile, “Machinery Technology” introduces a wide range of finishing machines and testing instruments of international brands. The technologies highlight the advantages of high-speed and eco-friendliness, in addition to value for money. As green products are always in the spotlight nowadays, it would be useful to learn about the characteristics of the green shoppers. In a survey by Cotton Incorporated, as reported in “Environmental Watch”, merely 0.6% of apparel products in the US were marketed with environment-related claims, even though such products could carry a price about 7% higher compared with ordinary apparel. The survey found that about a third of consumers were willing to pay a premium for clothing or home textiles labelled as environmentally friendly. In recent years, Korea has become the second largest investor in Vietnam's apparel sector. Of the about 1,500 Korean businesses in Vietnam, nearly 30% are apparel-related. One of these Korean companies, Mirae Fiber Technology, shares its experience in the “Corporate Profile” column. The company set up its subsidiary in Vietnam to benefit from lower-cost production of polyester textiles with materials imported from Korea. 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 Textile Website: www.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 100 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 Textile industry performs stably in Q2 The Chinese textile and apparel industry was believed to maintain its momentum considering the steadily rising domestic prosperity indices. The China Textile Industry Index (growth in 2003=100 points) recorded 99.4 points in the second quarter (Q2) of 2010, advancing 0.9 point from the previous quarter. The indicator is composed jointly by a research center under Economic Daily of China and the China Economic Monitoring & Analysis Center at the National Bureau of Statistics. China's Apparel Industry Index reached 99.2 points (growth in 2005=100 points) in the Q2, or 0.3 point more from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the China Chemical Fiber Industry Index stood at 100.3 points (growth in 2005=100 points), rising 0.7 point from the previous quarter and expanding for the fourth consecutive quarters. The performance of enterprises was also positive according to the indices measuring the operations the textile and apparel manufacturing enterprises. Technical textile gross industry value soars 30% Official statistics of China showed that the Chinese technical textile gross industry value jumped 30.6% to RMB 44.73 billion in the first five months of 2010. These technical textiles include ropes, cords and cables, technical textile tapes and tire cords, as well as nonwovens. Sales reached RMB 43.41 billion, up 29%, in the period under review. The profit of technical textile tapes and tire cords rose 116.3% to RMB 670 million. Meanwhile, the profit of nonwovens expanded 46.3% to RMB 1.13 billion and that of ropes, cords and cables grew 36.3% to RMB 300 million in the first five months of 2010. The Chinese customs office figures recorded an export of 341,000 tons of technical textile products such as nonwoven and specialty yarns at a value of US$990 million. The country also imported 78,000 tons of technical textiles worth US$430 million. Industrial textile import rose fast to US$2.1 billion, while the export valued US$730 million. Major producing areas of technical textiles in China include Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong and Fujian, accounting for 74.6% of the national gross production of technical textiles. Chemical fibre production rises this first half The total industry output of chemical fibres in China reached RMB 187.625 billion in the first five months of 2010, representing a 37.79% increase from the same period of the previous year, according to the latest figures of China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Profit margin of these enterprises rose 2.4 percentage points to 4.42%. More figures are released by the NBS and the Chinese customs office on the Chinese chemical fibre sector (Jan-Jun, 2010, unless otherwise stated): • Import: 365,900 tons, up 10.87% (Jan-May, 2010) • Export: 792,000 tons, up 50.21% (Jan-May, 2010) • Investment projects underway: 339 • New investment projects: 195 • Investment value: RMB 14.838 billion, up 29.25%, especially polyamide • Production volume: 14,473,900 tons, up 13.43% Profits of Chinese textile machinery builders jumps The production value sold in the first five months of 2010 by Chinese textile machinery builders reached RMB32.225 billion, soaring 53.54%, according to the China Textile Machinery Association (CTMA). Sales revenue of these enterprises amounted to RMB32.478 billion in the same period, representing a climb of 50.82%. The CMTA reported that these enterprises earned RMB1.842 billion in the same period under review, up 286.13%. They also invested in fixed assets with RMB2.104 billion, growing 18.67%. Meanwhile, an export value of the Chinese textile machinery sector at US$625 million was registered, up 38.33%. Imports valued US$1.492 billion, or a rise of 76.78%. Cotton spinning sector keeps growing in first 5 months The Chinese cotton spinning sector performed well in the first five months this year, reaching a yarn production volume of 10,213,100 tons, up 17.41%, the latest figures of China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Chinese customs office showed. The accumulative fabric production volume was 23.888 billion metres, representing a growth of 17.38%. The growth in the woven apparel making was 20.36% in terms of production volume increase. Total exports of cotton textile and apparel were valued at US$27.617 billion during the January-May period of 2010, up 16.49%. Among them, exports of cotton textiles reached US$8.452 billion (+21.93%) whilst those of cotton apparel were US$19.164 billion (+14.24%). In the meantime, China imported 3,547,000 tons of cotton yarns, or an increase of 38.18%. A total amount of RMB27.6 billion was invested in the field of China's cotton spinning sector, up 11.14%. There were 753 new investment projects, about the same number of registered last year. Purchasing managers' index drops below 50 in July HSBC's China Purchasing Managers' Index fell below the boom-bust line of 50 this July for the first time since the depths of the global downturn in March 2009. The index dropped to 49.4 from 50.4 in June. The HSBC PMI emphasises more private businesses than the index tracked by the Chinese government. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Industry News Country Focus Vietnamese textile industry grows but with heavy import of materials by Ngo Tuan and Staff Reporters The textile and apparel industry is one of the major drivers of Vietnam's economy in these years. It was the only sector that was not severely impacted by the global economic downturn and remained the biggest foreign currency earner, contributing greatly to reduce the trade deficit of Vietnam in the past two years. The 2009 industrial output from the textile and apparel sector amounted to approximately VND47.6 trillion (at 1994 constant prices), or 6.83% of the country's gross industrial production value, based on figures of the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO). Textile production value was at about VND25.6 trillion, down 4.95% from the previous year, while apparel production valued at VND22 trillion, registering a 16.20% decrease from the previous year. Vietnam is currently one of the top ten textile and apparel exporters. The country's textile and apparel export turnover reached US$9.07 billion in 2009, a decrease of 0.19% from the previous year. The industry was the country's largest foreign currency earner in 2009, followed by oil and gas with US$6.20 billion. The US was the biggest buyer of Vietnam's textile and apparel products, accounting for US$4.86 billion, or 53.61% of the industry's total export turnover. Other major purchasing countries included the EU and Japan. Million USD 10,000 9,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 USA EU Japan Others Caption: Industrial output of Vietnam's textile and apparel industry (Source: GSO ) On the supply side, annual production of material processing products can reach 410,000 tonnes, including 60,000 tonnes in the area of cotton ginning, and 350,000 tonnes in spinning, according to the Vietnam Financial Review published in May 2010 under Ministry of Finance of Vietnam. Supplying countries Q1/ 2010 Q1/ 2009 Change from previous year Volume (tonnes) Value (US$) Volume (tonnes) Value (US$) Volume (%) Value (%) Total turnover 91,380 148,145,317 33,816 45,354,410 170.23 226.64 US 27,491 45,570,776 18,258 26,093,140 50.57 74.65 India 24,060 38,392,105 1,073 1,509,309 2,142.31 2,443.69 Brazil 3,710 6,437,000 1,847 2,710,606 100.87 137.47 Italy 165 139,200 350 252,268 -52.86 -44.82 Indonesia 118 171,093 1,729 1,621,945 -93.18 -89.45 Switzerland 109 120,881 Korea 74 205,705 134 150,463 -44.78 36.71 China 64 376,738 64 145,948 Caption: Cotton imports turnover by country in 2010 Q1 (Source: GSO ) The annual capacity of the weaving sector in Vietnam can reach one billion square meters, whereas that of knitting can achieve 200,000 tonnes, nonwovens at 5,000 tonnes, and dyeing and finishing at 700 million square meters. Along the downstream of the supply chain, the country can produce 2.4 billion units of apparel and 62,000 tonnes of terrycloth a year, the governmental financial review stated. The industry employs more than two million people annually. However, industry players generally depend quite heavily on imported materials. Overall, local materials comprised approximately 44% of raw inputs in 2009, a 6% increase compared to 2008, government statistics showed. The import value of fabric reached US$4.22 billion in 2009, representing 57.59% of the total import value of Vietnam. In terms of textile materials, China remained Vietnam's biggest supplier, accounting for US$406 million of materials. Other significant suppliers for Vietnam's textile and apparel industry included Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The dependence on imported cotton is, in particular, severe. The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) reported that the country imported about 303,093 tones cotton of for local production worth US$392.27 million in 2009. In the first three months 2010, the cotton imports turnover of the country reached 91,380 tones at US$ 148.1 million, up 170.23% and 226.64% from the same period of the previous year respectively. The US was the biggest cotton supplier to Vietnam at US$45.57 million in the first quarter of 2010. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Industry News The total cotton planted area is currently 8,000 ha of land meeting about 4-5% of the local demand, the Vietnam Cotton Company (VCC) said. VCC and local government are implementing projects that spur local cotton plantation, despite challenges such as limited land area, lack of high quality cottonseeds and restricted finance sources. Guarding from cotton price hikes The relatively heavy dependence on foreign cotton puts Vietnam a passive role in the price bargaining of the cotton materials for textile manufacturing. The price of imported cotton rose by 35% from January 2010 to US$1.9-1.92 per kg in April, which was 50% more expensive than that in April 2009. The cotton price hikes in the world market from early this year has eaten up more and more profits of Vietnamese textile and apparel makers as their contracts with clients were made with respect to a relatively lower price of cotton, as mentioned by the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas). “A high price level of cotton has caused us sufferings in profits as our exporting contracts were signed months ago,” said Nguyen Ngoc Binh, Deputy general director of Hoa Tho Textile & Apparel Joint Stock Corporation. The company imports a large quantity of cotton from abroad for its production. To cope with the current situation, the Vietnam Textile & Apparel Association (Vitas) has been acting to ease the pressure faced by local textile and apparel makers, including numerous projects bolstering the local supply of cotton, yarns and fabrics. First, the Vitas tried to help the local makers to diversify the supply of cotton. A seminar was organised by the association to promote the use of African cotton through establishing a direct trade link between Vietnamese enterprises and African cotton growers. Currently, the trade of African cotton is often conducted via trading companies based in Switzerland and France. African cotton has been quite popular among Vietnamese enterprises due to the acceptable quality and competitive prices, the Vitas said. The imports turnover of cotton originated from Africa reached US$90.2 million in 2009. “Making comparison with other sources shows that cotton imported from African countries offer a rather good quality at a reasonable price, making it suitable for textile and apparel production in Vietnam. For years to come, if cotton from local areas does not meet the demand of manufacturers, cotton from Africa could be the selected option of enterprises here,” said Nguyen Ngoc Binh, Deputy General Director of Hoa Tho Textile and Apparel Corporation. On the other hand, the Vietnamese government has stepped up its work on a master plan for cotton production in the country. An investment budget of VND6,500 billion (US$343 million) for cotton and fibre production, which will be implemented by Vietnam National Textile and Apparel Group (Vinatex) and Vietnam Cotton Company. Under this master plan, Vietnam will develop a total cotton planting area of 30,000 ha, targeting an annual output of 20,000 tones by 2015, and later up to 76,000 ha and 60,000 tones by 2020. Hurdles ahead Aside of the material sourcing issue, the Vietnamese textile and apparel industry has to strengthen itself and prepare for further challenges in the progressively globalised market at home and abroad. The ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) is evaluating and proposing methods to promote economic cooperation, investment and commercial exchange between China and ASEAN members in the near future. Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar are set to join the ACFTA in 2015, thereby giving Vietnamese textile and apparel companies five years to promote their fashion products in the local market before facing increased competition. Moreover, Vietnamese businesses primarily focus on original manufacturing with a low added value for every unit of clothing sold to overseas markets. Without renowned brand names of their own, the manufacturers in this Asian country have limited bargaining power on price, while overseas buyers earn most of the value with a made-in-Vietnam apparel product sold in the foreign market. Also see: “Korean firm benefits from synergy effects in Vietnam” on P.92 The PMI is designed to provide an early indication of conditions in industry. A figure above 50 points to expansion. The month-on-month deterioration in Chinese manufacturing, which prolongs a cooling trend that set in at the start of 2010, was led by the second successive drop in output and new orders. It was believed that the Chinese government steps to slow bank lending, fight property speculation and improve energy efficiency have resulted in a slowing activity in the manufacturing sector. Economists at HSBC, however, added that it showed a slowdown, not a meltdown, and there was no need to panic. Southeast Asia Cambodia US$5 more for minimum wage of apparel workers The Cambodian Labour Advisory Committee (LAC) hosted a meeting to discuss a new minimum wage for the garment and shoe industry this July. The committee members agreed with the government's recommendation to increase the minimum wage for regular workers by US$5, from the current US$50 per month. Probationary workers will also see their current US$45 per month increase by the same amount. The LAC also decided to bundle the previously separated US$6 monthly cost of living allowance into the minimum wage. Regular workers will then count on a minimum wage of US$61 per month, whereas probationary workers will have US$56 per month. Workers paid on the basis of performance will also be guaranteed ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Industry News the new minimum wage, or more to reflect their productivity. The newly set minimum wage will come into effect on October 1, 2010 and will be reviewed in 2014. South Asia India Lobbying efforts for invalidate child labour allegations Accused of the charges of use of child labour in the textile sector, India is pulling up its socks ahead of a review by the United States America scheduled later this year. Apart from already having begun a process for lobbying for itself through law firm Sidley Austin LLP in the US, India is expected to engage US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, during her visit in the near future, to present a case for exclusion of India from the list. Though isolated, instances of use of child labour in Indian garmenting industry has not gone down well with the US that accounts for 30% of India's total apparel exports worth US$10 billion. In September 2009, US Department of Labour listed Indian garments under the Executive Order 13126 List (EOL) and Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorisation (TVPRA) list. These are perceived trade barriers that could emanate from the US, according to the Indian apparel industry. While US Federal Government does not procure anything from India currently, an EOL label could hamper India's chances of trade with the US in future. Likewise, a TVPRA listing is a reputation risk for Indian apparel industry that supplies to global retailers and brands like Walmart, GAP, H&M, Diesel, M&S, Levi's, et al, all of who swear by strict policies on child labour. While trade linkage with labour issues is not immediately enforceable in the absence of legislation, the likelihood of legislation in the coming months could affect Indian apparel exports fear those in know of things. With the next TVPRA list expected in September 2010 and the EOL list 13126 being finalised in the next three to four months, India has a initiated a process to defend itself through a three-pronged strategy: diplomatic channel, lobbying firm and the common compliance code. Pakistan Polyester fibre import duty to increase Pakistan's Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet approved a cascading import duty structure for pure terephthalic acid (PTA) products with effect from July 1. Under the decision, import duty on PTA has been reduced from 7.5% to 3%, while duty on polyester staple fibre (PSF) has been increased from 4.5% to 6%. The duty on polyester filament yarn (PFY) has been raised from 9% to 10%. The duty on bottle-grade product remains unchanged at 3%, while duty on blended yarn was increased from 9% to 10% and on fabric reduced from 15% to 10%. Transit trade agreement signed with Afghanistan Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed this July on a transit trade agreement to allow the landlocked Afghanistan to export goods to India through Pakistan's land route. Under the new agreement, Afghan trucks would be allowed to cross the Torkham border point and deliver goods to any Pakistani city. Afghanistan has already given this facility to Pakistani truckers. Afghanistan will use all ports of Pakistan for transit trade, the agreement says. There was dispute over cross-border smuggling and other issues, but both sides decided to sign the agreement and keep on talks to resolve the remaining issues. Afghanistan raised the issue of smuggling of textile products, particularly fabrics and other items through land route from Pakistan to Afghanistan during recently concluded talks on the Afghan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA). Sources told that the Afghan side has identified many items including textiles, fabrics, flour and other commodities, which are being smuggled from Pakistan to Afghanistan under the cover of bilateral trade. The Afghan side also informed that the Pakistani authorities have repeatedly raised serious concern over the smuggling of transit goods, which are coming back from Afghanistan to Pakistan. However, the Pakistani side should also take measures to check smuggling from Pakistan to Afghanistan through land route. The smuggling of some items like textile products is frequently taking place from Pakistan to Afghanistan through land route, sources quoted Afghan side saying during APTTA negotiations. They have also informed the Pakistani side that the Afghanistan is suffering revenue loss in the form of evasion of customs duty due to smuggling of textile items and others. Pakistani side assured the Afghan delegation that smuggling would be checked, as effective anti-smuggling activities and restoration of check posts and mobile squads has also helped in curtailing smuggling. Similarly, Frontier Constabulary (FC) has also taken measures to check smuggling across the border areas. Federal Textile Minister Rana Farooq Saeed has urged spinners and value added exporters to evolve a joint strategy on the availability of yarn at affordable prices. He was chairing a joint meeting of textile industry at the Textile House .According to Rana, the ministry is working for the growth of all sectors of textile industry. It may be noted that the ministry has imposed 15% regulatory duty on export of yarn in order to ensure availability of cheap yarn domestically. Earlier, it had capped exports to 50,000 tones and 35,000 tones a month respectively. However, the situation lead to serious marketing problems for value added exporters and efforts are now being made by spinners and value ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Industry News added exporters to arrest the awkward circumstances in collaboration with the textile ministry. All stakeholders are likely to meet soon in Islamabad to finalise a strategy in this regard. It is worth mentioning that a deadline for the removal of 15% regulatory duty is set to expire on July 27. Bangladesh Dramatic rise of garment export to Japan Japan is considered a lucrative destination for Bangladesh's garment as apparel exports to the country saw an extraordinary 148% growth in the first half of the current fiscal year compared to the same period a year ago. Bangladesh exported ready-made garments worth US$34.043 million during the July-December period of 2009-10 compared to US$19.415 million of 2008-09. The country earned US$74.381 million in fiscal 2008-2009 and US$28.035 million in fiscal 2007-08 from apparel export, according to Export Promotion Bureau data. Knitwear accounted for US$28.09 million during the same period, up from US$5.964 million a year before, the EPB data said. The country made shipments of home textile worth US$1.125 million during the July-December of the current fiscal year. Japan has reduced its dependence on imports from China, which gave a boost to apparel exports of Bangladesh further increasing their sourcing from Bangladesh, said manufacturers and exporters. For instance, Japanese retail giant Uniqlo has opened a sourcing office in Dhaka. Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said growth in Bangladesh's apparel exports to Japan has much potential to become sustainable as cost of garment production is lower in the South Asian country. New wage levels agreed Workers in the Bangladeshi apparel industry also demanded a higher level of wages. After a short period of dispute, workers in the apparel industry were able to reach consensus at a meeting with ministers, lawmakers, chamber leaders and apparel factory owners at the BGMEA office in Dhaka. Following the agreement made by labour leaders of 42 organisations to the new wage structure, workers resumed work from early August. The current wage fixed in 2006 stands at Tk 1,662 (or about US$24) per month. The new wage structure proposed Tk 3,000 (around US$43) for minimum wage for an entry-level worker under grade-VII, Tk 9,300 for a worker under grade-I and Tk 2,500 for an apprentice. Sri Lanka Zero tariff under GSP+ ceases from Aug 15 The EU withdrew the GSP Plus concessions to Sri Lanka. There will be no GSP concession for textile and clothing from Sri Lanka starting August 15 this year. The standard GSP beneficiary rates of duty will apply to all consignments from Sri Lanka, where GSP is applicable, which are released to free circulation on or after August 15, 2010. There will be no transitional arrangements for goods, which will be in transit or in warehouse on that date. All goods must be in free circulation by midnight August 14 to benefit from the GSP+ rates of duty, otherwise the standard GSP rates of duty will apply. This means for example, that for textile and clothing products a GSP rate, ranging from 5.5% to 9.6% will be payable instead of nil rates which are currently applicable under GSP+ for Sri Lanka, according to a circular issued by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the United Kingdom. Europe Nonwoven production statistics of last year released EDANA, the international Association serving the nonwovens and related industries, found that the production of nonwovens contracted in weight by 6.3% since 2008, with 1,609,819 tonnes of nonwovens produced in 2009. According to the recently released statistics on Nonwovens Production and Deliveries for 2009 by EDANA, the figures for Greater Europe (Western, Central and Eastern Europe, Turkey and CIS) show that as a result of the recent economic conditions, but also of the industry's effort to provide lighterweight nonwovens (using less material) with the same function, the production of nonwovens contracted in weight by 6.3% since 2008, with 1,609,819 tonnes of nonwovens produced in 2009. This compares with the growth in the industry for 2008 of 1.2%. After several years of double-digit growths, the weight of nonwovens sold to the personal care wipes market declined in 2009, but sales remained stable in terms of surface area, with minimal growth recorded. While total production figures, by weight, have fallen, the level of production in square metres did continue to grow (nearly 51,000 million in 2009). The average price of nonwovens remains nearly unchanged 2008 to 2009. The total turnover of the industry is estimated at around 4,790 million euros. Jacques Prigneaux, EDANA's Market Analysis and Economic Affairs Director stated that “While trade flows for both exports and imports slowed in 2009, the EU27 trade balance of nonwovens roll goods was still highly positive, in both volume and in value. Moreover, for each subcategory of nonwovens, EU27 is still a net exporter.” The most significant decrease in tonnage was recorded in polymer-based (spunmelt) nonwovens. In addition, despite a small decrease of nearly 2.0% of nonwoven deliveries (in tonnes) to the hygiene business, this segment remains by far the largest outlet of the industry and increased its market share both in weight and surface area in 2009, according to EDANA. ■ ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Industry News Association News GMAC helps apparel industry revive Cambodian economy Once war-stricken Cambodia has developed robustly in recent years largely with the apparel making sector. The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) has actively worked with the governments of major exporting nations, as well as the UN organisations, for the good of Cambodian economy, reports Ngo Tuan and staff reporters The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) is a private and the only industry association for the textile and apparel sector of Kingdom of Cambodia. GMAC was officially registered with the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labor, Veteran & Youth Affairs in 1999 as a employers' organization in compliance with the Cambodian Labor Law 1997. It was later incorporated as an association with the Ministry of Commerce. At the moment, the Cambodian textile and apparel industry is predominately comprised of apparel makers, with handful producers engaging with weaving, spinning and fashion. Most of the members are thus export-oriented apparel factories. By the end of 2009, about 236 factories have registered as members of GMAC. GMAC is committed to making Cambodia a preferred partner in the competitive global apparel market. It plays an important role in promoting development of the industry since its establishment previous decade. “When external developments posed a threat to the well-being and survival of the Cambodian garment industry, GMAC was at the forefront lobbying the Cambodian government to improve it trade facilitation efficiency and reducing fees and levies to keep the industry competitive in the world market,” the association states. In addition, the association actively cooperates with regional organisations for further trade promotion. In period from January 2009 to December 2010, the GMAC has been holding the Chairmanship of ASEAN Federation of Textile Industry (AFTEX) which was established in 1978 with the objective of promoting cooperation and coordination among textile and apparel industry in ASEAN member countries. Like other major apparel exporters in Asia, Cambodia faced challenges in these two years as export demand slumped following the global economic downturn. Therefore, the association provided its members assistance to tide over the difficult times. Ken Loo, Secretary General of GMAC, said: “During the crisis, GMAC had successfully lobbied the Cambodian government for concrete measures to assist our members to tide over the difficult times, these include but are not exclusive to the suspension of payment of the advanced profit tax from 2008 -2012 and a 0.3% reduction in the contribution rate of employers to the national social security fund. In addition, we also stepped up our efforts in requesting the government to push forwards with reforms particularly in Trade facilitation so as to reduce the overall bureaucracy costs in the import/export process.” GMAC also helped its members to diversify the export markets. “GMAC continues to take part in various international trade exhibitions, e.g. the China-Asean trade fair, the Sichuan and Kunming trade fairs so as to bring awareness to buyers and suppliers that Cambodia is a viable market for them to source from,” said Mr Loo. Working with ILO to improve worker's life Workers' benefits are also promoted by the International Labor Organisation (ILO) and the Better Factories Cambodia project. When Kingdom of Cambodia regained the peace in 1993, the first foreign investors to venture into this country were apparel manufacturers. The United States and Europe granted this once war-stricken country trade privileges via the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status and Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) respectively. In the meantime, the generous support from the West required Cambodia’s commitment to uphold fundamental labour standards, e.g. under the ILO conventions. As a consequence, a project ensuring the labour's rights in Cambodia was initiated, which since 2006 evolved into the Better Factories Cambodia monitoring program. It benefits workers, employers and their organizations, as well as consumers in western countries and helps reduce poverty in this Asian nation. It does this by monitoring and reporting on working conditions in Cambodian apparel factories according to national and international standards, by helping factories to improve working conditions and productivity, and by working with the Cambodian government and international buyers to ensure a rigorous and transparent cycle of improvement. Better Factories Cambodia is funded by the US Department of Labor, USAID, the Agence Francaise de Developpement, the Cambodian Government, GMAC and international buyers. Garment Manufacturers' Association in Cambodia (GMAC) • Chairman: Van Sou Ieng • Secretary General: Ken Loo • Members: 236 apparel export-oriented factories, of which 93% is the foreign direct invested (FDI) • URL: www.gmac-cambodia.org Cambodia's textile and apparel industry • Export turnover (2010 Q1): US$671 million, up 7.18% from Q1 last year • Investors: Taiwan tops the list with 66 factories, followed by China and Hong Kong • Labour: 276,268 workers (92% female) with average wage of US$80/month • Main markets: the US (70% of Cambodian apparel exports) and the EU, as well as Japan ■ For daily news of the textile industry, please visit AdsaleATA.com ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Environment Watch An analysis of green shoppers in US Consumers' awareness of environmentally friendly products has increased in the past few years. However, concern for the environment continues to be tempered by economic