By Galynn Nordstrom This year’s Specialty Fabrics Showcase on the exhibit floor at IFAI Expo featured a 1,000-square-foot display of aerospace products made from specialty fabrics: everything from an eye-grabbing hang glider from Gray Bird Air Sports and an astronaut cooling suit from the University of Minnesota to a debris shield (Aerospace Fabrication & Materials), [...]

Business continuity strategies offered at free SBA/Agility webinar, Dec. 10. What are the biggest and most common mistakes business owners make when dealing with a disaster? Whether it’s property damage caused by a flood or the loss of sensitive data thanks to a hacked email account, how you respond within the first few hours of [...]

Eight exhibitors chosen by attendees as the best new products at the show. By Galynn Nordstrom For our second annual ShowStoppers competition, ATA received a total of 97 entries from 53 companies that were exhibiting at ATA Specialty Fabrics Expo 2013 in Orlando. These eight products received the most votes from show attendees on opening [...]

Strong growth predicted as uncertainty in the cotton market persists. Cellulosic fiber production is set to continue growing rapidly in the coming years, according to Issue No 165 of Textile Outlook International from the global business information company Textiles Intelligence. Faced with soaring raw cotton prices in 2011, many textile and apparel producers switched to [...]

By Galynn Nordstrom “Successful people think ahead,” says Gene Marks, president of sales and marketing consultant company The Marks Group P. C. Speaking on political, economic and tech trends at ATA Specialty Fabrics Expo 2013 in Orlando, Fla., he emphasized three basic things that should be on every business person’s mind. First—watch C-SPAN (Cable-Satellite Public [...]

Interview by Sigrid Tornquist What role do you see Divisions playing in the association? ATA began as a tent and awning association, but it’s grown to be a diverse group made up of both small and large companies in a variety of market segments. It’s absolutely critical that Divisions drive the value of this association. [...]

A polar bear the size of a double-decker bus “walked” through London September 13, accompanied by about 3,000 people in support of Greenpeace’s Save the Arctic campaign. “Aurora” perambulated with the help of 15 puppeteers and 30 more volunteers to operate the mechanics of the giant beast. It carried the names of 3 million additional [...]

Keyston Bros., a carrier of WeatherMax fabrics from Safety Components Fabric Technologies, has designed a one-of-a-kind linen line of WeatherMax FR fabric, available in slate, sandstone, oyster, chocolate and black, with terra-cotta to come. The new line, to offer more options to the commercial awning market, has a textured finish, adding a richness to the [...]

The new Paragon® cutting platform from Gerber Technology produces high-quality cut parts regardless of material, application or operator, allowing manufacturers to produce more parts in less time for a higher return on investment. The system’s new user interface, KERI™, is simple enough for any operator to use efficiently and accurately from the start. Modular design [...]

New Variant T1 Tape automatic welder is designed for welding reinforcement and anti-vandalism tapes in truck tarps and tie-down straps. Options include: easily accessible lift-up device for simple moving and positioning of the machine, tape de-reeler, guide rollers, precision-designed nozzles and an optional laser guide. Machine enables a high level of productivity with a maximum [...]