| Dear Friend, Decades ago it was thought that the textile and apparel industry was indeed a leading economic indicator. Past recessions have proven this to be true when our markets recovered faster than others, but as the summer of 2010 comes to a close we wonder - is this still the case? The media reports you read are inconclusive, but our recent experience indicates the answer is 'yes'. Most of the companies we're talking to, including our direct customers, are having their best year in recent memory. Let's hope history repeats itself. Company News Our corporate website has been completely remodeled with specific sections for both brand - retailer and vendor solutions. Here you'll find concise information on the specific solutions we offer based on your role in the supply chain. In addition to this quarterly newsletter we'll be using our new TEXbase Blog to communicate news and articles that we hope you'll find educational. You can subscribe to be notified of updated content either by rss feed or by email. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter. We are also pleased to announce that Eric Rathbun has joined our team as Vice President of Global Customer Solutions. Eric comes to us from Microsoft and is founder of the Reel Pure lifestyle fishing brand. In fact, if you're headed to the Northwest Apparel and Footwear show in Portland next week, send him an email and he'll buy you a coffee. Product News | | Recent evolution within our Quality solution (formerly Lab) solidifies TEXbase as the undisputed leader of Material Lifecycle Management (MLM) solutions. As we reported earlier, the Trims module has been released to all TEXbase Material subscribers and more recently, we released Performance Specifications for both Trims and finished Products. | | | Today we are happy to announce that lab data management for both Trim and Product has been added to TEXbase Quality, allowing subscribers to capture and analyze test data throughout the lifecycle of their materials - from concept to compliance. The full spectrum of fabric testing functionality is now available for trims and products including custom test protocols, automatic calculations, comparison to spec and export to Excel for analysis and charting. Furthermore, TEXbase Connect has been expanded to collect trim and product test data from throughout your supply chain while dashboards have been updated with widgets that are specific to this new functionality. | | Overall, these improvements make TEXbase a comprehensive solution spanning R&D, Sourcing, Quality, Compliance and Production. Have you seen TEXbase lately? It's easy to schedule a demo. | Customer News | | One of the more recent additions to our customer list is Massif Mountain Gear, the world’s leading supplier of flame resistant, high performance apparel to the military, law enforcement and other high risk professions. Massif is using TEXbase to streamline processes and reduce costs throughout their material lifecycle. You can read more about Massif in Eric's blog post. | | Finally, to illustrate one example of a leading economic indicator within our industry, look no further than Unifi. As one of our premier partners, Unifi reported their first profitable year in the past ten years while leading the industry with innovative yarns. | | | Their online fabric library powered by TEXbase features over 600 certified Repreve fabrics from around the globe. You can apply to access this resource on their site or, as a TEXbase customer, simply access their shared fabric library. | Until next time, Your Friends at TEXbase |