As more consumers embrace multi-channel shopping, retailers are diversifying investments online and offline to meet customer needs, says the annual State of Retailing Online study released by the US National Retail Federation (NRF) and research and advisory firm Forrester. Retailers clearly see the value of physical stores, particularly as e-commerce costs rise. “Retailers are evolving with customers’ shopping behaviors by creating a seamless shopping experience online and in store,” NRF vic

Rieter has witnessed 11 per cent rise in its sales to CHF 1,075 million during fiscal 2018 against CHF 965.6 million in fiscal 2017. Rieter achieved increased sales due to organic growth in the Machines & Systems business. SSM Textile Machinery in the business group Components also supported this positive development. Its market share was around 30 per cent. Pic: Rieter "In the Asian countries (excluding China, India and Turkey), Rieter improved sales in the reporting year by 36 per cent

Karl Mayer has made an ultra-soft stretch velour fabric with HKS-3M, the flexible, high-speed tricot machine. The velour fabric is setting the trend in the apparel sector. This cuddlesome textile caresses the skin and body. With its gentle drape, the fabric contours the female form with seductive lines. Its attractive shimmer also adds a touch of glamour. Pic: Karl Mayer The velour fabric can be used to produce eye-catching evening wear or comfortable lounge wear for relaxing on the sofa. T

The Competition Bureau of Canada recently issued an advisory, cautioning customers that bamboo-labelled sheets, T-shirts and other textile products found in stores and online may not be as ‘green’ as they seem as transforming bamboo fibre into soft fabrics for clothing, towels or bedding involves the use of a lot of environmentally harmful chemicals. Pic: Government of Canada The end product of this major chemical transformation process is a fabric called rayon or viscose, which contains no

Female supervisors have boosted efficiency by five per cent in the garment sector in Bangladesh, says an initiative by Better Work Bangladesh. The Gender Equality and Returns (GEAR) initiaitve jointly implemented by International Labour Organisation and International Finance Corporation promoted more women in supervisory roles in the garment sector. Rolled out in 2016, the programme has made significant strides in advancing women’s economic potential and improving access to better jobs and op

Surat could play a pivotal role in VisionNXT, a trend forecasting initiative of the government to create an indigenous fashion forecasting service, textiles minister Smriti Irani said inaugurating the ₹300-crore Karanj Textile Park in Mandvi taluka in south Gujarat recently. Entrepreneurs from Surat can immensely contribute to that initiative, she said. Surat is India’s largest man-made fabric hub. The trend forecasting lab was recently started in Delhi. Irani also appreciated the

Uttarakhand has decided to set up a centre of excellence for Himalayan fibre in Kumaon region’s Almora district. The decision was taken recently at a cabinet meeting in Dehradun, according to state urban development minister Madan Kaushik. The centre will be set up with support from the Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA) in Ghaziabad. A proposal to allot land for the centre at Bercimi village in Almora was also approved, a news agency quoted Kaushik as saying. Setting up

With the retail industry in its annual lull between seasons and plans for a tariff increase on hold, imports at US’s major retail container ports are expected to drop to their lowest level in almost a year in the current month, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates. “Now that the holiday season is over and summer has yet to crank up, this is the quiet time of year for retail supply chains,” said NRF vice preside

Visual Next has launched the improved application for Shop Floor Process Optimization using capacity planning and real-time shop floor monitoring. Factories utilising this tool achieve greater visibility of their workforce productivity with built in analytics to make better business decisions and improve efficiencies and processes to deliver more products. Pic: Visual Next Visual RTS provides manufacturers and their facilities with secure access to real-time operational data deployed over Wi

BMSvision has launched the freshly developed and built-in tool called OPCconnector for its latest version 8.40.03 of BMSvision WeaveMaster and PlantMaster systems, which offers superior flexibility to connect various machine types to the BMSvision MES systems. BMSvision is a developer of MES for the textiles, plastics, and pharmaceutical industry. OPCconnector allows an utmost easy and flexible integration of machines equipped with either Classic OPC or OPC-UA interfaces. The BMSvision MES s