Ricci Highlights Market Recovery and Expansion Opportunities
TRSA President & CEO Joseph Ricci recently addressed the VDMA’s Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Board of Directors and General Session meetings in Nuremberg, Germany. VDMA represents the manufacturing and engineering industry in Germany and throughout Europe providing economic, technical and scientific support, as well as export assistance, standards development and research. VDMA also is an adviser to Messe Frankfurt for Texcare International, Techtextil North America and other global events related to textile services and textile production.
“TRSA and VDMA both represent supplier partners such as Kannegiesser, Jensen and Girbau,” Ricci said. “The opportunity to educate VDMA about TRSA and the North American market and to learn more about their regulatory, operational, supply-chain challenges and environmental sustainability efforts, will lead to increased collaboration and information-sharing between the organizations.”
Ricci discussed the growth and acceptance of its certification programs – Clean Green and Hygienically Clean – and the potential growth of the market based on the public’s demand for cleaner, more sustainable products and services. He also highlighted the industry’s efforts to diversify its products and services with hygiene products, direct sales and other services. Ricci offered insight and expressed concerns regarding the importance of business travel to the industry’s hardest hit sectors, hotels and restaurants. “Tourism has returned, especially on the weekends, but these linen segments of the industry will not fully recover until people return to their offices more frequently and business conferences return, hopefully in early 2023,” Ricci said.
He also shared the North American market’s challenges, which are similar to its counterparts in Europe, including skilled and unskilled labor shortages, supply chain, energy costs and regulation, particularly pertaining to water discharge such as microplastics and PFAS chemicals. “While automation provides a solution to labor shortages, unless we can recruit or develop mechanics and engineers to maintain the equipment, we will not be capable of overcoming this challenge,” Ricci said.
Ricci’s participation comes on the heels of VDMA’s Managing Director Elgar Straub addressing the TRSA Board of Directors and the recently launched Supplier Partner Council at the TRSA Annual Conference in October 2021. “We anticipate our Supplier Partner Council and VDMA working closely together on regulatory issues, especially pertaining to environmental sustainability, as TRSA’s representation of the industry’s suppliers expands,” said TRSA Vice President of Government Relations Kevin Schwalb.