James Heal’s latest technological innovations in physical and colourfastness testing

Martindale 900 Series for abrasion and pilling testing and TruBurst burst strength tester plus their Elmatear digital tear strength tester were presented at the ITMA Exhibition. Prior to the start of the ITMA exhibition, James Heal held its pre-ITMA James Heal Agents’ Conference at the Expo Hotel Barcelona, just outside the city centre. This International Agents Conference drew together delegates representing key markets including: China, Hong Kong, Pakistan, India, Japan, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Indonesia, Korea, Germany, USA, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Egypt, Sri Lanka and Turkey, to name but a few..

International Agents Conference

The theme of this year’s Agent Conference was ‘Launching the new James Heal Brand’, which also focused on introducing the Agents to latest product innovations, such as the new TruFade, a new Xenon light fastness tester and Titan4, a fourth generation strength tester.

The Brand Launch Event to officially launch James Heal much anticipated new brand identity took place at the Expo Hotel in Barcelona a day before ITMA 2011. The event provided an opportunity to highlight innovative new product developments with over 50 of their Agents and Partners from across the world. The event theme, Setting the Standard, was followed by a cocktail reception. The key speakers from James Heal’s commercial, engineering and technical teams including interactive video demonstrations of their new product launches, and culminated in a celebratory dinner in the evening.

ITMA highlights

James Heal has embarked on a strategic rebranding project to transform and modernize their identity, helping to better align their four core business divisions under one consistent brand name and image. In line with this, they showcased their new innovations for the textile testing market:

• Titan: fourth generation universal strength tester.
• TruFade: new light fastness tester. 
• Martindale 900 Series: abrasion & pilling testers.
• Elmatear: digital tear tester. 
• TruBurst: bursting strength tester.

James Heal’s Owner and Managing Director, David Repper, explains: “The challenge was to capture our 139-year heritage and create a modern brand that can operate and be recognized internationally to deliver the sophisticated product and service that James Heal represents today: Innovation, Leadership, Integrity, Precision and Pedigree.”

Repper continues: “It’s a combination of our expertise and innovation that drives new product development to enable us to better meet customer needs. Personally, I’m very proud to be leading the Company through such an exciting period of change and success!”

James Heal’s Sales Director, Elliot Rich, is delighted with the outcome of the show, and explains further: “Visitor numbers exceeded those seen in Munich four years ago and the quality of people visiting our stand was very encouraging. Our exclusive network of agents and distributors has been impressed with the quality of enquiries they can follow up on their return and we are confident ITMA will show a strong return on our investment.

With regards Testing Instruments, we have had all the major Test Houses visit us including representatives from major retailers such as Marks and Spencer, NIKE, IKEA, Victoria’s Secret, Levi Strauss and many more. Everyone has been extremely complimentary to our new branding and product portfolio which has really ‘Set a new Standard’ for the testing industry.”

Over the duration of the show, many visitors came to the James Heal stand for valuable advice on laboratory design, appropriate tests for their products and buyers as well as suitable instrumentation and accessories to carry out these tests.