Kimberly-Clark Increases Production of Flu Face Masks

ROSWELL, Ga., Feb. 8 - With the 2012-2013 influenza season reaching epidemic levels across the U.S., Kimberly-Clark is continuing to increase production of face masks and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) products in response to increased customer demand from acute care facilities across the country.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the flu season began earlier than usual this year and is shaping up to be more severe than in years past¹. Kimberly-Clark, the market leader in facial protection in the U.S., has been closely monitoring CDC data and adjusting manufacturing schedules and inventory management in anticipation of continued increased demand from current customers for PPE, including face mask products.

"The health and safety of our valued customers and their patients is our most important priority," said John Amat, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Kimberly-Clark Health Care. "Kimberly-Clark representatives are proactively reaching out to all of our current customers to assure them that with our North America-based product supply, we can continue to provide the highest quality facial protection products throughout the flu season."

To further help customers, their patients and consumers prevent the spread of the flu, Kimberly-Clark recommends these simple prevention precautions:

• Get vaccinated - The CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against this serious virus.²
• Pay attention to hand hygiene - One of the best ways to help prevent the spread of the flu is to wash your hands with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.³
• Contain the germs - Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. This will block the spread of droplets from your mouth or nose that could contain germs.⁴

Additional tips and information for patients can be found at www.preventinfections.com. Kimberly-Clark also offers complimentary, accredited clinical education webinars on the topic of flu via The Kimberly-Clark Knowledge Network, http://en.haiwatch.com/ClinicalEducation.aspx#5.

P&G Connect+Develop Launches New Open Innovation Website

CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2013-- The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) just opened their front door even wider to open innovation collaboration.

Aiming to speed and simplify external innovation connections, P&G’s Connect+Develop program today launched a new website (pgconnectdevelop.com), linking innovators directly to top Company needs, and P&G business leaders directly to external innovation submissions.

In the spirit of C+D, the website was developed in collaboration with several external partners, which brought new innovative technology to the back-end of the site, enabling user submissions to directly feed into the business category leaders. This will allow P&G to review needs more quickly and more efficiently for strategic fit or scalability across the business.

“As P&G enters its Second Decade of Connect+Develop, our focus is on strengthening areas of our open innovation work to deliver more discontinuous, breakthrough innovations. Part of that work means making connections both easier and more effective,” said Laura Becker, General Manager Connect+Develop and Global Business Development.

The website lets innovators link directly to P&G’s posted needs, which are organized by business area and searchable by topic. Innovators also can access a full description of every need, including scale and success criteria. On the back-end, the site links P&G innovation managers with submissions, letting them search by topic or work area, share internally, and track progress.

P&G launched its Connect+Develop program more than 10 years ago and has developed more than 2,000 global partnerships, delivered dozens of global game-changer products to consumers, accelerated innovation development and increased productivity, both for P&G and its partners.

The website has served as P&G’s “open front door to the world,” allowing any innovator anywhere to share their innovations with the Company. The site, which includes translations in Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and Portuguese, receives about 20 submissions every weekday – or more than 4,000 a year – from all over the world.

Dude Wipes win INDA Vision Award

CARY, NC — February 5, 2013 — Incorporating social packaging and humorous, niche-driven branding, Dude Wipes from Dude Products was named the recipient of the prestigious 2013 Visionary Award, presented at the VISION 2013 Consumer Products Conference in Orlando, Florida. The Visionary Award is given to the most innovative new consumer product that utilizes nonwoven fabrics in its final form.

Dude Wipes was selected over four other finalists by the attendees at the 12^th annual VISION Conference, which was held from January 28-31, 2013 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando.

Celebrating its 12^th consecutive year as the most important conference bringing together the worlds of consumer products and nonwovens, the VISION Consumer Products Conference, organized by INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, attracted over 325 attendees from around the world. Through presentations and workshops by industry experts, the event once again focused attention on the growing role of nonwovens in consumer products.

