USA : BlackHawk introduces life-saving apparel for army men

December 27, 2007

BlackHawk, a leading manufacturer of tactical, military and law enforcement equipment, located in Norfolk, Virginia, has developed a built-in tourniquets outfit, which can prove essential in saving lives of army people in battlefield.

This Warrior Wear system which is being tested for use in military uniforms has eight tourniquets; two in each sleeve and each pant leg and is expected to retail for less than USD 200 by next year.

Mike Noell, President and CEO of Blackhawk! Products Group™ announced the addition of Blackhawk’s Integrated Tourniquet System into their new Warrior Wear® apparel line. At recent events directed towards the Law Enforcement and Military Medical Community, Blackhawk announced that the revolutionary system was in the final phases of testing and should be available during Q1 of Calendar 2008.

“At Blackhawk we get up every morning dedicated to using our resources to help save lives,” explained Noell. “When medics and doctors that deal with combat and tactical medical needs see the system, they at once understand the immediate life saving potential. Four tourniquets in the pants and four tourniquets in the shirt (two in the short sleeve version), correctly positioned and oriented to the upper and lower extremities, are immediately accessible under existing gear and can be operated by the wearer, their buddy, or a medic.

Immediate application minimizes loss of blood, the single greatest medical problem resulting in deathfrom injuries sustained to the extremities among our troops today. An additional feature is that our design allows users to train with the system over and over rather than having to replace each tourniquet after a single use, whether during training or in the field using the same system they will wear in tactical operation,” further explained Noell.

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New Zealand : Icebreaker launches Alpine specific line

December 27, 2007

Leading outdoor clothing retailer Icebreaker has launched their SportLTD range which includes a line of Alpine-inspired garments that look just as good in a ski town bistro as they do coming down a mountain.

Like all Icebreaker garments, the SportLTD range is functional as well as fun, and is made out of merino wool sourced from the Southern Alps of New Zealand – the best merino-growing region in the world.

While Icebreaker's GT range is serious training apparel, the six men's and five women's garments are designed for people who ski hard and party hard.

Designer Jason Phillips says Icebreaker's design team all love skiing, and used their own experience of outdoor sports to create the range.

"These fun ski sweaters are great to toss on before you take a couple of passes down the mountain and then go back to the lodge for a hot toddy," says Jason.

"The contours and the colours are very evocative, and are designed to celebrate a body moving down a mountain. These are garments that look even better in action than they do on the hanger.

"One of the men's jumpers, Traverse, has a stripe that sweeps up one arm, down the back and along the other arm – when you're moving, the stripe circles around the body and looks amazingly dynamic."

Icebreaker's fine, premium-quality merino couldn't be a more comfortable fabric to ski in: it's breathable, wicks away moisture, prevents chafing and dries quickly.

The sleek, sophisticated garments have ribbed gussets for freedom of movement and visual texture, which gives them great appeal on the slopes. All are mid-weight, made from Icebreaker's classic Sports 320 fabric.

Like all Icebreaker garments, the SportLTD range complies with the company's absolute insistence on sustainability and a high standard of animal welfare, as well as practices that are socially ethical, have a low impact on the environment and use the latest clean technology.

Jason Phillips says Icebreaker intends to expand the SportLTD range. "In the coming year, our plans for SportLTD will blow everyone away."

Icebreaker

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New Zealand : High-tech performance clothing for outdoor industry

December 27, 2007

Leading merino clothing specialist Icebreaker is launching a range of high-tech performance clothing for people who take their outdoor sports seriously.

Icebreaker's new GT range – the most technical range the company has ever produced – emphasises comfort and performance for hikers, mountain bikers, climbers, skiers and snowboarders.

Merino wool is the ideal fabric for high-output sports because it is incredibly lightweight, breathable, wicks away sweat, prevents friction and repels odour.

The fabric releases water very quickly, a plus for travellers who need their clothing to dry as soon as possible after washing.

Icebreaker designer Jason Phillips says the new GT range is an unbeatable combination of premium-quality merino wool – produced in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, the world's finest merino-growing country – and the latest cutting-edge developments in performance clothing.

"As soon as we were able to make these beautiful lightweight jerseys, we thought about the people who really needed them," he says.

"People who wear Icebreaker want to get out in the world and have fun, and they don't want to be wearing synthetics all over their bodies."

