Expo 2004: FR products draw much interest
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, April 18, 2004
INDIANAPOLIS — Exhibitors of fire-resistant products were well represented here, the last major bedding supplier show before California begins enforcing stringent new mattress flammability legislation next year.
Expo 2004, hosted by the International Sleep Products Assn., gave producers a broad overview of the latest offerings in the FR arena. Veterans said they were surprised by the number of FR products shown.
ISPA's show guide listed 20 companies displaying FR products. An addendum added four more.
Exhibitors generally said they were pleased with the reaction they received at the show.
"We had tremendous interest from the mattress industry," said John Dottore, corporate accounts manager in DuPont's Advanced Fiber Systems unit.
"Manufacturers told us they were attracted to DuPont because of our safety heritage, consumer recognition and research capabilities," he said. "They wanted to learn how they could apply the breadth of DuPont Fire Resistant Material solutions to address their mattress challenges."
Culp Home Fashions, the first ticking supplier to partner with a supplier of FR products, debuted its SoftGuard MTP products, which provide a flame-resistant barrier for the mattress and foundation. The producer showed a bed protected with those products.
"We had a good reaction," said Iv Culp, executive vice president. "There was a lot of interest and a lot of sampling. We are real happy with that."
"The reception was good," said Alan Posner, vice president of operations at Jones Fiber Products. "Traffic was very, very good and the quality of the traffic also was very good. They were all interested in flammability. They realize it's inevitable."
Tom Taylor, manager of Western Nonwovens' bedding business, noted the ISPA Expo marked the first major national supplier event since the enforcement date in California was set. He said he was "astounded" at the variety of FR offerings.
But Taylor injected a note of caution: "The level of work done by those who have been working at this task for the last two years provides customers a level of confidence that they have a viable, repeatable solution. Newcomers with limited test histories may not understand the challenges offered by various bed designs."
Jay Sanders, vice president and director of marketing for Leggett & Platt's Bedding Components Group, said the FR options available to bedding producers are growing. Leggett & Platt offered two different families of FR products at the ISPA show.
"We've got second- or third-generation products," he said. "We are learning more cost-effective ways to meet the standard. We are confirming that there is more than one way to get the job done."
On the subject of overall availability of FR products, Sanders said, "We are comfortable the industry will have the materials to meet its needs."
Jimmy Bush, an executive with Hickory Springs, which offers a number of FR products, said the ISPA show was timely.
"It's getting down to the finish line," he said. "This was a good venue to compare the vendors in one place. Everybody knows that (FR standards) are going to happen. The government agencies need to finalize on a standard and a procedure."
Carpenter Co. was talking here about FireStop, its fire-barrier fill for bedding. "We had more discussions on that than on anything else at the show," said Ed Malechek, senior vice president. "It's manufacturing friendly and it works."
He noted that Carpenter has been able to lower the price of FireStop by continuing its product research.
Frank Kelly, director of sales for FR supplier Elk Technologies, described traffic overall as "rather slow" and said he was disappointed with international turnout.
But he was pleased with the quality of the traffic. "We made some very high-quality contacts," he said.
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