Responsible stewardship of the environment requires our industry to examine and manage the impact of products throughout their entire life cycle.
Tom J. Zaiser, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Marketing Officer of FiberVisions, discusses about the various technological developments taken place in the nonwovens industry over the years and its benefits with Fibre2Fashion Correspondent Ilin Mathew.
Synopsis:
FiberVisions is one of the global leaders in developing, manufacturing and marketing polyolefin staple fibers for nonwoven applications. The company makes innovative products to customers in industries such as hygiene, textiles, automotive and construction.
From 2005 until the present Tom moved into his role as the President and General Manager of ES FiberVisions, a joint venture with JNC of Japan. This is an assignment he retains today. He has spent the past 31 years working in various Sales and Marketing assignments including the Marketing Manager of Aqualon, a wholly owned division of Hercules Incorporated (1990-1992). Mr. Zaiser holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware.
Excerpts:
How do you look at the market for spunlace, carded thermal bond, needlepunch and spunbond nonwoven process in apparel industry?
All of these processes have their uses and advantages in specific applications. This enables customers to have multiple options to make their fabrics with the best combination of properties and economics.
As the world's leading provider of mono and bi-component polyolefin fibers, can you tell us about the advantages of synthetic nonwovens fibres over natural fibres?
Both synthetic and natural fibers have their uses. But mono and bi-component polyolefin fibers have excellent performance in a variety of applications. For example, in diaper top sheet applications these fibers provide excellent softness and liquid management and a very uniform web. The fibers are chemically inert and hypoallergenic, so they are ideal for baby wipes. They can also be optimized for spunlaced, airlaid, thermal bond, needlepunch or wetlaid wipes manufacturing, giving our customers more options. In geotextile applications, these fibers provide exceptional tensile and burst strength, as well as high UV protection.
What are the new technological developments in polyolefin for nonwovens in the areas of hygiene, filtration, automotive, composites, construction and wipes?
One of the key thrusts is to develop solutions that help reduce system cost, through light weighting. Another is accelerating the introduction of differentiated fibers with special functionality and design.
Fine denier trilobal PP fibers are finding increasing use in nonwoven applications. In the technical fibers arena, binder fibers for lightweight automotive applications are growing.
In the bi-component fiber arena, a number of fine fibers and high opacity fibers have been introduced in the market recently for hygiene applications, from carded throughair bonded nonwovens to airlaid nonwovens. In addition to the expected benefits of softness and masking these fibers offer customers the opportunity to make lightweight, differentiated nonwovens, with functional performance benefits. In air filtration, the market is using bi-component fibers that include antimicrobial functionality.
Reading from the website, "Unmatched product performance and processing, and a customer-centric approach, are helping to address demands and trends in the consumer end-markets of diapers, wipes and feminine care, as well as in the growing non-consumer markets of filtration and technical applications." Can you elaborate on it?
FiberVisions can work closely with our customers to tailor fiber solutions that best meet the customer's performance and economic requirements. We believe that our successful customer-centric approach can be verified by looking at store shelves around-the-world and the result is our position as the leading polyolefin staple fiber producer in the world.
What are the significances of staple-based nonwoven fibres and which are the areas (hygiene, cosmetics, filtration, medical, industrial and agricultural applications) these fibres are used?
Staple fibers can be the lightest of all commercial fibres. Low density enables customers to make a fabric in the same weight range as competing fibres, but with significantly improved coverage. Alternatively these fibres can be produced to make a fabric in a lighter weight range but with the same coverage resulting in lower material cost. Staple fibres can have high tensile strength, can offer excellent resistance to chemicals, and can be made with a broad range of elongation properties. Staple fiber manufacturers offer a wide variety of products to meet the needs of many applications and customers, such as different diameters, finishes, colors, fibre lengths and special additives for enhanced performance. These value-added properties including variations in softness, wettability, opacity, improved adhesion, antimicrobial, and UV resistance.
Regarding application areas, the largest use of these fibers is in hygiene (diapers, feminine care products, wipes). But other areas such as technical fibers (automotive, filtration, geosynthetics, insulation, etc.) have become significant in recent years and are growing quickly.
Can you tell us about the importance of economic, environmental, cultural and social development globally with the efficient use of waste products as well as sustainable raw materials?
Responsible stewardship of the environment requires our industry to examine and manage the impact of products throughout their entire life cycle, from raw materials through final use and disposal. If these analyses are done, you find a variety of raw materials --- from synthetic to "sustainable" polymers --- can be good choices. For example, a major raw material for staple fibers is polypropylene (PP) and this polymer has lower greenhouse gas emissions and lower energy use than other synthetic fiber resins. During the manufacturing and converting process into nonwoven fabrics, no toxic waste is generated, there are low emissions, and the waste material can be recycled. The end fibers have a high potential for recycling or they can also be disposed of via a clean burning process (in a mixed waste stream if necessary) given their high calorific content and lack of toxic emissions.
Talk to us about your future investment plans and how do you want to allocate capital going forward. In which countries do you see the future investment opportunities in the specialized synthetic fibre? What are the reasons?
FiberVisions has manufacturing facilities and sales in the Americas, Europe and Asia. We have invested in all of these areas recently to meet the demands of our customers. With our acquisition in 2012 by Indorama Ventures Limited (IVL), the leading global polyester company, we have gained an even stronger global presence. We are increasing our investment in Asia to serve the growing markets in that region. For example, our joint venture ES FiberVisions just opened a new bi-component fiber plant May 2014 in China and we are currently constructing another bi-component fiber facility in Thailand which will be operational early 2016.
What is the scope for non-woven synthetic fibres in automobile industry? Can you name some applications for nonwovens in this sector?
A growing application for synthetic polyolefin fibers is as binder fibers to enable various parts to be made lighter and improve the mileage of automobiles.
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