Textination Newsline

The professional rental service for linen and workwear is a textbook example of a circular, sustainable business model, which uses hard-wearing textiles instead of lower-quality or disposable products (reduce), optimises their useful life through professional care / repairs (reuse) and develops solutions to re-purpose them after they have reached the end of their useful life (recycle).

With its ‘Green Deal’, the European Commission has, inter alia, initiated the transformation of the garment-manufacturing industry from a business model of short-lived consumption to a more sustainable, circular system. By 2030, fast fashion will be replaced increasingly by textile products that have a longer life cycle and thus contribute to reducing environmental pollution. To achieve this goal, textiles must be more durable, reusable, repairable, fibre-to-fibre recyclable and have a greater proportion of recycled fibres. For the textile-service sector, the circularity requirements defined in Brussels have long been standard practice because hiring out professional workwear and protective clothing, as well as hotel and hospital linen, mop covers and other items, requires precisely these characteristics, i.e., the fabrics must be durable, washable – and therefore reusable – and easy to repair. Thanks to these qualities, rental linen can remain in the service cycle for a long time and has thus become established as a sustainable alternative to outright purchasing.

Laundry in the circular system
The textile-rental service offers a variety of systems tailored to the needs of different groups of customers. Workwear and protective clothing is stocked by textile-service laundries in a wide range of sizes, so that each customer's employees can be supplied with a suitable outfit. This is then labelled and made available to the individual wearer. If the employee leaves the customer's employ, the garments are taken back and – provided they are in good condition – reused as replacement clothing. In the case of workwear in the healthcare sector, as well as bed linen, table linen and towelling, a pool solution is more common. A laundry pool comprises similar textiles that are supplied without being assigned to a specific customer or wearer, which significantly reduces the quantity of textiles used.

Local textile cleaning is another major area of commercial textile care that also helps extend the life of textiles with a wide range of goods being professionally processed on behalf of private and commercial customers by such businesses. High-quality outerwear and underwear, premium home textiles, delicate down jackets or heavily soiled workwear are all restored to a clean, fresh and usable condition. And if stains prove particularly stubborn even after cleaning, a specialist company can re-colour the goods, thus ensuring they can be reused.

The recycling benefits of textile rental services
Besides the two main requirements of ‘reuse’ and ‘repair’, the sector is also working hard on the recycling of old textiles, as called for by the EU textile strategy. Several workwear manufacturers have developed their own returns models, whereby customers can hand back their old workwear when buying new items. The old workwear is then reused or recycled by partner organisations. Large companies, including Deutsche Telekom and Ikea, have also introduced a centralised returns and recycling system for discarded workwear. Indeed, the furniture giant has even created its own home textiles line using old workwear. However, the easiest way to implement a system of this kind is to use a rental service, as the goods are always returned to the specialist company and sorted there. In other words, the used laundry is collected in one place after washing, where it forms a large volume of similar discarded textiles, which greatly simplifies both the collection logistics and the recycling process. These favourable conditions have already led to the establishment of an initial initiative in which several textile service companies pool their waste hotel linen and channel it into industrial cotton-to-pulp recycling. Whether individual or joint initiatives, this is a testament to the industry's commitment to the development of solutions for ‘waste materials’.

Textile upcycling for designer items
Solutions for rejected textiles are more varied than simply recycling them. For example, Sweden's Fristads company offers a repair service for its workwear. The British department store chain John Lewis goes one step further. In a field trial, customers can hand in their garments to selected stores for cleaning and repair. The garments are processed by Johnsons, a laundry and dry-cleaning chain belonging to the Timpson Group. Designers have also recognised second-life opportunities for discarded workwear and contract textiles. For example, they apply elaborate decorations to items from their collections or take them apart and reassemble them. The creatively enhanced goods are then returned to the market as designer items. There are also recycling solutions for large contract textiles, which are converted into bags or cosmetic accessories or, after a colour-changing process, into small batches of aprons. However, the effect of such concepts on reducing textile waste is as small as their diversity. Only the established second-hand model is able to return larger quantities to the economic cycle.

