Welcome to IN-LINE with FI-TECH Fall 2001 is here and so is our latest edition of "In-Line with Fi-Tech". We hope everyone had a good and safe summer. Looking forward, we all know that our industries are facing difficult business conditions. The strong US Dollar is good for investments in European equipment, but it is also making our products more expensive for export markets. In the long run, such a strong dollar does not benefit our economy. It will be interesting to see how the Euro will fare as we get closer to the end of 2001. At this time, currency will be put into public circulation for the first time, and the Euro will become a "real" currency to millions of Europeans. Since the Euro has generally been an "invisible" currency since its inception, it should gain in value as people begin to use it on a daily basis, thus giving it a stronger identity and base of support. As of mid-summer, we are already seeing some signs of the Euro gaining some ground against the Dollar. In the last 6 months, Fi-Tech has taken some steps to increase our level of support to our Mexican customers, in addition to broadening our product line in Mexico. We are very pleased with the addition of Jacobo Villalobos to our sales staff in Mexico as of April 1. Mr. Villalobos is a graduate engineer with several years of industrial sales experience. His presence will allow us to have more complete customer service and sales coverage and allow us to expand into additional markets This issue of"ln-line with Fi-Tech," includes a pre-view of our IDEA Show exhibitors, information on our booth location, and show times. In addition, we introduce Idrosistem's Water Filtration System for Hydroentangling Lines.We also share information on new developments from COFPA in belts and wires for spunbond and airlaid nonwoven production. In the area of synthetic fiber production,Autefa has introduced a new"compact" baler design for lower capacity, niche baling applications; and Enka tecnica introduces the latest in their series of in-line sensors. We look forward to seeing many of you in Miami and are excited to have this opportunity to discuss the newest developments from our principals. It is at shows like IDEA, where the machinery and materials suppliers, the nonwovens producers, and the nonwovens end-users can meet to exchange new ideas in nonwovens development that have generated the dynamic growth in this industry. Welcome Jacobo! With the addition of Mr. Villalobos, Fi-Tech is pleased to announce the representation of Pierret cutting equipment and Galan Textile Machinery within Mexico. Pierret, based in Corbion, Belgium, is a recognized leader in cutting machines used in size reduction and waste recycling. Galan, Barcelona, Spain, is a leader in the manufacture of heavy duty twisting frames and specialty spinning frames. We strongly believe that equipment supplied by both Pierret and Galan will be beneficial to our Mexican customer base. Please be sure to check out the events calendar on the back page. We hope to see you at one of the upcoming conferences or exhibitions. Should you need any information on these events, please call 1.804.794.9615. Jeff Bassett The New Dimension in Nonwoven Perforating For many years, the nonwovens industry has been researching the perforating of nonwoven materials. In the early years, the principle of film perforating was adopted. With this method, the nonwoven fabric is guided through the nip of a rotating pin roll and a back-up roll. Heated pins are used whenever it is necessary to melt a hole in the nonwoven. However, these early film perforating methods did not achieve the quality of perforations needed for today's nonwoven applications. A new generation of hot needle perforating systems from Burckhardt is now able to achieve the quality required for the following major applications. 1. Increase air permeability of nonwovens. Perforated, or apertured, nonwovens are growing in importance. In baby diapers, for example, the use of absorbents will demand apertured top sheets. 2. Create 3-dimensional volume in nonwovens. A lightweight fabric can be "pumped-up" to increase its volume while at the same time remain lightweight with a soft upper side. 3. Transform flat films into structure with nonwoven properties. Through perforation, the surface of films can be altered and a nonwoven-like look and feel can be achieved. 4. Combine or thermally bond layers into composites. Perforating can be used to thermally bond web layers or combinations of nonwovens and films. The basic principle of using rotating pin rolls in combination with Burckhardt's technology ensures high production speed and efficiency. Today, a number of patents and inventions make it possible for Burckhardt to manufacture pin rolls with high levels of precision that overcome the limitations previously associated with pin perforating. Also, newly developed perforating modules can be integrated into production lines for producing hygienic products, filters, film, leather and artificial leather. The ability to produce high quality perforations at production line speeds increases the production efficiency. Old perforating methods were mainly off-line processes, which required additional labor and handling. Perforating can be used to combine aperturing with thermal bonding. A single web or several web layers can be apertured and thermally bonded at the same time. These sandwiched structures can provide a large number of combinations, and thus a wide range of properties. Pin perforating has a cost advantage when compared with other systems. Hot perforating needles show little or no wear compared to punching tools, and rotating pin rolls require far less energy than vacuum, ultrasonic or waterjet perforating. A number of advantages arise from this new technology. Using Burckhardt's laboratory equipment, joint developments with