concerns. Although many consumers take steps to conserve energy and resources in their own homes, they are motivated as much by the desire to save money as by the desire to save the environment: 80% conserve energy, 74% purchase energy-saving appliances, and 68% limit water use. Nonetheless, 2010 saw significant shifts in two forms of environmental activism that are not economically motivated, the percentage of consumers opting not to use plastic bags jumped from 39% to 45%, and the percentage checking corporate environmental policies increased from 23% to 28%. When it comes to apparel, however, the choice to actively seek out environmentally friendly clothing remains restricted to a niche retail market and consumer segment. Overall, 43% of consumers said they had purchased products labeled as environmentally friendly in the past year, while another 34% were not sure. According to Cotton Incorporated's Retail Monitor survey, environment-related claims were found on 0.6% of apparel products consistently for the past two years, and these products were priced 7% higher on average than apparel not marketed as environmentally friendly. Just over a third of consumers said they would be willing to pay a premium for clothing or home textiles labeled as environmentally friendly. Consumer segment % Attitude towards environmentally friendly apparel Dark green 7 Very likely to seek; would be extremely bothered and complain Green 9 Very likely to seek Light green 54 Somewhat or moderately likely to seek Pale green 14 Do not seek Non-green 16 Do not seek; would not be bothered Caption: The spectrum of green consumers Although environmental concerns do not drive most consumers' apparel purchase decisions, Cotton Incorporated's 2010 Consumer Environment Survey reveals considerable diversity in consumers' attitudes about environmental friendliness in the apparel industry and in how these attitudes influence apparel shopping habits. For brands and retailers appealing to the “green consumer,” it is useful to recognize that consumers come in different shades of green. The 2010 survey identified a spectrum of green consumers based on their attitudes towards environmentally friendly apparel, defined by (1) how likely they are to seek environmentally friendly clothing and (2) how they would feel and what they would do if they found out that an apparel item they had purchased was produced in a non-environmentally friendly way. What drives green shoppers? Regardless of their position on the green-consumer spectrum, consumers consider fit, style, color, and price to be the key factors driving their apparel purchases. Yet among the greenest consumers, factors such as environmental friendliness and fiber content are nearly as important, and more than seven out of 10 dark green and green consumers rate laundering instructions and brand name as important. Dark green consumers, in particular, cite a wide range of factors as important purchase drivers, suggesting that they are well-informed consumers who are willing to research their purchases. This may reflect their demographics, compared with other segments of the spectrum, dark green consumers have the highest educational level and highest household income, which could give them more freedom to shop selectively and to let their purchase decisions reflect their environmental views. Natural fibers: seen as green Regardless of their place in the green-consumer spectrum, consumers relate to “natural” products, including natural fibers, and are united in the belief that natural fibers such as cotton are better for the environment than synthetics. In fact, 83% say that clothing made from 100% natural fibers is better for the environment than clothing made from recycled synthetic fibers like polyester, a belief shared by consumers of all shades, even non-green (79%). To determine whether apparel is environmentally friendly, all shades of consumers look first to the fiber-content label: 75% of dark green, 75% of green, 61% of light green, and almost half of pale green and non-green consumers rely on fiber content ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Environment Watch % of consumers citing the factor as important in apparel purchases Dark green Green Light green Pale green Non-green Fit 99 99 97 99 96 Color 96 92 86 86 85 Style 96 93 90 88 84 Price 96 94 94 93 93 Environmental friendliness 93 84 55 27 12 Fiber content 91 82 67 51 44 Laundering instructions 87 79 66 57 47 Brand name 76 74 51 39 34 Caption: Purchase drivers by shades of green to gauge environmentally friendliness. Whether or not consumers care about the environmental friendliness of their apparel, 78% of consumers name cotton as their preferred fiber, according to Cotton Incorporated's Lifestyle Monitor™ survey, and 90% of consumers consider cotton to be safe for the environment, a significantly higher percentage than for other natural fibers or any synthetic fiber. Who's accountable? Consumers have high expectations of the products they purchase, and they expect manufacturers and brands to operate in an environmentally friendly way. When asked whom they would hold responsible if they purchased an apparel product and later found out that it was manufactured in a non-environmentally friendly way, the largest percentage of consumers (42%) cited the manufacturer. However, the percentage who would blame the brand was up from 2009 (11% vs. 6%), and greener consumers were more likely to hold the brand responsible. % of consumers who would hold them responsible 2009 2010 43 42 21 14 6 11 4 5 4 4 3 4 16 20 Manufacture Myself Brand Retailer Producing country Fiber producer Not important Caption: Shifting accountability Furthermore, in consumers' minds, the manufacturer and brand are closely identified with each other. Brand name may be more important to dark green consumers because they take claims of environmental friendliness more seriously; for example, they are more likely to check corporate environmental policies before purchasing from a brand (86%, compared with 71% of green, 27% of light green, and 5% of pale green consumers). Dark green consumers also are the most likely to take action against brands they perceive not to be environmentally friendly, over half (52%) said they would not purchase the brand in the future, compared with 38% of green and 33% of light green consumers. In the latter two groups, the majority of consumers were on the fence about whether they would purchase the brand again. As brands look to promote their environmental awareness and the steps they are taking to decrease their environmental footprint, they will increasingly be held accountable for their actions and claims in this area. Environmental friendliness is not a driving force in most consumers' apparel purchases. Although consumers are increasingly aware of environmentally friendly apparel, those who consider it important and would pay more for it remain a niche market of dark green consumers. However, most consumers see natural fibers as being friendly to the environment, and natural fibers such as cotton resonate among consumers regardless of their position on the green-consumer spectrum. Cotton Incorporated's 2010 Consumer Environment Survey was conducted via the Internet by Bellomy Research, Inc., in a nationwide sample of consumers aged 14 to 54 who considered themselves to be their household's primary or secondary decision maker for clothing purchases. The sample was 60% female and 40% male and was representative of the US population based on the ethnicity, income, education, and geography. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Environment Watch Dark green Green Light green Pale green Non-green Gender (%) Male 51 46 39 31 45 Female 49 54 62 69 55 Age Average age (years) 39 36 38 38 38 Age distribution (%) 14 to 24 12 20 20 20 21 25 to 34 23 23 17 13 15 35 to 44 30 27 25 26 26 45 to 54 36 30 39 41 39 Household income (US$) Average yearly income 70,185 64,440 60,920 58,033 62,745 Ethnicity (%) Caucasian 57 63 64 67 67 African American 16 10 12 13 15 Hispanic 14 16 17 14 12 Asian 8 8 5 1 3 Other 6 3 3 4 2 Education level (%) Less than high school diploma 6 15 10 15 13 High school graduate 27 34 34 36 33 Some college 21 18 26 30 26 College degree or higher 46 34 30 19 29 Children living at home (%) Yes 59 60 51 47 50 No 41 40 49 53 50 Store shopped for most apparel (%) Mass merchant 27 29 28 30 32 Department store 21 12 12 7 8 Chain store 20 21 29 28 27 High-end dept. or specialty store 9 10 3 2 3 Off-price store 7 6 7 9 10 Specialty store 6 8 10 11 12 Internet 5 5 5 5 3 Factory outlet 3 2 2 2 1 Other 3 7 6 6 5 Caption: Demographics of green consumers in the US Source: Cotton Incorporated ■ Other reports in “Enviromental Watch” : Sri Lankan producer working to emit less carbon Sri Lanka's largest apparel exporter, Brandix Group, reported that its efforts in the past two years have result in an annual carbon footprint reduction by 7% by the end of this March. The company said it is on the track with the previously announced initiative that aimed to reduce 30% of the company's carbon footprint by 2012. Brandix Group said investments over the past two years to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions at manufacturing locations across the Group had resulted in a reduction of CO₂ or CO₂ equivalent gasses by more than 6,000 MT a year as at March 31, 2010, shrinking Brandix's annual carbon footprint by 7%. Further reductions this year would trim the company's carbon footprint up to 17% this year-end. Brandix Director A.J. Johnpillai said that the company invest a further US$2 million (Rs. 230 million) over the next 24 months on measures to improve energy efficiency, switch to renewable energy and promote eco-friendly manufacture to reduce its carbon footprint by nearly a third by March 31, 2012. “Our passion for and commitment to greening our operations has gathered pace since we commissioned the world's first Platinum-rated Green apparel factory in April 2008,” he said. The Brandix Group would qualify to earn US$ 127,000 in Carbon Credits in 2011, under the terms of the Kyoto Protocol. He said Brandix had completed its greenhouse gas inventory in 2008 and calculated its carbon footprint according to the guidelines of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (WBCSD/WRI) and the Inter governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The audit covered more than 85 emission sources at the companies, subsidiaries, Brandix-managed joint ventures and associate companies indicated total CO2 emissions of 86,322 MT per year. DyStar becomes new member of Organic Exchange DyStar is now a new member of Organic Exchange, and its Executive Director, David Bennell, welcomed the new comer to jointly promoting co-operation on sustainability along the whole supply chain. Dr John Easton, Global Ecology Solutions Manager for DyStar Textile Services, explained that DyStar is committed to promoting sustainable practices in the textile supply chain and it supports and engages with Organic Exchange as it widens its scope of activities to take in not just organic cotton but all sustainable textiles. Steve Barron, CEO of DyStar, added that the econfidence program that helps retailers, brands and fabric mills understand the requirements of sustainable textile standards is a good example of DyStar's commitment on the environment. ■ ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW Alluring resource-efficiency technologies at centrestage by Staff Reporters The prime issue in this year's ITMA Asia + CITME is resource-efficient production as demand for green textiles is on the increase and textile mills are facing the rising costs of resources, oil, gas, electricity and water. The biggest European participating groups of the show, German and Italian textile machinery manufacturers stressed the importance of providing customers with the solutions that meet their production needs, which today revolve around cleaner production and resource-efficiency. Textile mills are looking for efficient machines, which allow them to maintain the level of productivity without negative effects on the production costs or to the environment. According to a study conducted by the textile division of the German machinery association, VDMA, with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants last year, different optimization levers contribute to the efficiency in energy, materials and other resources in the next 10 years. It was found that by optimizing the production process, the efficiency could be increased by as much as 27%. Ranking second is the optimization of system control (23%), followed by the optimization of design (21%), substitution of sub-systems (14%), optimization of materials (13%) and others (2%). Fast facts: ITMA Asia+CITME 2010 • Visitorship over 82,000 • Over 20% of the visitors from overseas, mainly from India, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea and elsewhere • 1,171 exhibitors • Over 100,000 sqm of gross exhibition area • China occupied 31,000 sqm of net exhibit space, Germany 5,000 sqm net, Italy 4,000 sqm net, China Taiwan 3,500 sqm net, and Japan 3,300 sqm net. • Next show in Shanghai from June 12-16, 2012 Source: Organisers of ITMA Asia+CITME Managing Director of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association, Thomas Waldmann, points out that the expense factors in a product lifecycle include the costs for acquisition, installation and start-up, while many costs are often not transparent at first glance, such as the costs for maintenance, service and repair - but also for energy and operating, the influence on costs for raw materials like fibers and yarns and the production waste, environmental costs (for certificates and special filters), costs for unscheduled repair, disposal, staff and so on. The China market and other countries in Asia continue to be the main areas for allocating marketing efforts for the textile machinery producers. PR China / HK 628 India 161 USA 142 Turkey 65 Brazil 63 Czech Republic 51 0 200 400 600 800 Total: 1,813 mn € 61.2% of the total fall upon these 6 markets Caption: Top six markets for the German textile machinery industry in 2009 (Source: Federal Statistical Office, VDMA Textile Machinery Association) In addition, the VDMA survey at which 43 German exhibitors participated showed the following results with regard to visitors: Every third exhibition visitor was a company owner while 52% were classified middle management, which makes the quality of visitors generally high. The strongest visitor group was the Chinese one with 30% but the German booths were also frequented from visitors from major Asian countries. On average the German companies estimated that the strongest visitor groups apart of the Chinese came from India (9%), Pakistan (9%), Japan (5%), Bangladesh (5%), Indonesia (5%), Germany (4%), Iran (4%) and more. European machinery makers lead in green efforts In view of the increasing demand for green textiles in the market, ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT), initiated a green tag to help Italian textile machinery suppliers to differentiate their products in the market. Maurizio Forte, Italian Trade Commissioner in Shanghai, comments that China market for Italian textile technology has a promising future as Chinese end users, encouraged by government policies, are continuing to invest on the high-end, energy-saving, and high efficient textile machinery, whose demand is not yet satisfied by domestic machinery manufacturers. Caption: ACIMIT emphasizes Italian sustainable technologies at the fair “The second edition of ITMA Asia + CITME …confirmed the recovery under way in the world's primary textile manufacturing markets,” said Sandro Salmoiraghi, President of ACIMIT. “Our exports to Asia for the first three months of the year grew 41% compared to 2009,” he said, adding that the Chinese market is moving rapidly and pays attention to the major themes presented at the trade fair, including sustainability, reducing its carbon footprint, and the reutilization of textile waste products. Members of the French Textile Machinery Manufacturers’ Association (UCMTF) also presented their ecologically sound and unique textile machinery at the exhibition, in particular those for energy savings. For Bruno Ameline, UCMTF President, energy savings are not just a fashion but a real “must” both from ethical and economic points of views. He adds that the responsibility of the machinery manufacturers is not to influence the consumption of end products but to reduce significantly the energy necessary for the production level set by the market. For many years now, this idea has been embedded in the manufacturers' strategies. They report that their customers appreciate this approach and compare very precisely the investment costs with the financial returns of the energy savings. Caption: Bruno Ameline Evelyne Cholet, UCMTF Secretary General, adds that the machinery manufacturers' customers i.e. the textile producers of apparel, home textiles and technical textiles are extremely sensitive to energy savings all over the world even though the price of energy is quite different from one country to another and that the economics depends on the relative prices of manpower, energy and investments costs. One thing is quite clear for her: “Durable development can only be achieved if the desire to be a good citizen is compatible with the returns on investments.” Guarded optimism observed Economic outlook was another popular topic at the exhibition. In the past two years, the global recession has hit the Swiss textile machinery industry and Swiss exports plunged by 60% within two years to a low never seen before, said Dr. Lukas Sigrist, Secretary General, Swissmem, Textile Machinery. However, in the second half of last year the downswing came to a standstill. Business resumed, first of all in the Asian markets and the number of incoming orders in the recent months is striking. In the first quarter of 2010, exports were up again by 34% year-on-year (thus referring to a low level), whereof the Asian markets had an impressive share of over 45%. “Whereas the last two years saw the sector forced to drastically cut capacity, today it already finds itself facing bottlenecks again. These disproportionate swings call for extremely flexible organizational structures,” said Dr Sigrist, adding that industry players are holding an attitude of guarded optimism with expectations of stabilization. A Chinese industry expert this June went further to warn for signs of overheating. In view of the abrupt rebound, Vice Chairman of China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), Gao Yong, said that merchandisers might have predicted the appreciation of renminbi and tried to stock more goods before the rise in price. “In the beginning of the year, there were more investments in different sectors, leading to price rise of cotton and yarns. The cotton price is now at record high. However, the price of apparel has not gone up as much. This trend, to me, is rather illogical. I would think that the middle- to low-end market may be overheating. Textile mills should not focus on enlarging production scale as a response to the present fast growth,” said Mr Gao. The Chinese textile industry, which was relatively less affected by the global economic crisis, enjoyed a rapid progress in the first five months of this year. Textile and apparel exports from China increased by about 19% compared with the same period last year. During the same months, China's domestic consumption of the products also rose 23%. All these positive developments have helped boost the sale of textile machines. Mr Gao said that the trend was to invest in machines of high automation, low-carbon emissions and energy efficient. “There is heightened awareness of saving energy and reducing emissions,” he said. “The requirements of machinery today are very different from the past five to 10 years. In addition to high speed and high capacity, there are also the requirements of flexibility - the machine needs to be able to process different types of fibres, use less energy, with high degree of automation.” Mr Gao said that China would soon bid farewell to the era of low-cost labour. With less involvement of human labor, more machine intelligence will come into play in the future. ■ ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW International exhibitors showing off technology strengths Asian debuts of A. Monforts' new solutions The new double-sided Softcoating and Sanforisor made their Asian debuts at ITMA Asia+CITME this year, featuring significant energy savings with high efficiency finishing, according to A. Monforts. The new double-sided Softcoating process provides energy savings in drying processes with reduced liquor application, utilising trough and roller techniques, to apply just the required amount of liquid/coating to the fabric via contact with the roller. Liquid can be applied to both sides of the fabric or to one side and a different liquid to the other side. Applications include nano coating, water repellency, softeners and pigment dyeing. The new Monforts process, in some cases, eliminates the need for a conventional padder in wet-in-wet processes, applying the liquid/coating via a twin-roller for double-sided applications. Compared with a padder operation, the initial moisture content of 60% is reduced to 40%; ensuring a reduction in drying times and reduced energy costs, says Monforts. The latest compressive shrinkage Sanforisor, for woven (Monfortex) and knitted (Toptex) fabrics offers increased residual shrinkage and higher production speeds – up to 20% faster than other Sanforisors, according to Monforts. Other features include automatic grinding of the rubber blanket, 40% reduced water consumption for cooling and substantial time savings for blanket changes. Monforts' Sales Director, Gunnar Meyer, said the market had required machines that were more efficient and easier to operate. “As a leading company in the field, we could never stop innovating but offer something special to differentiate ourselves from the others.” Caption: Thomas Päffgen (left) and Gunnar Meyer Mr Meyer said a good amount of visitors from as far as South America and the Middle East had visited the Monforts booth. But he said that some visitors of this year's show wanted to spend some time visiting the World Expo in Shanghai. Moreover, advanced solutions for finishing technical textiles were also introduced together with the latest upgrade and modernisation kits from Monforts Parts & Components department. Thomas Päffgen, Head of Product Management, Drying / Finishing, commented that the Asia market was big for nonwovens, while Europe was more important as a technical textiles market. However, recent years have seen increased use of the latter in China. Some manufacturers of technical textiles have moved their production base to Asia from Europe as demand for the end products rises in Asia. Andritz showcases combined strengths of Küsters and Perfojet Following the acquisition by the Andritz Group, Andritz Küsters and Andritz Perfojet for the first time showcased their latest developments in calender, wetlaid, spunlace, spunjet, and finishing equipment under one roof at the exhibition. A wide range of solutions in thermal, chemical and hydroentanglement processes was presented. In the Andritz nonwovens product range, the neXline spunlace technology was presented, which combines the Jetlace hydroentanglement system, the neXaqua dewatering unit, the Perfodry through air dryer, and the neXcal twin embossing calender. These units offer producers the opportunity to enhance the performance of their spunlace lines, with a high level of productivity and energy efficiency, said Laurent Jallat, Manager Marketing & Communications, Nonwoven, at Andritz Perfojet. Reduced energy consumption by 30-40% is achieved especially by combining the dewatering system neXaqua with the Perfodry through air dryer, he added. Mr Jallat was optimistic with the future spunlace market, which enjoys a 10-11% annual growth worldwide in these years, mainly driven by the rising demand of wipes. In addition to Europe and the United States, wipes are also increasingly used in Asia, including China and Hong Kong for domestic and industrial uses, added Brian Hu, General Manager of AKM Shanghai. As the living standard of Chinese people continues to improve, hygiene topics gain more and more attention. Given the large population of China, a 25% access of the Chinese market is as many as the total US population. Few product varieties in wipes are currently found in the China market, and ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW Caption: From left: Laurent Jallat, Johannes Walterfang and Brian Hu Mr Jallat expected to see more development in this segment in the next few years. “The spunlace market is primarily driven by the growing need of wipes, which is mainly fuelled by China,” he said. Johannes Walterfang, Andritz Küsters' Head of Project Engineering, Nonwovens, added that the Andritz Küsters' calender range dedicated to high-capacity spunbonding technology has also been optimized. Additionally, the company offers with its neXcal compact a calender especially designed for SMS lines with a production speed of up to 400m/min, according to Mr Walterfang. Furthermore, close links between the R&D centers of Andritz Küsters and Andritz Perfojet have been developed. More eco-friendly development is being undertaken by the joint efforts of the two companies, for instance in the area of wetlaid technology, so as to allow the use of natural fibres in nonwoven manufacture, e.g. viscose. Recyclable nonwovens is another research area, Mr Walterfang explained. A seamless knowledge chain has been formed to drive synergy, concluded Mr Jallat and Mr Walterfang. Buser positions Swiss printing machines at varied price levels Buser exhibited two recently developed, imported flat-screen printing machines developed, namely Swiss-made F8 system mainly for export-oriented Chinese enterprises and a more economic version of E8 for the mid-segment of the Chinese market. Both systems feature non-mechanical transmission. Jürg Voegelin, President of Buser, said that China is an important market for the company. “The market in 2011 is likely to be about the same with this year, or slightly weaker. A growth is not very likely to happen. In addition to China, Pakistan, Turkey and Africa will get more important,” he said, adding that challenges in China include appreciation of renminbi and the intellectual property right. Calemard promotes assembled-in-China slitter rewinder Calemard introduced a new slitter rewinder, the Tiger. Engineered by Calemard and CE certified, the new slitter rewinder is assembled in China (near Shanghai) to reduce delivery times for Asian markets. The Tiger covers a wide range of textile and nonwoven applications. Featuring integrated unwinder, slitting station with two or three cutting systems and centre winder, with in option a lay-on arm to improve the rewinding quality, the Tiger is a flexible solution to perform quality slitting and rewinding, according to Calemard. The product will be in the market with full local services (commissioning, maintenance and spare parts) from October 2010 for trials, the company adds. More clients are ready to invest: Clariant Clariant featured its new ETSI (Enhanced Textile Strength Improvement) system on strength management. Most garments with non-iron or easy-care finish share the common disadvantage of having a short life-cycle as the fabric becomes weak and worn due to the resin finish that provides the easy-care feature. Clariant's new product overcomes these problems. The ETSI system delivers good easy-to-iron effect, high quality in textile strength, tear strength, abrasion resistance and extremely low formaldehyde level on the treated fabric, according to Oliver Schmidt, Head of Marketing & Product Management Asia Pacific, BU Textile Chemicals. On top of that, the ETSI system also offers a unique softening treatment method, which is different from conventional resin systems. On ecological ground, the system provides extra durability that allows the garments to have a longer life cycle even after repeated laundering and ironing. The ETSI system is applicable to all cellulose fibres, including linen and cotton. Caption: Oliver Schmidt (far right), Keith Parton (middle) and colleague Keith Parton, Head of Sales and Marketing for Clariant's Textile Chemical Business Unit, observed that more important clients attended the fair this year and many of them showed their intention and investment plan, reflecting their confidence in the industry. Europeans clients were also present. “We met a client based in Europe at the exhibition. They were planning to set up a new plant in China and look forward to working with Clariant again in China to use our technology and products in their newly-built plant.” Meanwhile, Chinese users have been working to upgrade themselves as the lower end textile manufacturing starts to relocate to Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam where labor cost is lower. “We're glad to see that a lot of promising companies have emerged in China and quality of their products is excellent,” added Mr Parton. CCI presents affordable and efficient sampling solutions for weavers CCI Tech Inc, headquartered in Taiwan, saw opportunities in the area of sampling looms years ago and developed such machines to ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW meet the potential needs in the market. A premium version of sampling loom and a single-end warping machine were exhibited at the fair this year. “The highlight of ‘The Studio', a premium sampling loom, is its compact size and easiness to use requiring no compressed air, which can be conveniently placed within a design office or fabric research laboratory,” said Alvin Y.S. Chan, Chief Operating Officer of CCI Tech Inc. He said: “Designers, researchers and manufacturers can easily obtain the desired sample within one single day at an affordable cost on this loom, while the traditional approach takes about 10 days to get samples.” This machine is able to handle up to 12 weft colors and can accommodate at maximum 24 heald frames. The machine's maximum speed is 150 ppm. Convenience and efficiency brought by this sampling loom has attracted attention from users in China, Europe India and Turkey. Current users of CCI's systems include ENSAIT (a higher education and research textile-related institute in France), IFTH (French Textile Research and Technical Centre) and Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), according to Mr Chan. The company also presented the Lutan single-end warping machine, equipped with a uniquely designed ring to withstand high speed running under long hours. More importantly, he explained: “The Super Creel inside the machine allows multi-ends warping. It is also equipped with a color changing device that changes color automatically from the bobbins in the storage cabinet in accordance to the design. This color changing device is a brand new designed, protected by patents.” Up to 12 or 16 bobbins and warp can be used at the same time. Founded in 2001 by a team of specialists with over 10 years' experience in the weaving industry in the Greater China region, the company currently has an operations office in Hong Kong and also two representative offices in Hangzhou and Qingdao, China. Caption: Alvin Y.S. Chan Comez features electronic machines for Asian narrow fabric markets Comez exhibited a number of machinery, including MCJ 700, which is an innovative high-performance electronic jacquard needle loom, designed for the production of a wide range of laces, ribbons, articles for corsetry, ribbons for technical applications and more, which can be personalised with special inscriptions or Ad name: CLARIANT AG ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW intricate patterns. The machine has a dobby unit with up to 14 heald frames and is supplied with jacquard device featuring 96-384 hooks (with four to 10 weaving heads). In addition, the Comeztronic CT-16B/600 electronic crochet knitting machine is equipped with 16 weft pattern bars, available in gauge 15 and 20 n.p.i., with a 600 mm working width. The company explains that this machine is designed for the production of an extensive range of sophisticated articles for underwear. The Data Control Controller manages necessary machine functions, monitoring production data, and allows for the realisation of lengthy pattern repeats. Caption: Dr Paolo Banfi (right) and Jackie Zhai, area manager Dr Paolo Banfi, Director of Comez, explained that Comez machines feature high speed and productivity; reduced machine start-up times with article changes; a wide range of usable yarn types; as well as versatility and ease-of-use. The company has established its factory in Guangzhou, South China, to assemble machinery with Italian parts and it competes in the market with quality services and machinery as well as technical support, he said. “The economy of China is in a good shape at the moment,” he said, adding that China can enter the global economic and financial markets strongly in the future. Cormatex introduces recycling lines to China A family-run Italian solution provider in the field of woolen spinning and nonwovens, Cormatex presented a patented recycling technology at the exhibition. The company also joined the ACIMIT initiative to promote sustainable technologies of Italian textile machinery manufacturers. Recycling of wastes (e.g. textiles, paper, carpet and mattress) is achieved through an innovative airlaying technology, which is capable of replacing mechanical processes using carding machine and cross lapper, according to Luca Querci, Sales Manager of Cormatex. The new machine with an innovative pressure control system is ready for needle punching and/or thermobonding processes. Caption: Riccardo Querci, President, and Luca Querci (left) Such a line starts from opening/blending, lap formair, bonding to cutting and wind-up. In the lap formair section, productivity over 1,500 kg/h and good control of evenness of the output fibre batt is attained with weights below 150 g/m². Insulation is the most important application area for this system producing regenerated insulation materials, which 80-85% are from recycled sources. The market of insulation has been growing fast in Europe and the US. Furthermore, the costs of investment and production are lower compared to a traditional carding and cross lapper system. “It is particularly attractive where there is a cost to dispose wastes, e.g. tire cords. With this technology, manufacturers can convert wastes into a new product, and cost (of disposing) into profit (by recycling). In China, people are starting to think about how to better preserve the environment and it's a good location to promote this innovative and cost-effective technology,” he said. Danfoss stresses quality frequency converters for reliability Danfoss believes reliability is essential to the Chinese textile industry and thus the use of high-quality frequency converters. Kang Yongqiang, manager of transmission and marketing department of Danfoss (Shanghai) Automatic Controls, added that users can benefit from a reliable and continuous production with stronger inverter technology from Danfoss. The application of electronic control offering better control is expected to be more popular in the future. Caption:Visitors examined quality frequency converters at Danfoss Datacolor links brands and mills with effective color management Bridging between brands and mills in the global textile and apparel industry, Datacolor offers the Color Lifecycle Management solutions, including the Datacolor Spectrum family of products, to deliver optimum color management as well as add value to the complex global sourcing process, according to Charles Lee, Sales Director, North Asia, Industrial Business Unit. The supply-chain oriented color control software, Datacolor Tools 2.0, was one of the company's highlights at this ITMA Asia+CITME fair, Mr Lee said. With a new .NET-based environment and a Windows 7 interface, the software is designed to quickly and easily create color measurement files and establish pass/fail criteria. Another intelligent software is Datacolor Match Textile allowing faster throughput of new recipe requests along the textile supply chain. