From the Sector

• Carbon fibers combined with injection molding replace conventional steel construction
• SGL Carbon supplies innovative carbon fiber profiles
• Serial use in a future high-volume model of BMW Group
• Construction method offers great potential for use in other automotive projects

Already in August, SGL Carbon received a multi-year order from Koller Kunststofftechnik GmbH for the production of novel carbon fiber profiles for serial use in windshields for a future high-volume model of BMW Group.

The profiles are particularly flexible fiber tows, pre-impregnated with thermoplastic resin in various dimensions. They will be compiled by SGL Carbon on the basis of its own 50k carbon fiber at its site in Innkreis, Austria, and subsequently processed by the injection molding experts at Koller to form a skeletal plastic component. The composite component will replace the previous steel-based windshield. Production of the carbon fiber profiles will start in the remainder of 2020 and will then be ramped up gradually over the next few years for the BMW Group model launch.

In the vehicle, the windshield is a connecting element between the roof frames and thus has an important stabilizing function. The carbon fiber profiles add the required stiffness and crash safety to the component. At the same time, they help to significantly reduce the weight of the roof and thus also support the driving dynamics. The injection molding process also enables particularly complex and material-efficient structures. In the BMW Group model, this innovative component concept will cut weight by 40 percent compared to conventional steel designs of the component while creating important space for cable ducts and sensors.

The production of the carbon fiber profiles themselves is also particularly geared to material and process efficiency in large-scale production. The profiles consist of several smaller fiber strands, the so-called rods, and are manufactured using the modern continuous pultrusion process. During product and process development it was one key objective to ensure that material loss during production is almost completely avoided.

"At SGL Carbon, we have been working on the development of thermoplastic carbon fiber profiles for use in injection molding for some time already. This development work is now beginning to pay off. Due to the many advantages and competitive costs, we see a great potential for the technology to be used in other automotive projects too," explains Sebastian Grasser, Head of the Automotive Segment in the Business Unit Composites - Fibers & Materials at SGL Carbon.

"Innovative lightweight construction with hybrid designs has developed into a strategically conclusive concept for Koller Group's OEM customers," confirms Max Koller, CEO of Koller Group. "SGL Carbon's high level of material expertise, combined with the process know-how of KOLLER Kunststofftechnik and KOLLER Formenbau, create the basis for a promising future in innovative lightweight construction technologies. With this order, the BMW Group has confirmed its confidence in the successful cooperation between SGL and Koller; we are particularly pleased about this", said Max Koller.
 
The Koller Group is a globally operating technology company with plants in Europe and China, as well as NAFTA. The Koller Group develops and manufactures lightweight construction, tools and serial components, primarily for the automotive industry.

Archroma, a global leader in specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, today announced the release of its third Sustainability Report.

Prepared again in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, and covering Fiscal Year 2019, the report outlines the company’s progress on its priority sustainability topics, such as human health and environmental safety, resource efficiency, sustainable sourcing and product stewardship, as well as diversity & inclusion, and talent management.

All activities described in the report support the 3 pillars of “The Archroma Way to a Sustainable World: Safe, efficient, enhanced. It’s our nature." This approach is the company’s guiding light in challenging the status quo to making its operations and its value chains sustainable.

“As our industries navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, the temptation for some will be to push back on the urgent need to address the climate crisis. We cannot allow that. Because after all, it's our nature”, Heike van de Kerkhof, CEO of Archroma, comments.

The report can be downloaded here.

During the Innovate Textile & Apparel (ITA) virtual textile machinery show which will run from October 15th-30th 2020, Monforts will be emphasising its leadership position in three key fields – advanced coating, denim finishing and fabric sanforizing.

With its multi-head capability, the latest Monforts texCoat coating system provides flexibility with an unprecedented range of options and a wide range of modules available.

Refinements
“Since we acquired the coating technology that our systems are based on we have made a lot of refinements and all of them are reflected in higher coating accuracy and the resulting quality of the treated fabrics,” says Monforts Head of Technical Textiles, Jürgen Hanel.
“Our systems have the shortest fabric path from the coating unit into the stenter and we have all variations of coating application systems too – and all of these options are available in wider widths, with the engineering and manufacturing from a single source here in Europe.”