The pros and cons of recycled materials
While the textile-care industry is unanimous in its support for the requirements of the EU textile strategy and is contributing solutions, it disagrees on increasing the proportion of recycled fibres in its products. Although there are already numerous workwear collections and hotel-linen ranges that meet the requirements from Brussels, some of the products do not, however, meet the durability requirements because the fibre quality deteriorates with each recycling stage. Therefore, many contract-textile manufacturers still rely exclusively on virgin, brand-new fibre materials to ensure durability in industrial laundering. Texcare International offers the industry the perfect setting to discuss this conflict of objectives in depth.

The productivity of a laundry depends on unbroken process flows and transparent commodity streams. Thanks to increasing digitalisation and consistent integration of data, the through-put of textiles in laundries is being continually improved. The solutions required for automation in the sector are therefore a high priority at Texcare International, from 20 to 24 June in Frankfurt am Main.
 
The be-all and end-all for the laundry sector is the ability to monitor the quantity, quality and storage location of the textiles that are circulating on site, at all times. The data collected form the basis for precise price calculations, throw up any weak points in the system and serve to provide documentation for third parties. But it is only when all the machinery and plant involved in a given textile service are interlinked on a single network that the logistics of the laundry service run seamlessly, with minimal down-time of the machinery, reduced quantities in circulation and the resultant increase in productivity that is closely associated with it.

Transparent tracking for each individual laundry item
Automation in the processing of workwear is already well advanced. As the dirty laundry is sorted on arrival, each item is recorded using an identification system such as a barcode or RFID technology. From this moment on, all the stages that the textiles undergo are controlled. ‘Readers’ or ‘gates’ on the premises enable each item to be recorded as it progresses through the system, right up to the point of order picking; and they monitor whether an item is sent to a repair station or directed into storage. In addition, high-frequency transponders (UHF tags) can monitor the movements of laundry items outside of the laundry: in hospitals, for instance, identification systems have been installed, which record the despatch and return of apparel and enable an extensive process of textile management via data transfer procedures.

Robots for the soiled laundry area
This already high degree of automation in a workwear laundry facility is, however, capable of still further refinement. Artificial intelligence can simplify the ‘dirty’ work in the reception area: robots separate and sort the soiled clothing and x-ray machines, cameras and metal detectors are used to identify any foreign bodies. The advantages of such systems are particularly in evidence in hospital laundries: medical instruments, which regularly find their way into the laundry bags, are automatically separated from the clothing, thus minimising damage to the items themselves and to the machinery. The useful life of the textiles is extended and costs are reduced. Moreover, there is no danger of infection for the staff.

Real-time laundry processes
Whilst individual control and traceability are already widespread in the professional treatment of work apparel, when it comes to flat linen, often only generalisations about quantity, quality and storage location for the textiles are possible. “In order to assess a business’s efficiency, calculate prices and efficiently control processes and procedures, laundries need reliable figures […],” observes Martin Rauch, CSO of the Jensen Group, who operate on a worldwide basis.

In the pursuit of automated production, ultra-modern information and communications technologies assume a key role. They synchronise the machines involved in a given production process and facilitate communication and cooperation between plant, product and the human being. This way, you get self-organising, flexible production with unbroken processes and high levels of utilisation of equipment. With the synchronisation of commodity streams and information flow in the laundry, all items arrive at the right processing station at the appropriate time. A central database controls all the processes in the entire laundry, regulates the machinery and the linked sub-systems, chooses the correct processing programmes and optimises machine use.
 
Data accompanies the laundry throughout
“Trolleys of laundry standing around, waiting times at the machines, excessive buffering and time spent searching for items are all lost capital […],” says Matthias Schäfer, who is responsible for product management, laundry logistics / smart laundry at Kannengiesser (Vlotho).

