Get on Board
 
Oh my goodness!!

Every time I pick up a newspaper, magazine, or read the news on the Internet, another company is in trouble and closing or cutting back. You would think we were in a depression like the 1930s. Depressing, isn't it?  Well, we aren't. The 8-9% unemployment (at the time of this writing) is nowhere near the 25+% of the depression. While the banks are in trouble, most haven't closed, and depositors’ money is insured. Sure, a lot is happening, and a lot is bad, but our industry isn't nearly as bad off as the media would have us believe. The bad news seems to be on the front page while the good news gets buried on page 8 or so.

I was told recently by one major producer that he expected to double his sales this year and he is looking to buy other companies. Several others, in specialized areas, have told me their business was also doing quite well – maybe down and not great, (how could that be otherwise with all the cutbacks), but overall, quite well. I've talked recently with people who plan to start importing fabric for technical textile areas. Companies from India and China are looking to buy or buy into companies involved in technical textiles in North America. Why? Because they see the North American market as the leader, and they have faith things will sort themselves out and the industry will begin to thrive again.

A speaker in the general session for the upcoming 2009 Symposium, Tom Murphy, says that the manufacturing sector in our country really is not in such bad shape. Really? Haven't you heard of all the shutdowns and slowdowns? Well, we continue to be the world's largest manufacturing country. And Tom has the data to prove it. But that is buried in the news, if it is reported at all (I did see a small article last week verifying that).

I've always said that the industry is two-faced – those who produce fabrics, and many of those are indeed hurting (my head is not buried in the sand – I know there are hurts out there) – and those who use it. The latter group will continue to use fabric and continue to grow, develop new uses and new markets. The former group must develop new ways to participate and to compete with new ideas and new products.

We have a speaker in the 2009 Symposium from XP Vehicles, who will be speaking about developing a "pressure membrane automobile" – an inflatable car, if you will. WOW – this is thinking outside the box – an electric car with an inflatable fabric skin that gets 100 miles per charge!

And I may have mentioned another, Innegrity, speaking about a highly drawn polypropylene yarn that brings a lot to the table for composites and ballistic uses, and ropes, among others – another example of thinking outside the box.

Innovation, new ideas and creative approaches to using fabrics – I could go on and on, but I am convinced we have the talent and we have the mindset to find new and profitable products that will shape and impact our industry of the future. We will recover and we will prosper.

What about you? Are you on board or are you jumping off the train?

Come and participate in Techtextil North America 2009 – the exhibition and the Symposium. Find out what is happening, and be a part of the recovery – part of the solution rather than the problem.


William C. (Bill) Smith is principal of Industrial Textile Associates and a leading product/market development consultant to the technical textile industry. He worked 25 years with J. P. Stevens & Co. before founding ITA in 1986. He is a graduate of Georgia Tech and resides in Greer, SC. Bill has been the Symposium Director for Techtextil North America since its inception in 2000. For further information, visit his website at www.intexa.com. Bill may be reached at 864-292-8121 or bsmith@intexa.com.