Attendees look forward to new virtual format, same great content, at Hygienix 2020

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, will present the sixth edition of its annual Hygienix conference in an all-virtual format Nov. 17-19, as the association aims to continue to serve constituents involved with hygiene and personal care technology and applications amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The virtual format will offer Hygienix attendees the convenience of participating from any location to access program content, such as market and technical developments, networking, virtual exhibits, and product innovation awards.

“I think the fact that Hygienix is being done virtually this year allows you to maybe have a better organization of your schedule and your time,” says Alexandre Corrêa, business unit general manager for Suzano. “You can see presentations at a different time than they’re actually happening, because now they’re going to be taped for you.”

Hygienix program content will be available to attendees for on-demand viewing for one year following the presentation of the event, according to INDA.

”I’m interested in strategy and vision,” says Paul Latten, director of research and development for Southeast Nonwovens. “Like, where does our business go from here? So, it’s not so much as tomorrow’s focus, it’s more of one, two, three years from now’s focus. And what I get from Hygienix is networking with people to understand what the current point of view is so that I can discern from that what the future may hold.”

“From what I’ve been following from the community, there’s also been some great work from within the [INDA] team to keep the networking part of the show as live and as active as possible,” says Correa. “So I really believe that even though we’re all going to be attending it from different sides of the world, we’ll have a very great platform to really network, which is one of the key aspects of the show.”

Hygienix will include speaker presentations around the broad theme of “Navigating the New Normal in Hygiene” with live audience polling, real-time question & answer sessions with industry experts, networking with decision-makers, virtual tabletop exhibitions in Zoom breakout rooms, trivia and coffee breaks, cocktail hours and more over the course of three days of conference programming.

“I’m interested in strategy and vision,” says Paul Latten, director of research and development for Southeast Nonwovens. “Like, where does our business go from here? So, it’s not so much as tomorrow’s focus, it’s more of one, two, three years from now’s focus. And what I get from Hygienix is networking with people to understand what the current point of view is so that I can discern from that what the future may hold.”

The Hygienix event schedule Includes:

• Virtual Hygienix Conference Presentations – Nov. 17-19
• 2020 Hygienix Innovation Award Virtual Presentations – Nov. 18
• Virtual Hygienix Tabletop Displays – Nov. 17-18
• Virtual 2020 Hygienix Innovation Award Announcement – Nov. 19

“I am looking forward to seeing the sustainability presentations,” says Becky Kristopeit. “Efforts to improve the footprint of our industry influence the long-term success of the nonwovens industry by bringing value to everyday consumers.”

“I hear lots of talk about sustainability,” says Latten. “None of us really knows what that means in singularity, but we have this vision of what that word means. There have been real projects that we’ve done with more sustainable materials. So, I would say that there is a sea change from a sustainable materials point of view. We’re seeing real investment in terms of dollars in product and application development.”

In addition to sustainability, the impact of COVID-19 on the hygiene and personal care markets will be of primary consideration at Virtual Hygienix. INDA President, Dave Rousse, will welcome participants to the event on Nov. 17 and moderate a session on the industry’s outlook in light of COVID-19. Industry experts will also present supply-side and demand-side developments in both the North American nonwovens markets and the absorbent hygiene markets, market intelligence, economic insights, challenges and disruptions brought on by the coronavirus.

The conference program will also include the naming of the 2020 Hygienix Innovation Award. Presented annually at Hygienix, the award honors innovation within the entire disposable absorbent hygiene value chain. Eligible categories include raw materials, roll goods, converting, packaging, active ingredients, binders, additives and end-use products. This year’s nominees are:

• “MDP” Male Drip Protection by Dermasteel Ltd. – By utilizing nonwoven and absorbent core materials, and configuring them in a brand new, patented and patent-pending proprietary design, MDP has created a product configuration which is comfortably worn directly on the male anatomy. The resulting efficacy of MDP is unparalleled amongst products currently available to men and produces a secure and effective containment of drips and dribbles.
• High Gel Strength (HGS) SAF by Technical Absorbents — High Gel Strength (HGS) SAF™ fabrics are a new range from Technical Absorbents that incorporate more robust HGS SAF™ fibers. The fibers have been developed to allow the design and manufacture of materials that offer greater integrity and robustness in more demanding absorbent applications.
• Full-Care 6217 by H.B. Fuller – A new generation of the positioning adhesive, the Full-Care 6217 delivers: up to 20% savings through coat weight reduction, compared to the industry leading adhesives; consistently higher peels with no adhesive transfer to undergarments; robust performance on different fabric types like nylon, microfiber and cotton; and excellent adhesion on both fabric sides for reliable stay-in-place performance

Featured Hygienix presentations:

To register for Virtual Hygienix, visit hygienix.org.

* International Fiber Journal is owned by INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (inda.org).