When data and goods flows are successfully synchronised throughout a flat-linen laundry, each washing station contributes its information along with that of other stations, right from the initial sorting of the soiled linen through to the folding machines. The laundry can, therefore, be monitored throughout the entire operation, as the information from each station is sent on with the item, either automatically or – after the drier – in the form of bar-coded labels. (“Stabilisation of production through the synchronisation of material and production flows.”)

RFID identification systems do indeed enable complete transparency to be built into the passage of goods through the various stages, as each chip or tag carries the necessary information for each individual item. In view of the high cost of the transponders, ‘chipping’ of flat linen is, however, currently an option for only very few laundries. So the textile care sector is waiting on more economical, more functionally reliable solutions from the machinery and plant manufacturers.
 
Smart to the very end of the chain
Further potential for automation resides in the picking and packaging. Collecting together items for delivery manually is subject to error and that leads to customer complaints. With intelligent storage facilities and transport solutions, smart stacking management and the networking of equipment with the laundry’s information system, order picking becomes simpler, quicker and more reliable. To ensure that the integration can function, modern machines are equipped with interfaces, so that each new installation can be linked seamlessly into a laundry’s existing system. The same goes for accessory machines, which exchange all the important information relating to preparation and repair online.

User friendly apps
Digital developments are not only large scale: they are to be found on a smaller scale as well. For launderettes, too, apps provide important information on the status of the equipment, enable operators to see what is going on, even at considerable distances, as well as being able to provide digital payment models. Moreover, in heavily used laundry facilities, they can take on the entire job of time management, as Andreas Barduna, Head of Business Management, Miele Professional (Gütersloh) is very aware.

At Texcare International, from 20 to 24 June 2020, machinery and plant manufacturers from all over the world will be presenting their smart solutions for the laundries of tomorrow. The focus will be very much on artificial intelligence and smart information systems, which will help maximize the degree of automation within the sector.

As disclosed in an agreement signed on 18 July 2018 by the organisers of Texcare Asia and the China Laundry Expo, the two trade fairs will merge into a single show in a win-win arrangement to integrate industry resources.
 
The new joint-venture fair will be the largest annual industry event covering the textile care and laundry chain in Asia. The first edition will take place in September 2019 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre and will be jointly organised by Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) Co Ltd, Unifair Exhibition Service Co Ltd, the China Laundry Association, and the China Light Machinery Association.  
 
Mr Wolfgang Marzin, President and CEO of Messe Frankfurt Group, said: “The merger is fantastic news for the textile care industry in Asia as a whole and also for the Messe Frankfurt Group. By integrating Texcare Asia’s extensive resources with those of the China Laundry Expo, we will provide a larger and more complete platform for the industry to converge upon. The new show will provide coverage across the entire supply chain, including dry cleaning, dyeing, detergent and disinfecting chemicals, leather care, textile rental, digital solutions and much more.”
 
Ms Xiuping Han, General Manager of China Unifair Exhibition Services Co Ltd added: “The laundry industry in China faces numerous challenges, such as the tightening of sewage treatment and disposal regulations, while opportunities are also arising in the form of increased demand for energy saving technologies. By merging the China Laundry Expo and Texcare Asia under a single banner, we will provide an ideal platform to facilitate industry development and address these challenges and opportunities.”   
 
The annual China Laundry Expo was founded in 2000 and is held on a rotating basis between Beijing and Shanghai. Organised by the China Laundry Association and Unifair Exhibition Services Co Ltd, the show receives significant government and commercial sector backing. The 19th edition is held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre over the next three days and will play host to more than 220 exhibitors representing around 500 brands from over 10 countries and regions. The fair is also expecting to welcome over 20,000 trade and industry visitors to an impressive 23,000 sqm of exhibition space.   