CYD
Denim finishing is meanwhile a field in which Monforts has an undisputed lead and it has been working closely with its many partners in the key denim manufacturing countries of Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Mexico Pakistan and Turkey to develop advanced solutions. The latest of these is the CYD yarn dyeing system.
“CYD is based on the proven Econtrol® dyeing system for fabrics*,” explains Monforts Head of Denim Hans Wroblowski. “It integrates new functions and processes into the weaving preparatory processes – spinning, direct beaming, warping and assembly beaming, followed by sizing and dyeing – in order to increase quality, flexibility, economic viability and productivity. The CYD system has been developed in response to a very strong market demand.”

Pre-shrinking
Monforts has also recently delivered a significant number of its latest Monfortex sanforizing lines to customers around the world.
Sanforizing is vital to final fabric quality, pre-shrinking it by compressing prior to washing, to limit any residual or further shrinkage in a made-up finished garment to less than 1%, for perfect comfort and fit over an extended lifetime.

As with industry-leading Montex stenters, Monfortex lines benefit from the latest Qualitex 800 control system which allows all parameters to be easily automated via the 24-inch colour touchscreen, including production speed, control of all fabric feed devices, rotation spray or steaming cylinder options, the width of the stretching field and the rubber belt pressure. Up to 10,000 separate process parameter records can be generated and stored by the data manager.

*Econtrol® is a registered mark of DyStar Colours Distribution GmbH, Germany.

Elastics for power support in medicine and the work environment
People who do physically hard work are relieved; people who are learning how to walk again after an accident or a stroke receive support; people with a handicap gain greater mobility – exoskeletons offer valuable support in many areas. An important component for "power suits": elastics by JUMBO-Textil.

Support construction with and without drive
An exoskeleton is a kind of robot that you wear: a construction of mainly textile components that is slipped over the body and strapped on. Integrated sensors register the body movements. These impulses are converted into electrically driven movements of the exoskeleton, which support or amplify the human movement. In addition, exoskeletons without drive are also being developed: these designs aim to transfer the weight of heavy tools or loads directly into the ground.

Tough requirements, individual solutions
Since the skeletons are worn on the body, the textiles and textile components used here need to be skin-friendly and as light as possible. The body's own temperature regulating systems must not be impeded. The contact surfaces must not create pressure points. And the exoskeletons must be individually adaptable to the user's body measurements.

High-tech elastics by JUMBO-Textil offer solutions for the development of exoskeletons – in terms of functionality, safety and wearing comfort: they hold, clamp, close and secure. They relieve and cushion movements and force impact. They illuminate and forward signals. The breathable narrow textiles stretch in both directions as required. They fit snugly on the body and follow every movement. Full-surface hook-and-loop-ready elastic tapes offer a simple, secure and individually adjustable fastening option. JUMBO-Textil consistently uses components made of plastic or light metal for textile components as fastening solutions. As a solution partner for demanding tasks – e.g., in occupational safety – JUMBO-Textil also developes cooled or heated textiles in collaboration with their customers. Also possible: the development of self-luminous narrow textiles – for additional safety.

At a total length of over 71 metres, the Montex finishing line that has just been installed by Monforts for Acafintex at its plant in Puebla, Mexico, is one of the highest capacity stenters the German technology leader has delivered to date.

Puebla is known as the epicentre of Mexico’s textile and clothing industry and is ideally placed for supplying both the USA and Europe, being three hours from the Gulf of Mexico for shipping via the Atlantic, and five hours from the Pacific coast as well.

Mexico's textile and clothing industry spans the entire production chain – from cotton growing and man-made fibre production to the manufacture of yarn, fabric, finished clothing and accessories. The industry is estimated to directly employ around 640,000 workers and to provide livelihoods for many more people indirectly. The country is a key supplier of textiles and clothing to the USA, but has faced fierce competition from China, which has until recently been the largest supplier of textiles and clothing to the US market.

However, the position of Mexico in the US import market has become more stable following the signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which came into force in July this year. The country has also been a key beneficiary of the current trade war that is raging between China and the USA.

In addition, there is scope for higher sales in Mexico’s domestic market. The country has a population of 129 million people who are becoming increasingly prosperous, with a large proportion of younger people who are spending more on clothing.

