#Technical Textiles

2025-09-18

Bally Ribbon Mills highlights advanced webbing solutions for the parachute industry

Bally Ribbon Mills (BRM), an industry leader in the design, development, and manufacture of highly specialized engineered woven fabrics, highlights its advanced webbing solutions for the parachute industry. With a longstanding reputation for quality and innovation, BRM's webbing is designed to meet the critical demands of aerospace and commercial parachute applications, ensuring optimal performance, strength, and durability.

Engineered woven fabrics designed for aerospace and commercial parachute applications, ensuring strength, durability, and compliance with stringent industry standards

BRM’s parachute webbing is engineered using high-performance fibers such as Nylon, Kevlar®, Vectran®, PTFE, and Zylon®PBO, providing superior strength, strength to weight ratio and reliability. Manufactured to meet stringent military specifications, including PIA-Spec and Mil-Spec standards, these narrow woven fabrics are essential components in life-support systems. The company’s Nylon Webbing (Mil-W-4088K) and Tubular Nylon Webbing (Mil-W-5625K) are Berry Amendment compliant and undergo rigorous testing to meet the exacting standards required for critical parachute applications.

BRM is developing new woven tapes and webbings utilizing DuPont’s Kevlar® EXO, a next-generation fiber that offers a higher strength-to-weight ratio compared to Kevlar® 29 and Vectran®. This material provides enhanced performance characteristics while maintaining a more competitive price point than traditional PBO materials. Currently under evaluation for use in the parachute industry, Kevlar® EXO presents a promising alternative for applications requiring lightweight strength and reliability.

Designed to withstand extreme conditions, BRM’s parachute webbing features low pack volume, high energy absorption, and superior abrasion resistance, making it ideal for deployment in demanding environments. These materials are integral to parachute canopy reinforcements, harnesses, and risers, ensuring both safety and reliability in airborne operations. Beyond traditional parachute systems, BRM’s webbing solutions support advanced aerospace applications, including space rocket launch vehicles, capsule recovery programs, and NASA-directed commercial sector initiatives.

BRM maintains the highest quality standards, holding ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D certifications, underscoring its commitment to precision and excellence. The company ensures strict compliance with federal regulations, providing Berry Amendment-compliant products that are 100 percent sourced and manufactured in the United States. This dedication to quality and reliability has solidified BRM’s reputation as a trusted supplier of high-performance webbing for mission-critical applications.

For more information about parachute webbing solutions from Bally Ribbon Mills, visit

https://www.ballyribbon.com/mil-spec.

"We will become a recycling powerhouse"

The textile industry is now in its fourth consecutive year of crisis, while automation, artificial intelligence and recycling are reshaping the rules of the game. In this interview, Rieter CEO Thomas Oetterli discusses the first signs of a market recovery, reflects on his first three years at the helm of the company, explains the integration of Barmag, outlines Rieter’s vision of the fully automated spinning mill and highlights the strategic importance of recycling. In doing so, he explains why the new Rieter Group aims to play a leading role in transforming the textile value chain into a circular economy.

EDANA launches landmark continence report to mark the start of the World Continence Week

Today marks the official commencement of the World Continence Week. To honour this global awareness initiative, EDANA has published a comprehensive report titled "The Central Role of Absorbent Hygiene Products in the Management of Adult Urinary Incontinence: Benefits, Costs and Environmental Impact." The World Continence Week (WCW) is an annual global initiative dedicated to raising public awareness about incontinence and bladder or bowel health issues. Traditionally held in June, this awareness week aims to shed light on a condition that affects millions of people worldwide but is frequently kept secret due to widespread social stigma, embarrassment, and taboo.

Mario Jorge Machado re-elected President of EURATEX

The EURATEX General Assembly has re-elected Mario Jorge Machado as President of EURATEX, renewing its confidence in his leadership at a crucial moment for the European textile and clothing industry. The sector is facing rising costs, global competitive pressure and an increasingly challenging transition towards sustainability and digitalisation.

DYNEEMA® and NP Aerospace advance personal protection for military servicewomen

Dyneema®, owned by Avient Corporation, an innovator of materials solutions, is supplying its high-performance unidirectional (UD) materials to world-leading armor manufacturer NP Aerospace, enabling the production of armor systems designed specifically to fit the female body. With 2,000 new armor systems, including 4,000 plates, made in the United Kingdom (UK) and delivered in June 2026, this collaboration addresses a long-standing lack of high-quality personal protection specially built for female defense and security personnel.

Keeping products moving with Swedish automation at FILTECH 2026

At FILTECH 2026, taking place in Cologne from June 30th to July 2nd, members of TMAS – the Swedish textile machinery association – will highlight how the country’s engineering expertise is enabling filtration manufacturers to increase productivity, improve traceability and reduce dependence on labour-intensive manual processes.

Trelleborg celebrates grand opening of advanced manufacturing facility in North Carolina

Trelleborg Engineered Coated Fabrics proudly celebrated the grand opening of its new, state-of-the-art extrusion coating manufacturing facility in Forest City, North Carolina, US on May 6, 2026. The event brought together community leaders, customers, partners and Trelleborg leadership to mark a significant milestone in the company’s continued investment in innovation, capacity and sustainable operations. The new facility represents a significant investment and reinforces Trelleborg’s long-term commitment to advancing high-performance engineered coated fabric solutions for critical applications across aerospace, healthcare & medical, safety & protection and industrial markets.

ITM 2026 makes happy participants with its international and qualified visitor profile

ITM 2026 International Textile Machinery Exhibition, one of the most prestigious meeting points of the textile machinery sector, attracted attention in its first three days, particularly with its diverse international visitor numbers. Industry professionals from all over the world had the opportunity to closely examine the latest technology machines and solutions displayed in operation. Thousands of visitors from approximately 100 countries, primarily Egypt, Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Syria, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, met at the Tüyap Fair and Congress Center for new investment and cooperation opportunities.

KARL MAYER presents a textile TEXTRONIC® innovation at ITM 2026

With highly efficient machines and continuous textile innovations, KARL MAYER underscores its role as a reliable partner for discerning top-tier customers. Just in time for ITM 2026 in Istanbul, the industry leader is introducing a true innovation: an eyelash lace with its characteristic fringed look – combined with a previously unattainable 4-way stretch. While the established fabric could until now only be produced as rigid version or with one-dimensional stretch, the new elasticity in both dimensions expands the possibilities for cross-band panel fabrics.

Textile Exchange publishes comprehensive polyester LCA study

Textile Exchange has released a new Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study on polyester, providing detailed data on the environmental impacts of both virgin and recycled polyester production. The study aims to strengthen understanding across the fashion, textile and apparel industries and support more informed decision-making regarding polyester sourcing and production.