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW The company introduced Ahiba IR Pro, a water-cooled infrared lab dyeing machine for textile laboratories. It uses water to control the dyebath temperature rather than forced air, raising the level of accuracy and repeatability while saving on energy costs, he explained. Caption: Doris Brown, Vice President, Marketing, and Charles Lee (right) An interesting intelligent solution is the predictive maintenance software, Guardian, with which Datacolor remotely monitors the color performance of spectrophotometers operating at the facility of users, covering 65 countries and regions including China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. “Datacolor experts thus are able to diagnose problems before they occur, offering users peace of mind at an affordable price,” said Mr Lee. “Datacolor has strengthened the quality of service especially for the markets in China with more engineers, adding value and sharing the experience with Chinese emerging brands,” he said. He expected a robust growth in this part of Asia, as players are seeking to fortify themselves amid the wave of consolidation. The markets in Asia have picked up rapidly as well. Additionally, Datacolor and Setex has partnered in the development of integration tools that will streamline production workflow from lab to bulk, and it has also joined CSI to integrate Datacolor's Tools software solution with CSI's ColorWall, a searchable database of 4,000 colors. New Dilo machine helps save fibre cost The DiloGroup showed visitors latest textile samples and product development results from the Dilo Textile Research Centres and provided information about complete line installations comprising machines for bale opening and blending from DiloTemafa, carding or aerodynamic web forming from DiloSpinnbau, crosslapping and needling from DiloMachines. DiloTemafa, a member of DiloGroup, highlighted its latest design of its web edge opener in a working width of 0.5 m. The machine reopens the web edges which are cut after needling and feeds them back into the manufacturing process, thus saving fibre costs. In addition to needling, other bonding technologies such as water entangling, thermo and chemical bonding are available from DiloSystems. A full range of web forming and consolidation technologies is offered for complete line installations worldwide. In the field of nonwovens, new equipment components were presented to improve web quality and uniformity applicable to all bonding processes. Dornier displays PS rapier weaving machine for technical textiles Lindauer Dornier GmbH presented a PS rapier weaving machine for the production of technical textiles. During the exhibition, different versions of conveyor belt fabrics were woven on the machine with heavy reed beat up and positive controlled center transfer. The Dornier weaving machine system family, composed of rapier and air-jet weaving machines, features gentle filling process with very low tension peaks, enabling the processing of very Caption: Marion Heisler Ad name: EPIC ENTERPRISES, INC ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW subtle yarns. Both machines can hold very high or low warp tension which enables the weaving of very dense fabrics such as conveyor belts or aramid fabrics as well as open mesh structures of glass or carbon. Besides, there is the PX rapier weaving machine for the area of decorative and upholstery fabrics. Produced in Germany, Dornier's machines are specialized in processing complicated textiles such as silk and technical textiles. Marion Heisler, Manager, Central Marketing & Communication, said that business started to pick up from the summer of 2008 but the number of orders shot up rapidly after the first quarter of this year. The key to staying competitive in this specialized market is to cooperate closely with the customers, trying to find the solutions to meet their needs, she said. DyStar rebrands itself stressing ecological solutions DyStar presented a new face this year to emphasize more on the comprehensive ecological solutions, an important area for the sustained development of the company. Simon Collinson, Director of DyStar Textile Services in Shanghai, said: “Econfidence from DyStar is a commitment covering the ecological quality of our products. It is backed up by the most extensive testing program of any dyestuff manufacturer in the world.” DyStar serves both direct customers (e.g. dyers and finishers) and indirect customers who are often retailers with specific requirements in chemical use under their own restricted substance list. The company does not only supply dyes and chemicals compatible with the RSLs, but it also provides accredited testing services to make sure a textile product made for the retailer is ecologically sound. Such a product may then be given a DyStar econfidence hangtag for enhanced confidence to both retailers and end consumers. He said: “This is an important product differentiation for retailers as greener manufacturing practices are progressively desired among end consumers.” Caption: Simon Collinson The “econfidence hangtag” program has been utilized by six to seven retailers in the world. A recent user is an apparel clothing brand Living Planet (under Tharanco group in the US) and its manufacturing partner, Liberty Mills in Pakistan. The fabrics were processed in Liberty Mills using the ecologically compliant Remazol reactive and Indanthrene vat dye ranges of DyStar. Upon the successful completion of the project, a total of 220,000 econfidence hangtags were provided to Living Planet for attachment to the end garments, which were clearly displayed at point of sale in the US. Huge business potential in Far East: Erhardt+Leimer Erhardt+Leimer, a specialist for system solutions and automation technology, presented its technologies on running webs and belts, ranks worldwide among manufacturers of control equipment also for the textile industry at the fair. Caption: Thomas Grimm (Right) and his colleague It presented energy-saving ELMAT setting/drying solutions and the ELCOUNT online fabric density detection and control system to reduce dependence on skilled workers. Thomas Grimm, Executive Director of Erhardt+Leimer China, said, “Upgrading of the industry bring foreign companies great opportunities. China now has become the largest textile market in the world. We have realized the tremendous business opportunities in China’s market and established a subsidiary in China. We plan to enhance our competitiveness by establishing production lines of some products in China to reduce costs and product prices, and to be closer to the users by establishing research and development center in China.” Epic Enterprises markets quality spare parts in China US-based Epic Enterprises Inc, a spare parts and equipment manufacturer, exhibited spare parts that support heat-set equipment for carpet yarns production, coldwater soluble EpiMark color markers used to identify yarns and fabrics in various applications, as well as spare parts offering for carpet two-for-one twisting machines, according to International Sales Manager of Epic Enterprises, Mark Warren. Caption: Mark Warren Fong's announces new sales organization Fong's Group announced to approach its key markets in the world under one-agency umbrella by consolidating the various sales teams ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW currently serving the individual brands. “We concluded to rebuild our Fong's Group into a powerful and efficient sales and services organization with our strong brands of Fong's National, Then and Goller being structured in the form of Product Groups,” said Thomas Archner, Managing Director of the newly established Fong's Europe, which merges Then and Goller. The reorganization involves the dyeing and finishing systems providers, whereas Xorella in the field of vacuum steam treatment machinery and systems for the textile industry, is included in the master agency concept in appropriate country. The brand though outside the three-brand umbrella has close operation if it fits, Mr Archner said. He is also Managing Director of Xorella AG. Mr Archner explained that the major benefit of this joint sales organization is that customers are now able to talk to the same sales colleague to obtain all information relating to Fong's National, Then and Goller. “Localization is the name of the game in the future,” said Alex Wan, Chief Executive Officer of Fong's Group and technological support is provided to ensure the service remains intact. Product-wise, the company displayed several machines to address today's market challenges, including the Fong's Jumboflow series high-temperature dyeing machine, Then-Airflow piece dyeing machine, Goller's new continuous Pad Steam dyeing range for knitted fabric, as well as Montex 6500 stenter range, marketed by Monforts Fong's Textile Machinery, a joint venture between Fong's Industries Group and A.Monforts. Fukuhara comes to listen to clients A high-performance circular knitting machinery builder from Japan, Fukuhara sent more than 30 Japanese employees to attend the exhibition. “More technicians will visit clients in China after the exhibition, so as to listen to the needs of our clients and gather feedback that will help us improve our products for full satisfaction from our valuable customers,” said Zhang Yichun, Manager, East Asia of Fukuhara Industrial & Trading Co. Ltd. One of the exhibit highlights was the VXC-S3.2 ultra-fine gauge (60G) single jersey knitting machine. “Fukuhara's advanced fine-gauge technology is further optimized thanks to the patented “E-Needle”. The new environment-friendly needle and new sinker help keep the running machine temperature from rising abruptly, ensuring a stable performance of the machine even at a high speed,” said President of Fukuhara, Satoshi Uemura. To meet the needs of the market, Fukuhara also launched energy-saving needles to the markets around the world this year, reducing electricity use by 7% and energy consumption by 12%. Caption: Satoshi Uemura (middle), Zhang Yichun (left) and colleague Another highlighted exhibit was the V-LEC7BSD, which produces high-density double knit jacquard fabrics with high productivity. Targeting the premium market, Fukuhara sells its products to Japan (10%), Europe (20%), Southeast Asia (20-30%), and the remaining to China, according to Mr Zhang. Groz-Beckert and litespeed needle receive environmental honour The litespeed needle became one of the focused products at the booth of Groz-Beckert after it received a prestigious award in Germany in April. The company describes that the litespeed needle is synonymous with precision and innovation in the best sense. “For the circular knitting machine, this means up to 20% lower temperature, less energy consumption reduced oil requirement and minimized oil fogging and enormous carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction,” the company said. Caption: Edelgard Keinath Tests found that if all relevant machines worldwide were equipped with litespeed needles, it would result in an annual CO2 reduction of over 457 million tonnes, according to Groz-Beckert. The company was awarded the KYOCERA Environment Prize this April, which is one of the highest-value competitions for environmental protection in Germany stressing innovation, market potential, environmental relief and also transferability to other companies. Groz-Beckert is committed to assuming responsibility for conservation of resources and preserving an intact environment, for present as well as future generations, said Edelgard Keinath, Corporate Services, Public Relations & Advertising. The company operates with a sound quality management system according to DIN EN ISO 9001 and a comprehensive environmental management system in accordance with DIN EN ISO 14 001. Its products also fully conform RoHS and REACH standards. For the production of ecologically valuable textile applications, Groz-Beckert offers suitable precision component, systems and services. One of the latest projects implemented by Groz-Beckert is the textile-reinforced concrete bridge in Albstadt, district Lautlingen, Germany. This bridge is about to be opened for public use. More futuristic innovations will be made possible at the recently opened Technology and Development Centre at Groz-Beckert headquarters in Germany. Furthermore, products that are new to the market will not only be geared towards increased ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW productivity but also energy saving, Ms Keinath added. Market-wise, Groz-Beckert sees positive and increasing development in the Asian market for this and next years. HKRITA showcases latest Hong Kong-developed projects The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) introduced its technical developments at the exhibition. One important project presented by the HKRITA was an innovative wet finishing machine, which was the recently developed with funding from the Innovation and Technology Fund under the Hong Kong S.A.R. government, The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) in collaboration with the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC). Caption: Betty So Project Manager, Betty So, told ATA Journal that this new machine offers adequate supply and control of water and steam; adjustable rotating speed settings; temperature controller to provide adjustments on temperature and how fast the temperature is changed; effective circulation to permit optimum liquor exchange between the knitwear and the bath; and automatic chemical dispensing device. As a result, less water is consumed during the wet processing and delicate fibres such as cashmere can be treated in a desirable manner, Ms So said. At the moment, a commercial textile builder in China, namely Tung Shing Dyeing Machines Factory, holds a non-exclusive license to produce and sell this machinery. A total of six projects were presented by HKRITA, including a fabric structure analysis and appearance evaluation system, an innovative manufacturing solution for energy-saving and environmental-friendly production of brassiere cup; and a remote assessment system for physical prototypes under an e-clustering environment. New Huntsman finish offers improved clean and dry comfort Huntsman Textile Effects launched a new finish to its innovative High IQ brand. High IQ Clean and Dry Comfort is a brand new effect, which prevents water from penetrating the fabric for a clean, dry and comfortable feeling. This special waterproof finish does not affect the natural properties of the fibre's appearance or breathability, and it even enhances the fabric with a soft handle, according to Martin Ad name: SWISS TEXTILE-TESTING LTD ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW Szeto, Global Business Development Director Apparel & Home Textile based in Hong Kong. Due to a new innovative hydrophobic system, based on non-fluorine technology, the finish can withstand up to 30 washes. Higher color retention, longer lasting fabrics and faster drying properties mean lower costs and less pollution, he said. Caption: Martin Szeto “High IQ has also freshness effects in two new varieties to excel beyond the expectation of today's consumers,” said Mr Szeto. High IQ Freshness on Demand allows consumers to choose a scent to match their mood, while High IQ Active Freshness features a built-in antibacterial, which protects the wearer from malodors. Caption: Peter Gregory Peter Gregory, Director of Technology & Project Management based in Switzerland, explained that environment, health and safety form the first priority at Huntsman Textile Effects. The company searches for ways to reduce the use and environmental impact of chemicals and help textile manufacturers as well as consumers conserve water and energy with its innovative technology. “A recent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) on Gentle Power Bleach showed that if this new product were applied to the roughly 26 million tons of cotton produced globally [a 2007-2008 statistic], the savings in freshwater consumption globally could reach 10 trillion litres of water annually. That could be enough for every human on the planet to use for a whole year,” said Mr Gregory. Mr Gregory mentioned that the company will continue investing on R&D, including high performing effects based on low environmental impact chemistry, building on its reactive technology competence for wool and nylon as well as cotton. Technology to reduce water and energy consumption is another area of research interest, in addition to new light management technology for high performance UV protection, automotive dyes and longer lasting whites. ITEMA Weaving exhibits new high-speed rapier weaving machine ITEMA Weaving with its brands Sulzer Textil, Somet and Vamatex, presented its latest technical innovations on weaving machinery at the Shanghai fair. Among the widest range of weaving machines, accessories and services, ITEMA Weaving exhibited the Vamatex R880 rapier weaving machine for the very first time ever to public. ITEMA Weaving is the only company to produce weaving machines with the three leading weft insertion systems, providing the right weaving technology for every application. Together, Promatech Italy, ITEMA Switzerland and ITEMA Weaving Machinery China are the world's number one weaving machinery manufacturer, with roughly 300,000 units installed worldwide, the company says. Caption: Fabio Mario Mazzucchetti The Vamatex R880 is the result of experience gained and synergies created within the Euro-Chinese organizations of the company. The rapier drive system is based on the proven Propeller, and the machine offers high speed weaving up 550 picks per minute or 1200 metres of weft inserted per minute, according to ITEMA Weaving. Fabio Mario Mazzucchetti, sales and marketing director of ITEMA Weaving, explained that the Vamatex R880 is assembled in China, serving the local market as well as India and other Asian areas. Majority of the parts are imported from Europe ensuring the top quality of systems. New Jakob Müller printer allows quick handling of personalized narrow fabric printing Jakob Müller introduced to visitors its new MDP2 MÜPRINT2, designed for contactless, direct inkjet printing of narrow fabrics. The machine operates on a roll-to-roll basis and can process ribbons with widths ranging from 15mm to 400mm. Printable substrates include polyester wovens, nonwovens and knitware. The system allows printing, drying and fixing of the fabrics to be carried out in a single process. It was introduced in February this year to the German market, and was put on show for the first time in China. The target users include those in the promotion industry, label industry, producers of vertical blinds, according to Eduard Strebel, Manager of Marketing Services. The machine enables more designs, small-batch production, as well as instant, quick handling of printing personalised designs on fabrics, he said. Mr Strebel Caption: Jakob Müller machine ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW reckons the new model will arouse interests among both new and existing customers who are looking to expand their business scope. Despite the attractive features offered by the system, demand from the traditional woven label market is expected to be unaffected. James H. Heal highlights new nine-head Martindale James H. Heal launched the latest technological innovation in abrasion and pilling testing with the new Martindale 900 Series. The 900 Series includes the Midi-Martindale Model 905 - an industry first with five stations, which, in comparison to other four-head instruments in the market, gives users the best quality at lower costs to suit their requirements. For higher capacity testing, the nine-station Maxi-Martindale Model 909 has been developed, and is the only nine-head instrument in the market, according to the company. Innovation is at the core of the company's operation, and is what drives new product development to enable them to respond to customer and market needs, said Elliot Rich, Sales Director of James H. Heal. He said: “The new Martindale 900 range represents our latest investment; however in 2010 alone, we have enhanced and improved several instruments, including Impulse2, Titan3, Truburst2 and Elmatear2, reflecting our ongoing commitment to moving technological innovation forward, to benefit customers worldwide.” Caption: Elliot Rich Jossi Systems seeks to develop the China market Jossi Systems from Switzerland exhibited the Vision Shield Inspect4 to eliminate contamination before the yarn production process begins. The new technology of the Imaging Spectroscope recognises a wider range of colors, explained Managing Director, Walter Kiechl. The improved technology allows users to detect smallest impurities with the Imaging Spectroscope, whereas optical brightened contamination is detected by the newly developed Vtect technology, the company says. This equipment is designed for low maintenance. The vision system is based on the most stable operating system, Linux. There are no mechanically moving parts to suffer wear and tear. Even the cooling for the processing system is based on natural convection. Turkey and India are currently the largest markets of the company, and Jossi Systems has an office in China to capture the growing opportunities in the country, he said. Karl Mayer shows lightweight components for warp knitting machines At ITMA Asia, Karl Mayer was displaying the first raschel machine equipped with CFRP (carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic) components and a high-speed tricot machine, which is already benefiting from the advantages of the second generation of CFRP technology. According to Karl Mayer, the machines equipped with CFRP (carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic) components offer a unique performance profile, and the strategy of making both basic as well as high-tech machines available gives the company greater access to a broader client base. The new RSE 4-1 is the first machine in its series to feature lightweight technology. The package of optimised features includes the use of CFRP components in all the bars, and solutions for improving the stability to lateral distortion in the needle zone. The result of changing over the RSE 4-1 to incorporate these lightweight, stable, fibre-reinforced plastic components is that the temperature window for reliable, trouble-free operation has been extended from +/- 2 °C to +/- 7 °C, and the weight of the bars has been reduced by as much as 25 %. Karl Mayer said the high-performance raschel machine was already one of the best-selling machines in its product range, and was in great demand during the fair. Demand in general on the rise Oliver Mathews, Vice President, Sales and Marketing of the warp knitting business unit, told ATA Journal that last year was the best year ever for the company's technical textile business. He attributed the phenomenon to the so-called “Obama effects”, referring to the US president's environmental policies, which advocate the use of environmentally friendly technologies. There has been rising demand for technical textiles to be used for producing the “rotor blades” for windmills using glass-fibre composites. “They're ordered from all over the world, though many of them are being produced in China,” he said. Regarding the standard textiles market, Mr Mathews recalled that the China market rebound started at the beginning of 2009, while German market picked up since the second quarter of last year. But this year, the market is booming, he said, mainly due to a few factors. Domestic demand in China is increasing as people are better off. Besides, the exchange rate between Euro and Renminbi has been favorable to European suppliers – the products turned out to be 20% lower in price to Chinese customers (in June) compared with Caption: Oliver Mathews ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW autumn last year, thanks to the impact of exchange rate. In fact, demand in general had been increasing worldwide. Karl Mayer has responded to the market by reorganizing the company to cope with the bigger capacity needed, and is considering steps to further expand, according to Mr Mathews. About 80% of Karl Mayer's products were exported to Asia, of which, 70% were sold to China. About six months ago, a design team manned by people from the fashion design field has been formed in the company's headquarters in Germany, aiming to help customers create their own product lines. Klüber Lubrication offers cost analysis to users Klüber Lubrication, a supplier of special lubricants, provided a portfolio of products that suit various needs in the Asian market. “We not only provide customers with products and services, but also help them make cost analysis, resolve their concerns in equipment maintenance and production, optimize processes and ultimately realize costs reduction and profit increase,” said Henry Zhu, Industry Manager, Knitting, Klüber Lubrication (Shanghai). When more attention is paid to industry upgrading and advanced technologies and equipments, use of high-performance lubricants will become increasingly important, Mr Zhu said, adding that the company is confident in its development in China. Lacom presents advanced hotmelt machines A German-based manufacturer of laminating and coating machines, Lacom highlighted one of its innovations, a compact version of the multi-purpose hotmelt machine, which is applicable for the production of thermoplast and reactive hot melts and the processing of air permeable laminates and full cover coatings, according to Klaus Schnerring, General Sales Manager of Lacom. He explained that the compact machine is available in two application systems: i) Gravure only, or ii) alternatively combined Gravure and multi-roller machines. A wide application range is possible such as technical textiles, automotive interiors, hygienic textiles with membrane films, and self-adhesive products and many other applications. Another major technology presented was Duplex Laminating and Coating Machine, which produces triplex laminates, i.e. three-layer composites. Suitable to apply either thermoplast or reactive adhesives which can be applied either by Gravure or Multi-roller or a combination of the two, to provide different material features, e.g. air permeability for army or sportswear as well as automotive interiors and all with a minimum on product tension. The Duplex machine is able to produce 50 meters of triplex laminates per minute, according to Lacom. Caption: Klaus Schnerring New developments have also been made and presented for tufted carpet and artificial grass with hotmelt machines up to 5.5 metres wide. Due to safety and health considerations, flame-lamination is being replaced in some countries and Mr Schnerring believes hotmelt has a good future especially in the application area of technical textiles including automotive interiors, as well as lingerie. He reported a growing business in Asia. Apart from China, the company targets such markets as Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand. Marzoli debuts advanced machinery board control Marzoli from Italy for the first time showed and explained the innovative electronics capability of the Marzoli machinery at the ITMA Asia+CITME 2010 in Shanghai, namely the control system Simiotion Siemens that facilitates the machinery running, the quickness of the response time, its great reliability and dimensional compactness of the adopted solution. The innovative machinery board control brought by the Siemens-Marzoli partnership, which is a new technology that allows a complete control of machine, attracted curiosity from numerous visitors. In addition to visitors from China, about 30% of visitors to Marzoli booth were from regions outside China, including Pakistan, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh and Indonesia, as well as visitors from Turkey, Syria, Egypt and Iran. Mesdan shows advanced yarn splicers An international splicer and laboratory equipment producer from Italy, Mesdan displayed in the Italian cluster a variety of yarn splicers (e.g. Jointair, Aquasplicer and Hot Jointair) as well as new quality control laboratory instruments. Caption: Advanced splicer and laboratory equipments were presented at Mesdan's booth On display included Elmatic, an automatic digital Elmendorf tearing tester, endowed with the following features a measuring range from 200cN to 30000 cN for testing fine and heavy duty materials (e.g. textiles, leather, paper and plastics); automatic execution of tear test; total safety cover with safety lock during testing operation until pendulum swinging is terminated. Moreover, the system offers high accuracy and repeatability of results, and it in conformity with major International testing standards. It is also highly productive and about 150 tests could be executed in 15 minutes, according to Mesdan. Besides Elmatic, the Mesdan-Lab division showcased the new sliver and yarn evenness tester model MT-5, the fully automatic yarn strength tester Autodyn, and the modular new nine-position Martindale abrasion and pilling tester. On the splicer side (Mesdan Yarn Joining Division), several novelties were shown. