Performance Apparel Markets - Grado Zero Espace Srl
Performance Apparel Markets - Grado Zero Espace Srl
Performance Apparel Markets - Grado Zero Espace Srl
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<strong>Performance</strong> <strong>Apparel</strong> <strong>Markets</strong>, 1st quarter 2006<br />
Profile of Bemis: a leader in bonded seam technology<br />
OUTLOOK<br />
Bemis is proud of its<br />
leading role in the bonded<br />
seamless technology<br />
market<br />
It is particularly optimistic<br />
about the future and<br />
considers growth in the<br />
bonded seam market to be<br />
a long-term trend,<br />
although competition will<br />
increase<br />
But in response to<br />
increasing competition<br />
Bemis is diversifying<br />
It is developing new<br />
fire-retardant and<br />
PTFE-based coatings—<br />
—and extrusion<br />
capabilities for<br />
non-apparel sectors<br />
The biggest opportunities<br />
lie in Asia, but so do the<br />
biggest threats<br />
Bemis is proud of its leading role in the bonded seam market. It is<br />
also proud of the fact that, as a manufacturing company in the<br />
north-east of the USA, it has seen strong growth while other<br />
companies have struggled and moved production to cheaper countries.<br />
The company’s marketing manager, Chris Parlee, says: “our success<br />
[is] with only 210 employees around the globe, that’s proof alone. For<br />
me, it is a great feeling to know that a small company in small-town<br />
USA has shaken up the apparel industry.”<br />
The company is particularly optimistic about the future. It considers<br />
growth in the bonded seam market to be a long-term trend, not a fad,<br />
and sees the prospects for Sewfree as being excellent. However, as the<br />
stitch-free seaming market grows, so will the number and size of<br />
Bemis’s competitors. Many of them, especially in Asia, are firms that<br />
produce thermoplastic polymers for other applications which have<br />
decided to emulate Bemis by turning their attention to the apparel<br />
market.<br />
In response, Bemis is diversifying. It is turning its attention to other<br />
markets and to other products as it did many years ago—when it<br />
switched from the chewing gum market to fabric coatings. Chris<br />
Parlee sums up the company’s approach for the future by saying: “we<br />
seek opportunities across the globe and are not unwilling to change<br />
direction or processes to sustain our growth”.<br />
Bemis is developing a new formulation for fire-retardant coatings, as<br />
well as coatings based on PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) which confer<br />
breathable and waterproof capabilities on fabrics.<br />
The company is also investing in the development of extrusion<br />
capabilities for non-apparel sectors which will include a wider range<br />
of coatings or lamination applications in areas such as agriculture and<br />
construction.<br />
Perhaps the biggest opportunity for the company lies in Asia. Bemis<br />
has just taken on 18 new staff in the region as a result of the<br />
explosive growth it is experiencing. But here, too, lies its biggest<br />
threat. Asia is where Bemis is likely to see most of its future<br />
competitors arise.<br />
© Textiles Intelligence Limited 47