Introducing market-leading innovations by over 350 exhibitors from 30 countries, the unified edition of Techtextil North America and Texprocess Americas opened doors in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center today. New brands, new innovations and new themes – the 2023 edition offers attendees more features than ever before and the opportunity to learn and experience industry advancements for three action-packed days.
The co-located exhibitions with robust education offerings brings key themes of advanced functional fabrics, reshoring, circularity, biocatalytic textiles, and bridging the skills gap and more through 40+ sessions. Alongside Industry’s leading brands such as Apex Mills, Fi-Tech Inc. Groz-Beckert, Juki America Inc. Kornit, McCoy Machinery Co. Inc, Mimaki, Milliken & Company MorganTecnica, Shima Seiki USA Inc and more, grabbing the spotlight this year are exhibitors in the Tech & Start-Up Zone which feature companies with innovative technologies, ideas, practical solutions, processes, and products that are revolutionary to the global technical textile and sewn product industries.
Innovation Award winners announced!
Shining light on the industry’s cutting-edge advancements many of which might go on to be revolutionary solutions that shape the future of sewn product industry, the Innovation Awards 2023 revealed the front-runners of innovative textile technologies. “We are happy to bring the Innovation Awards to the US editions of Techtextil North America & Texprocess Americas which will enable and encourage new market developments and is a testament to the ingenuity and vision of the brands participating at these shows.” says Kristy Meade, Vice President of Technical Textiles & Technology Shows for Messe Frankfurt, Inc.
The award-winning developments represented in areas such as new technology, concept or applications and innovative sustainability approaches were presented to:
- New Concept Winner: Henderson Sewing Machine Co. Inc. and Matsuya R & D For the development of “The Intelligent Robot Sewing Machine with Digital Image Processing System”.
- New Technology Winner: SPEC and Svegea of Sweden for the development of “SVEGEA EC-450XF”
- New Application Winner: Pathfinder Cutting Technology for the Development of “FabricPro: Revolutionizing Fabric Spreading with Innovative Safety Features and Improved Operator Ergonomics”
- New Product Winner: Stratasys for the development of “Stratasys J850™ TechStyle™ direct-to-textile 3D printer”
- New Approaches on Sustainability & Circular Economy Winner: Henderson Sewing Machine Co. Inc. & Twine Solutions Ltd for the development of “Thread Digital Dyeing System TS-1800”
- New Technologies on Sustainability & Recycling Winner: Dürkopp Adler GmbH for the development of “M-TYPE DELTA e-con”
- New Technology & Digitalization winner: SEDDI For the development of “SEDDI Textura: Real Fabrics Digitized Brilliantly with AI”
“Through the Innovation Awards, our efforts are aligned towards bringing revolutionary solutions to the forefront of the industry and creating a market for new developments.” said Michael McDonald, President of SPESA “While the award-winning technologies will create market opportunities and boost business, the commitment to product excellence and market innovation that the award winners and everyone who submitted entries have shown is what will drive market impulses.” The winners of the Innovation Awards were officially announced at a Press Conference on the first day of the event.
Utilizing partnerships with academic programs, research institutions and industry associations, Techtextil North America & Texprocess Americas have built an environment that encourages innovation through the sharing of ideas and collaboration among industry leaders with several features on the floor this year. Among the special features is the Career & Training Center that is witnessing high interest on the show floor. New technological advancements and evolving fashion trends demand constant skill training and for the very first time, SPESA launched a show-floor training that provides teaching methods for machine repair/maintenance to address the growing need for skilled workers in the sewn products industry. Curated by Merrow Sewing Machine Company and the Industrial Sewing and Innovation Centre (ISAIC), the training utilizes augmented reality (AR) tools to illustrate how these training methods can help scale the industry and support growth in the Americas and is witnessing a packed hall.
Also drawing industry professionals, new entrants and students to this center are new job openings posted by representatives from the Textile Technology Center at Gaston College that provide professional headshots and valuable resources for career development.
The 2023 edition also presents latest scientific developments and student insights on topics such as Textile-Infused 3D Printing, Enzymatic Separation of Textile Blends, Direct-to-Textile 3D Printing, Anti-bacterial coatings, Textile EMG Sensors and Controlled Drawing of Polycaprolactone-Based Nanofibers for Tissue Engineering Applications as part of The Student Research Poster Program.
Designed in collaboration with thought leaders and industry strategists from the Chicago Pattern Maker, Colorkarma, the NC State University, and the Hohenstein Institute, the TechTalks area is another highlight where presentations, demonstrations, and discussions covering groundbreaking technical advancements attracted attendees to join the discussion on the business of textiles and textile technologies and the future of manufacturing.
The buzz on the show floor confirmed that the exhibitions are a not to be missed event in the textile industry’s event calendar with networking continuing even after hours at the Opening Night Reception at the Mercedes Benz Stadium hosted by SPESA and Messe Frankfurt. The co-located exhibitions are open for two more days and allow industry professionals to view technological innovations live until May 12 at the Georgia World Congress Center. On-site registration is available.
