The World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) has confirmed that it has hired Dhyana van der Pols, as Head of Textile Innovation and Manufacturing.
Dhyana van der Pols joined the WFSGI on 1 September in the newly created role of Head of Textile Innovation and Manufacturing. She will be responsible to create the organisation’s competence centre on textile intelligence and to provide WFSGI members with in-depth knowledge on latest fabrics and technical development trends, machinery & automation, lean manufacturing as well as sourcing solutions and design assistance & pre-production.
Dhyana van der Pols is a veteran of many years expertise in sourcing, technical textile & innovations as well as supply chain solutions. She is the founder and Director of Nash International, a company that coaches manufacturers in the fashion, sport & textile industry in 14 emerging countries and is conference organizer. Prior to joining WFSGI, she was Head of Design, Purchase & Production at Dutch based Vilenzo NV and plant manager in factories in Pakistan, Madagascar, Tunisia and Sri Lanka.
“Dhyana is a highly sophisticated textile expert with a wealth of experience in international business and trade development, production and process management, corporate supply chain strategy, CSR and trends translation to product development,” noted Robbert de Kock, Secretary General of WFSGI.
With Dhyana van der Pols on board, the WFSGI will continue to develop the WFSGI Manufacturers Forum; this will be held this year in Leipzig on 13-14 November. “We want to continue to address future challenges of the sporting goods industry in terms of manufacturing and to provide the upmost support to our members by setting-up tailor-made conferences and workshops for the entire industry”, de Kock added.
Dhyana Van der Pols has a Masters in Strategic Management & Finance and a degree in Textile & Fashion design. She speaks French, German, Spanish, English and Dutch and has basic knowledge in Arabic, Urdu and Bengali.
The World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) was founded in 1978 and is the world authoritative body for the sports industry officially recognized by the IOC as the industry representative within the Olympic family.
The WFSGI is an independent, non-profit and non-governmental association formed by sports brands, manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, national federations and other sporting goods industry related businesses. The WFSGI plays a strategic role in the support and promotion of the sporting goods industry worldwide. The WFSGI promotes free and fair trade and provides platforms for the intergovernmental cooperation with regards to the international organizations interested or affected by sports.
Its aim is also to expand the cooperation on the protection of intellectual property rights and improve human rights issues related to working conditions. All this can be done through contacts with International Organizations such as the ILO, WTO, WHO, UN but also through International Sports Federations (FIFA, IAAF, FIVB, etc.) and the IOC, via the exchange of information and clearing house on issues and topics developed by WFSGI’s various committees.