Every element of the GT range is functional, and designed to lift the wearer's performance. Even the zippers are reflective.

The garments have 360 degree reflectivity: reflective graphics enable them to be seen from every angle. "If you're trail running at dusk, there's a high visibility graphic on all sides of the garment to ensure any passing vehicles will see you," says Jason.

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India : Eco-friendly leather complex on its way

December 27, 2007

The Union Government has decided to aid the West Bengal Government with a sum of Rs 135 crore for the establishment of common effluent treatment plant (EFP) at the Calcutta Leather Complex (CLC) in Bantala.

The announcement was made by Mr Namo Narain Meena, Union Minister of state for environment at the foundation ceremony of the River Front Development. Mr Meena stated “The Centre has already agreed to provide funds for the setting up of a common effluent treatment plant at the CLC in Bantala. The treatment plant will take care of the waste arising from the tanneries and will prevent environmental pollution.”

According to the minister for environment, special emphasis will be laid on adorning the river fronts and cleaning up of river Hoogly. A total of nearly Rs220 crore has already been delivered under the second phase of the Ganga Action Plan for the cleaning up of the waters of River Hooghly. Of this, seventy per cent of the amount has already been spent while the remaining will also be utilized for the project.

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USA : G&K expands cleanroom opt with Nanoclean acquisition

December 27, 2007

G&K Services Inc, a market leader in branded identity apparel programs and facility services, announced the acquisition of Nanoclean Limited, a cleanroom business serving customers in Ireland.

"We're pleased to expand our cleanroom operation with the acquisition of Nanoclean," said Richard Marcantonio, G&K's chairman and chief executive officer." Nanoclean provides G&K with a strategic presence in Ireland to expand the business and strengthen our relationships with key customers."

"The addition of Nanoclean is a great example of how we provide specialized garments and process control services to meet our customers' unique needs." added Marcantonio. "We welcome Nanoclean's employees and customers to G&K."

Due to a confidentiality agreement, the parties have agreed to not disclose the terms of the acquisition.

G&K Services Inc

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Germany : Carbon fiber production line SGL acquires Aldila

December 25, 2007

The Carbon Company has signed definitive agreements to acquire Aldila Inc’s interest in Carbon Fiber Technology LLC (CFT), Evanston (Wyoming), USA, a joint venture between SGL and Aldila. Since 1999, SGL Group and Aldila – the world’s leading producer of composite golf shafts – each held a 50 percent stake in the joint venture.

The purchase price was agreed to be € 13 million. For SGL Group, this corresponds to less than an investment in a comparable greenfield plant, and bears the advantage of taking over an existing business and making use of a low cost and efficient infrastructure.

With an annual output of approx. 1,000 metric tons, the Evanston plant produces carbon fiber for a variety of applications, including wind power, automotive, engineering plastics and the recreation sector. The joint venture, which the Group had accounted for at equity to date, will henceforth be fully consolidated.

The acquisition of the joint venture is an integral part of the published growth strategy of SGL Group to expand the total production capacity for carbon fibers up to 12,000 metric tons by 2012. It is a key milestone in SGL Group’s intention to develop the Evanston plant into a major carbon fiber production site as a complement to the Company’s sites in Europe.

With the acquisition of the Aldila stake, 100% owned production capacity will increase from 500 to 1,000 metric tons. As a next step, a second production line with an annual capacity of approx. 1,000 metric tons will be built. Project start is scheduled for beginning of December 2007, with full commercial production as of second quarter 2009.

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USA : Testing Machines releases TS-12 Heat Sealer

December 25, 2007

Testing Machines is releasing the ‘TS-12 Heat Sealer’ from Lako Tool. The TS-12 is a precision heat sealer designed to produce heated crimp seals for flexible packaging materials.

The digitally controlled heat sealer allows independent upper and lower seal jaw temperature and accurately controls the temperature across the entire length of seal.

The seal pressure is changed by simply adjusting the analog gauge which controls the cylinder pressure. The TS-12 insures sealing consistency for each sample and allows for seal testing, sample package development or small production sealing.

