From the Sector

Rieter is presenting the latest innovations in its systems, components and services at the upcoming India ITME 2022 in Uttar Pradesh (India), taking place from December 8 – 13, 2022.

Autoconer X6
The automatic winding machine Autoconer X6 completes the Rieter ring and compact-spinning systems. The machine serves as the final quality assurance in the ring and compact-spinning process and is key to the performance of the subsequent process stages. The Multilink system with Multilot offers maximum flexibility to handle a different type of yarn.

The latest splicer generation OZ1 and OZ2 provides an optimum splice quality based on an open prism. With only two prisms spinning mills can splice the entire spectrum of cotton yarns as well as blends. They are also used for the splicing of cotton-based elastic core yarns in combination with the Elastosplicer. The splice zone exhibits an impressive elasticity in the fabric.

Compacting Solutions
The Rieter compacting devices include the COMPACTapron, COMPACTeasy and COMPACTdrum. Spinning mills can change quickly between ring and compact yarn and offer customers a broader product range.

Recycling Expertise from Rotor to Ring
Rieter offers solutions for the integration of recycled raw material into yarn production to help close the textile loop and make fashion more circular. Both rotor and ring yarns can be produced with a considerable amount of mechanically recycled fibers.

ESSENTIALorder
Based on existing customer information, the webshop ESSENTIALorder visualizes which Rieter machines andn systems are available inside each spinning mill. It therefore offers a personalized shopping experience and facilitates order management, enabling spinning mills to optimize their internal stock levels.

ROBOspin
The piecing robot ROBOspin reduces personnel requirements in the ring spinning section by 50%. The robot also attains productivity increases thanks to higher spindle speeds at equal or higher efficiency.

SSM NEO-FD
SSM is presenting NEO-FD, the assembly-winding machine for precision wound packages for twisting. It meets all requirements for efficient production. The machine features the auto-doffing option and the online back-pressure system for low and high package densities.

Temco CoolFlow Disc
Temco’s CoolFlow texturing discs offer longer lifetime thanks to a brand-new geometry and the latest polyurethane technology. The texturing discs now generate a disc surface that operates at a lower temperature, resulting in slower ageing and abrasion. Further benefits are more stable yarn quality, higher productivity, and an overall process cost reduction.

Freudenberg Performance Materials (Freudenberg) has concluded a high-volume, multi-year contract with a global automotive tier one supplier to supply high-performance gas diffusion layers for the stacks forming the core of the fuel cell systems produced by the leading automotive supplier. Global target applications are mid-sized and heavy commercial vehicles as well as buses. Freudenberg is supporting the customer’s global fuel cell activities, thereby also accelerating the breakthrough of mass-produced fuel cell stacks.

Fuel cell technology is an important element of a successful energy transition. Gas diffusion layers play a key role in this context: they are indispensable for the functioning of a fuel cell and have a significant impact on the performance of a fuel cell stack.

A fuel cell converts the chemical energy of hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen into electricity. Functionally-optimized gas diffusion layers made of carbon-fiber based nonwoven are installed on both sides of a catalyst-coated membrane positioned in the middle of the fuel cell. The gas diffusion layers distribute hydrogen and oxygen evenly to the membrane and remove the electricity, heat and water generated by the CO₂-free chemical reaction. They also protect the sensitive membrane and are optimized to suit the bipolar plate. A fuel cell stack is made up of several individual fuel cells.

Freudenberg already has more than 20 years of unique expertise in the development and production of gas diffusion layers for fuel cell applications in the mobility sector and for porous transport layers used in electrolyzers. Freudenberg is currently expanding its production capacity at its Weinheim headquarters by installing additional lines. Further investments are on the verge of implementation.

Together with the Johann Jacob Rieter Foundation, the Rieter Group is supporting a new Endowed Professorship for Industrial Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the ZHAW School of Engineering. The Professorship is dedicated to teaching and research in the field of industrial applications of Artificial Intelligence and will be announced later this year.

The new Endowed Professorship will be established at the Center for Artificial Intelligence (CAI) of the ZHAW in Winterthur. It will focus, in particular, on the application of machine learning methods and knowledge-based systems in connection with processes in production and service.

