From the Sector

• Energy efficiency will be the topic of VDMA’s next edition of Textile Machinery Webtalks on 27 August 2020 (2 pm - 4 pm CEST).  

Efficient energy management is of increasing importance in textile dyeing and finishing. Innovative machine designs with minimal water and energy consumption as well as the recovery and use of the heat energy produced in the processes represent valuable potential savings for any modern company.

The presenters at a glance:

• Ludger Sommer, Thies, will show how to manage heat energy in wetprocessing.
• Benjamin Schnabel, Brückner Textilmaschinen is going to demonstrate how to make one of the most energy consuming processes in textile manufacturing more sustainable, eco-friendly and cost effective.
• Fabian Buckenmayer, PLEVA Sensors and Controls will inform about the specific opportunities for an energy-efficient textile production via measuring and controlling process parameters.  

After the presentations, the experts will be available to answer the participants' questions. The webtalk series is very well received by the textile industry. During the first three webtalks, VDMA welcomed almost 900 registered participants from more than 50 countries. Registration is still possible.

Following the successful commissioning of two new Monforts Montex wide-width stenter lines and additional environmental management equipment at its plant in Germany, GtA – Society for Textile Equipment GmbH – is aiming to be the first textile finishing company to become entirely CO2-neutral in the manufacture of all of its products by 2025.

GtA is a partner company to Germany’s large-format digital printing fabric leader, Georg and Otto Friedrich GmbH, which has has this year been able to considerably expand its portfolio due to the new Monforts lines.

Headquartered in Gross-Zimmern, close to Frankfurt, Georg and Otto Friedrich GmbH and its partners in Germany have an annual production of 37 million square metres of warp knits for a range of end-use applications, including garments, automotive interiors and technical textiles, but increasingly with a concentration on digital printing substrates.

Fault-free textiles

A new standard in pure white, 100% clean and fault-free textile substrates has been demanded by this market in recent years due to the rapid growth in digitally-printed banners and billboards – often referred to as ‘soft signage’.

The substrates of choice for digital printing are 100% polyester warp knits which are resilient and allow excellent take-up of inks, and vibrant colours and clear and precise images to be achieved with digital printing techniques. The knitted construction also has the advantage of elasticity, which is a plus in terms of flexibility for installers.

Critically, the warp knitted fabrics have extremely smooth surfaces which is becoming increasingly important due to the general move away from PVC coatings which were the standard in the past.

It was to finish these fabrics for Georg and Otto Friedrich GmbH as well as providing such services for many other customers, that the GtA plant in Neresheim, Baden-Württemberg, was established in 2015.

The purpose-built plant on a greenfield site was initially equipped with a fully-automated, 72 metre long Monforts installation comprising a washing machine integrated with a 3.6 metre wide, seven-chamber Montex stenter. The line quickly went from single to double shift production and then to 24/7 operation  to meet demand.

Expanded widths

Building on the success of this installation, GtA has now installed two more Montex stenter lines – both in expanded working widths of 5.6 metres and purpose-built at Montex GmbH in Austria.

A six-chamber Montex unit is combined with a washing machine to guarantee the purity of the substrates, while a five-chamber line is integrated with a wide-width coating machine. This new coating capability at GtA has led to a number of new additions to the Georg and Otto Friedrich DecoTex range for digital printing, including wide width fabrics with flame retardant, antimicrobial and non-slip finishes.

The new Montex stenter lines benefit from all of the latest innovations from Monforts, including the Smart Sensor system for the optimised maintenance planning of key mechanical wear components on the stenters. A comprehensive overview of the condition of all parts at any time is now available for operators within the highly intuitive Qualitex visualization software.

With Qualitex, all article-specific settings can be stored and the formulations for thousands of treatment processes called up again at any time. Individual operators can also personalise their dashboards with the most important machine functions and process parameters.

Environmental commitment

GtA is run by a seasoned team of textile professionals led by Managing Director Andreas Niess.

“We have received excellent service from Monforts from the outset and we were happy to place the order for these two new lines as part of our ongoing cooperation,” he says. “With all of the latest Monforts advances in technology we are fully in control of all production and quality parameters with these lines, as part of our significant commitment to innovative environmental technology.”

The GtA plant, which operates in near-cleanroom conditions, has also been equipped with proprietary technology to fully exploit the Monforts air-to-air heat recovery systems that are now standard with Montex stenters.

