• Shade sail design: How to get it right

    Published On: November 5, 2020Categories: Expo News

    During IFAI Virtual Expo 2020’s educational presentation “Shade Sail Design: How to Get It Right,” Timothy Akes, a software expert for MPanel Software Solutions, told participants that design is by far the most important, misunderstood and underestimated aspect of delivering a great and long-lasting shade sail project. “The shade sail shape and how you design [...]

  • Tips for making the right product decisions

    Published On: November 5, 2020Categories: Expo News

    A Trivantage-sponsored education session at IFAI Virtual Expo 2020 called “Making the Right Product Decisions” was filled with detailed information about product choices and installation tips to help fabricators successfully create shade projects in commercial, vertical, shade sail, upholstery and marine applications. The session gave participants an in-depth survey of the company’s shade products and [...]

  • A primer on Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)

    Published On: November 5, 2020Categories: Expo News

    An Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) offers lots of attractive benefits: studies have shown that ESOPs improve productivity, increase sales and improve return on assets, plus they offer great tax advantages. But more than any of these attributes, an ESOP offers the owner of a company peace of mind and an enduring legacy. “Many times, [...]

  • Understanding intelligent textiles

    Published On: November 4, 2020Categories: Expo News

    The Advanced Textiles Conference of IFAI’s Virtual Expo 2020 continued Nov. 4 with a detailed presentation by Justine Decaens on “Smart Textiles: From Lab Prototypes to Commercial Products.” Decaens is R&D director with CTT Group, a testing laboratory and R&D facility specialized in technical textiles, headquartered in Quebec, Canada.  Decaens first offered to define “smart [...]

  • Policy challenges and opportunities for U.S. textile manufacturing

    Published On: November 3, 2020Categories: Expo News

    The U.S. textile industry worked “swiftly and impressively” to pivot to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) this spring, leveraging existing manufacturing know-how and equipment and making new investments to shift production, according to Sara Beatty, president of White Haven Trade Advisors. “However, clearly the U.S. would have been in a much better position had we [...]

  • The regulatory path for medical PPE

    Published On: November 3, 2020Categories: Expo News

    An afternoon session by Jing Liang, founder and president of Medical PPE Consulting LLC, walked participants through the regulatory process and testing for medical personnel protective equipment (PPE) In her session, “Understanding Testing Requirements of Medical PPE,” she noted the variety of PPE, which include gloves, shoe covers, goggles, gowns and masks. Her discussion centered on [...]

  • Case studies in shade sail design

    Published On: November 3, 2020Categories: Expo News

    Wholesale Shade’s Robin DuBroy, director of training programs, and Gregg Burrows, sales manager, presented a session at IFAI Virtual Expo 2020 about shade sail design and installation. Using numerous case studies of various designs and difficulty levels, the speakers discussed each project in terms of client goals, site challenges and an evaluation of results. Shade [...]

  • Virtual Expo 2020 advanced textiles education begins

    Published On: November 3, 2020Categories: Expo News

    The Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) opened the advanced textiles education sessions of Virtual Expo 2020 with a presentation by Dr. Sasha Stolyarov, CEO, Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA). His presentation, “The Development of Advanced Functional Fibers and Fabrics” outlined the progress made in AFFOA’s mission to “rekindle the domestic textiles industry” with its coordinated [...]

  • IFAI Expo and R+T Show Organizer, Messe Stuttgart, to Co-locate Trade Shows Starting in 2021

    Published On: September 21, 2020Categories: Expo News

    ROSEVILLE, MN—Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) and Messe Stuttgart, organizers of R+T in Stuttgart, Germany; R+T Turkey in Istanbul, Turkey; R+T Asia in Shanghai, China and R+T South America in Sao Paulo, Brazil, are pleased to announce that they will co-locate IFAI Expo with Messe Stuttgart’s new U.S. show named Sun Shading Expo North America [...]

  • IFAI Virtual Expo 2020 registration is open

    Published On: September 10, 2020Categories: Events, Expo News, Industry News, News

    Registration is now open for IFAI Expo 2020, which will be hosted exclusively online Nov. 2–12, 2020, in a robust digital platform designed to provide many exciting opportunities for attendees, exhibitors and sponsors. Attendees, no matter their role, will be able to discover new products, network and help grow their businesses. Attendees can explore the [...]