For Rieter, the commitment is related to the implementation of its technology leadership strategy. The contribution of the Johann Jacob Rieter Foundation to sponsoring the Professorship is in line with the Winterthur Cluster Initiative. The increasing digitalization of production processes opens up new perspectives for Winterthur as a business location.

Building Expertise in the Field of Industrial AI
The Endowed Professorship will serve to build expertise in the field of Industrial AI and will oversee a group that will focus on teaching and research pertaining to trustworthy machine learning. This involves, for example, the deployment of artificial intelligence with the aim of optimizing production processes in relation to the use of raw materials and energy, and making expert knowledge more readily available.

In addition to research, for the purpose of knowledge transfer, the new professorship will also be active in teaching, in the bachelor's degree programs in Computer Science and in Data Science, in the Master of Science in Engineering, and in continuing education.

The annual commitment of CHF 300 000 over a period of six years will be financed equally by the Rieter Group and the Johann Jacob Rieter Foundation.
“The use of artificial intelligence in industry is becoming increasingly important, especially with regard to the potential of data for evaluation and control of complex processes. The support of the Johann Jacob Rieter Foundation and the Rieter Group will allow us to further expand AI research in the field of industrial applications,” explains Prof. Dr. Dirk Wilhelm, Director of the ZHAW School of Engineering.

“The use of Artificial Intelligence will make a significant contribution to automation and process optimization, and thereby advance sustainability in the textile industry. This makes it an important element of the leading technology that Rieter offers,” emphasizes Rieter CEO Dr. Norbert Klapper.

“The Smart Machines cluster is growing in importance,” says Thomas Anwander, member of the Foundation Board, and adds: “The Endowed Professorship for Industrial AI at the ZHAW aims to promote Winterthur as a technology location by pooling locally available strengths in mechanical engineering and Industry 4.0.”

International technology group ANDRITZ has received an order from Jasztex Fibers Inc., Canada, to supply a crosslapper to its site of Pointe Claire (Quebec province).
The line will be dedicated to the production of polyester blends for a wide range of applications, including home furnishing, filtration, blankets, architectural, fire retardant, transportation. Start-up is planned for the second quarter of 2023.

ANDRITZ has been a regular supplier of Jasztex. Over the last years, ANDRITZ provided crosslappers for previous investments in Toronto (Ontario) and Pointe Claire (Quebec).

Jasztex’s nonwoven products are sold throughout the bedding, furniture, filtration, acoustic and thermal insulation, transportation and medical markets.

SHIMA SEIKI announces a sales promotion package for the apparel industry together with KDDI, Linking 3D fashion design with cross-reality― realizing digital catalogs, VR showrooms and new customer experience allowing 360-degree viewing without actual samples

Leading fashion technologist SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. of Wakayama, Japan together with telecommunications company KDDI Corporation of Tokyo, Japan launched "XR Mannequin for APEXFiz," a sales promotion package that links SHIMA SEIKI's APEXFiz design software for the apparel industry with KDDI's XR (cross-reality) technology.

XR Mannequin for APEXFiz will be offered to the apparel industry. Using an XR Mannequin that enables viewers to check product images from any angle in 360 degrees on various devices, XR Mannequin for APEXFiz enables digital catalogues with 3D virtual sample image data of garments designed on APEXFiz design software, 360-degree VR showrooms, as well as digitally extended stores. It also realizes virtual proposals at exhibitions, showroom-style stores with no inventory, and user-friendly purchase experience on e-commerce sites, and more. It also allows users to reduce excess stock at stores and create new sales opportunities.

Eventually, by adding movement to models wearing Virtual Samples and rendering them on a cloud server, customers will be able to view high-resolution virtual fashion shows on their smartphones and other devices.

 Until now, the apparel industry has been making actual product samples in each of the planning and design stages of production. This process not only takes an enormous amount of time and cost, but generates waste of raw materials including fabric that require disposal. At the retail stage, stores also needed to have various sizes and colors in stock to address a wide range of customer preferences, resulting in excess inventory.

With SHIMA SEIKI's APEXFiz, designs can be evaluated without making actual samples, minimizing resources spent on sample production as well as lead time, enabling environmentally-friendly manufacturing.

