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USA : Technology for textiles |
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2004-8-10
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 Where is technology going to lead this world and textile industry in particular? According to textile industry experts the future will not depend on more workers working harder, as has historically been the case, but fewer workers, each working smarter.
Consider this: The super-duper Freudenberg Microfaser Plus wipe, made from polyester and nylon fibers that have been melted into a nonwoven cloth that can be used to clean mirrors, sinks and stovetops, without leaving scratches or lint behind.
No, it will not bring back the nearly 100,000 textile jobs lost in North Carolina during the past decade, but experts are calling it a lifesaver for the industry -- a tool to leverage some advantage over foreign competition.
Parallel technology is being used to make leak-proof diapers, baby wipes, fabric softeners, surgical gowns, air-conditioning filters, even an Oral B pouch for cleaning teeth.
"This industry is going to be a lot more diverse and a lot more interesting than just manufacturing fabrics," said Behnam Pourdeyhimi, who oversees a lab at N C State University called the Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center, where machines turn out more than 300 yards of material a minute, 1,200 times faster than the typical weaving loom.
"It requires significant capital investment and technology that''s not readily available in developing countries," said Pourdeyhimi (pronounced Pour-de-himi).
Such and other products rely on advanced technologies - as opposed to large labor pools - lessens the chance that they''ll be made in low-cost countries such as China, where many of North Carolina''s manufacturing jobs have gone in recent years. Pourdeyhimi says they create well-paying opportunities for engineers, designers and marketing professionals, as well as displaced mill workers who upgrade their skills.
Freudenberg, the German company that makes the Microfaser Plus, doesn''t manufacture the cloth in North Carolina, but it hopes to soon, said Pourdeyhimi. Freudenberg already makes carpet backing for automobiles at a 450-worker plant in Durham.
"We have 11 different industry sectors that we concentrate on, and textiles is one of them," said Ray Denny, a business recruiter for the state Department of Commerce. "We will never see 160,000 North Carolinians employed in the textiles sector again. And that''s sad. But there''s no reason we shouldn''t see a significant number employed again."
Denny and his team of economic developers have attracted several new textile companies in the past year:
* Jacob Holm Industries, a Switzerland maker of roll goods for baby wipes, cosmetic cloths and household cleaning towels, said in July it will add 70 jobs and invest $40 million at a new plant in Asheville.
* Livedo Corp., a Japanese maker of disposable medical products, will begin production by year''s end in Wilson, creating 75 jobs and investing $35 million.
* AFG Wipes, an Israeli maker of wet wipes, announced plans in November to create 200 jobs and invest up to $30 million in Rockingham County.
Even so, the job losses are not over for North Carolina''s textile industry, which still has nearly 80,000 people employed. On Jan. 1, the United States is scheduled to eliminate quotas on all textile imports from developing nations, exposing domestic manufacturers to more foreign competition. Gary Shoesmith, an economist at Wake Forest University, said the state would lose 40,000 more textile jobs in the next five to 10 years.
Pourdeyhimi knows of 29 companies making nonwoven products in North Carolina, as well as 70 that support them, such as distributors and packagers.
Overall, the nonwovens industry generates about $3 billion in annual economic activity for the state, and it is growing at a rate of up to 8 percent a year, Pourdeyhimi said.
Perhaps just as important, the United States exports more nonwoven products than it imports. Last year, domestic manufacturers exported 214,500 tons compared with imports of 127,600 tons according to the Association for the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, a national trade group based in Cary. |
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