Flexible operation

Founded in 1986, family-owned Acafintex operates as a commission dyehouse, finishing both knitted and woven fabrics for local companies in Mexico, in widths of between 100cm to 3.6 metres. The company is run by father and son team Don Francisco and Lic Francisco Moyano.

“We have very flexible operations for fabric finishing and also produce and sell our own fabrics for both the fashion industry and for the uniforms market,” says Don Francisco. “These days, we are increasingly finishing materials for technical textiles and for the automotive industry too. We have both local and international suppliers of both yarns and base fabrics and make sure we choose the best and most reliable sources. Exports now account for over 40% of our sales.”

European contract

With a  width of 3.8 metres, the new Monforts Montex line at Acafintex is equipped with no less than 12 double TwinAir drying chambers to meet the requirements of specific technical textiles to a European customer, in a contract secured following the company’s ISO 9001 certification in 2019. The line is equipped with an integrated heat recovery system and also benefits from an exhaust air cleaning system to ensure the most resource-efficient processing available on the market.

On the Monforts TwinAir system, the airflows above and below the fabric being dried can be regulated completely independently of each other, with Optiscan Auto-Balance fully controlling the distance between the fabric and the dryer nozzles via variable-frequency fan motors and CCD chip evaluation. As a result, the evaporation rate of the stenter and its energy utilisation are always fully optimised. Contact-free drying eliminates the possibility of fabric marking or stitch draft.

Highly-intuitive Monforts Qualitex visualisation software allows all machine functions and process parameters to be assessed and controlled easily, and thousands of article specific settings and formulations to be called up at any time – with 100% reproducible results.

In combination with an existing Montex stenter, the new line has expanded finishing capacity at Acafintex to an annual 20 million linear metres.

Modifications

“From the installation to the start-up, we were supported by a team of Monforts technicians and local representative Arnulf Thaler at Sattex here in Mexico,” says Lic Francisco. “Of course, every installation has its challenges and with such big machines we needed to modify several things inside the factory and also required certain modifications from Monforts which were all carried out successfully.”  

Forced, like much of the textile industry globally, to temporarily suspend operations at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Acafintex is now back to full production, having installed the necessary safety measures for its employees, and is anticipating a bright future.

“We are passionate about developing new materials in search of mutual benefit for both our clients and suppliers, as well as our own workforce and the environment,” Don Francisco Moyano concludes. “Investment in the latest technology like this new Monforts line plays a key role in helping us achieve our long-term goals.”

• Kettelhack GmbH – a German leader in the dyeing and finishing of monochrome fabrics for high-quality and durable workwear and bed linen – has this year retired its existing Monforts sanforizing line after 35 years of daily service, replacing it with a new one.

The first line was installed in 1985 during a decisive time for the company.

Taking the helm in the early 1980s, Jan Kettelhack – the current CEO, owner and great grandson of Heinrich Kettelhack who founded the company back in 1874 – made a number of decisions that have secured its success over the following decades.

In 1982 Kettelhack had to vacate its existing plant in the city of Rheine due to urban development restrictions and despite a general sense of crisis in the European textile industry at that time, opted to relocate and build a new highly automated plant that was not reliant on mechanical and personnel-intensive processes. This was aligned with a greater focus on competitive international sales.

From 1986, the company’s proficiency as a specialist in solid-colour textiles led to workwear textiles becoming a bedrock of the business. Continuous investments in machinery and technical equipment have resulted in a fully integrated and rationalised single source site dedicated solely to what the company does best – the expert dyeing and finishing of textiles.

Crucial process steps

These stages in the textile value-added chain, Jan Kettelhack has observed, are crucial to the quality of a final product in workwear – whether it stands the test in everyday use, how comfortable it is, and how many washes it can withstand.

Central to this is the sanforizing process, which pre-shrinks a fabric by compressing it prior to washing. This limits any residual or further shrinkage in a made-up finished garment to less than 1%, to ensure perfect comfort and fit over an extended lifetime.

“We certainly can’t complain about the performance of the old Monfortex sanforizing line which gave us so many uninterrupted years of service, but certain spare parts for it were becoming increasingly hard to source, the control unit was becoming a little unstable and we couldn’t risk potential interruptions to our production schedule,” says Kettelhack plant manager Hendrik Pleimann. “In many ways, the new Monfortex sanforizer is much the same as the old one in terms of its mechanical reliability and robust construction, but of course today’s drives are much more efficient, and when it comes to the automation features and control units – and the data we can generate and analyse for increasing efficiency – that’s a whole new world.”