In May 2022, KDDI developed a high-resolution XR mannequin for apparel sales, with support from Google Cloud. It enables various devices such as store signages and smartphones to check products from any angle in 360 degrees, enabling stores to sell products without maintaining inventory.

SHIMA SEIKI and KDDI combines APEXFiz and XR Mannequin to start providing XR Mannequin for APEXFiz. This brings DX solutions to all stages in the supply chain for the apparel industry, from planning and design to sample making, production, distribution, and retail sales. SHIMA SEIKI and KDDI will continue to create services together that link each other's products, to bring about a sustainable society by reducing excess stock, and providing a customer experience that gives peace of mind when purchasing products.

RF5 SMMS 3200 nonwovens line is scheduled to be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2022, and will be the first Reicofil 5 (RF5) line operating in Africa.

PFNonwovens is one of the most innovative nonwoven companies in the world, and continues to grow its footprint in the US, Europe and Africa. PFN wants to set a new benchmark of high-quality and innovative products for the Southern African markets with this purchase.

Markus Mueller, Sales Director of Reifenhäuser Reicofil and Key Account Manager for PFNonwovens, adds: “Since 2018, Reicofil has been delivering RF5 lines to support the global hygiene industry across four continents. The hygiene industry values the consistent product quality provided by RF5 and the key product performance properties it delivers at lower basis weights helping to drive industry sustainability goals. With an energy requirement of 1-1.2 kilowatt hours per kilogram produced, Reicofil 5 manages the conversion from raw material to nonwoven more efficiently than any other technology on the market. We are very pleased that after many years of partnership cooperation with PFNonwovens, we are now able to establish this technology at their South Africa location and look forward to our further collaboration to serve the hygiene and medical market in the whole region with top quality products.”

• Free trade deal boosts export potential

The time is right for Swiss textile machinery companies to grow their export business with Indonesia – one of the world’s top 10 textile producers. A free trade agreement between the two countries came into force in 2021, and market analyses show that there is scope for a significant increase in business in textile and textile machinery sectors.

This was the background to a successful symposium in the Indonesian capital Jakarta last month when Swiss Textile Machinery Association members presented their products and innovations to an invited audience of 200 delegates from Indonesian textile companies.

The symposium audience was welcomed by Philippe Strub, of the Swiss Embassy in Indonesia; Ignatius Warsito, from the Indonesia Ministry of Industry’s Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Textile Industry branch; Anne Patricia Sutanto, of the Indonesian Textile Association (API); and Ernesto Maurer, President of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association.

Swiss companies taking part were: Stäubli, Zeta Datatec, Loepfe, Saurer, Benninger, Rieter, Bräcker, Jakob Müller, Maag, Uster and SERV.

The presentations were followed by panel discussions with speakers, and there were also networking opportunities at the companies’ exhibition tables.

Also taking part in a panel at the event was Testex, the independent Swiss organisation which provides testing, certification, OEKO-TEX® and other labels for the textile industry. Discussion focused on the relevance of innovation in textile technology to sustainability and ‘saving the planet.’  

Recent years have seen an acceleration in trade relations between Switzerland and Indonesia, which in 2008 was classed as one of eight priority countries for economic development cooperation by SECO, the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs, with a joint economic and trade commission established the following year.
Collaboration was heightened further in 2018 with a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) for Indonesia with Switzerland and the other EFTA countries. This more extensive form of free trade agreement was accepted after a popular referendum, and ultimately came into force in November 2021.

Trading between the two countries is supported by SERV, the Swiss export risk insurance organisation. This insures export goods against political and commercial risks and facilitates credit.

Cornelia Buchwalder, Secretary General of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association, said the Indonesia Symposium was ideally-timed, right after the CEPA came into effect: “With the free trade agreement in place, there is even greater potential for the development of trade between our countries,” she said.

“Business in textile and textile machinery is actually below the relative market shares for the sectors, so this stronger cooperation is probably overdue. It was a successful symposium, with enthusiastic participation from Indonesian textile companies, so we are optimistic about future export prospects for Swiss textile machinery.”

In comparison to HY 21 revenue went up by 26% to 1,707.3 million EUR, the profit reached 123.9 million EUR (+6%).