customers can lead to unique design solutions for hygienic applications as well as tailor-made solutions for other applications. Direct Extrusion of Breathable Films and Composites From Reifenhauser Breathable films were first produced 10 years ago by compounding a PP or PE resin with a mineral filler (chalk) and then stretching the resulting film mono or bi-axially to create micro pores in the blown or cast film. In a subsequent process this breathable film could be laminated with a nonwoven web using adhesive or a point bonding calender to produce a soft, textile-like composite. Until now, the breathable film/nonwoven composites were produced in a separate process. These off-line processes are expensive and do not provide potential for significant savings. Reifenhþuser has developed a process to produce breathable films without having to purchase already compounded resins. In addition, Reifenhþuser has patented an extrusion coating process that allows breathable films to be produced and laminated in-line using a patented extrusion coating process. In order to produce cost effective breathable films, Reifenhþuser has developed a process using its twin screw extruder, Reitruder, that allows for the in-line compounding of PP or PE resin with calcium carbonate (chalk). Compared to conventional compound processing, production costs can be reduced by 50% using direct extrusion. The resulting cast film can be stretched mono or biaxially to produce a breathable film (Illustration #1) because the calcium carbonate particles in the polymer are not elastic, fine pores of 1-2 micron diameter develop which are permeable to water vapor, but at the same time, form a barrier to water or other liquids, depending upon the surface tension. Usually nonwovens are used as backing materials for breathable films to make breathable composites. These composites have traditionally been made in a costly off-line process. Over the past two years, Reifenhþuser has worked to develop an alternative laminating method in order to reduce the production costs for breathable film/nonwoven composites. By directly coating the nonwoven web, the three-step process can be reduced to a far more economic two-step process. The backing web is coated using a modified cast film roll in combination with an electrostatic field (see Illustration #2). With this method, the composite is made directly from the melt without applying mechanical pressure. The film is pressed into the backing web by an electrostatic field. In this non-contact coating method, the textile characteristic of the composite is largely retained. While very low coating weights of 5-6 gsm can be produced, these low weights are not suitable for stretching. Depending upon the application, coating weights of 15-50 gsm are required for stretching of filled polymers. After extrusion coating, the nonwoven composite is stretched to make it breathable. Through its core competence in film and fiber production, Reifenhþuser has brought together new and existing technologies that now allow for the economical production of breathable film/nonwoven composites for the femcare, hygiene, and industrial fabrics industries. To learn more about these new developments from Reifenhþuser, please contact your Fi-Tech sales representative. Dusseldorf October 25th - November 1st The world's number one show for the Plastics and Rubber Industries is set to take place in Dusseldorf, Germany, this fall. This will be the 15th K Show, and promises to be the best yet. This year's themes are vision, innovation, and business. Many of the companies represented by Fi-Tech will be exhibiting and attending this international marketplace event. Following is a brief summary of the hall and booth locations for our associates, along with information on the equipment to be exhibited: Cason - Montonate di Mornago, Italy Cason's Plastics Machinery Division will have a Film Calender on display, for cut and slit films. They will be in Hall 12, Booth F11 MOVEngineering - Parre, Italy MOVE will have a Vertical Hypox Cleaning System for candle filter cleaning on display in Hall 9, Booth D50. Mozart - Solingen, Germany Mozart will have information and a display of specialty cutting blades at their booth in Hall 11, Booth F67. Nuova Protex - Sumirago, Italy Nuova Protex will display their B-2 Winder, for winding tapes and monofilaments, and their new C-500 Winder for winding extruded nets and other multifilament products, with package weights up to 500 Kgs. They will be located in Hall 16, Booth A76. Reifenhauser - Troisdorf, Germany Reifenh¬auser will have an information display, along with key technical personnel at their Booth Number A21, in Hall 17. Sikoplast - Siegburg, Germany Sikoplast will show a Watering Pelletizer along with an Edge-Trim Extruder system. They will be in Hall 9, Booth A42. Zimmer - Frankfurt, Germany Zimmer plans to introduce their new COMET Compact Metering and Mixing system at the show. They will be in Hall 9, Booth D37. DMT - LeBourget du Lac, France DMT will also participate in the K2001 Show. More information will be available later on their exhibit. For further information on reservations, hours of operation, or other exhibitors, contact K2001 using the following options: Internet: www.k-online.de E-Mail: info@messe-dusseldorf.de Telephone: 49-211-4560900 Fax: 49-211-4560668 Hotel Reservations: Telephone: 49-211-172020 Fax: 49-211-161071 Contact Fi-Tech for your European Spare Parts needs. We can assist you with all of your foreign parts needs including part identification, ordering, importing, customs clearance and delivery to your location. Contact us for: Motors Pneumatics/Hydraulics Photo Optics/Proximity Switches Therm Cutter Electronic Components Gear Boxes Vacuum Pumps Thread Guides Contact Keith Wise at 1-804-794-9615. Or, email kwise@euro-spares.com for more information.