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW Murata helps support a low carbon economy “More than a builder of machinery, we position ourselves as a production system provider to support the growth of our clients. In the new era of low carbon economy, the textile industry is expected to face more intense pressure. Such pressure, however, can be turned into fuel for action that brings extensive industrial optimization,” said Xia Ziyu, Textile Machinery Sales Division, Murata Machinery (Shanghai). Mr Xia further explained that the Muratec systems are known for high productivity and good operability. Murata demonstrated the Vortex 861, the newest model in this series, for the first time ever in China for spinning viscose materials, which sees a boom in popularity worldwide, according to the company. The unique structure of Vortex yarn, which cannot be duplicated by other spinning methods, is the trump card of differentiation. In addition, by combining roving, spinning and winding processes in a single machine, the space-saving Vortex Spinning Machine is a solutions to the modern textile industry's concerns over labor shortages, Murata explained. Nit Örme now reaches users directly Nit Örme is a trusted supplier of spare parts for flat knitting machines of internationally advanced machinery builders, including Shima Seiki and Stoll. At this year's exhibition, the Turkish company would like to connect with more Chinese users as this market has been dynamic in these years, explained said Irfan Yolcular, President of Nit Örme Knitting and Textile Industries. He added other emerging markets are also noteworthy, such as India and South Africa, which may become the next target markets in five years. Oerlikon Textile dishes out new inventions amid changing markets Highlights of the five brands under Oerlikon Textiles, namely Barmag, Schlafhorst, Neumag, Saurer and Oerlikon Textile Components, included a new Fully Drawn Yarn (FDY) technology, new spinning machines, and the Era embroidery machine. Oerlikon says the new FDY technology can significantly reduce conversion costs. There are the multi-end system concepts for industrial yarn: made-to-measure spinning plant components interacting with the quenching unit, godets and winder generate consistently high yarn quality for fine industrial yarns of up to 660 dtex (LDI) and coarse filaments of up to 6600 dtex per bobbin (HDI). In rotor spinning, the new BD-416, with up to 416 spinning units, features higher productivity and is the longest and yet most compact machine in its class, according to Oerlikon. In ring spinning, the new Zinser 351 Impact FX promises the optimum compact quality on up to 1,680 spindles per machine, it says. In the embroidery segment, the Saurer Era embroidery machine is the optimum production vehicle for design sampling and small orders, Oerlikon has introduced. It is equal to every demand for high-quality embroidery and its designs can also be reproduced on all Saurer embroidery machines. Caption: (From left) Wang Jun, Country President China; Thomas Babacan, Chief Operating Officer; Daniel Zhang, Chief Commercial Officer of Saurer (Jintan) and Jintan TEXParts; André Wissenberg, Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Communications For the Oerlikon Textile group, recovery started in the second quarter of 2009. The growth trend came from a low level and the company is cautious about the risk of overheating market. “The question is: When is the trend changing again?” said Thomas Babacan, Chief Operating Officer. Mr Babacan said that the group would continue to invest in innovation, for which 5% to 7% of the company's turnover was allocated for R&D last year in spite of the effects of the crisis. Asia and other emerging markets play an important role to Oerlikon's success, while China is by far the most important market, he said. Picanol markets airjet looms for mid-segment in Asia Picanol introduced the new OMNIplus-X airjet, which is developed and produced in Picanol's Suzhou plant in China, but using the Belgian OMNIplus 800 technology. The OMNIplus-X responds to the requirements of the Chinese mid-end segment and comes in weaving widths of 190cm and 220cm, according to Erwin Devloo, Marketing Communications Manager of Picanol. Its availability will be limited to the Chinese market for the time being. One of the company's highlights is the introduction of a new airjet, OMNIplus-X, which is cordless. Moving parts in the OMNIplus-X airjet are balanced built to assure stable operation at high machine speeds. The Sumo motor and short, clutch-free drive train guarantee vibration-free operation. The speed of the motor is controlled electronically without an inverter, thus reducing power consumption and permitting greater flexibility. Mr Devloo explained: “The market outlook is good since the beginning of this Caption: Erwin Devloo ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW year. Especially China is performing very well. The weak Euro helps us also to export to China, as the price for imports gets lower.” Picanol Suzhou Textile Machinery Works currently houses a complete production unit with three assembly lines for four product types. In addition, Asia is also important to the company. For Picanol, India is one of the top markets with textile hubs like Mumbai and Coimbatore. The Asian region particularly has helped the group in sustaining during the downturn of the last global crises, the company says. New lightfastness tester from Q-Lab Q-Lab Corporation's newest addition to their expanding Q-Sun range of xenon lightfastness testers, the B02, was exhibited at the fair. The Q-Sun B02 xenon test chamber is an affordable lightfastness tester that meets the lightfastness testing requirements of GB, ISO and AATCC, explained Henry Zhang, Chief Representative of Q-Lab Corporation in China. The device has a rotating specimen rack and provides precise control of critical textile test parameters. These include spectrum, irradiance, relative humidity, chamber temperature and black standard temperature. Its capacity is 48% to 92% larger than most comparable xenon testers. Rieter displays new ring spinning machine Rieter saw positive results from its participation at the Shanghai exhibition. The new G 32 ring spinning machine and the E 66 comber were shown. The new G 32 ring spinning machine is a response to the requirements for dependability, modern technology and quality, whereas the E 66 comber represents market leadership in combing, according to Rieter. In addition, visits by high ranking officials and politicians paid tribute to the efforts of Rieter to further expand its position in China. An official Chinese delegation led by Du Yuzhou, President of the China National Textile & Apparel Council (CNTAC), and the Swiss ambassador to China, Blaise Godet visited the booth of Rieter. The company invests constantly and considerably to boost innovation and the launch of the new ring spinning machine is an example of the corporate efforts on research and development. Rieter is also an active supporter of the Factor+ campaign by the Swissmem, Swiss textile machinery association. The campaign communicates the benefits, which customers can expect from Swiss textile machinery manufacturers in general, and Rieter in particular: innovation, technology, quality, longevity and a high degree of service, the company says. Rieter also reported to have accepted orders made by customers at the fair. Interest in the new products was high, but there was also much interest for the integrated installations. Caption: Rieter demonstrated its latest technology and innovation at the fair, including the new G 32 ring spinning machine Samsung Knitting Needle reports good business Samsung Knitting Needle provides various types of needles for circular knitting machine, flat knitting machine and socks knitting machine as well as other parts. The company's products are well received in the market this year, especially in China, according to Byun Sung Hwan, Manager, Circular Flat, Hosiery, Jack & Spare Parts, of Samsung Knitting Needle. To meet the requirements of customers, the company invests substantially in product research and acquires advanced equipment for further technological development, he said. Santoni highlights cutting-edge seamless systems SWD 6/2J electronic warp knitting machine for seamless apparel was one of the major exhibits at the booth of Santoni, according to Tiberio Lonati, Executive General Manager of Santoni. This machine offers exclusive or patented innovations from Santoni. The highly dynamic and precise linear motors control, in pull and push motion, every single knitting bar. There is a very compact system of Jacquard selection with Ceramic Piezo transducers; each one being separately inter-changeable. Further, vital control of the oscillations of the knitting bars is provided. This essential innovation is a system of push-pull that gives to the whole of the knitting bar group, a movement that is both immediate and delicate to avoid the peaks and troughs of acceleration and deceleration with complete power over the masses, even in the inverse phase of the swing. A complete control and dampening of the machine vibrations also contributes to an increase in working speed. Caption: Tiberio Lonati (right) and Raymond Chu, Chairman of Chemtax Industrial In addition, the company also presented the SM8 TR1 seamless single jersey weft machine, the SM9-MF seamless double jersey circular weft machine and Vignoni large diameter circular knitting technologies. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW Savio offers solutions to ease labour shortage in textile mills Savio of ITEMA Spinning, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year, showed at the ITMA Asia+CITME show its most important products in the winding and the twisting segment, including the automatic winder model Savio Orion Shandong and the new Sirius Two-for-One twister. Savio Orion Shandong is an automatic winder manufactured in Savio's Chinese plant “Savio (Shandong) Textile Machinery” in Jining, China. It is particularly designed for the local market, featuring high yarn quality, high production output, reduced energy consumption, maintenance and investment, according to Savio. Caption: Paolo Puntoni The machine with manual bobbins feeding and manual packages doffing, completely controls all the parameters of the winding process by the main PC. It also has the self-diagnosis monitoring per each winding head. Sirius Eletronic Drive System is the new generation of Two-for-One twister and is available in two models, M (mechanical driving system) and EDS (electronic driving system). The innovation aims to reduce the set-up times at every lot change, so as to reduce the number of workers needed for each machine. Marketing and Order Administration Manager, Paolo Puntoni, said at the show that Savio's winding machines had all been sold. “Today we're fully booked for 2010. We're delivering machines up to the first quarter of next year,” he said. Apart from China, the situations of other Asian markets have also improved, in particular, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey and Indonesia. The clients are producing for both domestic and export markets, he said. Most of the company's activities take place in Asia, where it has set up its own factories in China and India. Both are producing for domestic and export markets, while the productivity of the factory in China has been enhanced recently. Mr Puntoni said automation would be an important issue to the Chinese textile industry due to labour shortage. “There are not many staffers available to work in the textile mills. That also happens in other countries. The cost of the labour is not as important an issue as before,” he said. “And there's a big turnover of workers. People prefer to work in other industries, like the electronics, automotive industries. India, for example, has already made a lot of investments in automatic machines.” Schneider Electric stresses total solution “The offering of a total solution for the best possible cost-performance ratio and high efficiency is a distinct advantage for our clients. At the recent summit tour across Chengdu, Guangzhou, Xian, Nanjing, Shenyang and Beijing in China, we are recognized by numerous players in the local textile machinery industry,” said Tony Dong, General Manager of Textile, Lift and New Energy Equipment, OEM Customer & Segment Marketing, Industry BU, Schneider Electric (China). Schneider Electric showcased automation solutions for textile machinery, including control systems for blowing-carding machinery, warp knitting machine, rotary screen printing machine and more. Keep up investment sentiment with R&D efforts: Shima Seiki Continuous research and development for new product technologies is key to sustaining customers' interest, as good time will not last forever, according to Ikuto Umeda, Chief Executive Officer of Shima Seiki (Hong Kong) Ltd. Of the nine machines shown by Shima Seiki, eight were new, being shown for the first time at an international exhibition. He was pleased with the knitting market upswing these months. “It has been going very well for us. Business activities resumed from the second half of last year, not only in the China market, but also other markets in the Asian region. In the past six months, about 1,000 machines were sold to these countries, excluding China and Hong Kong. Some factory owners in Hong Kong are buying machines for their plants in Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand and Cambodia. The Turkish market is also developing satisfactorily. It is possible that total turnover of 2010 would be comparable to that of 2007, during which about 10,000 units of our machines were sold worldwide,” he said this June. Caption: Ikuto Umeda With respect to the investment trend in China market, he observed that textile mills in the country are facing a rising labour cost while the shortage of workers is getting more and more serious, especially in the finishing sector. Therefore, the factories are investing in machines of higher automation. In view of this trend, he is confident that 2011 will be even better than this year, as the pace of replacing old machines is expected to be faster. “Our plan is to keep stimulating market demand and arouse customers' interests. We try to cater for our customers' diverse needs with the unique features of our machines so as to create a win-win ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW situation for both sides,” he said. For example, SDS-One Apex 3D apparel design workstation is not only a system for making patterns, but can also connect the manufacturers with their buyers and allow shorter sampling time. We have started to promote the concept of total fashion some 20 years ago, but most customers use the system to only make patterns, especially those OEM factories. Today, knitters need creative design and planning abilities to stay competitive. In the meantime, the market wants quick delivery of goods with reasonable costs. That's where our system could help our customers to achieve what they want while being able to play a more active role in the production process. Furthermore, MACH2SIG revolutionizes intarsia knitting with higher productivity through the combination of several key features. Maximum knitting speed is increased to 1.4 m/sec. Intarsia capability is much enhanced through the increase in maximum number of yarn carriers to 40, allowing more flexibility during knitting and expanding the range of possible intarsia patterns. Also shown is NSIG122-SC 12G, which features the same improvements as NSSG122 machines over the previous SIG series, but also features a new lint remover for the yarn gripper for reduced maintenance. The most significant improvement for Shima Seiki intarsia technology, however, is new Automatic Intarsia Carrier Setting software on SDS-ONE apparel design workstation, which dramatically improves set-up efficiency and diminishes leadtimes, the company says. SSM unveils three surprises to visitors Three new machines were debuted to the public by the Swiss-based SSM Schärer Schweiter Mettler AG among its exhibits. The new PW3-W Digicone fastflex is a manual precision package winder with a maximum mechanical speed of 1,800 m/min. Besides the fastflex thread laying system, the drive concept with spindle motor is another key feature of this innovative design. The space-saving integral layout (single-sided) with six spindles per section and the maximum machine size of 60 spindles assure rational, efficient operations in the winding department. Improved winding performance and package quality are further generated by digitens, the technology for online tension control during winding, the company says. Second, the new CW8-W is a cone to cone winding machine for the preparation of packages for weaving, warp knitting and circular knitting Caption: SSM's stand was filled with visitors to check out latest innovations Ad name: GUANGZHOU PANYU JUNYE HONGDA WASHING AND DYEING MACHINE CO., LTD ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW process, according to SSM. Innovative solutions, rugged technology and application of the essential allow an optimal yarn path and the simplification of the winder. The economical and robust technology cuts maintenance and service expenses down to a minimum. The CW8-W allows the adaptation of the winding to various types of staple yarns. Rotating self-cleaning tension device and dry waxing device reduce yarn friction to a minimum. Third, in the area of singeing, the GSX3 Gas singeing random winding machine is a new singeing machine with random package winding unit. With a maximum mechanical speed of 1,500 m/min and an optimised yarn path, even the finest yarn counts (single or double) can be processed to best effect. Stäubli presents new innovations and entire product range Stäubli showed a selection of its most modern products, including the cam motions and dobby machines, the electronic Jacquard machines and harnesses, and weaving preparation systems with automatic warp drawing-in, leasing and tying machines. A member of the group, Schönherr carpet systems, demonstrated the high productivity of Alpha 400 carpet-weaving machine series, while another member, Deimo, presented state-of-the-art electronic control solutions for textile machinery. Among the various exhibitors, the new type SX Jacquard machine is a versatile machine for broad use in modern Jacquard weaving mills. According to Stäubli, the productivity of the SX surpasses that of other models. It is more compact and offers high loads and high-speed. Caption: Reinhard Furrer, Marketing (right) and Rolf Strebel, Chief Executive Officer (middle), show visitors the features of Stäubli's machinery The SX is adaptable to rapier, air-jet, and projectile weft insertion systems for weaving all types of fabrics, such as plain, terry, velvet, technical textiles. Its almost vibration-free drive mechanism is extremely reliable and consumes less parts and energy, and maintenance requirements are minimal, says Stäubli. SX is available in two sizes, with 1408 or 2688 hooks. The second major innovation presented at the Stäubli booth is the mobile automatic drawing-in machine SAFIR S30, designed for extremely high productivity – especially of filament weavers with high drawing-in requirements. The unit moves along to the stable warp during drawing-in, which is the contrary of traditional drawing-in machines where the warp sheets moves along the machine. According to Stäubli, one advantage of the system is that heavy weights, such as filament warps that sometimes weigh several tons, would not need to move while precise manipulations like yarn separation are carried out. The modular design of Safir S30 also makes it easily adaptable to the needs of a mill. Stoll demonstrates all-round services The spacious booth of Stoll has not shown any machine in operation. It was deliberately divided into a few sections and on two levels. Each section consisted of displays that showed visitors what the company's products and services could do for them. Caption: Gerhard Berger For instance, end products made by Stoll's machines were displayed and explained by staff members. There were also special corners, which elaborated on the company's different segments, new developments, the fashion and technology centers in Shanghai, Germany and New York, etc. According to Gerhard Berger, Head of Marketing Services, Stoll intended to focus on the whole package of products and services rather than just the machines. As Stoll took part in other exhibitions around China throughout the year, it went for another approach this time. All of Stoll's machines are made in Germany and 90% of the products were sold to Asia, mostly China and Hong Kong. Mr Berger said his customers had recognised the positive results of investing in Stoll’s products, such as less yarn wastage and highly flexibility A lot of customers are in the process of expanding capacity, replacing old or hand-knitting machines, especially in China, he said. “We have big customers producing for domestic market. There are markets for basic yarns but also a lot of customers are looking for high fashion.” Stork Prints unveils new PegasusEVO printing machine Stork Prints presented its new PegasusEVO printing machine, which is characterised by its excellent price/performance ratio, and is the successor to the popular Pegasus CC, the company says. The new machine is ideal for short runs as well as high-volume batches on many different types of substrate. “The development of this machine was heavily influenced by feedback we were getting from our customers,” says Geert Klaassen, Consumables Manager at Stork Prints Group. One of the main attractions of the PegasusEVO is the possibility to upgrade an existing production facility by installing EVO printing features onto Stork Prints machines already in place, for example RD4s. In this way, the newest technology can be installed ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW for a limited investment. Naturally it is also possible to install a complete PegasusEVO printing block in an existing line, according to Stork Prints. Caption: New PegasusEVO printing machine of Stork Prints High fashion samples printed with the NovaScreen rotary screens were also showed. “Printers in countries like China could really raise the standard of their finished products and differentiate themselves from their competitors by using high-mesh NovaScreens, which are perfect for half-tone effects and fine lines,” said Klaassen. Moreover, a group of digital textile inks for most Mimaki and Mutoh digital textile printers were presented, as well as acid and reactive inks for Robustelli Monna Lisa printers. Superba brings advanced carpet heat-setting technologies Already a major supplier to China in the area of carpet heat-setting, French company Superba Textile Systems introduced the TVP3, its latest generation heat-setting line for carpet yarn. Compared with the 1995 model, TVP3 consumes half the amount of energy for the same level of productivity. According to the company, the line is the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly heat setting machine available so far on market. The unique heat treatment enables high performance in dyestuff setting, in addition to other features including soft touch and pin-point effect on synthetic and natural fibres. Superba has been established in China for decades, with about 50 production lines are currently operating on machines supplied by the company. Regional Sales Director, Jean-Louis Schuller, said that hi-tech machines had been sold to major carpet makers in China, and about 85% of the companies in the Chinese carpet industry were using Superba's products. With an office located in Shanghai, spare parts can be delivered to customers within 48 hours, he said. “As the western industry, especially in Europe, is fading, we're placing more emphasis on China market, introducing to the carpet industry the latest advanced technologies.” He believes the carpet industry in China will see a fast growth in the next few years as urbanization continues, leading to an increase in new properties and new homes. Suessen sees improved business since late 2009 The market in China recovered since the last quarter of 2009 and the business returned on a good level, said Richard Gilbert Labus, Adname: AMANN ASIA LTD ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW Caption: Richard Gilbert Labus Head Marketing Technology Components and Conversion. He explained that the market unexpectedly fell in 2008 and 2009. The outlook is positive, though he was aware of different opinions on whether the business progress would last shortly or longer. At the moment, parts from Suessen, Bräcker, Novibra and Graf are more and more adopted in China-made machinery, especially under the request of often export-oriented machinery users, he said. Searching for a longer machine life and higher quality, more Chinese machinery builders have incorporated into their machines imported parts such as spindles and components from Suessen, Novibra and etc, he said. He added that like other parts providers, the companies had to adjust the prices due to the rise of raw material prices, while improving the manufacturing internally. SwissTex extends machinery offerings in filament yarn sector SwissTex Winterthur AG engaging in the filament yarn sector was upbeat at the exhibition. As a textile machinery and systems provider in the area of BCF and T&I extrusion processes for the continuous filament market, the company took over RITM this April, which has been fully integrated into SwissTex and sales strategy and technological support have been rearranged accordingly. After the acquisition, SwissTex now offers a complete range of extrusion lines and twisting and cabling machinery for filament yarn markets, the company says. “On the business side, it has been nice starting the beginning of this year, and the pick-up was incredible. In the meantime, we're careful for any possibility of a slow-down by the end of the year. Economic cycles are shorter in recent years, and economic upturn may not last longer than a year. We remain moderate and are prepared for a slower business situation (if it happens),” said Andreas Weber, CText FTI, Director Sales, Marketing & Parts, Senior Vice President of SwissTex. He added that the company is at a good shape to manoeuvre the business in different economic times as it has adopted a lean production and procurement system. Caption: Andreas Weber SwissTex France SAS (formerly RITM) offers a complete range in textile yarn processing consisting twisting machines for embroidery and sewing thread applications; single and double covering machines for hosiery, stockings, sportswear and technical yarns; air covering machines for hosiery, stockings and sportswear; and combined machines to twist and shrink nylon yarn through thermal treatment. In the area of industrial yarns, SwissTex France SAS highlights the Universal Twister & Cabler 60, which enables either to twist yarn using the two-for-one principle or to cable yarn using the direct cabling principle. Further, the UTW 40 enables to remove one step in the process chain while producing three-ply cabled cord. The company's technologies for glass yarns, tire cord, carpet yarns and monitoring unit system for textile machinery were also presented at the exhibition. Total SA markets premium knit oil in the East Total SA headquartered in France is a global energy major and a large knit oil producer in the world. The company highlighted the oil products for textile users, no matter whether they work with polyester or nylon. “Our products are widely used, especially with the production of nylon, thanks to our satisfactory performance and cost-effectiveness,” said John Qi, IO Market Manager of Total Lubricants China. Mr Qi is optimistic with China's market in the view of the ongoing industrial optimization in the country's textile industry. “Our sales are satisfactory. Additives are used to improve the characteristics of our oil products, each of which offering specific and unique benefits to users so as to facilitate the dyeing process,” he said. The operation of Total SA in China is based in Shanghai with a production facility in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province. Toyota underscores electronic shedding motion on JAT710 Toyota promoted its best-selling air-jet loom, JAT710 for its high reliability and performance, according to the company. Toyota original electronic shedding motion “E-shed” widens the potential of air-jet weaving while offering reduced vibration and energy consumption at high-speed operation, it says. Due to a new weft insertion mechanism, a new frame structure and a faster CPU, the JAT710 is capable of running at maximum 1,250 rpm. On the ring spinning frame RX240 series, Caption: Toyota JAT710 air-jet loom ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW versatility of Toyota's original fancy yarn producing system “E-draft” is further improved and exhibited at the fair. The Toyota compact yarn system is also equipped on the machine, enabling users to produce standard yarn, compact yarn with wide count range from fine to coarse as well as a variety of fancy yarns on the same machine, the company says. Trützschler highlights device that sees the invisible Spinning machinery by Trützschler Germany and Truetzschler Textile Machinery (Shanghai), as well as equipment provided by Trützschler Card Clothing, Trützschler Nonwovens with the companies Fleissner and Erko Trützschler, were showcased under one roof at the Shanghai fair, highlighting economical and ecological benefits of the systems. A new product development is the sophisticated fibre detection system with digital camera to detect usually invisible foreign parts and to separate them, the company's Head Marketing, Hermann Selker explained. Three sensors on the foreign part separator help users detect colored foreign parts, polypropylene (PP) or transparent PE foils, as well as optically brightened polyester or bleached cotton under UV light. Such device is equipped in the SECUROPROP SP-FPU. Caption: Hermann Selker Trützschler observed a pick-up in business since this February and March. Mr Selker was “more than satisfied with excellent business everywhere”. All the eight facilities of the company, situated in Germany (4), Brazil (1), China (1), India (1) and the United States (1), are at their full capacity. Yarn producers (spinners) in China are expanding the capacity and the country also imports yarns from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Vietnam, so as to meet the rising demand of apparel in China. China has a large potential for per-capita growth of apparel consumption from a relatively low base. The same applies to India, Indonesia and Brazil. On the contrary, the per-capita apparel consumption in the United States and Europe is already at a high level (approximately 27 kg/person and 24 kg/person respectively). Nonetheless, it is unsure for how long the economic bounce-back will last, he added. He further explained that diversified businesses had helped this family-owned company weather the economic ups and downs in the past years. Apart from providing machines for spinning preparation, the company also supplies a complete range of nonwoven machinery with Erko Trützschler and Fleissner, and enjoys growths in the nonwoven segment in China and other regions. Thirdly, clothings of Trützschler Card Clothing are used for cards in spinning preparation, as well as for roller cards in the nonwovens sector. The company is thus well positioned to smoothen fluctuations brought by the external economic environment, and it is a successful strategy of the company, he said. In addition to visitors from China, about 30% of visitors to the company were from regions outside China, including Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and even Europe at this year's exhibition. Tsudakoma shows improved terry-weaving technology Tsudakoma Corp is another innovator from Japan, seeking to create the loom for users to easily weave high-quality fabric. The ZAX9100-Terry air jet loom combines the ultra-high speed of the ZAX9100 with the accumulated wealth of terry-weaving know-how. It weaves various designed terry towels, such as multi-height pile towel and multi-cycle pile towel (three- to seven-pick cycles), with a nice touch and feel. When used in combination with the electronic jacquard, more value-added terry weaving is available. Tsudakoma's terry-weaving know-how is integrated in the Versa-Terry System. Various systems that Tsudakoma developed especially for terry are enhanced and new technology for weaving various designed terry towels is employed. Wider scope of application of weaving materials is achieved by the weft insertion system for chenille yarns and the electric yarn catcher. The system features a high speed, wide versatility, high quality, energy-savings, and operability, a real user-friendliness, the company says. Caption: Terry made on Tsudakoma ZAX9100-Terry air jet loom The ZAX9100-Terry also gives due consideration to energy conservation. Weft insertion with low air pressure, which is kind to weft, is attained. Employing the twin-nozzle valve and the optimum air-route reduces air consumption by 10%, the company explains. In addition, the company exhibited ZAX9100 air jet loom and ZW8100 water jet loom. Uster testers tailor-made for Chinese users Uster Technologies, headquartered in Switzerland, presented world-class quality control solutions at an affordable price to customers in China, with tailor-made Uster instruments for evenness testing, HVI fibre classification and control of neps. The Uster ME100 is designed to bring the key benefits of the Uster evenness tester family to spinners at a lower cost. The Uster MN100 is based on the industry-standard Uster AFIS system, and offers a number of the same nep measurement advantages, but at a price designed to appeal to customers in China, the company explains. