Think like your customers before making cost management decisions. By Marc Hequet Getting a grip on how to navigate through difficult economic times is challenging even for the most seasoned business people. It may be tempting to fiddle with prices and expend significant resources in scrounging for new business, but experts advise a different path. [...]

Federal tax incentive programs can significantly reduce day-to-day operating costs. By Mark E. Battersby Reducing the cost of energy and going green is on every businessperson’s mind these days. Although there can be additional initial costs associated with saving energy, provisions in our tax laws—benefits that increased significantly with last fall’s incentives package—offset some of [...]

The Hohenstein Institute offers manufacturers of outdoor clothing, window fashions and shade structure fabrics the assurance that their UV (ultraviolet ray) protection products perform as specified against the UV Standard 801, the most stringent UV certification process in the textile industry. Test methodology exposes test fabrics to intense environmental factors and evaluates performance before and [...]

The International Oeko-Tex® Association is well-known for its Oeko-Tex Standard 100, which certifies that textile products are tested to be free from harmful levels of more than 100 substances believed to be dangerous to humans. Also rapidly gaining useage is the Oeko-Tex Standard 1000, which evaluates textile production facilities and certifies that they are employing [...]

As small businesses are suffering from significant decreases in revenue, owners have to find more ways to cut costs. Roughly 10 percent of small businesses are contemplating cutting health care in the next year, according to a National Small Business Association Survey. Although the decision to cut insurance is a difficult one, the 74 percent [...]

Demand grows for anti-virus masks and protective clothing. By Kikuko Tagawa According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a worldwide avian influenza outbreak is not a matter of “if” but “when.” The recent outbreak of H1N1 (swine flu) has renewed concerns about the the difficulty of containing influenza viruses. In spite of the global economic [...]

The Thai Garment Manufacturers Association invited experts to advise them how to stem the decline in garment and textile exports by almost 14 percent in the first two months of 2009. David Birnbaum, a garment industry expert with the World Bank, the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, confirmed that economic times were tough; [...]

Despite widespread demands among U.S. textile industry groups for trade protections against Chinese imports, practical and political barriers will prevent substantial restrictions, experts predict. China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 gives it some protections; the WTO requires the U.S. to legitimize trade measures affecting Chinese imports before putting them into practice, [...]

Mazda wants its Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid to have a green, sustainable profile, and Teijin Fibers Ltd., Osaka, Japan, obliged with BIOFRONT seat fabric, made almost completely from plant-based raw material. BIOFRONT is a heat-resistant bioplastic that allows for high-temperature, high-pressure dyeing, and is durable enough for automotive interior use.

The Thermoplastic Affordable Primary Aircraft Structure (TAPAS) consortium consists of companies and research institutes focused on airplane structural improvements in material, processing and joining technology. Recently, French manufacturer Airbus extended its agreement to work with TAPAS, which includes Dutch company TenCate Advanced Composites, Almelo, The Netherlands. TenCate uses composites of carbon or glass in synthetic [...]