Specialty Fabrics Review July 2022 - 6

[ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ]
[ CALENDAR OF EVENTS ]
Observations on the state
of the textile industry
T
his issue features our 2022 State of the Industry Report. As the
introduction to that story notes, the worldwide textile industry is
clearly on a rebound after two years of uncertainty. That is also true of
Specialty Fabrics Review readers, as well as readers of Marine Fabricator,
InTents and Geosythetics, from whom we gathered the information for our
report. Yet, while business is improving, there are still problems to address.
For example, we asked survey respondents what challenges they face,
and their answers were wide-ranging.
Many comments had to do with the shrinking
Tim Goral,
Senior Editor
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labor force over the last two years. Several commented
on the amount of turnover among workers. " The
employee's attitude is not positive, " wrote one. " Staff
enthusiasm is not high and is resulting in poor
performance, " said another. This meant that " extra
work is required " to meet production goals.
Finding skilled workers to fill those vacancies
revealed another problem. " Before the increased
demand for the U.S. textile industry caused by
COVID and supply-chain issues, " one observed,
" few decision-makers considered education in
this field to be a valuable career investment. "
But perhaps the biggest challenges had to do
with getting materials and filling orders. One
commenter said his company was " overwhelmed
with the number of jobs " it had to fulfill. Another
called it " a crippling backlog " of orders. " Meeting
deadline dates is an occasional challenge. "
Usually, that's a good problem to have-when
you have staff and supplies to fill orders-but it's a disaster when you
can't get what you need to do your job. The result, according to a few
commenters, was customer churn or attrition when a potential buyer
goes elsewhere because their order can't be filled.
" Maintaining inventory levels to meet the demands in the current
climate " was a challenge for one commenter. " Many of these issues
are related to a lack of employees and our supply chain vendors. "
" Supplier costs are all over the place, " said another. " I have seen
as much as a $10 wholesale difference between suppliers. "
In coming issues, we will keep you informed about how the
textile industry is attempting to meet those challenges and more.
August 2022
ATA TRD Boot Camp 2022:
Training for the Tent Professional
AUGUST 1 -2 / Cincinnati, Ohio
bit.ly/3aJ2GAe
October 2022
Oct. 1-4, 2019
Orlando, FL
Orange County Convention Center
SAVE THE DATE
Oct. 12-14 / Education: Oct. 11-14
Charlotte Convention Center
Charlotte, N.C. USA
ifaiexpo.com
December 2022
CPA Zone 7 Conference 2022
DECEMBER 7-9 / Pittsburgh, Pa.
canvaszone7.com/
January 2023
ATA Tent Conference 2023
JANUARY 11-13 / Hyatt Regency Savannah,
Savannah, Ga.
textiles.org/tentconference
NECPA Expo 2023
JANUARY 19-21 / Sheraton Monarch Place,
Springfield, Mass.
necpa.org
ATA Marine Fabricators Conference 2023
JANUARY 26-28 / Sheraton New Orleans,
New Orleans, La.
textiles.org/marineconference
February 2023
ATA Geosynthetics Conference 2023
FEBRUARY 5-8 / Kansas City, Mo.
geosyntheticsconference.com
March 2023
ATA Women in Textiles Summit 2023
MARCH 1-3 2023 / Charleston, S.C.
textiles.org/women
All calendar events are subject to change.
Please check event websites for the latest information.
6 SPECIALTY FABRICS REVIEW / July 2022

http://www.bit.ly/3aJ2GAe http://www.ifaiexpo.com http://www.canvaszone7.com/ http://www.textiles.org/tentconference http://www.necpa.org http://www.SpecialtyFabricsReview.com http://www.textiles.org/marineconference http://www.geosyntheticsconference.com http://www.textiles.org/women

Specialty Fabrics Review July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Specialty Fabrics Review July 2022