Techtextil North America and Texprocess Americas took place May 10-12, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. With over 350 exhibitors from 30 countries and thousands of attendees representing the entire textile supply chain, the unified edition of Techtextil North America and Texprocess Americas created a unique environment for business development, where new innovations, products, and technologies were on full display for attendees and exhibitors. The 2023 edition also offered more features than ever before, including the lauded Symposium sessions, Tech Talks, Tech Zone, and Career and Training Center, as well as the first-ever Innovation Awards in the Americas for technical textiles, nonwovens, and sewn product industries.

“This year, we were excited to bring together a variety of exhibitors and attendees from across the industry spectrum. We were able to provide a space where they could not only showcase their innovations and learn about industry trends, but also develop new business relationships and find opportunities for growth in the market,” says Kristy Meade, Vice President of Technical Textiles & Technology Shows for Messe Frankfurt, Inc.

The three-day co-located exhibitions highlighted advancements and industry trends in textile design and manufacturing, supply chain optimization, workforce development, and more. Throughout the three days, visitors were able to see products up close, watch live demonstrations, attend over 40 educational sessions, and meet with exhibitors providing the latest solutions across the supply chain. Exhibitors were also able to take advantage of the shared exhibit hall, sourcing suppliers and strategic partners for their own businesses.

“The reason that we are here is to interact with new clientele,” says Justin Hershoran of Aptean. “We actually see great results from this show. Every time we have done it, it leads to solid sales for us. It’s not just the marketing, it’s the real dollars that come in as a result.”

This sentiment was echoed by other exhibitors as well. “Exhibiting at Texprocess Americas provides us a great place to showcase A&E’s broad line of thread products, as well as our latest innovations, with textile professionals from around the world,” says Jacob Blackburn of American and Efird. “From staying up to date with the latest trends to learning about new innovations within the textile industry, Texprocess Americas supplies a great platform to network and promote our business.”

“This is one of the nicest shows I’ve been to in years,” says Alan Brant, an attendee representing Himiesa. “It has a very professional air to it, and its displays are nicely done. This is an A+ show for sure. They should have it every year.”

Symposium

Hosted off the show floor in a classroom setting, these sessions were a cornerstone of the educational track. Featuring subject matter experts from across the industry, the Symposium provided attendees an opportunity to dive deep into industry-critical topics that spanned a wide range of application areas, including aerospace and defense, supply chain evolution, manufacturing innovation, and sustainability.

“More than ever, these conversations are about real solutions,” says Jennifer Guarino of the Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center (ISAIC). “We’re talking vertically with big and small retailers and big and small manufacturers at the table. So I thought [the discussions] were very inspiring and very challenging, which is exactly what we need at Texprocess Americas.”

When asked about his experience at the Symposium, Rick Fowler of Youngone Corporation, who attended every session, had this to say: “In general, I’m very impressed and very gratified that our industry is embracing the concerns of sustainability with a phenomenal number of actions and factual, considered, careful planning.”

Tech Talks

Located on the show floor, these complimentary presentations, demonstrations, and discussions revolved around groundbreaking technical advancements and highlighted the latest in textile and sewn product applications. Topics included sustainability, empowering and growing workforces with technology, the next generation of technical designers, and more.

This year, Casey Strauch of Hohenstein Institute America and Melissa Sharp of Zeis Textiles Extension curated and hosted the Techtextil North America Tech Talks. “With such interesting conversations at our booth and the TechTalks, this year’s show flew by,” says Strauch. “Already looking forward to Raleigh!”

Texprocess Americas Tech Talks were coordinated and moderated by Xochil Herrera Scheer of The Chicago Pattern Maker. She neatly sums up the session experience saying, “I had an awesome week of insightful conversations with industry leaders at Texprocess Americas. I am so proud of this series. All the planning and preparation really paid off when I looked out into the full audiences - even standing room overflow - and seeing interest flow into side chats with speakers afterwards, moving into the exhibitors booths. What a successful show!”

Career and Training

The Career and Training Center, a new feature at the exhibitions this year, combined professional development with practical training. Representatives from the Textile Technology Center at Gaston College were on site to share valuable resources related to the industry’s career landscape, networking tips, and much more.

Simultaneously, hands-on training was conducted by Sewn Products Equipment and Suppliers of the Americas (SPESA) association members Merrow Sewing Machine Company (of the Merrow Group Companies) and the Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center (ISAIC), and included machine repair/maintenance training as well as utilizing augmented reality tools to facilitate scalable growth in the industry.

“We are thrilled with the outcome of the inaugural ‘Training Takes Time’ sessions during Texprocess Americas 2023,” says Michael McDonald, President of SPESA. “Numerous attendees from across the sewn products value chain participated, whether digging their screwdrivers into a Merrow machine, experiencing the innovative augmented-reality demonstration from ISAIC, asking questions of our expert mechanics, or simply taking it all in from the sidelines in the show’s new Career & Training Center. The consensus from participants: this is a necessary programmatic effort to improve workforce development in the U.S. We’re looking forward to seeing how this training program will evolve for future editions of Texprocess Americas.”

Innovation Awards

The Innovation Awards 2023 celebrated cutting-edge advancements and thought-leaders in textile technologies from across the industry. The award-winners represent a broad range of application areas such as new technologies, concepts, and innovative sustainability approaches.

“We were thrilled to introduce the Innovation Awards to the American market this year and acknowledge the hard work each of our award winners has made to develop and implement new products, technologies, growth strategies and other remarkable contributions to this industry,” says Kristy Meade, Vice President of Technical Textiles & Technology Shows for Messe Frankfurt, Inc.

Dürkopp Adler was one of the 2023 award recipients. Its Vice President and CFO, DurNina-Daniela McCormack of DAP America, Inc., had this to say regarding their winning solution. “At Dürkopp Adler, we are dedicated to inventing solutions that add real value to our industry. The DELTA e-con is a prime example of this. The machine combines the highest quality and performance standards with sustainable production. We are honored to receive this award, as it reaffirms our belief in contributing to a more sustainable world through our products and services.”

The next edition Techtextil North America will be in Raleigh, North Carolina, August 20 – 22, 2024. Texprocess Americas will return to Atlanta in May 6 – 8, 2025 once again co-located with Techtextil North America.