Key product categories of the China Laundry Expo include laundry equipment, accessories, chemicals, consumables, leather care products, energy-saving and environmental protection equipment, informationbased intelligent products and solutions, and much more. Not only do these product categories cater to the purchasing demands of visitors around the globe, but the strong variety also serves to attract more suppliers and industry players.
 
With a similar focus to the China Laundry Expo, Texcare Asia made its debut in Singapore in 1998 and was introduced to Hong Kong in 2002. The fair then move to China in 2005 in Beijing and has been located in Shanghai since 2013. With the strong international network and industry support from the mother fair, Texcare International, the China event is now recognised as Asia’s biggest laundry and dry-cleaning show. It has served as a biennial meeting point for textile care manufacturers, suppliers and professionals to network, trade, conduct business, and catch up with industry developments.   
 
The fair also holds a unique position as a platform for providers of textile rental services, training services for institutions, and machinery for the cleaning of carpets, floor coverings, upholstery and buildings. By combining product groups from the China Laundry Expo with those of Texcare Asia, the merged platform promises to deliver a comprehensive value added experience for its customers and visitors.  
 
The expanded product portfolio and merging of resources mean that the newly merged show is predicted to attract an impressive 300 exhibitors and 25,000 industry visitors across 30,000 sqm of floor space when it opens its doors in September 2019.   
 
For further details, please visit www.texcare-asia.com, or contact texcareasia@china.messefrankfurt.com.

Living in Space: special event at Techtextil showcases textile processing technologies for the space industry: Some four months before the start of Texprocess (9 to 12 May 2017), the leading international trade fair for processing textile and flexible materials reports the highest number of registrations in its history and thus continues its pattern of growth. Even now, more floor space has been booked than the previous edition had in total. “It is well worth our while continually developing Texprocess further, with regard to the technologies and processes on display, the hall layout and the complementary programme. With this fourth edition, Texprocess is now firmly established in the marketplace and is attracting other market leaders in the sector to Frankfurt,” says Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles & Textile Technologies, Messe Frankfurt.

Texprocess reports growing numbers of companies signing up, particularly in the CAD/CAM and Cutting, Making, Trimming (CMT) product groups. Technologies and material for Sewing, Joining and Fastening are growing steadily, too.

Among the companies that have already signed up are: Amann, Astas, assyst/Human Solutions, Barudan, Brother, bullmer, Caron Technology, Dürkopp Adler, Epson, Filiz Makina, Gemini CAD Systems, Gerber Technology, Gütermann, Juki, Kuris Spezialmaschinen, MACPI, Malkan, Mitsubishi, Morgan Tecnica, Pfaff, Serkon Tekstil Makina, SMRE, Strima, Tajima, Teseo, Tetas, Veit, Zünd.
The range of products at Texprocess once again covers all stages in the value-creation chain for textile goods, from design, IT, cutting out, sewing, seaming, embroidery and knitting to finishing, textile printing and logistics.

Change in placement for CAD/CAM and Cutting, Making, Trimming
To make the profiles of Techtextil and Texprocess even sharper, the bonding and separating technology, CMT (Cutting, Making, Trimming), CAD/CAM and printing product segments will be concentrated together at Texprocess in hall 4.0. Thus, visitors will find Techtextil exhibitors from these segments at Texprocess. These product groups will be deleted from the Techtextil nomenclature.
Apart from this change, the overall concept behind the halls at the previous event will be retained: trade visitors will find Design, IT, CAD/CAM, CMT and Printing as well as the special IT@Texprocess section in hall 4.0. Exhibitors of machines and accessories for sewing and seaming will be presenting their products in hall 5.0 and 5.1; and hall 6.0 will showcase embroidery technology, together with finishing techniques and logistics for textiles.

