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The UK manufacturing sector potentially turned a corner in November this year, with production contracting for the ninth consecutive month, according to S&P Global Ratings. The rate of decline, however, eased sharply to its second-weakest during that sequence.The downturn in new orders, although still solid, also slowed during the month.Production in the UK manufacturing sector contracted for the ninth consecutive month in November, S&P Global Ratings said. The rate of decline, however, eased sharply to its second-weakest during that sequence. The main reasons were weaker domestic demand, decreased intakes of new export business and destocking at both manufacturers and their clients.Manufacturers nonetheless remained on a cautious footing, with ongoing market uncertaint...

Dyeing/​Finishing/​Printing DP Dyers, based in Holmfirth, UK, has collaborated with the Future Fashion Factory on a project aimed at improving the replication of lab dyeing results in mass production, to try and reduce excessive repeat dyeing and the subsequent waste this generates. Led by Professor Stephen Westland of University of Leeds, the Call 6 project employed the use of computational modelling to analyse inconsistencies between lab and mass dyed fabrics in order to improve results. The process has analysed the areas in which lab dyeing results do not translate to mass dyed fabrics and led to new solutions for eradicating the inconsistencies, leading to significantly reduced waste, energy and water consumption. Continuous testing In traditional piece dyeing, woven lengths of w...

Fibres/​Yarns/​Fabrics Within the Airlements project, researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland have been using 3D printing to produce sustainable insulation elements for buildings – even those with complex shapes. The high-​precision printing process generates less waste and removes the need for expensive and time-​consuming formwork and the mineral foam employed was produced by ETH spin-​off FenX. It is based on industrial waste and fully recyclable. “The mineral foam is mostly made from fly ash, a waste product from industrial blast furnaces,” explains Patrick Bedarf, of the ETH Digital Building Technologies group. “The foam has already gone through the first material cycle and can simply be recycled after use and reused. With 3D printing, the formwork needed for pouring material –...

A push by the US to drastically reduce its reliance on mainland China has forced Hong Kong exporters to sever some ties at home and over the border, with firms also cutting down on imports of raw materials due to threats of boycotts, industry leaders have told the Post.But a shippers’ organisation said moves to diversify away from the country would not be easy, as it was an integral part of the global supply chain and difficult to replace. Amid the disruption, manufacturers and brands both locally and abroad said they had to face new business realities, some of which required overhauling operations.Dennis Ng Kwok-on, vice-president of the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong, told the Post that the United States had started to ask local exporters who recently moved operations to...