The five finalists made presentations during VISION 2013 and conference attendees voted for the recipient of the 2013 Visionary Award.

Dude Wipes utilizes its novel packaging and humorous branding in its goal to change male hygiene routines and behavior. The product is wallet-sized, flushable and biodegradable and contains vitamin E and aloe.

“Dude Wipes is a superb example of innovating through clever positioning, packaging and marketing to meet the needs of a specific target market,” says Dave Rousse, President of INDA. “There were five outstanding products representing many aspects of consumer products and they were all winners by being selected as finalists in the 2013 competition.”

The other four 2013 Visionary Award finalists were:

* DiversiTech Merv 8+ and Merv 9+, DiversiTech Corporation. A pleated filter that has a full frame but takes up half a much storage space as a conventional cardboard filter because it is nestable when stacked.

* Poise® Panty Fresheners, Kimberly-Clark. These feminine fresheners are equipped with a clean and fresh scent that lasts up to four hours.

* Winged Fiber™ Facial Mask, Allasso Industries. Cosmetic facial mask made using a nylon Winged Fiber™ spunbond is loaded with essential moisturizing and rejuvenating oils and creams.

* VitaFlex Soft-Stretch Hood™, VitaFlex LLC. Utilizes a latex-free elastic nonwoven fabric to provide greener and less expensive primary head protection.

Source: INDA

INDA Vision Orlando - Day 3

...and the winner of the 2013 Visionary Award is:

David Rousse, President of INDA presents the 2013 Visionary Award to Sean Riley, Chief Executive Dude of Dude Products Inc.  Their individually wrapped wet-wipe fresheners for dudes attracted the highest number of votes from the audience.

Lee Ann Head, VP Research, Shelton Group reviews consumer understanding of Sustainability and ways of selling sustainable products in future.

Kelheim develops water repellent viscose fibre

The Bavarian viscose fibre specialist Kelheim Fibres has developed the first viscose fibre with intrinsic water repellent properties; the fibre has been named Olea. In contrast to other methods of creating hydrophobic properties, Kelheim has been able to maintain the typical properties of the viscose fibre by incorporating the hydrophobicity in the fibre matrix itself. Thanks to incorporation of the additive during the spinning process, the hydrophobic effect is durable and cannot be washed out. The additive used for the production of Olea fibre is made of renewable materials, like the fibre itself, and so Olea is a fully biodegradable fibre. While viscose fibres are usually known for their excellent liquid absorption capacity, there are also numerous applications which can benefit from Kelheim’s hydrophobic Olea fibre. “Olea is an environmentally friendly alternative for the cover- and back-sheets of hygiene products - for example nappies, sanitary towels or incontinence pads: In order to protect the wearer’s skin, these sheets need to remain dry while they facilitate the transport of liquid away from the skin”, explains Dr. Philipp Wimmer from Kelheim’s R&D team.

INDA Vision Orlando - Day 2

Here are a few snaps from the second day including most of the Visionary Award candidates...

 Rich Chapas describes the Nonwoven scene in India

Rick Jezzi covered nonwovens in South America

Ian Bell deals with nonwovens in the EU and Asia

Tim van Himbergen of Kimberly Clark introduces Poise Panty Fresheners

Sean Riley, Chief Operating Dude of Dude Products introdudes wet wipes for blokes

Keith Platt of Diversitech shows off the 100% PP pleated filter

Nancy Muller of the National Association for Continence Care talks absorbents in the home

Rory Holmes again, this time on Nonwovens in North America 

 Walter Chappas introduces the Winged Fibre mask

INDA Vision opens in Orlando

INDA's Vision Conference opened today at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando with over 300 delegates in attendance

 Carlos Richer opens the conference with a 3 hour tour-de-force on diaper design

  A delegate from SCA takes issue with a point of detail

 David Rousse the new INDA President welcomes the delegates and presents the State of the Industry address

 Dick Kimberly (ex Kimberly Clark), now President of Kimberly Consulting analyses the effect of the US Presidential election on the industry

 Rob Wallace of Wallace Church anticipates his talk...

