LEEDS, England — October 7, 2019 — Now in its 23rd year, the Nonwovens Network has pulled together a strong program for its 2019 annual seminar, which will be held at the John Smith’s Stadium in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, on December 5.
Keynote speakers at the event, entitled “Futureproofing the Nonwovens Industry,” will be Mark Cotton, managing director of the John Cotton Group, and Seán Kerrigan, director of communications and media relations for EDANA, the Brussels-based European disposables and nonwovens association.
Seán Kerrigan’s presentation will focus on two key issues which have been occupying a lot of EDANA’s time over the past year — its Wipes Outreach program and the upcoming European Union single-use plastics directive.
Expansions
John Cotton is one of the U.K.’s most successful nonwovens operations with manufacturing sites in the U.K., Poland, China and Australia,
The company, which has more than 1,000 employees, has a weekly production capacity of more than 1,000 tons and has invested 30 million euros over the past three years on projects including a new R&D center in West Yorkshire. Bedding is the company’s biggest market and it produces around 10 million duvets and 20 million pillows annually. Mark Cotton will be addressing the issue of risk management in today’s volatile economy at the seminar.
Another U.K. success story is Autins, which specialises in NVH — noise, vibration and harshness — and thermal insulation solutions, primarily for the automotive industry.
Autins R&D manager Kathy Beresford will explain how the company has expanded considerably in recent years, with sales in 2018 of £29.2 million, and how it delivers some two million parts monthly to the leading car brands and other companies.
She will also provide details of the company’s latest operation, Solar Nonwovens, based in Tamworth, U.K., which represents a £4 million investment and is now producing the new Neptune acoustic absorbing products, based on hollow, grooved microfiber polyesters and polypropylenes made with a unique new technology.
A third U.K. success story is Texfelt, which has recently opened a brand-new £9 million facility in Bradford. Operations and technical director Michael Walsh will outline the company’s focus on expanding its range of recycled products for a range of industry sectors.
Posted October 7, 2019
Source: Nonwovens Network, School of Design, University of Leeds
