The 15th edition of Techtextil North America and the fourth edition of Texprocess Americas, will be held from May 14 to 17, 2018, in hall B, at the Georgia World Congress centre, in Atlanta. The events will host around 500 exhibitors from all industries that include technical textiles, nonwovens, sewn products textile technology, and equipment sectors.

Techtextil North America and Texprocess Americas are each hosting eight symposium sessions with additional bonus opportunities, which will include two lunch ‘n’ learn style sessions as well as talks held on the show floor. These sessions will be presented by industry experts throughout the technical textile, nonwovens and sewn product equipment industries.

Session topics in Techtextil include emerging and new developments in nonwovens, new fibre technologies, smart textiles, and technical textiles: Enabling future mobility in electric and smart cars. Texproces Americas includes topics like automation, smart machines and robotics in sewn products manufacturing; wearable tech and textiles: communication through clothing; and tariffs, duties and barriers.

At Tech Talks 2018, for three days, the Nonwoven’s Institute will host complimentary daily mini sessions covering innovations in technical textiles and nonwovens. For the first time, Texprocess Americas will also feature its own Tech Talks, powered by The Fashion Institute of Technology in collaboration with Voice of Insiders. All show attendees will have the opportunity to attend these daily mini sessions covering a variety of topics pertaining to sewn products and their development.

The Graduate Student poster programme will highlight research done by graduate students from the top textile engineering, manufacturing and design programs in the country. This year‘s participants will come from North Carolina State University’s College of Textiles, The University of Georgia, and The University of Oklahoma. The programme provides a forum for students to present and discuss their latest research, meet with peers who have related interests, and introduce themselves to more senior members in the field.

66 companies from the German textile, textile machinery, and garment technology industries will show their products and services at the ‘High-Tex from Germany’ exhibition, located on the Techtextil North America show floor. The pavilion will feature German manufacturers of high-performance textiles and fibres, machines for processing technical textiles spanning the entire textile manufacturing and processing chain, and will include its own set of lectures, demonstrations and multi-media presentations.

Texprocess Americas 2018 will feature replicas of the costumes from the new film ‘The Greatest Showman’ brought to you by Gerber Technology. Gerber combined forces with Global Garment Engineering and 20th Century Fox to replicate costumes worn by Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, and Zendaya in the film.

Attendees will have the chance to see how a modern micro-factory can address the need for mass customisation in an efficient, cost effective, and socially-conscious manner, right on the show floor. The multi-exhibitor collaboration will show how to quickly and efficiently go from design to production, and concept to consumer through demonstrations in product design, digital printing, automated vision-aided cutting, material transport, and robotic sewing.

Data will be passed seamlessly from system-to-system, automating the workflow, minimising the need for human interaction helping to improve quality, reduce costs, and improve time to market. Participating companies include Gerber Technology, Henderson Sewing Machine Co., Kornit Digital, Nextwave, and Zund America, Inc. (GK)