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Feature Story ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 REVIEW Meanwhile, Uster Technologies offers a total testing solution including both laboratory testers and online testers. Users starting with these testers can upgrade the tools whenever further needs arise, according to Deniz Bütüner, Executive Vice President, Marketing & Business Development. The HVI MF100 fibre testing instrument also answers particular needs of Chinese users, so as to ensure the constant quality of yarns from mixed sources of cotton bales within the border, from other areas in Asia, the US and elsewhere, said Richard Furter, Executive Vice President, Textile Technology. Caption: Deniz Bütüner and Richard Furter (right) next to a display of Uster Quantum 2, the best-selling yarn clearer of Uster Technologies “With raw material costs accounting for 50-70% of the total cost of producing yarn, this is an area offering great potential to improve profits, if these costs can be minimized, and the precise classification of incoming fibre is one important way in which Uster can help its customers achieve this,” said Mr Furter. Moreover, numerous private and governmental cotton classing offices in the world, including the Chinese Fibre Inspection Bureau, depend on Uster HIV data as a means of communication with purchasing departments, growers, ginners, traders and spinners. With the Uster HVI MF100, Chinese mills can speak the common language, the company says. These tools also offer potential for better management of spinning operations at mills as well as smoother communications between the retailer and the mill. For instance, yarn specifications can be prescribed with the help of Uster technology for more efficient yarn sourcing and thereby production, added Ms Bütüner. Ranging carpet weaving machines from Van de Wiele Several Van de Wiele Pioneer type weaving machines and more were on display, allowing carpet factories to weave the latest trends in rugs and to set new standards in quality and productivity, it says. The double and triple rapier Carpet & Rug Pioneer CRP92/93 system targets for a number benefits, including higher productivity, better carpet quality, increasing the weaving width up to five meters. The machine is also operator friendly and designed to achieve a longer lifetime of parts while reducing the maintenance. The CRP92 weaves economic carpet qualities at industrial speeds up to 200 rpm with high weaving efficiency and minimal incorporated pile by using split lancet holders and laying the pile yarn in layers for easy shedding and less yarn tension. Besides, SRP92 Super Shaggy & Rug Pioneer answers the market need for shaggies with higher pile, with cut pile up to 2x70 mm, Van de Wiele says. The combination of various yarn qualities with various surface densities give exceptional Shaggy looks with waving relief effects. X-Rite exhibits new non-contact spectrophotometer A number of color-related solutions for the textile and apparel industry were presented by X-Rite. SpectraLight III uses a filtered tungsten technology delivering highly accurate simulation of natural daylight in a standard size viewing booth, explained Roland Connelly Sr, Director, Enterprise Color Management of X-Rite Asia Pacific Limited. A new product displayed at the exhibition is VS450, a non-contact benchtop spectrophotometer designed for color and gloss measurement on wet and dry samples including cosmetics, paints, and soil, as well as plastics, powders and other common samples. Features an integrated gloss sensor for relative gloss measurements, and when used with iMatch formulation software, provides wet to dry correlation for improved QC and formulation throughput. More products were presented including the Color iQC color quality control software. It is a job-oriented software solution that removes the guesswork from evaluating colors. It is easily adaptable and available in a variety of configurations to meet specific industry and quality control requirements, he told ATA Journal. Caption: Roland Connelly Sr Apart from product innovation, X-Rite has established partnership with color-related industry players to further optimize color measurement and management. Following the cooperation with Lectra since early this year, Lectra's Kaledo V2R2 software now directly supports X-Rite's ColorMunki Design product, allowing fashion designers to use ColorMunki's spectrophotometer to read colors directly from virtually any surface, and to use ColorMunki software for the instant extraction of colors from digital images and to easily find new color harmonies. Customized color palettes are then easily exported to Kaledo and used in fashion and textile design activities. System services as well as training and consultancy are also offered to clients to enhance their understanding of color science and operation management. Keeping its focus on color-related development, the company has developed the CXF3 color exchange format opening to standards community. This open-platform by X-Rite facilitates color communication in third-party product lifecycle management (PLM) systems of e.g. TradeStone and Lectra, said Mr Connelly. Market-wise, following a return in the last quarter of 2009, the business picked up quite quickly in the first half of this year. The performance in the second half was expected to remain positive, probably in a slower pace, he added. More interviews with the exhibitors can be found on www.AdsaleATA.com ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Market Focus Niche and popular markets for digitally printed products A migration trend to digital printing is underway due to technological maturity and a number of favourable market trends. More premium, personalised-designed fashion are now made by digital printing in Europe and North America, whereas Chinese producers are interested in highly productive solutions for quick-to-the-market garment, carpets, and more by Michelle Phong Globally digital textile printing has been growing at more than 40% annually since 2002 from virtually zero, based on the data from Pira International Research released in January 2010. There are three major groups using digital textile printing technology. The first group is fashion designers who often make use of this technology together with modern design software to produce samples cost-effectively. The second group is signage and graphics producers, usually equipped with wide-format digital inkjet printing systems for the often disposable and custom-designed textile signs. Moreover, more finishes and special effects can be made possible with digital printing. The third group is the apparel industry, which is progressively moving to digital textile printing as the printing systems, inks and software have been improved in recent years to enhance the balance of quality and costs, including the time cost. In fact, digitally printed apparel is the fastest growing segment in the digital textile printing market, according to Yuval Neria, Director, Product Marketing & Business Development of Kornit. Mr Neria shared his views at the recent FESPA 2010 exhibition in Munich, Germany. Such apparel is forecast for a 100% growth from 2009 to 2014. In addition, based on the data of IT Strategies Market Research, value of digitally printed apparel is anticipated to grow from US$990 million in 2007 to US$4.5 billion in 2012. A migration trend to digital printing is underway due to a number of favourable market trends. Technological maturity has allowed end consumers to print out their personal artwork on apparel they desire in short runs. Customisation and pesonalisation have been two major forces that drive the ongoing development of digital printers. Meanwhile, Internet commerce acts as a catalyst to spur these highly custom clothing among end consumers. Caption: Very fine design can be printed on apparel by digital printing. Picture on the right is a close-up of the print (Photo: Kornit) Environmental friendliness is also increasingly an integral part of the unique selling proposition among apparel decorators to meet the mounting expectation of green living among consumers. In a recent research, about 86% of consumers in the UK said they wanted their favourite brands to help combat the threat of climate change by reducing their carbon footprint, said Euan Murray, General Manager at the Carbon Trust. The findings were compiled from a survey of 2,047 British adults interviewed in February 2010. The findings have been weighted and are a representative sample of all UK adults. As the global economy has regained part of its momentum but consumers are still price-sensitive, the Asian apparel industry needs to find new ways to survive in the market. Industrial direct-on-garment printing solution can be practical for new entrants of the digitally printed apparel market. Entry-level machine achieving prints on various substrates and finished apparel requires less investment, allowing manufacturers to diversify their businesses at a potentially lower risk. Engineered to provide affordable printing with high quality performance, the Kornit Breeze 921 industrial and compact direct-on-garment printer is capable of printing on both dark and light garments such as t-shirts, pants, jackets and so on. The machine is also integrated with an automatic pretreatment system to achieve capital and operational savings. Mr Neria believed that this machine is suitable for screen and embroidery businesses entering the digital apparel market. New online market can be explored as the Kornit printer can be easily linked for online shopping. Buyers or consumers can order online at any time by choosing the media (fabrics/apparel etc), colour and design. More suppliers for the manufacture of digitally printed goods include Reggiani, Fujifilm Dimatix and Mimaki. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Market Focus Digital and cool transfer printing are growing Not only in Europe and North America, production of digitally printed textile and apparel products is also expanding in China, according to Atexco Digital (杭州宏華), which is one of the leading machine suppliers in the country. General Manager of Atexco Digital, Jin Xiao-tuan(金小團), said in an earlier speech that the annual growth of digital printed textiles is over 10%. The volume of such textiles was expected to jump to 50 million metres by this year-end from 17.8 million metres in 2001. A number of characteristics can be observed from the current digital textile printing in China. First, technological improvement has allowed users to produce with an eight-colour printer, instead of six colours on the first-generation printer. Second, the print design changes frequently and quickly, whereas the production is more often a small batch. Traditional screen printing in China produces in a minimum volume of 10,000 metres, but digital printing can produce fabrics below 100 metres or even one metre for sampling, explained Mr Jin. He estimated that the Chinese digitally printed textile market is dominated by sampling (65%), whilst 25% is produced in larger volumes. The rest of 10% is niche digitally printed products. High-speed digital printing without using a screen will be increasingly popular in China, marketing manager of Atexco Digital, Du Sien (杜斯恩), told ATA Journal at the recent ITMA Asia+CTIME 2010 fair in Shanghai. For instance, the new Honghua VEGA 2500 high-speed digital textile ink-jet printing system for industrial production without finishing makes green printing a reality. “By using reactive inks, pigments inks, and etc; there is no need to have a subsequent finishing process. Moreover, the Atexco inks offering good colour fastness without steaming minimise the use of water, heat and inks. Clean production is truly achieved with the Honghua VEGA 2500 for apparel and home textile manufacturers,” he said. An official approval is now obligatory to increase the pollution limit for textile manufacturers operating in China; hence, apparel makers can penetrate into new market segment with the eco-friendly digitally printed goods that have minimal environmental footprint, according to Mr Du. Caption: Price-friendly, digitally printed carpets are getting more popular among consumers (photo: Nantong HomeDec) Another advantage of digital textile printing is the speedy design-to-delivery cycle, the fastest within a day, said Mr Du. The DBP-1600 digital textile belt printer offers multiple benefits to users, including a higher speed at over 20 square metres per hour, more design patterns, and 360 nozzles per colours. When fabric sourcing and pre- An impressive start, limitless creativity for digital printing on fashion Digital printing appeared to many weavers as an answer to a demand for reactivity, immediacy and differentiation on the part of their clients. By contrast, classic printing technologies still lead in terms of subtlety, the way colours are rendered and large quantities. There were the fractal reptilian prints of designer Alexander McQueen for the spring summer 2010 collection, Prada's post cards, the 3D renderings of Marios Schwab and the psychedelic prints of the design duo Basso & Brooke, pioneers in the field. Without a doubt, digital printing is moving into the fashion landscape a little bit more each season. The new visual explorations revealed at Première Vision for spring summer 11 confirm this trend. Digital processes pave the way to florals with exaggerated repeats, artificial-flower effects, aquatic patterns with infinite tones. Countless nuances and gigantism are the main signatures of digital printing. Potential but limitations too Digital procedures have their aficionados and their arguments for the process are getting more convincing. The principal characteristic put forward is the absence of chromatic restriction. A dozen colours is a lot for traditional printing techniques, while with digital printing, there is no problem in exceeding 16 million colours. But for those with a real understanding, the digital versions are far from the serigraphic excellence of flat screen-printing or the colouristic neatness of a rotary printer. Traditional printing permits plays on opacity, layering of transparency and more. One weakness recognised by all is the way digital printing renders colours, which are often lacking in depth. But predictions are that digital machines will soon be capable of using molecules of pigmentary inks (or their equivalents), which will improve the density of tones. The capacities of digital printing are immense and this infiniteness is exciting. But be careful not to drown in it, point out experienced designers. It is a tool, facilitating creation but not a good replacement for a designer. And what about the transition to actual production? Overall, the inks are less expensive in traditional printing. On the other hand, there is no engraving step in digital printing. Which means an economically more interesting solution for small runs. However, the progression of digital printing is undeniable. Frédérique Levêque, head of the digital platform at the Institut français du textile et de l'habillement de Mulhouse, underlines, “Day-to-day, digital printing is gaining ground both in ready-to-wear, lingerie and home furnishings.” And it will continue to improve its fashion impact. (Extracted from the Daily News of Première Vision) (Continued on p94) ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Machinery Technology Latest textile finishing and testing technologies play up much-needed values A group of new technologies in the field of textile dyeing, finishing and printing, as well as testing and quality control, have been introduced, exciting the market with features like value for money, exceptional speed and environmental friendliness by Staff Reporters New machines aim to facilitate eco-friendlier processes Cold pad batch dyeing process (CPB) offers advantages over continuous dyeing, such as the suitability for small lot production, energy and materials savings and smaller capital investment in production equipment. The new Küsters DyePad Basic padder meeting all of the requirements of the cold pad batch dyeing process (CPB) provides good value for money, according to Benninger. With its deflection-controlled S-Roll technology, it dyes a wide range of articles in reproducible and premium quality. This basic version of machine has a slightly simpler design. It is mechanically adjustable, without complicated electronics and is a more inexpensive padder alongside the familiar padder with PLC controlled S-Roll. Alongside the proven and necessary S-Roll technology, this application system has an automatic dyestuff feed and even a quick-clean option. With the deflection controlled S-Roll the squeezing pressure is uniform over the entire working width, independent of the applied. Through the uniform linear liquor application by two deflection-controlled rollers throughout the entire batch the most advanced dyeing results can be achieved. Caption: Benninger Kuesters DyePad Basic Additionally, gathering experience in other industries, Benninger also offers User-friendly and cost-efficient integrated total solutions for textile finishing processes with automation systems. The simple graphical user interfaces which, if required, can automatically check the plausibility of command inputs and therefore guide the user to achieving the best results. A new machine from Monforts was also developed to achieve eco-friendlier processes in the field of soft coating. A new soft coating solution from Monforts provides energy savings with reduced drying times and can also eliminate the need for a conventional padder. The new soft coating process using trough and roller techniques is providing energy savings with reduced liquor application to apply just the required amount of liquid/coating to the fabric via contact with the roller, the company says. Caption: Monforts soft coating machine Applications include nano coating, water repellency, softeners and pigment dyeing. Used primarily for clothing applications, the soft coating process can, for example, apply soil-or water-repellency to one side of the fabric and softener or water absorption, respectively, to the second side. The new process, in some cases, can apply the liquid/coating via a roller. A twin-roller is used for double-sided applications. Compared with a padder operation, the initial moisture content of 60% is reduced to 40% using the Monforts soft coating process, ensuring a reduction in drying times and reduced energy costs, the company explains. Monforts reported that such ranges were installed in Thailand and Belgium with double-sided coating techniques plus single-sided systems in Germany and Italy. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Machinery Technology By replacing liquor used for propelling the fabric through the dyeing vessel by a recirculating air stream, Then-Airflow piece dyeing machines offer a shorter batch time and lower specific consumption of water, steam, electrical power and chemicals in the industry. Available in HT or LT (atmospheric) versions, Then-Airflow machines are the best selling brand in the whole dyeing industry, according to Fong's Europe. Compared with traditional hydraulic machines, Then-Airflow offers the customer one batch more per day, save 40-60% of fresh and discharge water volume, 30-50% of steam, and 15-20% in electrical power. In reactive dyeing, the savings can achieve as high as 50-60% in chemicals. In addition, Monforts Fong's, a joint venture between Fong's Industries Group and A.Monforts, produces the new Montex 6500 stenter range since 2010. The machine is available for China and South East Asia. Monforts Fong's received nine sets confirmed orders for Montex 6500, the company said this June. This top-of-the-line machine is equipped with distinctive features such as the exclusive A.Monforts design, a faster range speed, an integrated exhaust channel as well as adjustable nozzles for the outflow current, the company adds. Caption: New Montex 6500 stenter range Drying polyester yarns in 20 minutes A new 1,500 kg capacity pressure dryer for dyed or bleached yarns was introduced by a German dyeing equipment specialist Thies. The company says the drying times with polyester yarns, for example, can be as low as 20 minutes and for natural fibres, 60 minutes. The new pressure dryer, rated at 50 kg – 1500 kg, incorporates modern industrial PC (personal computer) controls together with the latest inverter technology and heat exchanger systems to provide significant labour reducing and energy consumption savings, plus improved yarn quality. Problems associated with overdrying, yellowing of bleached yarns and migration in dyed yarns are also eliminated, the company says. Caption: New pressure dryer from Thies Ad name: A. MONFORTS TEXTILMASCHINEN GMBH & CO. KG ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Machinery Technology Compactly designed, the new model offers reduced footprints with improved blower efficiency and reduced pipework whilst maintaining the highest airflow rates at high pressure. The Thies dryer can provide energy consumption savings of between 40-50%. Steam consumption can be as low as 0.8 kg/kg of yarn, which can be further reduced to 0.3 kg/kg of yarn with inclusion of the heat recovery system, according to Thies. Advanced color software offers peace of mind In the realm of dyeing, color matters are increasingly managed by computer rather than by the human eye. Tools 2.0 color quality control and management software was recently launched by Datacolor to ensure consistent quality control at every step of the supply chain. Keeping in mind the inevitability of rapid change in a given customer's color trends and requests, the enhanced software is designed to quickly and easily create color measurement files and establish pass/fail criteria. The software navigation has been streamlined improving flexibility and ease of use, according to the company. Caption: A screenshot of Datacolor Tools software In addition, the new Tools 2.0 features configurable user interface, layout and workflow, which adapts the data presentation and program function-access per individual user or customer demand results using customized software configurations. Further, it offers complete backward compatibility. Users that are familiar with established procedures and data presentation layouts can continue to use existing, default and customized forms or take advantage of modern templates/pane layouts. New printer speeds up print-to-textile process In the past textile large format printing implied long print runs and mostly rotary screen-printing machines. Now increasingly on-demand short run production is required that can be better accommodated by inkjet technology. Mimaki responded to the market need with its new direct-to-textile and dye sublimation inkjet printer, TX400-1800B. Comparing to screen-printing, digital textile printing allows users to produce short runs economically. Inkjet printers feature an economic and cost-saving workflow and production process. It only requires the exact amount of ink that is needed for the application, decreases water usage and therefore lowers significantly the environmental footprint for production of short run textile printing in line with today's needs. Caption: Mimaki TX400-1800B large format textile inkjet printer Until now there was some reservation about productivity and running costs in digital textile printing, but the Tx400-1800B equipped with a newly developed Adhesive Belt Carrier System, changes this perception. In contrast to the earlier model this device stabilizes flexible materials that tend to stretch and contract during printing enabling higher printing speeds as well as ink cost reduction, making the Tx400-1800B an environmentally friendly large format printers for digital textile printing. Innovative rotary finishing machine from Hong Kong IF Rotary Finishing System manufactured by Tung Shing Dyeing Machines is a fully automatic wet finishing system specially designed for processing a wide variety of knitwear. Facilitated by appropriate mechanical action, the finishing effect can be maximized. The computer controller can be programmed according to different parameters such as garment knitting structure, kind of treatment, hand feel and degree of milling required. Human error can be minimized by the fully automatic system, the company says. The machine was a research result of The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel in collaboration with the Hong Kong Productivity Council. More heads on new abrasion/pilling tester Testers are of great interest to users as these equipments often provide the needed testament to their clients. James H. Heal launched its latest technological innovation in abrasion and pilling testing Martindale 900 Series, which includes the Midi-Martindale Model 905 with five stations and Maxi-Martindale Model 909 with nine heads for higher capacity testing. Caption: James H. Heal's nine-head Maxi-Martindale The new Model 909 is the only 9-head instrument in the market, which offers full, comfortable access to all abrading tables from the ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Machinery Technology front, according to James H. Heal. Versatile and intuitive keypad user interface with audible/voice control is offered, and it is easy to change between abrasion, pilling and straight line motions. The new tester provides varied measurements for fabric abrasion, fabric pilling, glove abrasion, sock abrasion, and leather (ball plate) testing, as well as wet and high friction. The company adds that it is energy efficient with low power consumption (30% lower than previous models). Eight-time faster yarn hairiness tester launched Outstanding improvements in yarn hairiness measurement are offered by a new testing and classification instrument developed by Uster Technologies. The Uster Zweigle HL400 operates at speeds eight times faster than existing systems, with high levels of measuring accuracy and repeatability, according to the company. Experience with textile fabrics has shown that 15% of unacceptable fabric defects, e.g. pilling, are caused by high levels of hairiness or hairiness variations. The hairiness level is also an important parameter in yarn profiles used as the basis for the buying and selling of yarns, Uster Technologies explains. This new product was resulted from intensive development work by Uster specialists following the acquisition in July last year of the product range of Zweigle, a German maker of yarn testing instruments. The company explains the new product operates at 400 m/min, compared to the 50 m/min throughput of the previous Zweigle system and today's competitive systems. With the high speed, the Uster Zweigle HL400 can be measured at the same speed as the Uster Tester 5, offering enormous benefits in productivity. Caption: Uster Technologies debuted Zweigle HL400 at ITMA Asia+CITME 2010 On-line monitoring equipment for synthetic fibre For the sector of synthetic fibre, Oerlikon Fibrevision, a member of Oerlikon Textile Components, offers a group of on-line monitoring equipment, sensors and instruments for both at line and laboratory testing. Fibrevision FibreTQS is a multi parameter on-line monitoring system for application across all types of synthetic yarns processes including POY (polyester) and FDY (fully drawn yarn), ATY (air texturing), BCF (bulk continuous filament) and spandex. In addition, Unitens for DTY Tension Monitoring can be used on all kinds of DTY (draw textured yarn) machines in the market, either direct from Fibrevision or from key suppliers, the company says. A new product, Unitens Plus provides interlace monitoring and optionally broken filament monitoring to offer further quality benefits, Oerlikon Fibrevision Ltd adds. Cost-saving options from western tester suppliers The newly added Q-Sun B02 xenon lightfastness tester, an affordable lightfastness tester designed specifically to meet the requirements of ISO and AATCC. Q-Lab Corporation also welcomed the additional approval of the Q-Sun B02 tester by Marks & Spencer following a series of testing and material performance evaluations in accordance with the M&S light fastness test methods. The capacity of B02 is 48% to 92% larger than most comparable xenon testers. It provides precise control of critical textile test parameters. Including spectrum, irradiance, relative humidity, chamber temperature and black standard temperature. Textile labs, large or small, can find fully automatic, xenon lightfastness testing at an affordable price, the company explains. In the meantime, the new tabletop PnuBurst unit are built and certified to global safety and testing standards. It also delivers consistent and accurate testing for woven and nonwoven textiles, paper, paperboard and films, according to SDL Atlas. Caption: The cost-saving PnuBurst tester of SDL Atlas Introduced as a cost-saving option, the PnuBurst design features a pneumatically operated diaphragm, a color touch-screen controller preprogrammed for major test protocols and automatic bell size and clamp ring detection. The PnuBurst offers convenient out-of-the-box operation, enabling laboratories to conduct burst tests up to 1500kPa (15bar, 217psi). For users requiring an extended test range, the SDL Atlas AutoBurst offers labs a fully automatic but traditional hydraulic technique with up to 6000kPa (60bar, 870psi) operation, the company adds. Roachelab Asia is an operations office of Roaches in China, providing customers with design and solutions to standard testing laboratories as well as dyeing and printing laboratories in the Far East. The company also provides professional products of Q-Lab Corporation, according to Roachelab Asia. “The equipment upgrade and industrial optimization in China will bring us more business opportunity. Considering that users are demanding for a higher level of process control, we are confident with the market in China as our equipments are designed to help them improve their product quality,” said Jack Zhang(張建輝), Roachelab's representative in Guangdong. Chinese suppliers provide local choices and instant services It is a known fact that testers and other textile machinery sold by the Chinese local suppliers are usually tagged at a lower price ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Machinery Technology level. Local suppliers, moreover, invite users or buyers for instant communications through online or mobile phone text messages. More China-made testing instruments are being stalled in the Chinese provinces as well as other emerging markets. Changling(長嶺) provides local spinners the YG136A yarn evenness tester to ensure the yarn evenness and hairiness for yarns of cotton, wool, silk, hemp and chemical fibres. The tester is able to examine the level of evenness in a range of 4-80k tex and that of hairiness between 4-160k tex. The test speed of yarn ranges from 4-400m/min while that of hairiness is at 200 or 400m/min, and the test time is between 10 seconds to 20 minutes. New Smart Dyer, developed by Xiamen Rapid Precision Machinery (廈門瑞比), is the latest generation of direct heat-conduct laboratory dyeing machine, which has been approved a number of patents in China. The advanced heat-conduct design offers not only advantages of a Glycerin type dyeing machine, but also provides features of an infrared type dyeing machine. Its specially designed rotary system allows users to achieve even and crease-mark-free dyeing results, even at a low liquor ratio of 1:6. Users can easily add chemicals either in powder or liquid form during running of dyeing