In Brief
AWTA Ltd's website proving to be a popular source of resource material
In 1977 the eminent scientist, Carl Sagan, described his vision of the future power and scope of information technologies (see "Dragons of Eden", Carl Sagan, Ballantine Books; ISBN: 0345346297). He foretold an information revolution that would transform the world into an environment where electronic information technology would place the whole of man's knowledge at the fingertips of all men and women. Of course we are a long way from achieving this vision.
The Internet is a child of this information revolution and it does provide the potential for Sagan's vision to be realised. Furthermore there have been, and continue to be, numerous attempts to use this technology to develop new electronic businesses. Despite this there are still relatively few successful business models and in the business world models based on provision of corporate and other information dominate.
One of the benefits of information technology is that it also provides tools for monitoring the utilisation of the resources that are being provided. Since AWTA Ltd's site was revamped in December 2000, the number of unique visitors each day to the site has doubled. More interesting is the quantity of information being downloaded. In a fifty day period commencing 23rd March, approximately 3100 Acrobat PDF files (a total of 1.25 gigabytes) were downloaded by visitors to the site. The most popular file was AWTA Ltd's Key Test Data report followed by the recent Testing the Wool Clip brochure.
Most Popular Download - AWTA Ltd's Key Test Data report (7 page report)
2nd most Popular Download - Testing the Wool Clip brochure (A comprehensive summary of AWTA Ltd Services - 40 pages)
Wool Testing Trends
The April Key Test Data report shows that the total weight of greasy wool tested by AWTA Ltd this year is -0.4% compared with the same period last year. The total number of lots tested is +4.5% due to a decrease in average lot size of -0.29 bales.
The superfine production has moved from 14.9% of the clip at the end of April 2000 to 17.5% this year.
On current trends it is expected that AWTA Ltd will test a total of 651 million kilograms this year compared with 668 million kilograms last year.
The quantity tested this year will be substantially greater than the Australia Wool Production Forecasting Committee's estimate of actual wool production - approximately 630 million kilograms, the difference partly due to release of wool stored on farm.
AWEX Commences Wool Classer Development Program
AWEX has commenced its Wool Classer Development Program, with some modifications to the implementation of the program due to criticism and opposition from some grower organisations. The curriculum was developed in 2000 based on guidelines developed by the Quality Advisory Committee. An initial Train The Trainer program was conducted on 11th to 13th December 2000 to ensure that the registered trainers were themselves familiar with the curriculum. Approximately 20,000 registered classers have enrolled for the program. By the middle of March 2001 over 2000 classers had completed the course and a further 600 programs were scheduled for completion by the end of September 2001.
Competing with synthetic fibres - a challenge to the Wool Industry
On 15th May 1940, otherwise known as N-Day, nylon stockings first went on sale. The chemicals giant DuPont described its new miracle fibre as "finer than a spider's web, stronger than steel and more elegant than silk." American women were very impressed. On the first day alone, 780,000 pairs were sold.
When nylon made its way into men's socks, the result was less desirable. But in the past decade a whole new raft of synthetic fabrics has led to renewed excitement about socks. Since the early 1990's, when Japanese scientists found a way to create microfibres that could be made into breathable textiles, these new "chameleon fibres" have proved endlessly versatile.
The latest spin-off from the microfibre revolution is known as micro-encapsulation. The scope is endless. Last Christmas, for example, a range of scented socks was on sale at Britain's Marks & Spencers clothing outlets. In the men's department you can buy socks that smell of "seaside" or "cut grass" while women are offered "revitalising", "soothing" or "lavender" odours.
How about sports socks guaranteed to smell chlorine-fresh? The University of California claims that any pongy bacteria hiding in their experimental socks are killed by chlorine, which is released from halamines bonded to (synthetic) textile fibres.
Alternatively, the two-sock system is among the latest gizmos on offer in out-door pursuit shops. The inner sock, often made of "tetra-channel" polyester microfibres, trademarked "CoolMax" by Dupont, is designed to draw perspiration away from the skin to the fabric's surface, where it can evaporate more readily. Already tested on US Marines, this technology may soon be adopted by the British Army. After years of marching on a basic blend of 80% wool and 20% nylon, a new two-sock system is under development.
But all this is just a teaser. The top polymer labs are aiming to engineer genetically modified socks. The aim is to engineer living organisms to do what human chemists cannot: control the sequence and length of polymer chains to a degree that is otherwise impossible. Many of us will live to see biologically produced textiles - manufactured by yeast, bacteria or plants - replace the chemical fibres now synthesised from fossil fuels. Already in the wings are socks woven from DuPont's genetically engineered analogue of spider's silk - the strongest material in the world. Abridged from "The Joy of Socks", Gail Vines, New Scientist, pp 36-37, 23/30 December 2000.
LASERSCAN Mark 2
LASERSCAN has only recently been introduced in Australia as the primary method for certifying the fibre fineness characteristics of raw wool. The new fibre measurement technologies are relatively new, but in the modern world technology ages very quickly.
The development of the LASERSCAN instrument actually began in the late 1970's and its competitor, the OFDA 100, in the early 1980's. The current configuration of both technologies was finalised at about the same time at the end of the 1980's.
Electronics and computer technology has developed almost exponentially during the last 10 years. In electing to use LASERSCAN to replace Airflow AWTA Ltd recognised that there would need to be an ongoing re-engineering program to ensure that the components and software utilised by the instrument did not become redundant. Consequently, the Company negotiated the rights to manufacture the instruments, so that it can ensure that the engineering and software development programs necessary to maintain the currency of the technology were in place.
As a first step in this process, electronic components required to capture and convert the electrical signals generated by the instrument during measurement so that they can be converted into numeric information by the software, are being replaced with the latest and best available.
This process also required a major revision of the software. It is expected that instruments produced from July this year will incorporate this upgrade and a fully featured graphical user interface running under Microsoft's NT operating system, thereby replacing the current DOS software running under Windows 98. Although more expensive, Windows NT is a far more robust and stable platform than Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows ME.
LASERSCAN Wins CE Mark
The European Union CE Mark is a quality mark, which identifies products that comply with standards developed by the EEC. A wide range of products require the CE Mark, LASERSCAN included, before they can be imported to Europe. The process of acquiring the CE Mark requires a rigorous testing regime by accredited laboratories to ensure that the CE Mark requirements are satisfied.
The CSIRO originally developed the LASERSCAN instrument. The Organisation assisted AWTA Ltd to ensure that the instrument complies with CE Mark requirements by arranging the necessary testing, and also by providing some technical support. This process was completed early this year.
The first CE Mark LASERSCAN instruments have already been manufactured and sold by AWTA Ltd's international distributor, Wool Developments International. From July this year all new instruments will be manufactured to the CE Mark standard. The major effect of this will be much improved shielding of the electronics from external interferences generated by other devices.