Revolutionising industrial thread technology Coats

revolutionising industrial tHread tecHnology

The UK’s Coats Group is a global leader in the development and manufacture of industrial threads and yarns. The company has evolved over its 200-year history to become one of the most innovative and visionary of its kind. Philip Yorke reports on a group that continues to lead the field in product sustainability and digital technology.

The Coats Group was founded in Paisley, Scotland, in 1775 by James and Patrick Clark. Its activities began with the production of loom equipment and silk thread at a small workshop. Today the company operates globally in more than 50 countries worldwide and in 2018 recorded revenues of almost USD 2 billion, generated by a workforce of around 20,000 people.

Each year, the group makes enough thread to go into 8 billion pairs of jeans and every month produces enough to stretch all the way to the sun - a distance of over 92 million miles. In addition, more than 100 million airbags are made using Coats’ high-performance thread, as well as over 450 million pairs of shoes. Harnessing talent and technology

For over 200 years, Coats’ has worked to harness the talent and technology that exists in the textile industry in order to enhance people’s lives. This embraces everything from sewing thread to medical sutures and fibre optic cables, and from high performance threads used in planes, automobiles and safety equipment to the yarns, that have inspired designers around the world. The Coats Group are also restless pioneers forever seeking to create new materials and to partner with customers to help them realise their goals.

The company’s vision is to become the world’s leading and most diverse industrial textiles Group, delivering innovation, digital solutions

and sustainable value to all its stakeholders. Today Coats’ customers are looking for unique products, optimal services and advanced digital solutions in order to support their future business objectives.

The company’s shareholders also require a strategic balance of growth and efficiency, to deliver sustainable, high quality earnings. When it comes to its employees, the group provides an environment that offers them growth as well as one that allows them to reach their maximum potential within a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace.

High-tech innovation hubs

Earlier this year, the Coats Group completed the opening of its series of three Innovation Hubs in the EMEA region. At its site in Bursa, Turkey, the company’s latest dedicated Innovation Hub was officially unveiled by Rajiv Sharma, the Group’s Chief Executive at an event attended by government representatives, customers, global brands and members of the Coats Group Innovation team.

It follows the recent opening of another Innovation Hub in Asia in Shenzhen, China. In North America, the company’s first Innovation Hub there, in North Carolina, became fully operational just two months ago. These dedicated, high-tech innovation centres are located at strategic sites around the world. This enables Coats to collaborate with a broad range of innovative partners in a diverse range of industries as well as customers, suppliers, universities and start-ups.

Together these strategic partners will develop pioneering new products and processes in Apparel and Footwear and hi-tech products for end uses in automotive, oil and gas, protective wear and telecommunications sectors. By providing creative and inspiring facilities where an innovative concept can be developed collaboratively, prototype products can be rapidly worked into a prototype design which can then be manufactured in a secure, stand-alone pilot facility.

Rajiv Sharma, Group Chief Executive, Coats, said: “Coats is a pioneering company and innovation is crucial to our success. To help structure our approach to innovation we are developing Innovation Hubs at key locations around the world. These are centres of excellence where we can develop new and potentially industry disrupting ideas. Our EMEA and Asia Hubs coming online is an exciting step in our new approach to innovation.”

Each of the Coats Innovation Hubs has distinct areas of focus. The customer experience zone facilitates collaboration and creation of an initial idea. Dedicated flexible manufacturing processes enable innovative prototypes to be produced with speed and accuracy. In addition, Coats’ high-quality laboratory proves that concepts designed and created there fully meet the functional parameters of the final product or garment.

Pioneering a sustainable future

Recently the Coats Group launched two exciting, new 100 per cent cotton products. ‘Tre Cerchi Vero’ and ‘Tre Cerchi Vero+’ are both made from completely sustainable raw materials.

Adrian Elliott, President, Apparel and Footwear at Coats, said: “As our customers strive to achieve their sustainability goals, we can support them by exploring innovative solutions and products which are then independently verified as being made from sustainable raw materials. We are doing our part to contribute to an end product that the consumer can trust has been made as sustainably as possible and without compromising on quality and performance.”

Through continual development and the pioneering work conducted by its global teams and communities, Coats has been able to create two new 100 per cent cotton threads that offer uncompromising looks and performance in one completely sustainable package. The two new ‘Tre Cerchi’ products extend Coats’ existing range of sustainable threads. These eco-friendly products enhance the company’s popular EcoVerde range, which include Coats’ Epic Ecoverde and Coats Gramax EcoVerde brands which all boast 100 per cent recycled sewing threads.

Mesdan SpA

The partnership between mesdan and Coats has a long lasting history of almost 30 years and represents an example of a successful interaction between an equipment supplier and a quality minded commodity manufacturer, on a global scale. The spark that lighted up this cooperation was, on one end, Coats sensibility to quality and its commitment to deliver high quality threads. on the other end, mesdan leadership in the field of yarn joining.

later, this cooperation was extended to various mesdan-lab QC equipment. Some mesdan products have become a standardised tool within the group, some examples:

• Jointair® 110R and 110m for knotless joining of filament yarns • Jointair® 4941A for knotless joining of synthetic sewing threads, especially popular in the finishing winding • Aquasplicers® 4923B for knotless joining of cotton threads, • Splice Scanner, transportable yarns strength tester complete with data processing system and printer • NATI (Neps and Trash Indicator), to measure and classify

Neps and Trash content in cotton and polyester raw material • Other testing equipment such as Tenso-Lab strength testers,

Twist testers, Autowash colour fastness tester, Count

Analysers, Wrap Reels, etc.

It is worth noting that ‘EcoVerde’ offers the same proven level of performance as the industry’s leading non-recycled threads. In March this year, Coats published its first sustainability report, titled ‘Pioneering a sustainable future’. It also launched a new sustainability strategy which set out seven ambitious targets in order to accelerate the company’s progress towards a significantly more sustainable future.

Futuristic digital technology

Towards the end of 2019, the company launched Coats Digital. This visionary and futuristic integrated technology business brings together all its software solutions under a single brand which describes and aligns with the offering to its customers across the apparel and footwear industries. Coats Digital provides in-depth industry expertise combined with the practical application of the latest technology, including Big Data and AI, delivering market leading software solutions.

The key benefit for Coats’ customers will be its one-stop-shop approach and an unrivalled suite of advanced, progressively integrated solutions, which will also include the new Coats Digital branding. For more details of the Coats Group’s latest innovative products and services visit: www.coats.com n