process by the patented One Touch injection device. Moreover, dyeing reproducibility is ensured as the chemical addition process simulates features of the bulk dyeing process, the company mentions. Jiangsu Shenglan Technology(江蘇聖藍)recently launched a yarn evenness tester, with an improved detection sensor to ensure more accurate test results. The maximum testing speed is 800m/min, the company says. “Equipped with Shenglan’s software, the yarn evenness tester can process and detect faults on yarns of 100,000 metres. This is a breakthrough in China and our company has applied for a patent for this particular achievement,” said Yue Yiwei(嶽一偉), marketing director of Jiangsu Shenglan Technology. Caption: Yue Yiwei Another Chinese enterprise in the textile testing field is Shanghai Ye Chang(上海業昌),which distributes a number of overseas machinery. Among other products, the PSM-200 Sensor System from Automation Partners Inc is available with Shanghai Ye Chang. The machine is a reliable, linear density measurement tool that provides continuous, reliable and completely automatic measurement of pick or course count. Changzhou Textile Instruments Factory(常州市紡織儀器廠)mainly manufactures modern textile instruments, electrical control cabinets, and quality counter products. Its wide range of product offerings meet the needs of different users engaging in the areas of general textiles, dyeing and printing, synthetic fibres and nonwovens. Yarn testing instruments include the YG022N single-yarn strength tester, YG020B electronic single-yarn strength tester, Y2155 yarn twist counter and more. Among these instruments, the YG022N tests the tensile strength and more of single yarns, with a testing range of 0-3000cN at a frequency of 20-333 times/S. The sample length is between 250-500 and the instrument works at a drawing speed of up to 500mm/min, according to the company. Chinese patented technologies help ensure fibre quality Wenzhou Fangyuan Instruments (溫州方圓儀器)provides updated laboratory solutions complied with such standards as GB, ISO, AATCC, ASTMD and JIS. Its products are in operation at various fibre and quality inspection units under the local and regional administrations, colleges, universities and research institutes across China. The FY3100+ water-cooling sun exposure weathering tester is used to test a host of textile materials, dyes, leather, paints, nonwovens and more. Providing a simulated natural environment, the device provides data on colour fastness, aging, permeability, peeling, cracking and other changes of the materials. This model has been awarded four national patents in China, the company explains. The physiological comfort of apparel, bedding and other textile products can be tested by the FY258B moisture transfer and removal tester that gives information on the level of thermal resistance and moisture resistance, according to Wenzhou Fangyuan. The HD021NH electronic filament strength tester of Nantong Hongda Experiment Instruments (南通宏大實驗儀器) is used to test more accurately the breaking tenacity and elongation at break of single yarns made of cotton, wool, synthetic filament, textured yarn and more, the company says. It also uses specially designed pneumatic clamper, capable of meeting the testing requirements of synthetic filament and other special materials. The company also provides HD815C fabric flame-resistance tester, among a wide range of testers, for users in the textile and apparel field. Recognised as a technological enterprises in Jiangsu province, Nantong Hongda invest substantially in research at its Nantong Hongda Textile Instrument R&D Center, which is a joint project of the company with the Xian University of Engineering Science and Technology. Scholarship, funding and research units are provided to or established at such academic units as Donghua University, Shanghai Textile Research Institute and Xian University of Engineering Science and Technology. Laizhou Electronic Instrument(萊州電子儀器)'s Y571LA2 examines the abrasion resistance of automotive fabrics and woven materials, compound materials, plastic coated fabrics and synthetic leather. In view of the growing sector of finishing, the company also provides a number of testers to determine colour fastness of textiles and apparel after washing, as well as the fastness of the dyes against water. A compact version is the LLY-55, which is more suitable for sample testing at the laboratory, Laizhou Electronic Instruments concludes. ■ ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Material Technology Up-to-date finishing innovations applicable for woven fabrics Adrian Wilson provides an overview of today's finishing innovations for woven fabrics and examines the weaving market of Asia One of the leading developers of new innovations for woven fabrics is Switzerland's Schoeller Technologies, which has just been nominated for the prestigious German Design Prize. The company has already received the Swiss Textile Design Award 2009 for Coldblack, the finishing technology it jointly developed with Clariant. Coldblack was described by the Swiss judges as “a practically invisible but enormously useful design achievement”, and has a double benefit on fabrics. Firstly, it reduces the absorption of solar rays so that dark textiles, in particular, heat up significantly less when exposed to sunlight. Secondly, the technology provides reliable protection from UV rays. Irrespective of their colour, all textiles with a Coldblack finish have a UV protection factor of at least 30. Caption: Coldblack technology has been adopted on premium sports wear As a result of this double shield function, the technology is now being employed in a wide range of applications, including fashion, functional wear and textiles for the outdoor sector such as sun blinds, awnings and garden furniture. New fabrics reflects the body's far infrared rays At the July Outdoor show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, sister company Schoeller Textil introduced its new Energear fabric. A special integrated mineral matrix in its construction is said to reflect the body's Far Infrared Rays (FIRs) reflect back to the wearer. Far Infrared Rays and their therapeutic properties have been studied and exploited in China and Japan for many years. The human body also radiates FIRs, and they are said to have a number of positive effects on energetic processes, experienced as a pleasant, slight warmth and better circulation. The reflection of the FIRs promotes blood circulation and increases oxygen levels in the blood, the company claims, and this additional energy has many positive effects on the body, such as performance enhancement and prevention of premature fatigue, as well as improved regeneration. Caption: FIRs are said to have a number of positive effects on energetic processes, experienced as a pleasant, slight warmth and better circulation Fabric testers such as mountain runner Alan Miller have testified to the positive effects of Energear fabric apparel, including that their pulse rates remain lower during strenuous activity and their performance is tangibly improved. Energear technology can be combined with various other Schoeller fabric qualities with such functions as elasticity, weatherproofing or moisture management. Laundry savings Meanwhile, hotels could massively benefit from linen treated with NanoSphere. Textiles with a NanoSphere finish need less frequent laundering, and can be washed at lower temperatures, the companies point out. If an item is laundered 30 times instead of 100, and at 40°C instead of 60°C, the expenditure on water and electricity is reduced in a sample calculation from 27.8% to 6.8%, i.e. the costs per wash (excluding detergent) fall to a quarter. And the possible savings go even further. The most modern washing machines achieve a good cleaning result even at 20°C. While a 60°C wash, depending on machine type, requires approximately 1.02 kWh, a 20°C programme needs just 0.16 kWh, around 0.86 kWh less. If 40 million households did just one wash at 20°C instead of 60°C, the cost saving would be 6.1 million euros, and once a ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Material Technology week for a year would save 317 million euros, or two billion litres of water, roughly the equivalent of the water consumption of New York for 50 days. Because of its self-cleaning effect, upholstery, table linen and even bedclothes and mattresses treated with NanoSphere stay clean and attractive for longer. Liquids or other soiling can be quickly and simply wiped off a fabric surface. NanoSphere has also been tested in accordance with the AATCC test method 79 for abrasion. After 30,000 abrasion cycles, the water and oil repelling function of NanoSphere is still at the top level while a comparable, conventional textile finish drops practically to zero level after exposure to 5,000 cycles. Easy care MerinoFresh, based on the world-first rinse and clean ‘shower suit’ technology, allows woven products made from Merino wool to be refreshed or cleaned after wear simply using a domestic shower, according to Australian Wool Innovation. Garments need only be placed on a suitable hanger, then spray rinsed in the shower for three to four minutes using clean, warm water at about 40°C. The garments can then be drip-dried, which depending on the fabric weight, normally takes approximately three to four hours at room temperature. If the garments are hung correctly and carefully on the hanger, no ironing is required after cleaning. Playing catch-up with China Indian, Bangladeshi, Indonesian and Vietnamese spinning mills should now be looking to move into weaving. China installed 28,600 modern weaving machines in 2008 and a further 25,600 in 2009. This is in a period when the total global sales of weaving machines fell by 34% in 2008 and by a further 3% last year, to their lowest level since 2000. Overall, 43,400 weaving machines were sold in 2009 and 44,800 in 2008. In 2007, before the recession began to take hold, 68,200 weaving machines were sold worldwide. China accounted for 59% of the total weaving machines sold in 2009, and 65% in 2008, according to figures from the International Textile Machinery Federation (ITMF). This begs the question – why are the other major Asian yarn manufacturing and garment making-up countries such as India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam failing to capitalise on turning their own yarns into woven fabrics to supply their native garment manufacturing sectors? The answer is in part down to the globalisation of the garment industry, but also in a lack of both available finance and forward thinking by both companies and governments. Vietnam opportunity In 2009, for instance, Bangladesh purchased 8,400 weaving machines (19% of the total), India just 3,450 or 8%, Indonesia 1,750 or 4%, and Vietnam 750 machines (2%). All of these countries can currently sell yarn to the Chinese weavers and make a tidy profit, but for how long? Vietnam is perhaps the most interesting country in this respect. Fifteen years ago, all of Vietnam's textile manufacturing was government controlled under the huge Vinatex organisation, but a progressive move towards a free market has resulted in literally hundreds of privately-owned yarn manufacturers springing up, from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh city. It's a young country, with a young industry, and right now, there is no demand for forward integration. “From the end of 2009 up until now, we have had our biggest chance ever, and never before have we been able to make so much profit,” says Do Van Minh, General Director of leading spinner, Hanoi May 19 Textiles Company, which has just decided to install its third spinning plant in Vietnam. The new plant is due to start producing at the latest by March 2012, and with an annual capacity of 5,000 tons. “This is because the Chinese yarn mills have run down their stocks and many of the workers lured to them have gone back to the fields. They were put out of jobs during the difficult period and they won't return again. There's been a big crisis for China's yarn mills and many have already gone into bankruptcy. “There is a new regulation within Asia and now no tax is paid between China and Vietnam. This improves our situation even further. China currently has an energy problem, as well as one with workers. And now it's cheaper for Chinese weaving plants to import yarn than to make it themselves for the first time.” But there is a lesson to be learned from elsewhere in the world in respect of what adds value within the textile and garment manufacturing chain. Sooner or later, there is little added value to be had in yarn manufacturing, while garment making-up always moves around the world to the places with the cheapest labour, for the profit of the same old international brands. The keys to progress, then, have to be in first moving up to fabric manufacturing, and then to fabric finishing. And while they have integrated plants, the number of weavers and dyeing and finishing plants in India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam is disproportionate to the spinning mills and garment making-up sectors in these countries. The missing link in the textile and apparel supply chain can be noteworthy by both textile players and governments of these countries. Adrian Wilson （Continued on p86） ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Chemicals & Auxiliaries New coating chemicals with cross-industry features by Ian Holme Novel coating and finishing chemicals that enhance the performance of a textile material are important for textile producers to improve their profit margins. Textile coating is now a very diverse market covering both the traditional apparel sector and the rapidly growing technical textile sector. Marketing is growing Speciality coating and finishing chemicals are growing in importance to chemical manufacturers as they seek to diversify their markets and increase market share. In India, for example, it is reported that the Indian speciality chemical market currently represents around 24% of the total chemical market and it is expected to grow by 15%, which is almost double the growth in the global speciality chemical industry. Export of speciality chemicals from India is also expected to increase from US$4 billion in 2007 to US$12 billion in 2013. The reason is the rapid growth rate in the technical textiles market because speciality chemicals are finding more and more applications in new areas for textile materials such as construction (buildtech), automotive (mobiletech, and geotextiles / civil engineering (geotech). In the apparel market there are many applications opening up in clothing / footwear (clothtech), protection (Protech) and sporting / leisure areas (sporttech). New developments in coating are focussed upon optimising the most desirable textile properties but simultaneously attempting to achieve higher profitability and productivity. This can be achieved by increasing production speeds as well as decreasing energy, diminishing waste and decreasing emissions. Conventional thermal curing processes consume large amounts of energy when water-based coatings are used. Solvent coating processes consume less energy but liberate VOCs (volatile organic compounds) into the atmosphere, and solvent recovery systems for removal of VOCs are expensive. Some textile coaters are looking towards radcure systems using UV radiation curing. (Note: Radcure, or radiation curing, technology uses electron beam (EB), ultraviolet (UV) light, or visible light to polymerize a reactive and usually solvent-free coating material.) It has been calculated that if the thermal curing of a water-based coating system required 100% energy, a solvent coating process would require typically 25% energy. However, using a UV curing system would require only 0.5% energy. Novel chemical coating formulations consisting of monomers, oligomers and a photo-initiator are being developed. The emissions of VOCs are typically decreased by 80% but disadvantages can include the high cost of the chemicals and the generation of ozone. Huntsman Textile Effects, for example, are now producing a range of oligomers for textile UV curing applications. These include polyesteracrylates, epoxyacrylates and aliphatic urethane methacrylates that can be modified with appropriate resins and monomers to enhance the fabric properties. Forming coating with nanoparticles Another area that is opening up new opportunities for textile coating is the incorporation of different nanoparticles into the coating formulation. Nanoparticles are particles whose size is less than 100nm (one nanometre is a billionth of a metre, i.e. 10-9 metres) and the properties of nanoparticles differ from those of the bulk material for two main reasons. Firstly, nanoparticles have a relatively large surface area compared with the same mass of material produced in a larger form. As a result some materials that are normally inert in their larger form can become reactive as nanoparticles. Secondly, as the size of the nanoparticle decreases the properties of the material became progressively more reliant upon quantum effects. The net result of this is that the optical, electrical and magnetic properties are changed. A major advantage of using nanoparticles in coatings is that it allows the production of very thin surface coatings, which can be optically transparent because the nanoparticles are too small to be seen by the human eye. The use of nanoparticles in textile coatings and finishes can extend the range of end uses and open up innovative approaches for new application areas. Some of the possible areas of exploitation of nanoparticles are summarised in the following table. The use of functionalised nanoclays in combination with flame retardant coatings can be used to enhance intumescent coating effects. Devan Chemicals (Belgium) has utilised layered silicates in the form of reticular layers of crystals in nanoparticulate form to enhance flame retardancy in intumescent coatings that form a thick porous char when subjected to a flame source. The solid foam-like porous carbonaceous char structure thus provides a barrier to flame and heat transmission. Expandable graphites have also been ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Chemicals & Auxiliaries Barrier coatings Mechanical stress, thermal and chemical protection, ballistic protection, increased stability in oxidizing environments Al, SiO₂', Al₂O3 Optical coatings Storage media, thermotropic or photochromic coatings, UV-protection Ag, Ti, ZnO,TiO₂', SnO'₂, SiO₂ Abrasion resistance Increased wear-resistance, scratch-resistance TiO₂', SiO₂', Al₂O3 Metallisation Magnetic properties, anti-static coatings, electro magnetic shielding Fe, Ag, Fe3O4, Fe₂O3 etc. Caption: Nanoparticles in coatings (Source: Professor Marc Van Parys, 5th European Coating Congress, 2009, Ghent, Belgium) developed by Devan Chemicals that on heating can expand the volume up to one hundred times that of the original graphite. Conductive coatings Another field of activity is that of conductive coatings / smart coatings. Such coatings can be prepared by using intrinsically conductive polymers (ICPs). These are conjugated polymers in which the electrical conductivity can be increased by the addition of a small amount of a chemical. This doping technology generally involves a redox process whereby the electronic structure of the polymer is changed, and this process is reversible. Dispersions or solutions of ICPs can be applied by surface coating technologies to convey antistatic or conductive properties. A number of ICPs are now available such as polypyrrole, polyaniline, poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene, and polythiophene. Combined UV blocking and antimicrobial performance via surface coating offers considerable potential for apparel used in outdoor activities. Protection against skin damage from UV radiation combined with an antimicrobial action to kill bacteria that would otherwise build up within the garment as a result of perspiration exuded during physical activity are important in sporting and military apparel e.g. combat uniforms. Such an approach prevents the formation of malodours, enabling the garment to stay fresher for longer inbetween washings. Zinc oxide nanoparticles have been claimed to be more stable compared with organic UV-blocking agents and in nanoparticulate form the increased surface area per unit mass of the zinc oxide coupled with the intense absorption in the UV region should enhance the UV blocking capability of the coating. Incorporating multifunctionality into coatings is a very fertile area for innovation. For example, military combat uniforms require multifunctional surface coating protection, typically incorporating ultrahydrophobicity, super-oleophobicity and self-cleaning properties combined with UV-blocking and antimicrobial protection. Many other outdoor fabrics such as tents, camouflage netting, awnings and architectural fabrics can similarly benefit from such coatings. This is particularly useful in high temperature / high humidity environments in which microbial attack can lead to physical deterioration and rotting of the textile, so that protective coatings can prolong the service life of the textile material. Sol-gel treatments are now emerging from much research and development to provide enhanced textile performance. Sol-gel treatments can be utilised to produce nanosols (note: particle diameters smaller than 50nm), which are colloidal solutions of nanometre-sized metal oxide particles in aqueous or organic solvents. The nanosol is usually formed by hydrolysis of the precursor material and subsequent condensation reactions, followed by coating, drying or curing. The inorganic metal oxide-based three-dimensional network formed is usually in the amorphous (xerogel) form under moderate heat treatment conditions. Sol-gel treatments can thus produce nanosol finishes and coatings that can modify stiffness / drape, handle, absorbency, hydro / oleophobicity, abrasion resistance, photocatalytic activity, barrier functions, photochromic effects, bioactive systems e.g. controlled release systems, heat resistance, magnetic properties and conductivity. Inorganic-organic hybrid coatings The use of inorganic-organic hybrid coatings is growing in importance because of the wide range of functionalisation that such coatings and finishes can offer. ISys MTX (CHT R. Beitlich GmbH, Tübingen, Germany) can be applied by padding and heat curing and used to permanently link iSys AG, the component containing silver (which has a high antibacterial activity) to textiles. iSys MTX as a sol-gel binder is claimed to provide better durability to washing compared with polyurethane or polyacrylate binders. Another synergistic blend of inorganic-organic sol with polysiloxane, iSys HPX, is now able to provide an alternative hydrophobic finish to fluorocarbon chemistry. In another variant iSys SYN can be used as a vector protection finish. This utilises an inorganic-organic sol combined with polyurethane that enables permethrin (a potent insecticide) to be bound to the textile. New research on silk fabric Recent work in Italy has demonstrated that inorganic-organic hybrid sol-gel treatments can impart a thin surface layer to silk Jacquard fabric used in high quality furnishing. This surface coating has good adhesion and optical transparency and is based upon a three-dimensional network based upon silicon oxide that protects the silk fabric from adhesion. The Martindale abrasion resistance of the silk fabric abraded against the standard wool abradant was greatly increased. ■ ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Nonwovens/Technical Textiles New engineered textiles used in infrastructure In agricultural, environmental and construction end uses, new developments will provide technical textiles with an even greater role, writes European correspondent Adrian Wilson Polypropylene (PP) continues to be the fibre of choice for technical textiles for agricultural, environmental and construction end uses. In nonwoven form, PP materials are now extensively employed as building substrates for roofing, as geotextiles and as agricultural crop covers. PP is also the fibre employed in woven products such as Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBCs), other geotextiles and sacks, and in tufted form as synthetic grass for both sports surfaces and landscaping. At the Executive Seminar of the European Association of Textile Polyolefins (EATP), held on May 27 in Brussels, Belgium, Selim Akdogan, the association's president, observed that Europe – including Turkey – remains the world’s largest producer of polypropylene fibres. Caption: Spunbond polypropylene nonwovens are extensively employed for crop protection and to enhance plant cultivation Consumption may take time to recover The Greater European consumption of polypropylene textile products fell from 2.3 million tons in 2008 to 2.1 million tons in 2009, according to early market projections provided by the EATP's secretary general Albert Prisse. This was a fall of 4.8% on the back of a 6.2% drop in 2008 compared to 2007. Of the 2009 figure, 655,000 tonnes went into spunbond and meltblown nonwovens, 490,000 tonnes was turned into slit film and tape, 430,000 tonnes was used as staple fibre, 395,000 tonnes as multifilament fibres, 103,000 tonnes as strapping and 62,000 tonnes as monofilament. Spunbond and meltblown nonwovens usage has continued to grow through the recession, as has monofilament, as a result of its substitution of slit films and tapes in synthetic grass production. Overall, however, Mr Prisse said a return to the consumption achieved in 2007 is not anticipated before 2013. Speaking about nonwovens in general, Jean-Michel Anspach of EDANA (the European Disposables and Nonwovens Association) observed that European nonwovens had achieved average compound growth of 7.5% between 1998 and 2008, but that the smallest growth for many years was registered in 2008, when production was 1,720 million tonnes, based on an average weight of 34.4 gsm – equating to 50 million square metres. “Unfortunately,” said Mr Anspach “the figures for 2009, once we have finally compiled them, will certainly be less than this.” Of end-use markets, a lot of growth has been achieved by wipes over the past ten years, and filtration has become an increasingly important market. In the recent recession, however, technical markets for nonwovens such as roofing substrates, geotextiles, and particularly automotive, have been severely affected. “A recovery in the automotive sector is not anticipated until at least 2014,” said Mr Anspach. Of the total European nonwovens production in 2008, 758.7 million tonnes, was spunmelt, polymer-to-web materials. “Polymer-to-web processes have grown at a higher rate of 8-9% in the last ten years, with polypropylene as the fibre accounting for 80% of it, and not just in Europe, but the world,” said Mr Ansbach. Increasingly, there is a move towards enhancing the functionality and adding intelligence to fabrics for agricultural, environmental and construction end uses, such as the seismic wallpaper recently developed by Italy's D'Apollonia and partners in the EU-funded Polytect project. This will be used for the reinforcement, strengthening, monitoring and management of civil infrastructure vulnerable to earthquakes. As part of the 10.2-million-euro Polytect project, sensor-embedded grids and filters are being developed for use in structural health monitoring (SHM) in geotechnical and masonry applications. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Nonwovens/Technical Textiles Increasing role of textiles in construction field SHM, originally developed by the aerospace industry and now extending to civil and mechanical engineering infrastructure, is a process of implementing a damage detection strategy. It involves the observation of a system such as a building, road or embankment, over time, using periodically sampled dynamic response measurements from an array of sensors, the extraction of damage-sensitive features from these measurements, and their statistical analysis. Textiles and nonwovens are already routinely employed in the construction of civil infrastructure. In ground construction, they stabilise or strengthen soil, and can act as filter membranes or water blockers. In building construction, they provide efficient reinforcement, especially in older masonry structures that are vulnerable to natural hazards. Now it is widely believed they could play a much greater role in respect of the structural strengthening and increasing of ductility in structures, in addition to monitoring many parameters, including deformation, stress, structural integrity, water level variations and pore pressure, in addition to the detection of fluids and chemicals. Such information could then be employed to make a health assessment of the structure concerned. The Polytect project team redoubled their development efforts following the L'Aquila earthquake in Italy in Spring 2009, when 15,000 houses destroyed. Large textile machines were adapted to allow the warp-knitting of fibre-optic cables into multiaxial fabrics. The textile fibre material type, orientation and density were optimised for the large forces and complex material behaviour asso¬ciated with civil infrastructure, masonry and earthquakes. Multiaxial textile structures are superior in this respect. The textile was then coated for durability and to enhance the textile-mortar bond interface. The specific nanoparticle-enhanced polymer coatings for the innovation were produced by the team members. The textiles were subsequently applied to a structure using a mortar compound, which was also enhanced by nanoparticle polymer additives. Caption: The seismic wallpaper developed to monitor structural changes in buildings Easy to apply The composite seismic wallpaper is intended as a full coverage or wide-area reinforcing solution for unreinforced masonry buildings and structures. The solution is simple, cost-effective and easy to apply. When applied as a full coverage solution and tested in large-scale laboratories that conduct national standardisation testing for Germany, it provided over 200% increases in structural strength (maximum load) and over 200% increases in structural ductility (maximum deformation). Walls vulnerable to brittle behaviour and collapse were being held together even after they cracked. The composite features embedded sensors so that measurements can be taken before, during, and after seismic events. These measurements can be static or dynamic (high frequency). Engineers employ such data to control new construction, to assess and quantify the benefit of retrofit actions and to help manage the structure over time. Polytect partners include the Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie in Germany, Selcom Multiaxial Technology in Italy, Sachsisches Textilforschungsinstitut in Germany, Karl Mayer Malimo Textilmaschinenfabrik of Germany, Sweden's APC Composite, Extreme Materials, TexClubTec and Consorzio Cetma all in Italy as well as several other laboratories, companies and end-users from Europe, Israel and India. New geotextile monitoring solution In a parallel development, Roctest, the world's largest manufacturer of fiber optic sensors for civil engineering applications, is to collaborate with Netherlands-headquartered technical textiles leader TenCate on the development of the GeoDetect geotextile monitoring solution. GeoDetect can provide unprecedented details about the properties of embankments, slopes, walls, levees, roads, railways and other earth structures and users will benefit from the real-time monitoring of every square metre of land for ground movement, soil erosion, settlement and other changes. Through its subsidiary Smartec SA, Roctest is now working with TenCate Geosynthetics on the technical and commercial development of geotextiles equipped with optical fiber sensors and related monitoring services. TenCate began the development of geosynthetics with monitoring capabilities several years ago. Since then several pilot projects have been initiated, including those with the French Railways (SNCF) and with water management projects funded by the Dutch government. GeoDetect is the first sesor-enabled geotextile to provide soil reinforcement, structural health monitoring and an early warning system in one package, and in combination with Smartec's wide range of sensors, including fiber optic, vibrating wire and conventional types, will provide an unparalleled package of data analysis tools for structural engineering and geotechnical applications. Caption: TenCate's Geodetect system is the first sensor-enabled geotextile which provides soil reinforcement and structural health monitoring with an early warning system These technologies can be incorporated into a single user interface developed by Smartec called SHMLive. The SHMLive ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Nonwovens/Technical Textiles platform is designed for continuous monitoring through real-time data transfer via a secure online database and can be used to store and share all documents related to a monitoring project, including reports, plans and other useful information. SHMLive is offered for a fixed monthly fee that includes all the sensors, data acquisition units, aggregation device, upload transmission link, secure database storage, real-time analysis, web-based data access and reporting, with performance levels guaranteed for the contract duration. “For Roctest, the TenCate Geosynthetics relationship increases our ability to provide customers with the most integrated and innovative products for structural health monitoring, and reinforces our strategy of offering the most complete toolbox of solutions to our customers,” said Francois Cordeau, president and chief executive officer of Roctest. “The future for TenCate Geosynthetics is less about products and more about providing solutions for geotechnical challenges through a systems approach,” added Dave Clarke, group director for TenCate Geosynthetics. “Coupling our application expertise with Roctest's sensor technology provides a differentiated approach to detecting potential failures and/or problems for civil engineers.” FIFA 2010 matches on synthetic turf Meanwhile, for the first time in history, matches in a FIFA World Cup were played on pitches made of synthetic turf during the 2010 tournament. The Desso GrassMaster system from Desso Sports Systems was installed at two South African stadiums in Nelspruit (Mbombela) and Polokwane (Peter Mokaba). With a capacity of around 45,000 spectators each, both new stadiums hosted four group matches. Caption: FIFA World Cup matches were played on synthetic grass for the first time in 2010 at South Africa's Polokwane Peter Mokaba stadium The Desso GrassMaster system is made up of a 100% natural grass surface, into which 20 million artificial turf fibres are injected to a depth of 20 cm. The roots of the natural grass intertwine with the artificial fibres, which anchors the field into a stable and a level grass surface. Thanks to the reinforcement of artificial grass fibres, Desso GrassMaster offers reliable pitches in all weather conditions and the pitches will continue to serve for football and for rugby games. “Supplying the stadium pitches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is obviously a prestigious project for our company,” said Desso CEO Stef Kranendijk. “By doing so, we hope to contribute to the legacy of this tournament and to inspire future top events.”■ Ad name: WELL LINK CONSULTANTS LTD - SPINEXPO INTERNATIONAL TEXTILE EXHIBITION ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

