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Guidance offered in commercial insurance market
November 10th, 2020
Wildfires, hurricanes, a pandemic and civil unrest have wreaked plenty of chaos on the commercial insurance market in 2020. Steve Christenson, with Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC, offered guidance to business owners Nov. 9 at IFAI Virtual Expo 2020. “The business insurance market has been going through several changes this year,” says Christenson, with U.S. […]
How to make your business attractive to a buyer
November 6th, 2020
Thinking about selling your business—either to an outside party or the next generation? Then it’s time to start considering how your equipment and processes fit into your succession plan. Jonathan Palmer, the second-generation owner and CEO of equipment supplier Autometrix, and Autometrix director of global sales Truy Pham, led an educational session at IFAI Virtual […]
Overcoming Murphy’s Law yields pain-relieving yarns for socks
November 6th, 2020
“Lather, rinse, repeat. Lather, rinse, repeat,” became the mantra of Matt Komes, CEO at VOLT, when his company took on the challenge of making CBD-infused socks for pain relief. Komes presented the VOLT product development process Oct. 5 at IFAI Virtual Expo 2020. VOLT, a division of Supreme Corp., has expertise in military and medical […]
Research and development partnerships work one-on-one
November 6th, 2020
The process of working with a research and development center was discussed in Dr. Thomas Stegmaier’s presentation, “Testing and Standards Integral to Timely Product Development.” Dr. Stegmaier is with DITF [Deutsche Institute Fur Textil Und Faserforschung Denkendorf], a large, textile research center located in Germany. It partners individually with industry participants to develop new technologies […]
Is hemp fiber the new sustainable knit for footwear?
November 5th, 2020
Zoe Newman, a graduate student from North Carolina State University’s Wilson College of Textiles, shared her research on the impact of introducing hemp fiber into more sustainable knit footwear during IFAI Virtual Expo 2020. Newman explained that sustainable materials are lacking in the textile industry, especially for footwear, and integrating natural fibers into the market […]
Responsive textiles with infrared technology
November 5th, 2020
In a presentation titled, “Amplifying Human Energy to Drive Performance and Recovery,” Hologenix LLC co-founder and CEO Seth Casden described the company’s Celliant® technology and explained how responsive textiles using infrared energy can increase tissue oxygen levels, which can improve athletic performance and recovery, sleep quality and general health and wellness. All sentient beings emit […]
A primer on Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)
November 5th, 2020
An Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) offers lots of attractive benefits: studies have shown that ESOPs improve productivity, increase sales and improve return on assets, plus they offer great tax advantages. But more than any of these attributes, an ESOP offers the owner of a company peace of mind and an enduring legacy. “Many times, […]
Understanding intelligent textiles
November 4th, 2020
The Advanced Textiles Conference of IFAI’s Virtual Expo 2020 continued Nov. 4 with a detailed presentation by Justine Decaens on “Smart Textiles: From Lab Prototypes to Commercial Products.” Decaens is R&D director with CTT Group, a testing laboratory and R&D facility specialized in technical textiles, headquartered in Quebec, Canada. Decaens first offered to define “smart […]
The supply chain: changes and predictions
November 3rd, 2020
Dr. King Mukherjee, founder of Global Impex USA, led an afternoon session on supply chain management and global sourcing during IFAI Virtual Expo 2020. The session explored how the international business supply chain has changed in the past few years, how the domestic and international market will change in the future, and how the current […]
Policy challenges and opportunities for U.S. textile manufacturing
November 3rd, 2020
The U.S. textile industry worked “swiftly and impressively” to pivot to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) this spring, leveraging existing manufacturing know-how and equipment and making new investments to shift production, according to Sara Beatty, president of White Haven Trade Advisors. “However, clearly the U.S. would have been in a much better position had we […]