Wool Industry Changed In Eight Years

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32029, 2 July 1969, Page 9

Wool Industry Changed In Eight Years

(By

BEVAN BURGESS)

Since 1961, the International Wool Secretariat has undergone a period of explosive growth making it a world-wide marketing enterprise unparallelled in the history of primary products.

In that time, the I.W.S. hasjbecome the envy of tea, cotton, jute, mink and many other producers, some of whom are now trying to imitate the I.W.S. Woolmark idea. The architect of I.W.S. expansion was Mr W. J. Vines, who hands over to his successor as managing director, Mr A. Maiden, on July 1. Mr Vines leaves behind him an established operation designed to influence textile consumption in 100 countries and to benefit woolgfbwer and national incomes in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In 1960, the graphs showed that falling synthetic fibre prices had begun to drag wool downwards with them. Unchecked,, this would eventually produce disastrous results. In 1960, the woolgrower interests of the three partner countries decided to modernise the I.W.S. board and face the challenge, squarely. In 1961, Mr Vines was appointed as managing director, and almost immediately afterwards, the executive structure of I.W.S. was improved. By 1963, I.W.S. technical staff had been trebled—to 44 —and six small demonstration plants were built to show off new technical ideas. An International Wool Fashion Office was set up in Paris to boost wool In quality garments, and a "new uses” section was established to explore outlets where wool had never previously been used. The most far-reaching work however went the development of a five-year plan to meet the synthetic fibre challenge. “Far-reaching” hardly does it justice. The I.W.S. under Mr Vines, asked- for £l3 million a year instead of about £2 million provided in 1960. Wool Board and I7W.S. leaders “barn - stormed” through grower countries to back up their proposal. Inevitably, the first reaction was pure shock at their effrontery. But they agreed that for a viable future, wool must have: A separate identity created by massive promotion, to ensure that consumers would not be content with substitutes. A quality controlled certification trademark—Wool- ' mark—to ensure that industry made wool products which fulfilled promotional claims. A technical development centre to create a new wool technology, and technical staff trebled yet again, to push these developments into the textile mills of the world. Ideas Adopted Gradually these ideas began to catch the grower imagination. By 1964 the I.W.S. had its money. In the first month, I.W.S. sold 10 million Woolmark labels to industry for merchandise worth £B7 million.

In just over a year. Woolmark was being used in 22 countries. Today, the total is 33 countries, exporting to more than twice that number elsewhere. Everywhere, the I.W.S. worked in a blaze of publicity to attract consumer

attention, and fix itself in the housewife’s mind. The need for baste was obvious. In a market already highly competitive, it would take three years to win widespread consumer acceptance for the Woolmark symbol. People could trust it only by finding it lived up to its claims.

In that first six months, although industry often loathed the idea of the I.W.S. imposing quality standards, 1000 manufacturers became licensees. In each country, once the first major firms were signed up, competition made it inevitable for others. Now, more than 10,500 firms round the world use the Woolmark, and the figures are still climbing. More than 11 million Woolmark sew-in labels are sold to industry in an average month. But in mid-1966, before Woolmark was fully established, a major recession of trade was already looming, and wool prices along with other textiles dropped rapidly. By August, 1967, the New Zealand Wool Commission had more than 600,000 bales in stockpile. Fibre Prices Caught in the same squeeze, synthetic fibre producers reduced their prices, suffered lower profits, and in some cases dismissed staff. Woolmark certainly did not have the capacity to arrest this movement of world economics, but plenty of evidence does exist that it helped to moderate the adverse effect on wool. At the depth of the trough in 1967, for example, 600 merchandising managers from top American stores voted Woolmark the “best trade stimulator” among six heavilypromoted consumer symbols used on the United States market. That year, 100 spinners were already producing Woolmark shrink-resist yarns to a new I.W.S. standard of washability. I.W.S. had 800 Woolmark carpet manufacturers putting the label on 20 million square yards of carpet—more than double the 1966 quantity. It was no cure-all, but it helped. Faced with an adverse economic situation and low prices the I.W.S. rapidly decided to make the best of the position by using price as a bait to attract a generation of carpet manufacturers who had never used wool in their lives.

These were the tufters, who believed their machinery could not be used on wool. Today, 50 tufters in Europe use wool, based on yarn technology developed at 1.W.5., and assisted by I.W.S. dyeing processes which improved their capacity to make money. Early in 1968, as the Record Wool Sales A record number of bales of wool, 5.2 million, was sold at auction in Australia during the 1968-69 season, which ended last week, according to the National Council of Woolselling Brokers. The previous highest quantity sold was in the 1964-65 season— 5,060,379 bales. Returns from last season amounted to about $724.8m, compared with $639m last year. The average price is estimated at 44.68 c a lb, or 7 per cent above last year’s price.—Sydney, June 30.

world trade situation began to improve, one of the most influential European trade magazines, “International Textiles,” which is published in three languages from Amsterdam, commented: “Woolmark is the most important campaign ever launched in the textile industry. We were all sure the I.W.S. was attempting the impossible—and we were all wrong.” “1 congratulate 1.W.5.,” said Jonathan Crossley, managing director of Crossley Carpets, one of Britain's most influential firms, “for its discernible impact on the demand for carpet wools.” More Join In the last 12 months, Czechoslovakia, i Poland, Israel, Iran and Turkey have all joined the Woolmark programme. The commercial value of the symbol was demonstrated by the fact that Poland, for example, agreed to increase its wool imports by 40 per cent in seven years, to get rights to use the symbol. This is typical of the way the I.W.S. has gradually forced respect from a somewhat grudging world textile industry. Now I.W.S. executives are in a position to drive hard business bargains in their negotiations, working from a position of strength. The same tough approach is evident in I.W.S. negotiations with firms who are being licensed to use new technical and product developments emerging from the Ilkley Technical Centre, which opened last year. Four of these processes are currently in the last stage of commercial evaluation on trial in selected mills round the world: artificial crimp for strong wools, shrinkproofing to fully machinewashable standards, men’s suits and trousers made machine-washable and noiron; and ultra-bright washfast fashion dyes. “I have deeply appreciated the unfailing support given to me by Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. And I’m confident that the results will more than justify that support, in the years ahead," said Mr Vines.