China Focus Enhanced machines from China targeting emerging markets 機械改良針對新興市場需要 Machinery builders from Mainland China and Taiwan have an edge not only in cost but also in technological improvement as shown by their latest machines exhibited at the ITMA Asia+CITME 2010 by Staff Reporters Spinning Second half of 2010 to look good: New Heli In the field of spinning, Hangzhou New Heli Textile Machinery (杭州新合力)launched an upgraded version, KV2008 compound twisting machine with broken-end stop system following the KV2005. Thread-making companies such as Amann and Huamei have placed orders for this twisting machine, said Shan Yinfu(單銀甫), General Manager. The company specializes in the research and production of textile machines for twisting yarns of natural, artificial and synthetic continuous filament. Caption: Shan Yinfu In particular, technical yarns common in international markets such as fishing twines are now produced and used in China. The new KV2008A was designed to suit the latest market changes and thus has attracted attention from local thread-making companies and even those in Taiwan, according to Mr Shan. The new machine has been recently available, leading to a 30% increase in sales during the first half of this year. Mr Shan estimated the global textile industry to rise from the trough and regain its momentum in the second half of 2010. He believes the Chinese textile industry will continue a growing trend despite the risk of more and more expensive raw materials. Imported know-how offers greater prowess Qingdao Yunlong (青島雲龍), formerly Qingdao Jimo No.1 Textile Machinery Factory, exhibited the FA396 high-speed drawing machine, which is for the first time in China equipped with the Uster Quantum Expert, according to Yuan Xianzheng (袁顯政), Chief Engineer of the company. The Uster Quantum Expert is an online data system to monitor and control the entire cone winding or OE rotor spinning process in a mill with respect to quality and productivity. “Quantum Expert system as an analysis software offers significant advantages in regard to management and statistics, bringing about process improvement of textile companies,” he said. Caption: Yuan Xianzheng Seven national patents were applied for the technologies used in the FA396. He was optimistic with the market prospect considering that the new machine meets up-to-date market needs such as energy saving, environmental protection and automatic control. Qingdao Yunlong has currently an annual production capacity of 2,000 cotton spinning machines, sold locally and overseas to Burma, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and etc. Yunlong is one of the four most competitive drawing machine manufacturers in China, Mr Yuan added. More economic link between China & Taiwan anticipated Taining Machine (泰能機器) from Taiwan displayed its latest patented innovation, namely the TN-25 high-speed winder featuring high quality and good durability. “Instead of using a single-motor belt-drive structure, this new machine can be adjusted with different yarns and works more stably and quieter. What's more, there is no need to spray oil during operation, eliminating the risk of affecting the quality of yarns. In addition to ensuring the yarn, the machine is easy to maintain ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

China Focus Review and the downtimes are minimized,” said Chi Yung-chi(紀永琪), General Manager of Taining. The company also presented the TN-35A automatic high speed winder and the TN-01 economic cross cone winder at the fair. In addition, Mr Chi expected more business opportunity to be opened up following the ECFA. Caption: Chi Yung-chi An economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) between China and Taiwan was proposed this year. If the proposed ECFA is signed, China, with its industrial import tariffs averaging 9%, will have to lower its duties to a much greater extent than Taiwan, where the average import tariff is 4%, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs. With the greater beneficial effect of lower import tariffs as a result of the signing of an ECFA, Taiwanese companies operating in China might be able to stabilize their existing market outlets and even further explore China's domestic market, the ministry said. Knitting and Weaving Market for advanced flat knitting machinery seen promising A number of computerized flat knitting machines including CX1-52C, GE1-60S, GE2-52C and GE3-52C were on display at the booth of Ningbo Yuren (寧波裕人). Sun Pingfan(孫平範), the company’s president, observed positive impact of the global financial crisis. He explained: “In 2009, the sales of Cixing computerized flat knitting machines exceeded RMB1 billion, making the company a largest maker and seller of computerized flat knitting machines in the world. We believed that it was because the crisis had prompted knitwear producers to replace obsolete equipment with more modern and advanced ones so as to improve productivity and reduce costs. On the other hand, knitwear producers seeing an improved export trade in 2009 were confident in the business doing. Therefore, they have appeared more active in purchasing new equipment.” Caption: Sun Pingfan Mr Sun also believed China to remain the world's largest textile market within next few years. There are currently 1.6 million hand knitting machines and over 100,000 computerized flat knitting machines. It takes time to replace hand knitting with computerized flat knitting and business opportunity is supple. He mentioned that the company would continue its development track in the field of knitting machinery, adding that the business in seamless underwear knitting machines and computerized sock knitting machines was also satisfactory. Flat knitting market attracts new entrant This year, Pailung Machinery (佰龍機械) introduced sweater manufacturers a new computerized flat knitting machine that took the company three years to develop. The company hopes to leverage its rich experience in circular knitting machinery and position its lately unveiled computerized flat knitting machine as a world-class choice over domestic machines and more affordable compared to renowned international brands, according to Edward Chen (陳世明), Deputy Manager of Sales Division, Flat Knitting Department. High speed is the direction for both future circular and flat knitting machines, he said, due to the consideration of production capacity and price. Pailung Machinery seeks to improve production capacity through technical progress and offer clients a satisfactory price level by controlling costs through management of both sides of the supply chain, he added. Caption: New flat knitting machine from Pailung Machinery Improved knitting technologies tuned to market needs Apart from technology, knitting machinery builders also attracted their existing and potential buyers with fashionable apparel and fabric samples. More than 100 pieces of styled samples were showed at the booth of Ta Yu Knitting Machinery (大渝針織機械). The machinery of Ta Yu Knitting Machinery is built with quality parts from Germany and the US (e.g. yarn storage parts, yarn stand device and pressure fuel injection system) as well as frequency converters for motors from Japan. Shao Xuanfu (邵宣富), Sales Manager, said that quality parts along with the research strength form the foundation of quality knitting machinery made by Ta Yu for users in the mid- and high-end segments. Caption: Shao Xuanfu (right) ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

China Focus Review On the other hand, Sanda Machinery (三達機械) displayed the SD-72ER computerized jacquard knitting machine with four-color auto-strippers. The memory of the machine retains data even after the power source is disconnected, avoiding the risk of data loss, according to Cheng Wu-ching (鄭武慶), Vice General Manager of Kunshan Sanda Textile Machinery. In addition, as an upgraded model of Sanda's best-selling towel knitting machine, the SD-1.4TE computerized towel jacquard knitting machine offers a wider variety of weaving patterns of towel fabrics used in babywear, sportswear, thermal underwear, bathwear, industrial fabrics and more. Caption: Cheng Wu-ching At the ITMA Asia+CITME 2010, Wellknit Machinery (凹凸精密機械) put on the market its latest computerized double jacquard knitting machine with auto-stripper. The new machine helps users better suit the changing markets by offering six-colour auto-stripper, which can operate independently at the same time. “This is a new technology in China and is 50% more affordable than similar foreign machines,” said Wang Laichen (王來成), General Manager of Wellknit Machinery. He predicted that a higher count, small-batch production, wider diversity (of design/patterns/colours) and higher level of computerization are some major trends for tomorrow's circular knitting machinery. Caption: Wang Laichen (left) Chinese builders developing “greener” looms “Our products are designed to meet the rising expectation of environmental friendliness, and we also pay attention on such areas as cost reduction and energy consumption during a running machine,” said Chen Guozhen (陳國真), General Manager of Shunde Fengkai Machinery (順德豐凱) in Guangdong province of China. Caption: Chen Guozhen The company is one of the largest loom manufacturers in China offering high-speed rapier looms, air-jet looms, jacquard looms and weaving machines for industrial textiles. Services are one of the highlights of the Shunde Fengkai. The company provides value-added serves even before an order is placed, such as market survey, technical advice, proposals on technical upgrade, plant reconstruction and process design. When the machinery is delivered, technical training, plant reconstruction assistance and etc are offered to help users make the necessary changes at the facility. Lastly, post-sales services include free-of-charge machine adjustment, technical advice and training, spare parts supply and maintenance, Mr Chen concluded. Machinery maker for chemical fibres is optimistic Jiangsu Hongyuan (江蘇宏源) assists chemical fiber producers to manufacture wider range of products with a smaller batch in an energy saving and environment-friendly manner, Miao Xiaofang (繆小方), Deputy General Manager told ATA Journal. The business of Jiangsu Hongyuan remained quite good despite the global financial crisis. The company mainly offers custom machinery that perfectly matches the specific needs of clients, and she believed this is a significant edge of the company in the market. Other attributes included ongoing technological progress, flexibility to meet market needs and good services to clients. Caption: Miao Xiaofang Being the first manufacturer of high-speed stretch yarn machine in China, Jiangsu Hongyuan has been ranked as the first producer of high-speed stretch yarn machines for over 20 consecutive years in the country. It shares more than 40% of the local market and is one of the three major cotton roving machine suppliers in China, according to Ms Miao. The company has a provincial-level technical center and invests 5% of its annual sales income on R&D manned by 70 staffers to complete exceeding 30 product development and improvement projects each year, she concluded. Finishing, Printing and Others Great potential seen in finishing sector Mo Jun (莫軍), General Manager of Haining Textile Machinery (海寧紡織機械), considered that there are a lot more to do for textile finishing machine builders in helping Chinese textile enterprises add value on the fabrics they produce. For instance, the company demonstrated a high-speed raising machine developed and launched by the company last year. The new machine is equipped with a large diameter roller, with a structure of helical gear transmission. It works quietly and efficiently. A brushing ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

China Focus Review roller can clean the card automatically. Moreover, the fabric tension is controlled by four motors for easy adjustment. Looking ahead, the company will continue its efforts in new product research, upgrade of older equipment of users and fabric development. Caption: Mo Jun Two new market introductions were presented by Taiwan Giu Chun (台灣鋕昌) with a competitive performance-price ratio, the company says. A new double tricot machine has received good market response after its launch early this year, due to its small investment and quick return, Vincent Tsai (蔡銘榮), business manager said. Another new machine is an automatic crochet machine for lace and strips. Caption: Vincent Tsai Mr Tsai observed that key clients were present at this year's exhibition, showing a stronger investment sentiment and he was pleased to meet a number of new customers. Machinery innovation and quality, crucial to the user, is taken seriously by Giu Chun, Mr Tsai concluded. Jinjiang Jeeone Printing and Dyeing Machine (晉江聚旺印染) exhibited the Da Vinci circular screen printer with substantial improvements in key parts, allowing it to perform more accurately and environmentally friendlier. Caption: Xu Jiaming (right) and Qiu Liangliang (邱涼涼), Sales Manager Xu Jiaming (許佳銘), General Manager of Jinjiang Jeeone, said: “Our sales increased 50% last year, even more impressive than that before the financial crisis, thanks to our constant technological improvement focusing on energy conservation and environmental protection over these past years.” The company currently sells 20% of its products domestically and exports the rest to such markets as Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa and more. Southeast Asian customers have shown great interest in rotary screen printing machines, he said. Richpeace Group (富怡集團) in the field of embroidery and quilting is another mainland Chinese company that emphasizes better technology. “With more than two decades' experience, the company claims to have developed its machinery and more importantly software, offering integrated solutions for the textile and garment sector,” said Jenny Lee (李霞), Sales Manager (Quilting Equipment) of Richpeace Group. The company exhibited a number of embroidery and quilting machinery. Users can convert patterns into identifiable needle gauges easily with software on the embroidery machine. Meanwhile, the quilting machines with world-class quality are well accepted in the market and half of them were exported, Ms Lee explained. Caption: Jenny Lee “Our products are quite expensive in the domestic market due to its premium quality and performance. We see our main competition from Japan, Korea and Germany. We are committed to product improvement and about 15% of our employees are engaged in R&D activities. We also invest heavily on R&D, amounting about 15% of our annual sales income,” she said. Although the company registered an annual sales growth of 20% last year, it is relatively cautious for this year's business, she added. Next 8-10 years are crucial to catch up internationally “As a manufacturing powerhouse, China is better at executing the manufacturing process but weaker in technological innovation. The next eight to 10 years will be a key period of time for China to catch up with technology-laden countries in the world,” said Feng Wei (馮偉), Manager, DMA Textile Application Division of Delta GreenTech (中達電通). Currently, China can focus on the improvement of stability and reliability of its textile machinery. As the brain of a machine, the controller plays a significant role, he said. Caption: Feng Wei “We offer solutions of industrial automation and integration for textile manufacturers. With the expertise from the parent company in Taiwan, we are strong in research and development of new products,” he said. Various controllers specially designed for textile industry were exhibited by Delta GreenTech, which are custom made with international warranty. These products are recognized for quality and reliability by users including Jingwei Textile Machinery and Zhengzhou Textile Machinery, according to Mr Feng. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

China Focus Newly-Industrialized Cities Zhutang knitted products get sophisticated 祝塘針織產品愈趨精緻 by Amy Xiao Zhutang (祝塘) town is one of the bases of China's knitting industry. With years of experience in original equipment manufacturing (OEM), Zhutang town in East China is advancing itself by developing more sophisticated products, e.g. flax fibre, and brand building. With a population of 60,000 people, Zhutang covers a land area of 56km2 in the southeast district of Jiangyin (江陰) city, Jiangsu province. The town was recognised as a “Famous Knitwear Town in China” by the China Knitting Industry Association in 2006. Zhutang's textile and apparel industry possesses totally 250,000 spindles, of which 50,000 are cotton spinning spindles. Moreover, 12 rotor spinners were purchased from overseas, and 36 automatic winders were imported from Germany, Italy and other foreign nations. The textile and apparel industry employs more than 36,000 workers, providing more than 70% of the employment in the town. The local textile and apparel industry is chiefly built up with small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), making the private sector a major force of economic development of the town. These enterprises exported textile and apparel goods exceeding US$1 billion in value last year, of which goods worth US$210 million were directly exported by these enterprises. “These SMEs have formed the cornerstone of Zhutang's success,” said He Jianhua (何建華), Secretary of CPC Committee of Zhutang town. More than 760 textile and apparel enterprise are based in Zhutang. Among them, 43 are entirely owned by foreign investors or joint ventures between Chinese and overseas businessmen. About 176 enterprises reported an annual sales value exceeding RMB10 million, whereas 24 enterprises registered an annual sales value over RMB50 million. Leading enterprises in the town include Maoda (茂達), Beide (貝德), Sangyang(桑陽). and Xinfeng(新豐) with exports to Europe, North America, Japan, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa. Following the global economic ups and downs in recent years, these textile and apparel enterprises have realised that a balance of domestic and foreign markets is favourable to the business development in varied economic environments. “Enterprises earn slim profits in OEM processing. Moreover, the production activity does not respond swiftly to risks in the market. Zhutang's knitting industry has realised these weaknesses and started the groundwork in product development, product enhancement and brand building, thereby creating their own sustained businesses,” said Lu Yunnan (陸雲南), director of Sangyang Group(桑陽). Tapping less crowded market segments Sangyang Group itself has collaborated with the China Knitting Industry Association to explore the market potential of flax knitwear, which requires a higher level of technology in the manufacture. “Flax fibre is comfortable to wear in all weathers and is also anti-bacterial, thus finding extensive applications from protective clothing to intimate wear. China has no more than 30 flax producing firms and few of them have an outstanding strength in technology,” said Mr Lu. Caption: Zhutang knitting industry features product diversity Sangyang has also completed development of a new functional, medical apparel product, in cooperation with Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. The product is now under test. He explained that profit margin of clothing commodities is limited and the company has to branch out into higher-end market segments. Mounting costs pressing the industry Rising material prices have been a major concern for textile producers in Zhutang. “Cotton yarn is sold at RMB200 per ton, putting great pressure onto local producers. We also felt the impact and have had to increase prices mildly by RMB2 to keep it acceptable to clients. Meanwhile, we worked hard to maintain sales, which witnessed a 20% growth in the first half of this year,” said Ren Gang (任剛), general manager of apparel manufacturer Hengde (恒德). The impact of production cost hikes is reflected by the fact that a small increase was registered in the profit and tax among the town's textile and apparel enterprises in the first half of 2010 despite there was a jump in sales, according to Mr Lu. The sharp increase in sales in the first half was partly due to a fill up of inventory by buyers. A positive but cautious business outlook in the second half and even next year is anticipated, he added. Last but not least, labour cost has become an issue for many enterprises and it is getting more difficult to recruit skilled workers, who may prefer to work near their hometowns in Central and West China. These two regions have been progressively urbanised, providing more job opportunity to the local population. ■ Background information provided by People's Government of Zhutang Town. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Retail Scene Fall/Winter 2011-2012: Off-trend is chic Phase out This season seems to have more of a psychological approach vs. economic approach to trends as we had last season • Newness is not necessarily prologue for greatness • Confident and unabashed in our view of inspiration, we purge ourselves of society dictated blinders and comprehend again beauty, style and art • Rebellion for rebellion sake is over • A return to inspiring photo shoots in fashion magazines – overt nudity/blasphemy looks tired • Disgust of overindulgence • People interested in the classics & fine arts; things that have stood the test of time • Classic American menswear is seeing a revival Color • Colors are opulent but untypical – sensual and magnetic • Sultry plays of deep red and black raspberry become lighthearted alongside pale shades of salmon, pale yellow and porcelain pink • The faded blue is a silent strong color, important for the season and a more luxurious transition from a typical chambray tone • Yolk (2nd shade) is the unexpected accent color Applications • Great palette for pile fabrics • Berry tones are a sophisticated update to men's knitwear • Black raspberry updates cotton lace, patterned skirts and winter shorts • Light colored shades create a cozy look for pointelle knits bushed winter cottons • Soft blue (Lukewarm) is a great bottom weight and suiting shade for womenswear Anonymous • Fading into the background feels welcome • Backlash to friend paparazzi and the age of over-sharing through tweets, block posts and Face Book status updates • Clothing companies going logo-less and brand-less • Anonymous is a strong visual trend- • Reminding ourselves about the lure of the unknown Color • A palette that whispers its discreet presence and welcomes us to fade into the background. • Mineral tones conjugate with taupe, vibrant evergreen, greyed lavender and a ghostly white • A cool, calm palette • Fresh mint is our punctuation in the palette Applications • The palette has a very modern, stark feel • Great for felted cotton fabrics, lingerie, leggings and loungewear • Teal is the new dark neutral perfect for womenswear dresses and bottom weights • Lavender greys and sandy browns are subtle tweaks to classic suiting fabrics, brushed cottons and menswear inspired fabrics like herringbones and hound's tooth • The cool mint is an effervescent accent to prints and yarn dyed shirtings but can also be used as all over color in a garment for a fashion forward look ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Retail Scene Unfettered • Shedding the gourmet and layers of perceived complexity for a sense of genuine simplicity, wit and fun • Analyzing what we thought made us happy and returning to simple pleasures: walking a dog, eating a cheeseburger, and coloring/simple art projects are the new forms of therapy • Cartoons are used in mass magazine layouts, and adult coloring books are getting popular Color • An animated palette of boisterous, cool and warm shades that are proudly unfussy and verve with life. • Theses shades are not an acquired taste – they have universal appeal without being trite • Inky, aquatic and dungaree blues are meant to sit side by side with poppy, purple and lavender in uncomplicated harmony • No underlying intentions or subtle innuendos just a palette that makes us simply happy Applications • Cardinal red makes blazers and cardigans pop for womenswear (preppy/sophisticated feel) • Worn indigo is a fantastic shade for the denim market • Sea soap (soft blue green) can act as a fresh new winter white shade • We see such a mish mash of prints and patterns working together on the runway – the unfettered palette really lends itself to a playful yet sophisticated print story • An ideal palette for the junior's market Reset • With forceful viewpoints abounding in media and press, we're inundated with a chaotic mix of messages and perspectives • Anyone's opinion or thought can be validated online; Reset helps us rediscover how to form our own • Reset is a psychological look at economic and cultural norms • It's the idea of re-imagining our world and laying clear optimistic ground for the future Color • A symbolic reflection of rebirth in knowledge and ideas • Brilliant rays of bright yellow and invigorating orange mix with contemplative natural elements of Adobe and sand • While having a 1970's feel these colors are still optimistic and mature • They confidently vacillate between vibrancy to Zen-like clarity with celadon and earthy brown • Harvest colors that celebrate individualism and thoughtful entrepreneurship Applications • Great palette for color blocked and geometric looks that are so important for the season • Coined gives warmth to bottomweights like slim fitting pants in womenswear and a khaki update for menswear • Knitwear; sweater knits and fine gauge knitwear layered in the Reset colors • Building block colors; working well with basics, used as all over color and can be applied across all markets (men's, women's and childreswear) ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Retail Scene Shandong Ruyi controls Japanese Renown and expands in China Shandong Ruyi Group, a textile manufacturing conglomerate in China, purchased 41.18% stake in Japanese Renown Inc this June and later announced a plan to expand shops in China. Shandong Ruyi is Renown's largest shareholder after the completion of the deal. This is the first time that a Chinese company holds a controlling stake of a Japanese firm listed on the main board of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Japanese firm sells womenwear and menswear products under such brands as Arnie Arnold Palmer, Aquascutum and D'urban. The two companies in July announced to set up a joint venture by February 2011 and will open more than 2,000 stores in China over the next decade. The joint venture will handle clothing from Renown's four major brands, noting that the market size in China is bigger than that in Japan and that the country's middle-income group is expected to increase. Zegna Baruffa strengthens with mergers Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia carried out two important mergers in the second half of 2009 with an aim to redefine its industrial and commercial sphere of activity. The company acquired 100% of Filatura di Chiavazza, a company in the sector of luxury carded knitwear, and followed this by purchasing Botto Poala S.p.a., another well-established company in all knitwear yarn and luxury woven product segments. “This new group has all the attributes necessary to play a fundamental role in the textile industry: size, production capacity, the broad range of products in all types of worsted and carded yarns, as well as the credibility of its time-honoured brands,” the company states. Hong Kong tertiary school students stage illusory designs Twenty-four graduating students from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU)'s Institute of Textiles and Clothing (ITC) displayed their design flair and talent at the annual graduation fashion show this June. In the following month, another group of PolyU students of the master program exhibited their tastes at the Hong Kong Fashion Week. Caption: Imaginative apparel from undergraduate PolyU students were seen in June Caption: Modish designs from master program students of PolyU at Hong Kong Fashion Week Italian knitwear giving a feel of poetry Eleven high-end knitwear garments produced with yarns from the Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia autumn/winter 2011-2012 collection were exhibited at the 67th Pitti Filati show in the Italian city of Florence this July. These apparel were designed by students at the Istituto Europeo di Design di Torino and the project was organized by Alessandro Meregalli, course lecturer and owner of Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia. “Free creativity, yet knowing and responsible at the same time is needed. Creativity on which much of the future of Italian business depends is the motto, the leitmotif of my project with the students. To guarantee “Made in Italy” that increasingly embodies the concepts of poetry, truth and beauty,” said Alessandro Meregalli. ■ （Continued from “Material Technology”p65） Caption: Woven suits made of MerinoFresh requiring no dry cleaning, saving energy and chemicals, can be an example of low-carbon lifestyle This simple process removes smog, dirt, smoke, smells and common water-based stains if they are not deeply ingrained. A MerinoFresh garment not only looks smart all day, it also saves on trips to the dry cleaner, reducing costs and impact on the environment. The manufacturing process used for MerinoFresh requires the stabilisation of the base fabric to avoid shrinkage. Specialist sewing and making up techniques are then applied, followed by garment seams and etc. The technology is applicable for making suits, trousers, jackets, skirts and other woven Merino products designed for travel. Australian Wool Innovation has transferred the MerinoFresh technology to companies in China, India and Korea. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Show Watcher Inlegmash Moscow serves as meeting place for East Europe The biennial Inlegmash exhibition was held in Moscow this April. The Inlegmash is an international exhibition for equipment and technological systems in light industry with special focus on the textile industry. Rieter participated with its own exhibition stand and welcomed numerous visitors from the Eastern European countries. More than 240 exhibitors took part in the Inlegmash fair this year. Rieter has been present in Moscow for many years with its own branch office, which provides a central point of contact for customers from Eastern Europe. The company met numerous customers and conducted interesting discussions and negotiations. A talking point was the new RSB-D 22 double-head autoleveler draw frame with a delivery speed of two times 1,100 m/min, according to Rieter. Caption: Rieter welcomed visitors at the Inlegmash in Moscow early this year ATME-I joins Megatex to be largest in Americas The American Textile Machinery Association (ATMA) held the American Textile Machinery Exhibition International (ATME-I) with Megatex in May this year, which was one of the largest shows of its kind in the Americas. “ATMA is prepared to continue American Textile Machinery Exhibition International / Megatex concurrent with related shows in our industry. Our successful co-location with the Industrial Fabrics Association International in 2006, which included the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists, (AATCC) and this year's positive outcome with Techtextil North America and SPESA, as well as AATCC, proved the value of organizing related events alongside each other; the crossover of visitors and increased critical mass has benefited all participants,” said ATMA President Clay D. Tyeryar. Exhibitors at ATME-I/Megatex 2010 reported a positive upturn in market conditions with very acceptable visitor quality and quantity. The combined exhibition attracted over 3,500 visitors from 38 countries and was supported by about 150 exhibitors. Congress in Dornbirn highlights automotive textiles More than 100 lectures on the main topics were presented at the 49th Dornbirn Man-made Fibers Congress (Dornbirn-MFC) in Austria this September. In the plenary session the University of Ghent made a presentation about Bionics in the development of polymers and fibers. For the first time the car making industry was represented. Mercedes Benz AG spoke about Bionic Car - Biomimetics an instrument for Carstyling, Adam Opel GmbH about application of Automotive Textiles and their quality requirements of global usage, Volkwagen AG about soiling and cleaning characteristics of textiles used in automobiles. Intertextile Shanghai to put denim under spotlight this year Some 2,500 apparel fabrics, accessories and textile related products suppliers will exhibit at the Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics exhibition in Shanghai, China, from October 19-22. A new product group this year is the denim zone, which will group both international and domestic suppliers. Fair organisers anticipate more than 70 manufactures to take part in this special area, according to the organizer Messe Frankfurt. A dedicated area, Verve for Design, will focus on introducing international designers from Italy, Korea and the UK, who wish to reach out to targeted buyers from textiles and apparel manufacturers to trend book publishers and other traders. Other special areas of interest include a lingerie and swimwear zone (W3), an accessories hall (E6), international halls (W1-W3) as well as domestic exhibitors divided into product end use halls (W4 and E1-E5) such as ladieswear, shirtings, suitings, sportswear and casualwear. Influential textile machinery fairs return to Qingdao and Yiwu The 11th China (Qingdao) International Textile Machinery Fair (QITMF 2010) was held in Qingdao International Convention Center, Shandong in mid-September. Riding on the success of the past ten years, the fair is rooted in Shandong with influences spanning over Northern China and even the entire country. As a professional platform for communication within textile industry, the Fair was founded in 2000 and is an ideal choice to showcase the innovative textile machinery to buyers, Adsale Exhibition Services Limited says. Secondly, the 11th China (Yiwu) International Exhibition on Hosiery, Knitting, Dyeing & Finishing Machinery (Yiwu H&G 2010) will be held on November 24-26 at Yiwu International Expo Centre. Dubbed as China's first UFI approved hosiery, knitting and braiding machinery exhibition, Yiwu H&G has been flourishing alongside the local textile industry with improved quality. Adsale Exhibition Services Limited, the organiser, explains that Yiwu, home to a pool of 1,500 hosiery and 350 underwear factories with predominance in knitting industry, has served as a major distribution hub of knitted products in China. Caption: Yiwu H&G 2009 occupied an exhibiting area of 7,600 square meters with 130 exhibitors from 11 countries and regions ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Show Watcher Singapore to host Asian textile machinery show this November The Asia Apparel and Textile Machinery Exhibition (AAMA-TEX) will return for its 8th edition on November 23-26 in Singapore targeting some 5,000 visitors and buyers from Asia and beyond. Organised by the Sewing Machine Traders Association, Singapore (SMTAS) and the Textile & Fashion Federation, the event will showcase a more extensive range of textile machinery compared to previous editions, complementing its all-encompassing apparel machinery selection. The comprehensive exhibit profile includes machinery, systems, equipment, accessories and services used in the manufacturing of garments and textiles, with an emphasis on technologically efficient and environmentally sustainable exhibits. IFAI: Technical textiles can do much more for Asia The US-based Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) is expanding its focus on the Asia market, for which the first IFAI Expo Asia will be held in Singapore next year. IFAI's president, Stephen Warner, described the current market trends to ATA Journal. Caption: Stephen Warner There are enormous opportunities for companies in the region. The market for medical textiles, for example, is being driven by factors such as regional population growth rates, changes in living standards and attitude to health risks. The Asia Pacific building and construction outlook is robust. Indonesia's GDP grew by 4.5% in 2009 while much of the world was contracting during the dire economic times. Malaysia is allocating US$2.75 billion in 2010 to finance infrastructure projects, including road and bridge construction, rail facilities, ports and sea services, and airports, according to Mr Warner. Thailand's government approved US$5.9 billion for investments in infrastructure in 2010 as part of their “Stronger Thai” program. In 2009, Asian governments committed more than $300 billion for green industrial projects as part of fiscal stimulus plans. All these projects are perfect for applications of products using technical textiles. Further, more production lines are being shifted to the Asian region. Domestic regional production is growing as companies seek shorter supply lines between production and application and countries seek to support their own domestic textile manufacturing industry. There is increasingly a much more broad range, construction and sophistication of the technical textile materials being developed in the Asia Pacific region. India, for example, is increasing its production of very sophisticated products for geosynthetics applications. Imports into the region are growing, too, most notably from China, Germany, Italy, France and Korea. Asia is both buyer & producer of specialty fabrics There is a tremendous output and consumption of specialty fabrics in the Asia-Pacific region. “The true situation is, though, that demand cannot be filled within the region's current domestic production capabilities because there are so many unique types of textiles needed for many different types of applications. It is a complex marketplace. China, for example, is the largest exporter of technical textiles to the rest of Asia; yet, it also remains a huge importer of technical textiles for its own domestic needs in certain markets,” he said. To better serve the industry's needs, IFAI has established presence in Japan, China and New Zealand. “We have had a very strong and enthusiastic IFAI country sector in Japan since 1992 and last year merged the formerly independent Outdoor Fabric Products Association of New Zealand into IFAI. While we do not have a formal chapter in China, it now represents the 5th largest location of IFAI members,” he said. IFAI Expo Asia 2011 will be held for the first time in the Asia Pacific region. More than 22 organizations have already agreed to be the supporting organizations for IFAI Expo Asia 2011. The show is positioned as a major event in the region that specifically targets as visitors the end-product fabricators who use various types of materials, e.g. woven, nonwoven, knit and composite textiles, IFAI says. A four-day event will also feature world-class educational symposiums for ten identified specific niche end-markets for specialty fabrics, covering latest technologies, market trends, engineering, construction, product designs and more. Cautious optimism felt at New York sourcing fair An increase in the number of Asian exhibitors at the International Apparel Sourcing Show of New York was observed, as Asian exhibitors are more confident with the business outlook. Stephanie Everett, the group show director (textiles) of the organizing company, Messe Frankfurt USA, maintained that she had received positive feedback from the exhibitors, adding that the overall feeling is that the recession started to lift. Caption: About 280 exhibitors attended the International Apparel Sourcing Show of New York to network in North America Wei Yan, the deputy general manager of Tianjin Excellent Import & Export from ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Show Watcher China, said that “people are starting to buy again”, when asked if the economic recovery was gathering steam. The company, which exports mainly to the USA and Europe, supplies to chain stores, including Sears, Walmart and more. Pakistan working on a comeback Pakistan, which was represented by a large exhibitor contingent, was making a strong pitch for business at the show, given that less and less buyers are visiting that country because of security concerns. Pakistan's task in competing in the current global business environment, still not fully recovered from the severe recession, was made more difficult with the rise in energy prices in that country, according to Muhammad Babar Khan, the CEO of Karachi based Multinational Export Bureau, and a former chairman of the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers' and Exporters' Association (PHMEA). “We have raw materials and manpower. But our government is resorting to a short-term solution. We can try to develop alternative energy such as solar, wind, etc. Pakistan's exports have been affected, both in terms of volume and earnings, because of the recession and downturn in demand. Growth declined and there was pressure on pricing with surplus production and suppliers having no option but to reduce prices,” he said in an interview. Caption: Pakistani exhibitors rebuilt the business link at the sourcing fair But Khan expressed “cautious optimism”, saying that the economic recovery was strengthening. Pakistan, he said, faced fierce competition from China, India, Bangladesh and Vietnam. Many exhibitors at the show, including from China, Taiwan and India, used the figures provided by Messe Frankfurt to maintain that there were “positive signs” of an economic recovery. There were some 280 exhibitors at the show compared to 196 in mid 2007, when the economy was at its peak before descending into the recession that followed. A Chinese exhibitor from Shanghai, who insisted on anonymity, said that his jeans were attracting interest “because they were of better quality despite the slightly higher prices compared to other supplying countries such as Vietnam, Laos and etc.” “The level of interest we had here was, surprisingly, not that bad at all. We had come with the feeling that buying would be inhibited because of the excessive caution exercised by buyers. However, some importers are building up their inventory so that they are well positioned when the large-scale buying starts with the economic recovery,” he explained. by Manik Mehta in New York ■ Ad name: ADSALE EXHIBITION SERVICES LTD ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Corporate Profile Korean firm benefits from synergy effects in Vietnam Featured company: Mirae Fiber Vietnam by Ngo Tuan in Hanoi Mirae Fiber Vietnam is a Korean-invested firm established in the early 2000s. The company manufactures, processes and trades polyester-made textiles such as padding, quilting, bonding, ball fibre and micro fibre using mainly imported raw materials from Korea. It is an example showing that foreign direct investors have got more interested in Vietnam as an investment destination Vietnam has welcomed a strong investment flow from Korea in recent years for Vietnam's skilled and low-cost labour as well as a big market of an 86 million population. Korea was the second largest investor in Vietnam's apparel sector with a total investment amouting to US$737 million in 2008, after only China. Among all fields, textiles and apparel is a major industry for the Korean investors in the country; Mirae Fiber Vietnam is an example. Mirae Fiber Vietnam is a merger company of Mirae Fiber Hung Yen in Northern province of Hung Yen and Mirae JSC in Southern province of Binh Duong; both are subsidies of Seoul-headquartered Mirae Fiber Technology Co Ltd. The company is now listed on the Ho Chi Minh city Stock Exchange and plans to be listed on the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (KOSDAQ) by the end of 2010. Caption: Padding and ball fibre are major products of Mirae Fiber Vietnam Mirae Fiber Vietnam has mainly focused on the local market so far. Up to 70% of its products are supplied to the local textile and apparel enterprises, but some of them are foreign-invested, such as World Best, Global MGP, Habitex, Beeahn, Hanil and Everpia Vietnam and so on, who are direct or indirect suppliers of international apparel retailers, including Nike, Gap, Calvin Klein, Adidas, Wal-Mart, Nautica and JC Penney in North America as well as Umbro, Mango and C&A in Europe. It plans to establish more branches in Vietnam and Korea as well as sales representative office in US for better sales and materials business, according to Chris Kim, Finance Manager of Mirae Fiber Vietnam Company, who recently talked to ATA Journal. Caption: Chris Kim ATA: Why did Mirae Fiber choose Vietnam for investment? Mr Kim: Now in Korea, a lot of companies have invested in Vietnam, because Vietnamese labour quality is good, cheap (low labour cost), and also Vietnam is the one of the rising development nation. It explained why Mirae Fiber chose Vietnam for the new opportunity. ATA: Is there synergy between Mirae Vietnam and Mirae Fiber Technology in Korea? Mr Kim: Mirae Fiber Technology in Korea plays a role for not only searching the new Korean customers and making sample delivery (sending samples to potential customers) and connecting the customers with Mirae JSC in Vietnam, the two companies also share supplier information of fibre and resin (raw material). These are some synergies between them. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Corporate Profile ATA: How was Mirae Fiber Vietnam Company affected by the global economy? Mr Kim: In 2008 and 2009, the global economic crisis affected many markets in the world, and some of our buyers reduced the order. However, the 2009 winter was very cold and we expect more orders in 2010. The demand for our products is climate-sensitive, especially the padding for winter jackets. When the weather is cold, our products tend to be more popular among buyers. With regard to the economic environment, we have adopted a number of strategies to save costs and maintain good product quality. First, Mirae JSC has merged with Mirae Fiber JSC last December. After the integration, we can unite the procurement power of the two companies and purchase our materials at the same time, so as to save the material cost. We also share the systems of the two to save the overhead cost, and provide training to educate our staffers in order to better control the quality. ATA: Amid market fluctuations, how do you maintain clients' loyalty? Mr Kim: For overseas clients, we have been working with them for many years, and they are satisfied with our quality and service. If they encounter any matter with our products, such as quilting products, we directly go to our client's factory to check our products. The most important thing is speed. When our customers have any problem (with our products), we clear it immediately. With our domestic customers, who are mainly dealers of our bedding products, we offer incentives if their sales to end-users are good. We also keep an open dialogue with them. That's the reason our clients (both dealers and end-users) like our company. ATA: Which kinds of technology and machinery are used in Mirae Fiber Vietnam? Mr Kim: Our technology is from Korea and our technicians have rich experience. In addition, some machinery (spinning, quilting and padding machines) were imported from Japan and Korea. ATA: Could you tell us some product innovation of the company and the challenges and opportunities involved? Mr Kim: Our design team takes care of product development and makes sure new products are of a good quality standard. Further quality assurance is done with our quality control team, which monitors the product quality. We have just started the machinery business serving the textile industry in Vietnam, including the nonwoven fibre, mattress and padding machines. Vietnam is a young country, and machinery (trading) business can be a blue ocean here. Currently, a challenge of ours is the hikes of world oil prices, which drive up our material cost. ATA: How do you see the risk of inflation, sufficient labour and rising wages in Vietnam? Mr Kim: In my opinion, Vietnam is a growth country, and the country's government controls the inflation while balancing the growth. Rising wages affect companies all over Vietnam. I think wages and other costs will increase to some extent, but it's not serious in Vietnam. Vietnam will remain competitive and the Vietnamese government will invest more in the sector of textiles. China will lose some of its cost advantage, and I think Vietnam will be able to maintain its competitiveness in the global textile supply chain. ATA: Many thanks. Mirae Fiber Vietnam Key products Micro and ball fiber, padding, mattress made of 100% polyester fiber and quilting Labels Unifil, VivaBon & Puffian Labor force 573 including the management and technical personnel Markets 70% for local markets 30% overseas Website www.miraefiber.com.vn Korean investment in Vietnam's textile and apparel sector 2nd largest investor in Vietnam's apparel sector (US$737 million in 2008) 6th biggest importer of Vietnamese apparel (US$139 million in 2008) 441 out of 1,500 Korean businesses in Vietnam are in the apparel sector Korea imported US$77 million or year-on-year 43% more Vietnamese apparel and textile products in Jan-Jun 2009 Source: Korea Federation of Textile Industries ■ (Continued from “Corporate Profile”p57) treatment is done in proximity, it is possible to achieve a one-day design-to-delivery process and this can be especially attractive for apparel manufacturers who have their own brands and marketing channels and who are demanding swift market responses. Digitally printed carpets are another promising area for Chinese weavers. The advanced Carpet-jet system of Atexco Digital produces 8,000 to 24,000 square metres a day. Sixteen to 24 colors in design are achieved by 1024 to 3072 high-frequency electromagnetic jets. The sales performance of the digital textile printers were good at the Shanghai fair, Mr Du added. Looking ahead, the development of more affordable inks is essential to further promote digital textile printing in China. Another eco-friendly textile printing technology is cool transfer printing, according to a Chinese company called Newtech Textile Fabric Printing, which has adopted the Cooltrans technology from Grosse. By following procedures from cool transfer ink-jet printing on samples and then cold transfer printing on paper, printed fabrics can be made by cold pad-batch approach, the company explains. Users are able to save up to 65% energy and two-thirds of water. Shanghai Shengcai Digital Printing Company (上海盛彩數碼印花) in China, for instance, has used transfer printing for the manufacture of varied fabrics, apparel, home textiles, nonwovens and automotive textiles. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Company Bulletin Karl Mayer expands HK office to strengthen services in Asia To better serve the markets in Asia, Karl Mayer expanded its base in Hong Kong early this year. The new premises cover an area of 200 m², housing the back-office team, which has increased from eight to 14. In addition to sales and marketing, Karl Mayer Hong Kong is also responsible for the servicing operations. From the new offices, the staff coordinates and organises the activities of the service engineers all over Asia, with the exception of Japan. The expert assembly specialists come either from Karl Mayer (Changzhou) Technical Services Ltd, a subsidiary of Karl Mayer Hong Kong that is responsible for China, or from a network of field personnel who are responsible for the remaining areas. A specialist team is also available for supporting the machines manufactured by Hong Kong Malimo. Furthermore, Karl Mayer India was set up as a service centre of Karl Mayer (H.K.) in India. Trumac renamed as Truetzschler India The Trützschler subsidiary Trumac Engineering was renamed as Truetzschler India this May. Trumac started back in 1979 as joint venture with the sales partner, A.T.E. Enterprises, in Ahmedabad, India. Initially, this company served only as a production facility for blow room machines. In 1992, cards were added to the production program, and in 2002 draw frames. In recent years, a transition to cutting-edge Trützschler series, which are now marketed under the brand name of Trützschler in India, took place. To make this progress of the Trützschler subsidiary visible to the outside world, and in particular to document the transformation from production facility to fully integrated producer and service provider, the company name is changed to Truetzschler India, the company explains. Truetzschler India is active in the spinning and card clothing divisions, and now plans to support its nonwovens division in India. 70-million-euro Groz-Beckert technology centre opens this July Groz-Beckert's Technology and Development Centre (TEZ) in Albstadt, Germany, was officially opened this July. With an investment of about 70 million euros, the TEZ features five technical centres on knitting, weaving, felting, tufting and sewing. Machines and installations close to production are fixed components of these technical centres. They enable application technology experiments, the production of short batches and special series as a service for partners, and also the testing of Groz-Beckert products under real production conditions. The technical centres thus provide a good basis not only for joint development together with customers and partners but also for process optimisation, the company says. Further, there is the Groz-Beckert Laboratory housing a special section devoted to the new study course “Textile Product Technology – Technical Textiles”. Together with machine producers, machine users and institutes, Groz-Beckert commits to tapping and expanding the potential of technical textiles in order to make textile visions come true. Groz-Beckert's Technology and Development Centre also encourages research and development, innovation and synergies in the textile world. Training opportunities are available to customers and employees of the company. Caption: The Technology and Development Centre of Groz-Beckert is built for the future, visionary expedition in the textile field Awards AATCC honors Luther M. Myers The American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) honored Luther M. Myers with its Technical Committee on Research (TCR) Service Award this May in recognition for his outstanding service in test method development for the Association. The TCR Service Award was established in 2008 to recognize members who have contributed greatly to the AATCC organization in a technical capacity. Italian textile machinery students prized by ACIMIT Foundation ACIMIT President Sandro Salmoiraghi awarded prizes to six students from Italian universities and textile technical institutes, who were winners of the annual ACIMIT Foundation Awards on research conducted on themes related to the textile machinery industry. The ceremony was held at the assembly of the Association of Textile Machinery Industry Manufacturers in May. Caption: Six students were given prizes for their textile machinery works Gentle Power Bleach wins award Huntsman Textile Effects and Genencor, a division of Danisco A/S, with their breakthrough innovative Gentle Power Bleach pretreatment system won the prestigious German “Industriepreis 2010” in the category of biotechnology. Gentle Power Bleach pretreatment system is a bio-based pretreatment system based on breakthrough enzyme innovation. The Industriepreis honors the most innovative solutions in the German industry. ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

New Products Guide Morrison ball warper allows high-speed winding MDS-BW 450 Ball Warper delivers to the rope range a first quality ball with a programmed profile, Morrison Textile Machinery in the US says. The design features include a heavy-duty one-piece frame construction with polyurethane covered bed rolls for high speed winding; the Smart Stop Technology, which activates brakes only on critical stops, maximizing brake life and more. Santex Group markets high-capacity dryer Santex Group recently presented a number of machines under Santex, Cavitec, Santex Nonwoven and SperottoRimar to meet the higher price/quality requirements in the Asian market. Santex Group offers finishing lines for knitted fabrics in tubular and in open-width form: thermo fixing and tubular mercerizing machines; hydro extracting machines; one-, two- or three-level driers; compacting machines; stenter frames; brushing and sueding machines; and open-width continuous tumblers. The latest addition to this product group is the Santashrink Super Jumbo, the highest-capacity dryer of the line. It has been further expanded to provide unmatched drying power. Drying air speed at the nozzles is finely adjustable to adapt the dryer's performances to the most various fabric demands, according to the company. Many Asian companies have decided to increase their quality standards rapidly with the aim to increment the added value of their products. It is a challenge many of them are taking seriously and are therefore investing in good machinery, it concludes. Oerlikon launches new spindle lubricating apparatus Oerlikon Textile Components has included in their product range the new Texparts SLA Manual Spindle Lubricating Apparatus in addition to the Texparts SLA Electrical Spindle Lubricating Apparatus. Caption: New Texparts SLA Manual Spindle Lubricating Apparatus from Oerlikon The new Texparts SLA Manual Spindle Lubricating Apparatus offers optimal lubrication results by a working principle that avoids over excessive lubrication. Correct oil level is given and there is no contamination of the machine with oil and it offers an automatic flushing of the spindle bearing, Oerlikon Textile Components explains. Readers' Comments What did readers say about AdsaleATA.com? In addition to improving the long-standing ATA Journal in print, Adsale Publishing Limited has successfully revamped its online portal, www.AdsaleATA.com to offer valuable industry updates to stakeholders of the Asian textile and apparel industry. Our online contents include daily news, focus stories, interviews and e-book. Here are some readers' comments on our online publication: “Very useful and interesting to read.” ~ Liman Tirtasurya Tanudjaja on ITMA Asia+CITME 2010 in Shanghai expects 100,000 visitors (June 2010) “I want to know all brand names of circular and flat knitting machines to be exhibited in the fair. Please help me. Thanks.” ~ Dr. Md. Ali Haidar on ITMA Asia+CITME 2010 in Shanghai expects 100,000 visitors (June 2010) “Informative.” ~ Khurram Kaleem on Global yarn production up 4% in 2009: Oerlikon Textile report (Jun 2010) “Great article! ...Will like to attend the Singapore show to understand the new products on offer...” ~ Sanjiv Marathe on IFAI: Technical textiles can do much more for Asia (Jul 2010) Share your thoughts on the ATA Journal and AdsaleATA.com by emailing to us: cta.ata.edit@adsale.com.hk ATA JOURNAL•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook

Coming Events Calendar Date Event Location Organizer Tel/ Fax/ Email/ Website 2010 Sept 6-8 West China International Textile Industry Exhibition Chengdu / China Donnor Exhibition Company (86) 028 8600 8777-826 / (86) 028 8609 9111 donnorsc@126.com / www.cdtcs.com Sept 7-9 Spin Expo Shanghai Shanghai / China Well Link Consultants Ltd (852) 6033 0482 / (852) 2824 8268 myiu@spinexpo.com / www.spinexpo.com Sept 15-17 The 11th China (Qingdao) International Textile Machinery Fair Qingdao / China Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd (852) 2516 3363 / (852) 2516 5024 publicity@adsale.com.hk / www.adsale.com.hk Oct 19-21 Cinte Techtextil China Shanghai / China Messe Frankfurt (852) 2238 9956 / (852) 2519 8632 telly.cheuk@hongkong.messefrankfurt.com / www.messefrankfurt.com.hk Oct 19-22 Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics Shanghai / China Messe Frankfurt (852) 2238 9956 / (852) 2519 8632 telly.cheuk@hongkong.messefrankfurt.com / www.messefrankfurt.com.hk Oct 27-30 Vietnam Int'l Textile & Garment Industry Exhibition Ho Chi Minh City / Vietnam Chan Chao Init'l Co Ltd (886) 2 2659 6000 (ext 173) / (886) 2 2659 7000 overseas@chanchao.com.tw / www.vtgvietnam.com Nov 2-4 The 6th Central Asian International Textile Machinery Exhibition, CAITME 2010 Tashkent / Uzbekistan ITE Uzbekistan (998) 71 1130 180 (ext.110) / (998) 71 2525 164 www.ite-uzbekistan.uz Nov 8-10 China International Advanced Materials Industry Exhibition (CIAMI) 2010 & Fiberglass Composite Expo 2010 Shanghai / China Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd (852) 2516 3395 / (852) 2516 5024 publicity@adsale.com.hk / www.ciamichina.com Nov 10 WGSN Global Fashion Awards New York / US WGSN and Emap Networks (44) 0 20 7554 5822 globalfashionawards@emap.com / www.globalfashionawards.com Nov 23-26 Asia Apparel and Textile Machinery Exhibition, AAMA-TEX 2010 Singapore Pico Event Management Pte Ltd (65) 6294 0782 / (65) 6392 3687 aamatex@pemexhibition.com / www.aama-tex.com Nov 24-26 The 11th China (Yiwu) International Exhibition on Hosiery, Knitting, Dyeing & Finishing Machinery / The 4th China (Yiwu) International Exhibition on Narrow Fabric, Braiding & Garment Machinery Yiwu / China Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd (852) 2516 3395 / (852) 2516 5024 publicity@adsale.com.hk / www.adsale.com.hk 2011 Feb 13-16 The 8th Dhaka Int'l Textile & Garment Machinery Exhibition (DTG 2011) Dhaka / Bangladesh Chan Chao Int'l Co Ltd (886) 2 2659 6000 (ext 173) / (886) 2 2659 7000 overseas@chanchao.com.tw / www.bangla-expo.com Mar 3-5 Megatech Pakistan 2011 Karachi / Pakistan Pegasus Consultancy (Pvt) Ltd (92) 21 1117 34266 / (92) 21 2410 723 hira@megatechpakistan.com / www.megatechpakistan.com Mar 9-11 The 18th South China International Exhibition on Printing Industry (The 18th Printing South China) & the China International Exhibition on Label Printing Technology (Sino-Label 2011) Guangzhou / China Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd (852) 2516 3395 / (852) 2516 5024 publicity@adsale.com.hk / www.sinolabelexpo.com / www.printingsouthchina.com Mar 9-11 Fashion Shanghai Shanghai / China Shanghai Textile Technology Service & Exhibition Center (86) 21 6277 5353 ext.609 or 610 fashionshanghai@gmail.com / www.fashionshanghai.com Sept 22-29 ITMA 2011 Barcelona / Spain CEMATEX, MP International (44) 7967 477305 (CEMATAX tel) / (65) 6393 0212 (MP International tel) info@itma.com/ www.itma.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•AUG/SEP 2010 www.AdsaleATA.com eBook:AdsaleATA.com/eBook