Central Textiles deploys Cotton Inc software - EFS to deliver quality
31 Oct '05
3 min read
If you're a Mid-South cotton producer, the game these days is selling more to China, where the largest mills on the planet now churn out clothing for the world's masses.
Score one for the US producer. Cotton Inc, the industry's marketing arm, this week announced the first sale of a sophisticated software in China, allowing the mill to identify and purchase US cotton best suited for its use.
“It is going to help them better identify the qualities they want to buy,” said Charles Chewning, vice president of Cary, NC-based Cotton Inc, “which means they won't have to have as many bales in inventory.”
It also means the bales will all be the same fiber length and strength, reducing fabric defects and production problems.
Central Textiles, a family-owned mill in Hong Kong, signed on this summer, paying Cotton Inc an annual licensing fee and promising to buy more US cotton.
It currently purchases 250,000 bales a year.
The hope is that when one mill sees the benefit, others in China will follow, Chewning said.
Cotton Inc introduced Engineered Fiber Selection in 1982. In the last two years, the number of foreign mills on board has gone from 20 to 28, according to Brad Robb, spokesman for the Cotton Board.
“The first thing that comes to mind is that the Chinese mill will now be using a majority of US cotton,” said Bill Weaver, chairman of Cotton Inc, from Edmondson, Ark.
“That's the start of it. They will realize we deliver a superior product compared to other growths they might use.”