Specialty Fabrics Review June 2019 - 28

A fabric-based
storage container
has the potential
not just to compete
with a solid-walled
container, but to
outperform it.

28 REVIEW JUNE 2019

these products demands a rigorous testing
process. Fortunately, the company is
located across the street from a trucking
company. These neighbors help Carolina
CoverTech test its own products. "They
run 40 trucks a day over our products
to test their durability. We've put some
things through 2,000 overruns to see
how they perform."
Kristin Christopoulos, sales manager
at AmCraft Manufacturing Inc., based in
Elk Grove Village, Ill., says that creating
custom products helps the company
stay responsive to trends. The company
produces storage and transportation
solutions such as industrial curtain walls
for shipping containers and warehouses,
protective covers for containers and oddsized goods, and insulated bags. AmCraft
focuses on traditional construction and
workmanship, combined with new
textiles, such as sound-absorbing curtains
and baffles made from recyclable and
environmentally friendly materials.
"We give businesses a way to divide
storage spaces and other industrial areas
with durable, protective curtain products,"
says Christopoulos. "Well-designed
dividers can help reduce HVAC costs
by restricting air flow. They effectively
contain temperatures. We make an
insulated thermal curtain that has
fiberglass insulation within two layers.
It can be used for food storage zones or
to enclose a dock area so that outdoor air
doesn't flow into a space."
Intertape Polymer Group (IPG) makes
fabrics for secondary storage products for
dockyards and situations in which products
or equipment must be stored outside.
"We make fabrics for frame-supported
structures for temporary or permanent
storage situations. These provide basic
protection and security at a lower cost than
buildings, and can easily be transported
and moved," says Carey Ewanik, product
manager with NovaShield®, an IPG brand
headquartered in Sarasota, Fla. NovaShield

membrane fabric offers UV protection,
fire retardancy and abrasion resistance.
The company also manufactures water
storage containers using its AquaMaster®
geomembrane fabric, which features a
high-density scrim. Hot-wedge RF pinch
seals create a strong and waterproof seam
for products such as pond liners, retention
ponds and tank liners. The roll stock
polyethylene product provides lasting
protection from the elements and UV rays,
and can perform for up to two decades.
CRITICAL LOAD-CARRYING
A fabric-based storage container has the
potential not just to compete with a solidwalled container, but to outperform it.
In situations where a soft-sided vessel
needs to be malleable, flexible and easily
manipulated, a textile is the most suitable
material. One critical application for
this kind of product is in firefighting.
Crews need a storage product that
weighs little and packs down small, yet
is incredibly rugged. Canadian company
BWI Enterprises Ltd. has just the thing:
helicopter bags made from coated
double-sided PVC.
"This material has greater abrasion
resistance than polypropylene. PVC will
not absorb moisture, so it is also rot- and
mold-resistant," says owner Brian Cook.
"The bags are lifted via eight top webbing
loops, which each have one two-inch
welded D-ring on the webbing loop, which
is sewn in. If the bag is overloaded and a
D-ring might break, there are seven other
D-rings to keep the bag suspended so it
does not drop to the ground in flight. The
webbing is sewn from the top of the bag,
down the side, under the bag and up the
other side. The breaking strength of the
webbing is 5,000 pounds, so having eight
straps makes this bag indestructible.
"You have to appreciate what these
bags go through. Once under a helicopter
and full of products, they hang in such a
way that they get dragged on the ground
Specialty Fabrics Review June 2019

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