The Carpet Technologies Show: Northwest Georgia Trade & Convention Center September 11 - 13, 2001 We would like to invite you to visit us at The Carpet Technologies Show 2001. This is the only international show to feature machinery, equipment, services and suppliers exclusively for the carpet and rug industry. We will be promoting the following products and services: Autefa Balers and Crosslappers Burckhardt Fibrillating Rollers and Pin Bars Cason Bobbin Strippers Enka tecnica Spinnerets and Components Euro-Spares Spare Parts Services Mozart Staple Cutting Blades Please take the time to get out of the workplace and visit us at Booth #523. YarnScan There are considerable requirements made on filament yarns today. Many customers require nearly perfect yarns for their processing equipment. The trend in some sectors is that the yarn needs to be of perfect quality or it is waste, there are no intermediate grades. Often, a large amount of fiber has been produced before lab testing shows imperfections in the yarn. The solution to this unnecessary waste is to provide a system that allows at-line detection of key process parameters such as tension, yarn speed, spin finish level, broken filaments and level of entanglement. Enka tecnica has just released a new platform for at-line yarn inspection and detection equipment called the Et-YarnScan System. This system consists of one unique software platform using multiple sensors for yarn inspection at the spinning line. With the Et-YarnScan System, the user will be able to connect a series of different sensors to a portable personal computer. Although the sensors operate by very different physical principles, they are all connected to the same computer via a transducer/amplifier and operated by software that has modules adapted for each individual sensor. The software interface is virtually the same for every sensor but adapted to each sensor's special requirement. The YarnScan¨ can be installed as a temporary quality control device used at different positions during product changes when there appears to be a problem. It can also serve in-line as a permanent detection system in tandem with permanently installed devices such as the Fraytec. 1.The YarnScan consists of the following components: 2.Industrial grade personal computer with complete software package. 3.Tenstec II: System for tensile force measurement. This system consists of two types of measuring heads. The Tenshead RF measures tensile force for normal fluctuations. The Tenshead HF measures normal fluctuations and also voltage peaks. 4.Tangletec S: Sensor for entanglement check of running yarn (short time period). 5.Tangletec R: Sensor for permanent checking of entanglement on running yarn. 6.Fiberspeed: Sensor for the measurement of yarn speed. 7.Fintec G: Sensor for the measurement of spin finish level according to conductivity principle. This sensor is for water based or diluted spin finish. 8.Fintec C: Spin finish measurement according to a capacitive measuring principle. This sensor is for neat oils. 9.Fraytec V: Sensor for the detection of broken filaments or fluffs in the filament yarn. The Et-YarnScan System will save time, anxiety and money and insures a clear gain in the quality and reliability of filament yarns without excess production waste. Spare Parts Department Here To Serve You. The Spare Parts Department of Fi-Tech, Inc. is in daily contact with our primary suppliers, Reifenhþ user, Autefa, Zimmer, Edelmann, Mozart, Nuova Protex, and others in a continuing effort to support our customers with their various spare parts needs. In many cases we are able to utilize express services to expedite deliveries to avoid costly down time. Our Euro-SparesSM division of Fi-Tech, Inc. can help source parts for any European built machinery. Please do not hesitate to call our Spare Parts Department for your needs. We will make every effort to provide the part you need. Fast. www.eurospares.com Toll Free 888-822-EURO Fax 804-794-9514 e-mail: sales@euro-spares.com