Qualitex 800

The two-metres-wide Monfortex line benefits from the latest Qualitex 800 control system which allows all parameters to be easily automated via the 24-inch colour touchscreen, including production speed, control of all fabric feed devices, rotation spray or steaming cylinder options, the width of the stretching field and the rubber belt pressure.

The integrated Compactomat system allows a continuous indication and control of the shrinkage values and the temperatures of the shrinking cylinder and felt calender. Up to 10,000 separate process parameter records can be generated and stored by the data manager.

Full line management can be optimised via the batch-specific calculation of all process material consumption and water and electricity use, with any standstill times analysed and immediately corrected for the future.

Any further assistance required is available via Monforts Teleservice, with direct connection to technicians and virtual access to machine analysis.

Professional

Commissioning of the new Monfortex line at Kettelhack commenced in January and it was fully operational in a relatively short time.

“This was a very professional installation provided by the Monforts team with whom we have a very good relationship dating back many years, and everyone knew what was required from both sides,” says Mr Pleimann. “Our operators have found the new line very user friendly and we are very pleased with how everything proceeded so smoothly. An unexpected benefit is that the new line is also a lot quieter, of course, which is something our operatives are appreciating.”

Key features of the Monfortex line are the proven fabric preparation, weft straightening and spreading units, prior to the compressive shrinkage machine with a 750mm shrinking cylinder, and a felt calender equipped with 2,000mm diameter drying cylinder. The line also features an integrated automatic grinding unit.

Customer service

Kettelhack is processing primarily cotton and polyester woven fabrics, with lyocell becoming increasingly popular in workwear for its softness and comfort.

As part of its customer service, the company stocks more than a million metres of grey fabric and at least 1.2 million metres of finished and rolled standard fabric in its warehouse at any one time, with a further 750,000 metres permanently in production.

While a significant cost, this commitment ensures Kettelhack customers can be fully flexible and rely on it as a partner.

“As a family-run company with around a hundred employees, Kettelhack operates very differently to bigger businesses which have to constantly consider their immediate quarterly profits,” Mr Pleimann concludes. “The thinking at Kettelhack is in terms of the next twenty years and ensuring that the business will be just as successful for the next generation as it is today. We also have a very flat organisational structure in which everyone is involved and takes an active part, which makes it a very nice place to work.”

Asia’s leading trade platform for the home and contract textile industry, Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles, is ready to welcome over 600 exhibitors to China’s commercial hub from 24 – 26 August. As China’s economy continues its recovery, the upcoming fair will serve as a key platform for the industry to reconnect and prepare for the seasons ahead. Taking consideration of current international travel restrictions, Intertextile has launched a brand new online business matching platform, enabling participation for those who cannot travel to Shanghai.

Ms Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd commented: “2020 has been a difficult and unpredictable year for every business and industry across the world, so we are pleased to be providing a platform for the home textile industry to connect and recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles is the first physical trade event for the sector held by Messe Frankfurt since January, so we hope that the fair assists the sector to join forces and overcome this challenging year together.”

Ms Wen continued: “Our first priority is to create a clean and hygienic space for all participants to source and network. To achieve this goal, the fair will implement extra health care and hygiene precautions onsite. On the other hand, we are aware that a number of travel restrictions are still in place across the world. With this in mind, Intertextile will offer a series of online services for those who are unable to travel to Shanghai, allowing the fair to reach as wide an audience as possible.”

2020 fair highlights

To provide buyers with greater efficiency, the fair, which covers four halls, will be divided clearly by product categories: Household Hall (hall 3), International Brands / Upholstery Hall (hall 4.1), Brand Fabrics Hall (hall 5.1) and Sofa Fabrics Hall (hall 6.1).

In addition, the Contract Business 360° concept will return this year, with over 40 premier upholstery exhibitors presenting their latest textile products and furnishing solutions for contract use. Exhibitors include Guangzhou Yuanzhicheng Home Textile, Haining Julai Textile, JAB, Morgan Shanghai, Symphony Mills, Suzhou Roufang, Ter Molst International, Zhejiang Hexin and Zhejiang Maya Fabric. Furthermore, top brands such as Agmamito from Poland and Wollsdorf Leather from Austria will be exhibiting for the first time at Intertextile.