Some important features of this tester include:
•Digitally controlled temperature
•Digitally controlled dwell time
•Independent upper and lower sealing temperatures
•Footswitch
•Safety guards and switches for safe operation
•Maintenance hardware
•Film Tray
•Auto Cycle switch allows continuous cycling of sealing jaws for quick sample sealing. This feature helps reduce operator fatigue by eliminating the need to use the foot switch for each seal.

Testing Machines Inc(TMI) manufactures and markets physical property testing instruments for the paper, pulp, film, foil, ink, coatings, nonwoven, textile and corrugated industries. TMI has a network of sales offices and agents throughout the US and in over 50 countries.

Testing Machines Inc acquired Lako Tool in October 2007. With more than 30 years of experience, Lako Tool serves the film packaging machinery industry with Sealing, Cutting and Punching Solutions. The company also produces Hot Tack and Heat Sealing instruments for laboratory use.

The TMI Group of Companies consists of Testing Machines Inc., New York, Lawson-Hemphill, Swansea, Ma, Messmer Instruments Ltd., UK, Büchel BV, Netherlands, Lako Tool, Ohio, Adamel Lhomargy, France and TMI Canada.

Testing Machines Inc

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Germany : Junkers & Mullers' textile vision at Material Vision

December 24, 2007

“The Vision of Textiles” was Junkers & Müllers’ motto when the company from Mönchengladbach introduced the entire spectrum of application opportunities offered by its technical textiles range.

The mid-sized family business concentrated its core business activities on the refinement of textiles for exhibition display building, shop outfitting, digital print, internal sun shading and applications in the hotel sector.

Junkers & Müllers presented its products at the Material Vision expo in Frankfurt in cooperation with Procedes ID. The exhibition display builder and textiles manufacturer have been closely collaborating for the past number of years. At their exhibition stands in Frankfurt, they took the opportunity to directly present the transformation of fabric into an intelligent product.

Procedes ID has developed a partition system for offices, presentations and exhibitions that offers highly efficient sound absorption capabilities. The system is made up of various combinable elements and can be customised to individual requirements. Each element is covered in fabric for which Junkers & Müllers offers a broad spectrum of aluminised, optically sophisticated textiles that are easily processed. All of these fabrics have been sound-tested in conjunction with the system.

They are profoundly sound conducting so that the sound can be absorbed by the special foam centre of the partition system. The fabric has a flame-retardant finish and is certified in accordance with B1 or M1 standards.

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Japan : Chemical recycling of nylon 6 for 2008 S/S collection

December 24, 2007

Toray Industries Inc announced its decision to jointly implement chemical recycling of nylon 6 in garments with Patagonia International Inc, in the first such move in the world.

The companies intend to start recycling with the 2008 spring-summer collection of surf pants and extend those efforts to cover the fall-winter collection of hard-shell jackets for alpine climbing. These products will be sold through 2,000 retail stores in 12 countries around the world.

Under Patagonia’s Common Threads Garment Recycling Program, customers can return products they no longer need to a Patagonia store in exchange for a sticker. The products thus collected will be restored to its raw material form, caprolactam, at Toray’s facilities and then reused in the manufacturing process of nylon 6, which would then be utilized in various applications.

Reuse of nylon 6 using chemical recycling enables a 70% reduction in energy consumed for production as well as in CO2 emission compared with the regular petroleum-based nylon 6. This endeavor therefore is expected to give a significant impact in terms of energy-savings.

Under its vision to “make a global contribution in conserving resources and protecting the environment to develop a sustainable, recycling-based society” and with its concept of “Clean” and “Less Energy,” Toray Group has been pursuing the development of environmental products as well as recycled products and technologies with a reduced environmentalload.

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Germany : 'Dutch Design' - perfect platform for furnishings industry

December 24, 2007

When it comes to design and architecture, the Netherlands is currently among the world’s most interesting locations. Whether the focus is on no-nonsense furnishings, artistic-experimental accessories or the completely revolutionary living worlds of a major architect like Rem Koolhaas – the creative professionals in the land of tulips and canals are causing a stir in every discipline.

And from 14th to 20th January 2008 at imm cologne, visitors will be able to see these impressive creations for themselves.

For the first time, the international furniture fair is providing a special design platform exclusively for a partner country – and "Dutch Design", an exhibition in Passage 4/5, will get the ball rolling.

The exhibition "Dutch Design" provides a perfect platform for establishing contacts with important business partners from the Netherlands. Let yourself be inspired by the many interesting interior design products.

