Beyond the Bale - Issue 25 - Lifting the wool from their eyes
More than 100 people participated in the inaugural Wool Textile Training Centre Program held at CSIRO's Textile and Fibre Technology division in Geelong, Victoria.
The intensive format included 63 presentations delivered by industry heavyweights on a diverse array of themes, including how Australian wool is purchased, manufactured into textile products and marketed, as well as the decision-making processes involved.
Attendees represented all sectors of the wool-processing pipeline, and came from as far afield as China and India to gain a greater understanding of specific processes and market sectors.
World champion shearer Shannon Warnest and world record-holding shearer Dwayne Black both attended and demonstrated the art of shearing to many who had never witnessed the process before.
"Even though I've spent most of my life in the wool industry, this program has rounded my knowledge of what happens past the shearing shed," Mr Warnest says.
Representing another stage in the pipeline was Wen Yu, whose family runs the Tian Yu top-making plant in Zhangjiangang, China. Despite processing 100,000 bales of Australian wool annually, it was Wen Yu's first opportunity to get close up and friendly with a sheep. "I am very excited to have the chance to shear a sheep and see how the wool we purchase is brought in from the farms, sold and tested," he says. "I now have a greater appreciation of the complexities of the wool pipeline."
Samiran Roy of Jaya Sharee Textiles, a unit of the textile giant Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited of India, was impressed by lectures on top-making and the tours of the Landmark show floor and the Australian Wool Testing Authority (AWTA). "This is the first time I've seen how wool is sold at auction," he says. "I now know the countless characteristics that a top-maker looks for and the decisions and research he makes in the process of buying fibre."
Dr Paul Swan, AWI knowledge services manager, was impressed with the calibre of companies participating in the program. "A number of large wool consumers made their way Down Under to learn more about wool processing and marketing," he says. "International companies such as Indorama, Indoworth, Jaya Sharee, Cheil and Reliance Industries all sent personnel. Garment companies and retailers included the US giant VF Corporation and our own Country Road and Target Australia. Clearly there is a thirst for knowledge."
Dr Swan says enhancing the knowledge of people who work within the global wool pipeline will contribute to the sustainability of the industry. "It's important that brand managers and retailers understand what wool is about, its price and why wool is held in such high esteem. Through this program, we've developed a resource that can be delivered anywhere in the world."
AWI, along with the International Fibre Centre and the Australian Wool Education Trust, is investing in the wool industry's future by establishing this unique wool textiles training program. A repeat program is planned for early 2007.
More information: www.awttc.com.au
Return to Beyond the Bale issue 25 index page.