NWI Returns from a Successful World of Wipes® Conference

A very successful 2023 WOW – World of Wipes^® – conference was held this week in Atlanta, attracting nearly 500 registered attendees, including The Nonwovens Institute’s (NWI’s) Executive Director Professor Dr. Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Deputy Director Thomas Daugherty and Marketing Director Matt Migliore.  Hot topics at the conference included: sustainability, plastics regulation, end-of-life/circular solutions, supply chains and flushability.

The conference was an excellent opportunity for both established market participants and new entrants to hear from industry experts, discuss critical topics and network across the wipes value chain.  “This year’s World of Wipes® conference allowed us to get out and meet some of the new companies entering the wipes market,” said Dr. Pourdeyhimi. “We had many interesting conversations, as there is clearly a desire to innovate in order to meet customer needs. This is where The Nonwovens Institute can be particularly useful, providing the technological capability and subject matter expertise to bring new wipe product concepts to life. NWI can not only support early development, but also, through our LINC affiliate, we can help to incubate new concepts via introductory commercial production.”

I was pleased to hear a lot of discussion about workforce development at the World of Wipes®,” noted Tom Daugherty. “Given the recent challenges the nonwovens industry has had in finding and retaining top talent, companies are recognizing the need to invest in training programs.

Another key issue for industry participants is building and sustaining the team needed for success.  “I was pleased to hear a lot of discussion about workforce development at the World of Wipes^®,” noted Tom Daugherty. “Given the recent challenges the nonwovens industry has had in finding and retaining top talent, companies are recognizing the need to invest in training programs. NWI offers a wide range of open and custom training opportunities, and these were of particular interest during the tabletop sessions at WOW.”

The next edition of WOW will be held June 17-20, 2024 in Minneapolis.  For more information including a view of the 2023 conference content visit https://www.worldofwipes.org.

NWI is the world’s first accredited academic program for the interdisciplinary field of engineered fabrics. Based at the Centennial Campus of NC State University in Raleigh, NWI is an innovative global partnership between industry, government, and academia. NWI has more than 45 member companies / organizations spanning the breadth of the Nonwovens industry.

LINC, LLC is a non-profit organization wholly-owned by, and operated in furtherance of the purposes of, the NC State University Partnership Corporation. As a manufacturing incubator, LINC is focused on commercializing niche high-value technical nonwoven products.

The World of Wipes^® is organized by INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry.  INDA serves hundreds of member companies in the nonwovens / engineered fabrics industry doing business globally. Since 1968, INDA networking events have helped members connect, innovate and develop their businesses. INDA educational courses, market data, test methods, consultancy and issue advocacy help members succeed by providing them the information they need to better plan and execute their business strategies. INDA Media is the business-to-business publishing arm of INDA and publisher of International Fiber Journal and International Filtration News, which reach a vast network of professionals who employ fibers, filaments, and filtration systems to optimize their application environments. www.inda.org .