The technologies of textile processing for space travel
Both exhibitors and visitors at Texprocess will, this year, have the benefit of a rather special experience at the show: under the heading 'Living in Space', Techtextil will be showcasing the wide variety of applications for technical textiles in space travel, together with the processing involved. This is a cooperative venture between Techtextil, The European Space Agency (ESA) and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR). Close to the location for, amongst others, exhibitors of functional apparel textiles in Hall 6.1, and based on the areas of application for technical textiles, a special, interactive area is to be built to display, with the help of four thematic sections, the high-tech textiles and textile processing technologies that have emerged from and for space travel. The highlight of this area is a virtual-reality experience in which visitors to Techtextil and Texprocess get to go on a virtual journey through the universe, where they will learn about the application of technical textiles in space travel and the processing required to make them.

Complementary programme with focus on Digital Printing and international Innovative Apparel Show
Digital Printing will be one the thematic focusses of the Texprocess complimentary programme. The sector's information service, the World Textile Information Network (WtiN) will, for the first time, be organising the European Digital Textile Conference at Texprocess. The conference will centre round technologies for digital printing on textiles and will be held on Wednesday 10 May in the Saal Europa in hall 4.0.
And digital printing on textiles will also be taken up as a topic in a dedicated series of lectures forming part of the Texprocess Forum. The forum offers, in hall 6.0, expert lectures on current issues in the sector, on all days of the trade fair. For the first time, the programme will have been designed jointly by three partners: the Dialog Textil-Bekleidung (DTB), die International Apparel Federation (IAF) and the World Textile Information Network (WTiN).

Following on from the success of its first edition, the Innovative Apparel Show is to be continued and set on an international footing. For the first time, there will be, as well as a German university, three European universities / colleges from outside Germany, showcasing, on the catwalk, their fashion designs from functional textiles and the processing stages that go into making them. The show will take place on all days of the trade fair. The participating universities / colleges are: Accademia Italiana, Florence / Italy; ESAD College of Art and Design, Matosinhos / Portugal; Esmod Paris/France, and the University of Trier / Germany. The young designers will be displaying designs relating to the three key themes of 'Textile Effects', 'Creative Engineering' and 'Smart Fashion'. Visitors will be able to vote for the public's award throughout the duration of the trade fair and the award will be presented at the last fashion show.

With the Texprocess Innovation Award, Messe Frankfurt seeks, for the fourth time, to honour the best new technological developments in the field. Submissions for the award may be made up until 20 February. The competition is open both to exhibitors at Texprocess 2017 and to other companies, institutes, universities, colleges and private individuals, who are not otherwise exhibiting at the fair. The awards in the various categories will be presented during the joint opening ceremony for Texprocess und Techtextil, on 9 May 2017. At the same time, there will be a special display area in Hall 4.0, showcasing all the prize-winning products at Texprocess.

Visitors will, once again, find many new IT solutions for the apparel industry in the IT@Texprocess section in Hall 4.0, where exhibitors will be presenting product life-cycle management systems (PLM), 'Cloud' applications and 3D CAD systems, which make it possible to create tailor-made clothes in real time and without the need for a Fitting.

Sewing and apparel-making technology record significant rise in Sales According to information provided by the Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies section of the VDMA (Association of German machinery and plant manufacturers), conceptual partner of Texprocess, the German sewing and apparel-technology industry achieved an increase in turnover of 15.9 percent compared to the previous year in the period from January to October. “With export sales of € 523 million, Germany is in third place amongst exporting nations worldwide, behind China and Japan,” observes Elgar Straub, General Manager of the VDMA Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies Association. “Our member companies are outstandingly well placed amongst the international competition. Above all, that is because they are continually developing and innovating. The individualisation of apparel, the digitalisation of the value creation chain and new technologies, such as digital printing and sustainable processing technologies, are currently at the heart of our members' planning for innovation.”

Texprocess will again be taking place in parallel to Techtextil, leading international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens (also from 9 to 12 May 2017). In all, 1,662 exhibitors from 54 different countries attended Texprocess and Techtextil in 2015, together with a total of 42,000 trade visitors. Over 13,300 of them came to see Texprocess. Added to that, there were around 7,600 additional visitors, who came across from the concurrently held Techtextil.