Curt Jarrell

A New Process for Coating and Laminating Face-Finished Fabrics

Since the mid-1970s, the domestic textile mdustry has seen its market share steadily decline. With offshore competitors producing textile goods at labor costs as low as 26 cents per hour, United States companies have found it difficult to remain price competitive. Industry and government leaders rallied their efforts five years ago to slow market erosion by establishing five self-regulating institutions. To minimize competition on price alone, programs were implemented to focus on product quality, productivity, and manufacturing flexibility. These programs have moderated the decline; however, the industry now faces environmental issues relative to current production techniques that further limit the mdustrys ability to remain competitive. This paper presents a new coating and laminating process, using 100 percent solid thermoplastics, that offers textile converters solutions to the en vironmental, quality, productivity, and flexibility issues.