Online business matching platform offers new sourcing landscape

Although face-to-face interaction is irreplaceable, a virtual complement has become more important as a result of the worldwide pandemic. To support the industry during these unprecedented times, Intertextile has launched a brand new online business matching platform. With this free service, participants are able to source and network at their fingertips. The virtual platform will offer many new features including:

• Easy sourcing: exhibitors are categorised by product groups including Sofa / Decorative Fabrics, Curtains and Accessories, Bedding and Finished products, Shading and Accessories, and Editors
• Live-streamed product presentations of exhibitors
• Smart recommendations: pre-selected exhibitor lists will be provided to buyers based on their personal preferences and interests
• Convenience: participants are able to use the service through computers or portable devices without the need to download any software

High quality fringe programme covers comprehensive topics
 
The fair’s event programme will once again provide the industry with the latest trends and insights in four topics: Design Inspiration, Business O2O, Textile & Technology and Industry Empowerment. One of the highlights will be the 2021 Intertextile Trend Forum, led by Shen Lei, the Chinese representative of the Intertextile International Lifestyle Trend Committee. The forum will bring together five prominent Chinese designers including Ben Chen, Ben Wu, Meng Ye, Paul Pang and Xie Ke, who will delve into the theme of 2021 Intertextile Trends–“BOUND”, as well as the Chinese market conditions. The event will be held on day 1 of the fair, from 14:00 – 17:00 in hall 5.1 booth C18, and streamed live online.

Another not-to-be-missed event is the Ride the Storm – Home Textile Digital Printing Forum, which will include an array of educating seminars that cover the latest digital textile printing trends and technologies. The forum will be held on day 2 of the fair, from 13:20 – 17:20 in hall 3, booth M12.

Furthermore, joining forces with Tmall Global, the largest cross border B2C online retail platform in China, the fair will host a series of seminars delivering the solutions and strategies for industry digitalisation during the afternoon of day 1. In addition, the well-received Furniture & Home Textile Direct Negotiation Event will return to provide an excellent opportunity for furniture companies and fabric brands to collaborate.

Additional health care and hygiene precautions will be in place

As trade fair co-organisers, Messe Frankfurt’s number one priority always remains the health and safety of fairgoers. To maintain a clean and hygienic environment for visitors and exhibitors to meet in, extra measures will be in practice at the fair. These include: real-name registration, onsite temperature checks, frequent sterilisation of public areas and distancing measures for forum / seminar audiences, amongst others.

• Textile yarn manufacturer Fujian Billion kicks off industrial yarn production

Remscheid – from the end of this year, the southern Chinese yarn manufacturer Fujian Billion Polymerization Technology Industrial Co., Ltd. will be producing industrial yarns using systems supplied by Oerlikon Barmag. With this, the company – considered to be the largest polyester yarn manufacturer in southern China – is now also entering the industrial yarn market.

With 124 positions and a capacity of around 250,000 tons per annum, this project is the largest single industrial yarn order placed with Oerlikon Barmag to date. And with this order, the southern Chinese yarn manufacturer instantly positions itself as one of the ten largest Chinese industrial yarn producers. “The systems at Fujian Billion come with our latest draw unit design, which has been optimized for use with Oerlikon Barmag automation solutions”, comments Roy Dolmans, Head of Development for the Industrial Yarn Process. As a result, the newcomer in the industrial yarn sector is now superbly equipped for the future.

The well-known company – located in the Chinese Fujian Province – will be predominantly manufacturing high-tenacity (HT) and low-shrinkage (LS) yarns from the end of this year. These sophisticated yarns are deployed both in the automotive, geotextiles and safety sectors (HT yarns) and in the manufacture of coated industrial textiles such as truck tarpaulins and tents (LS yarns).

Founded in Jinjiang, Quanzhou, in 2003, Fujian Billion Polymerization Technology Industrial Co., Ltd. is one of the top 500 privately-owned enterprises in China. Annually, the yarn manufacturer produces around 2.8 million tons of filament yarn and ethylene-propylene side-by-side (ES) fibers.