Machines & Technologies revenue increased by +10%. The revenue of Agro increased by +46%, Bio-valorization revenue increased by +27%, the revenue of Industrial Solutions increased by +21%, and the revenue of T-Power increased by 4%. This revenue increase could be mainly realized thanks to higher sales prices, implemented to compensate the increase of raw material, energy and transportation costs in most segments.

In the first half of 2022, revenue increased by +10% for the segment Machines & Technologies. This increase in revenue took place both in weaving machines (Picanol) and other industrial activities (Proferro, PsiControl). Picanol launched the OmniPlus-i TC Connect weaving machine into the Machines & Technologies segment in early 2022. This model, which was specifically made for weaving tire cord, has been upgraded with the latest airjet technology and equipped with the features of the new generation Connect weaving machines. However, HY22 Adjusted EBITDA decreased by 64% compared to last year due to the negative impact of rising raw material prices, transportation costs and costs of late deliveries, which could not be translated into higher selling prices, partly due to the large order book.

The group anticipates a continued high level of uncertainty in the second half of 2022, as well as in 2023, due to the current conflict in Eastern Europe, the difficult supply chain circumstances, and other challenges following the coronavirus pandemic. The development of customer demand and sales margin could therefore come under pressure. However, based on currently available information, Picanol Group expects that the 2022 Adjusted EBITDA will be higher than the 2021 Adjusted EBITDA (430.3 million EUR). This revised outlook for the 2022 financial year reflects the strong first half of the year, while the result for the second half is expected to be in line with the same period in the previous year.

Japanese flat knitting machine manufacturer SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. will exhibit at the Brazilian Textile Industry Fair (FEBRATEX 2022) this month. On display will be the cutting edge in computerized flat knitting technology, represented by the latest WHOLEGARMENT® machines and design system.

The flagship MACH2XS series features the company’s original SlideNeedle™ on four needle beds and spring-type sinker system supporting a wide range of high-quality WHOLEGARMENT® knitting in all needles. The versatile MACH2S is capable of both WHOLEGARMENT® knitting and shaping on a conventional V-bed. SVR123SP features a special loop presser bed and is capable of producing unique woven-like hybrid fabrics as well as technical textiles. At FEBRATEX it will demonstrate its capability by knitting shoe uppers. The SVR and N.SSR workhorse machines set the industry benchmark for shaping machines, with SVR202 featuring tandem knitting capability for flexible operation. The SFG and SFG-I glove knitting machines rounds out the comprehensive lineup.

Demonstrations will also be performed on SHIMA SEIKI’s SDS-ONE APEX4 3D design system that is at the core of the company’s “Total Knitting System” concept. With comprehensive support of all aspects throughout the knit supply chain, SDS-ONE APEX4 integrates knit production into one efficient workflow from yarn development, product planning and design to machine programming, production and even sales promotion. Especially effective is SDS-ONE APEX4’s capability to improve on the planning process with virtual sampling. Photo-realistic simulation capability minimizes the need for sample-making, effectively reducing time, material and cost from the prototyping process.

• Focus on straightening technology and process control

At Indo Intertex, held from 10 to 13 August in Jakarta, visitors get to see the Mahlo-way for process control in textile production. The German machine manufacturer and its partner agency Agansa Primatama will be available to show everyone its leading straightening technology as well as energy saving concepts around the stenter frames. INDO INTERTEX is South East Asia’s largest trade show on the textile and garment industries, bringing together leaders to experience world-class manufacture, technology and solutions.

Indonesia is one of the ten biggest textile producers in the world. Especially the USA, the European Union and Japan import a majority of their requirements from the Southeast Asian Island state. In order to fulfill the increasing demands and the call for high quality goods, producers invest in machinery, equipment and technology.

At IndoIntertex, Mahlo informs about its straightening machine Orthopac RVMC-15, among other. Based on experience reaching back to over 75 years, the machine offers the latest technology for correcting distortions. The modular straightening and process control system ensures a straight-thread product before and after the drying or fixing process and optimises the processes all around the stenter. This increases quality and saves resources and energy. The process control system Optipac VMC-15 measures and controls critical parameters such as dwell time, thread density or residual moisture.