The project is being organized by Koelnmesse, the Centrale Bond van Meubelfabrikanten (National Association of Furniture Manufacturers), the Dutch Furniture Export Organization (DUFEX), the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Düsseldorf.

In order to ensure that the greatest possible range of know-how and the most varied aspects of Dutch design culture will be presented, the project’s organizers are also collaborating with the Association of Dutch Architects and selected high-tech companies.

The exhibitors:
- Arco
- Artifort
- Auping
- Bert Plantagie
- Brand van Egmond
- Bree’s New Word
- CarpetSign
- HareChair
- Leolux
- Linteloo
- Lourens Fisher
- Metaform
- Montis
- Ontwerpers.nu
- Pastoe
- PD Office
- Phi-ton
- Pilat & Pilat
- Spectrum.

Koelnmesse GmbH

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USA : Prevaill with PreFixx Extreme offers high performance upholstery

December 24, 2007

OMNOVA Solutions introduces Prevaill upholstery with PreFixx Extreme Protective Finish for the mass transit markets, featuring a revolutionary graffiti-resistant protective finish applied to the company's leading fire-block transportation seating construction.

Prevaill for Transit is a line of heavy-duty vinyl coated upholsteries designed and manufactured to meet the performance needs as well the smoke generation, toxicity, and flammability requirements of the mass transit and rail industry as defined by the Federal Transit Administration including NFPA130, DOT 49 CFR, Part 216 et al. and Docket 90A.

Prevaill with PreFixx Extreme offers extreme cleanability, stain resistance and extended wear. With the advanced PreFixx Extreme protective finish, stains ‘bead-up' and are easily wiped clean helping buses and trains retain a ‘like-new' appearance longer.

Paint, permanent marker, food and other stubborn soils and stains are easily removed with no harsh cleaning chemicals. The PreFixx Extreme protective finish creates a barrier to resist stains from penetrating the vinyl, resulting in successful cleaning even after the stain has been in place for days.

OMNOVA Solutions Inc

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USA : Prevaill with PreFixx Extreme offers high performance upholstery

December 24, 2007

OMNOVA Solutions introduces Prevaill upholstery with PreFixx Extreme Protective Finish for the mass transit markets, featuring a revolutionary graffiti-resistant protective finish applied to the company's leading fire-block transportation seating construction.

Prevaill for Transit is a line of heavy-duty vinyl coated upholsteries designed and manufactured to meet the performance needs as well the smoke generation, toxicity, and flammability requirements of the mass transit and rail industry as defined by the Federal Transit Administration including NFPA130, DOT 49 CFR, Part 216 et al. and Docket 90A.

Prevaill with PreFixx Extreme offers extreme cleanability, stain resistance and extended wear. With the advanced PreFixx Extreme protective finish, stains ‘bead-up' and are easily wiped clean helping buses and trains retain a ‘like-new' appearance longer.

Paint, permanent marker, food and other stubborn soils and stains are easily removed with no harsh cleaning chemicals. The PreFixx Extreme protective finish creates a barrier to resist stains from penetrating the vinyl, resulting in successful cleaning even after the stain has been in place for days.

OMNOVA Solutions Inc

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USA : Lydall Thermal/Acoustical segment income up in Q3

December 24, 2007

LYDALL INC announced that its net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2007 was $1.9 million, or $.12 per basic share and $.11 per diluted share, and net income year-to-date was $6.7 million, or $.41 per basic and diluted share.

The Company previously announced, in a press release on October 26, 2007, that net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2007 was $1.7 million, or $.11 per basic and diluted share, and net income year-to-date was $6.5 million, or $.40 per basic and diluted share.

The previously announced financial results were impacted by an adjustment to a current liability and cost of sales, which occurred subsequent to the Company's previous earnings announcement. Due to rounding, diluted earnings per share was unchanged for the quarter ended September 30, 2007 as compared to the previously announced financial results.

Gross margin as a percent of net sales for the third quarter of 2007 was 21.5 percent compared to 21.2 percent previously announced.

Operating income for the Thermal/Acoustical segment increased by $0.5 million for the current quarter compared with the third quarter of 2006. The Company previously announced an increase of $0.2 million in operating income for the Thermal/Acoustical segment.

LYDALL INC

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