• Si-Quat by AFFIX Labs is a versatile anti-viral surface treatment that has been scientifically proven to last for months on any surface or textile while effectively killing the COVID-19 pathogen upon contact.
   

Helsinki - Leading chemical binding expert AFFIX Labs has harnessed its global experience in disease prevention to create the first long-lasting surface treatment proven to kill COVID-19. Si-Quat combines a safe and well-established disinfectant and a proprietary chemical binding technique, so that the active ingredient can kill viruses, including SARS-COV-2. Testing at Portugal’s Biochemistry Institute at the University of Lisbon proves that Si-Quat effectively kills the COVID-19 pathogens that it comes into contact with.

“Tragedies have unfolded across the globe, affecting different countries at varying degrees. The second waves of COVID-19 are just appearing on the horizon. This long-lasting surface treatment is a viable, accessible solution across cultures. By killing the COVID-19 pathogen on surfaces before it can infect people, the Si-Quat solution is a game changer. It can provide increased security and peace of mind to your communities, as well as your customers,” says Tom Sam, CEO of AFFIX Labs.

Si-Quat has been tested to kill 99.99% of microbes within minutes, while still being fully safe to touch. Proven to be effective for about a month on frequently touched surfaces, it is the longest lasting anti-viral surface treatment available to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The product is non-corrosive, free from silver salts and heavy metal nanoparticles, and perfectly safe to touch.

Several major agencies around the globe have already accepted quaternary ammonium, the main ingredient in the surface coating, to be an effective surface treatment against the novel coronavirus, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Environmental Protection Agency, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the European Chemical Agency (ECHA).

Si-Quat was invented in January 2020 by the AFFIX Labs’ Repeltec development team to specifically help combat the COVID-19 outbreak. The product is based on the trusted and safe disinfectant quaternary ammonium, which is chemically bound to align silane quaternary ammonium molecules (silane quats) in a highly effective manner. Positively charged nitrogen particles then actively attract viruses and bacteria, penetrating the membranes and killing them within minutes.

Rigorous testing has shown Si-Quat to adhere to almost any surface, performing as the most durable surface treatment commercially available. Due to its incredibly strong layer, the solution only wears down on surfaces after thousands of touches or multiple cleaning cycles. This means that on heavily used surfaces, such as door handles and counters, Si-Quat will be effective for about a month. On rarely touched surfaces like walls, it has the potential to protect for years. Since the product is incredibly easy to apply, technicians require minimal training and only basic protection. They simply have to brush or spray Si-Quat onto the surface and allow it to dry for 6 hours.

“Other sanitising solutions require reapplication to every surface several times daily, interrupting business operations. This results in additional costs and disruptions at a time when many companies are already struggling,” Sam explains. “By combining proven efficacy, safety and long durability, Si-Quat is emerging as an important weapon in the battle against the spread of COVID-19.”

AFFIX Labs has begun to roll out the distribution of Si-Quat across the globe, with new regions being serviced every week. It is currently looking for distribution partners in local markets.

The project leading to the development of Si-Quat included funding from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, a body of the European Union, under the Horizon 2020 Framework for Research and Innovation.

• Industrial yarn: Capacity expansion in the high-end sector

Remscheid – the Chinese industrial yarn manufacturer Zhejiang Kingsway High-Tech Fiber Co., Ltd. is expanding its production capacities by a further 40,000 tons per annum with 5 Oerlikon Barmag lines. Kingsway is already successfully manufacturing special high-quality yarns, exclusively deploying Oerlikon Barmag industrial yarn systems.

The 21 new spinning positions will be used to manufacture a broad product range: in addition to super-low-shrinkage (SLS) and high-tenacity (HT) yarn, the business also plans to produce automotive yarns for seat belts and airbags. This flexibility is made possible as a result of the Oerlikon Barmag systems’ configuration. The new systems are expected to commence manufacturing next year.

Industrial yarns for greater safety

As a quality-conscious industrial yarn producer, Kingsway has been manufacturing its sophisticated, high-end yarns on Oerlikon Barmag filament yarn systems since 2015. Alex Yang Yu Long, CEO of Kingsway, is proud of relying on engineering artistry from Remscheid: “As expected, the yarns are first-class in terms of quality. Our products are used in safety equipment, sometimes in situations where lives depend on them. Therefore, there can be no compromises. To this end, we select our partners with the utmost care."