...on Design Thinking Driven Innovation

(Summaries of these papers will appear in Nonwovens Report International magazine and on this site in due course.)

EDANA Outlook Barcelona 2012: Summary of Summaries

Summaries of all the papers  given at EDANA's 2012 Outlook Conference in Barcelona have been posted here over the last few weeks, so here is the summary of the key points:

The 11^th annual Outlook Conference was the biggest ever with over 450 pre-registered delegates. 

·         The era of Cheap-China is over.  Cost and wage inflation in the industrial regions cannot be corrected by opening up the interior.

·         Chinese diaper consumption and production is surging and a baby-boom is expected.  Exports are increasing.

·         Per Capita spend on diapers in the developed economies will be static or even decline though 2016.

·         Adult Incontinence products are set to grow rapidly and spunbond nonwoven production for their core-wrap, topsheet and backsheet will benefit.

·         Cloth diapers are growing from a tiny base for the wrong reason: babies are keen to get out of them so they’re good for potty training.

·         Super-soft topsheets are available in non-bico form in Asia.

·         Numerous sustainability initiatives are underway and there is a growing belief that sustainability and efficiency are one and the same.

·         EU regulation of nanomaterials appears to be getting bogged down by lack of definition and in product safety and product liability issues.

·         The new EU Biocidal Products Regulations are “a cow to be milked by lawyers”.

·         Eastern Europe and Latin America will see rapid growth in wet-wipes and incontinence products through 2020.

Nanomaterials Regulatory Framework: Implementing the new definition

Anna Gergely, Director EHS Regulatory, Steptoe & Johnson LLP (Belgium) said the EU has identified nanotechnology as a Key Enabling Technology with great opportunities is personal care products but the EU Commission has now “locked horns” with the EU Parliament over the details of the regulatory framework.  The EUC feel consumer protection needs to be enhanced by improving the implementation of the current legislation and their 2^nd review addressing the risks of nanomaterials is now due.  However in 2009 the EUP called for the review to be complete by end 2011, to include a comprehensive definition of nano and a publicly available database of the different types and uses of nano in the EU, along with labelling recommendations and testing protocols.

Current legislation on Product Safety, Product Liability, Environmental Protection, REACH and CLP is applicable to nano, but being drafted pre-nano is general rather than application specific (i.e. Horizontal).  The product liability legislation issue is important because it would not cover problems which arise from science discovered after product launch.  Vertical or application specific legislation is needed.

REACH covers all chemical substances including nano forms, but there is no specific mention of new nano materials.  A draft nano definition is evolving with

Pampers Cruisers Dry Max: High SAP, Low Pulp diapers

Mark Bolyen, Manager, Nonwovens, Marketing Technology Service, Inc. (USA) has looked in detail at Pampers Cruisers Dry Max and described the construction and his test results:

·         It is not a pulpless diaper.  The curly pulp acquisition layer contributes to the total absorbency.

·         It weighs ~34 gms and is 0.76 cms thick.

·         Much of the high performance comes from the permeability of the SAP, and the wicking in the curly pulp layer.

·         Mannequin testing in comparison with other Pampers and Huggies diapers showed:

o    Absorbency before leakage – stomach position – Dry Max came second to Huggies Overnights.

o    Absorbency before leakage – back position – Dry Max came 10^th,  Huggies Overnights came 9^th.

o    Rewet: Dry Max came 5^th.

Other constructions (than Dry Max) which work well at high SAP loadings were tissue/SAP sandwiches with ADL, synthetic fibre/SAP sandwiches with ADL, air-laid SAP composites with ADL, and CoForm cores with ADL.  SAP selection was key: chemistry, X-linking, size, permeability and whether layered or blended all being important construction variables.

For homogeneous blends of pulp and SAP, 37% SAP works best for absorbency; more SAP giving less total absorbency.  Traditional SAP’s work better than high permeability SAPs.