“Around 30 per cent of our investment volume at the site goes to energy-saving measures and we are sure that this commitment is worthwhile,” Mr Niess says. “As an example, our integrated heat recovery system fully exploits the waste heat from the process exhaust air and the burner exhaust gases of the Monforts stenters, allowing us to achieve an exhaust air temperature of  between 30 to 34°C, compared to what would conventionally be between 140 to 160°C. Another focus has been on exhaust air purification technology and here too, the latest technology has been installed with integrated heat recovery elements.”

This, he adds, saves 52% of the energy that would normally be used – equating to 5,800,000 KwH per year. The necessary audits for energy-efficient companies are also carried out annually.

In addition, GtA has purpose-designed the automatic chemical mixing and dosing systems that feed the padders for the key treatments that are carried out on the fabrics through the stenters.

The company is going further, however, in its pursuit of clean production and raw materials.

"We want to be an asset and not a burden on our immediate environment and therefore do not use any additives containing solvents," Mr Niess says. “We were the first to use fully halogen-free flame retardant chemistry, and we use bio-based, finely ground alumina products for the washing process instead of surfactants. PES polyester yarns made from recycled material are also increasingly used and the latest additions to our raw materials portfolio, the RC-Ocean products, are made from recycled sea plastic.

“We are now planning a combined heat and power plant for the production of electrical energy and heat and we will also build a photovoltaic system that converts solar radiation into electrical energy. GtA wants to be the first textile finishing company to be CO2-neutral in the manufacture of all of its products by 2025. The complete heat supply and heating for the 13,000 square metre production hall, as well as the office building and the hot water supply for the domestic water, is already energy-neutral. We are convinced that this commitment will pay off in the long term and our positive business development proves that sustainability and business profitability are perfectly compatible.”

In addition to the products for Georg and Otto Friedrich GmbH, GtA  offers its manufacturing capacities for other customers as a contract service.

All products are manufactured in accordance with Öko-Tex Standard 100, product class 1 and the company is also involved in the research and development of new sustainable manufacturing processes, in cooperation with many regional universities and funding project partners.

Effective from April 1st, 2020 Andreas Tobisch takes over the position “Head of sales” of the PFAFF Industriesysteme und Maschinen GmbH. The 60-year-old assumes the responsibility for sales activities at the PFAFF location in Kaiserslautern/Germany.

Andreas Tobisch started his career at PFAFF in 1981, where he worked in sales at various locations in Germany. In the mid-1990s, he switched to an international sewing machine dealer as sales manager for almost 10 years before he started successfully his own business in the sewing machine industry together with a partner (both managing directors). At the end of 2014, PFAFF Industriesysteme und Maschinen GmbH was able to win him back for a position in the growth area of "welding technology", where he was most recently the responsible segment manager.

Together with the management and his sales team, Andreas Tobisch will consistently and successfully implement the sales, product and marketing strategy of PFAFF Industriesysteme und Maschinen GmbH. One focus of his work is to expand and strengthen the sales activities of industrial sewing machines, welding machines and automatic sewing units from PFAFF INDUSTRIAL in Kaiserslautern/Germany.

Lenzing expands its Management Board, naming a new CTO and an additional Management Board member for “Pulp and Wood Raw Materials”

The Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG, the world’s leading producer of botanic cellulose fibers, has appointed two new members to the company’s Management Board. Stephan Sielaff will serve as the new Chief Technology Officer effective March 1, 2020, succeeding Heiko Arnold, who left the Lenzing Group in November 2019. At the same time, Lenzing’s highest management body led by Chairman Stefan Doboczky will be expanded to include a newly created Management Board position for “Pulp and Wood Raw Materials” and will thus consist of five members instead of four. Christian Skilich will assume the position of Member of the Management Board for Pulp and Wood Raw Materials as at June 1, 2020.

“In the coming years our focus will be on achieving the strategic target of strongly increasing our own supply of pulp in line with our corporate strategy sCore TEN. By creating this new division, the composition of the Management Board now also reflects this focus”, says Peter Edelmann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG.

Stephan Sielaff is a chemical engineer who gained experience in the chemical industry in the years 1993 to 2014, holding various management positions for Unilever and Symrise. Since 2014, he has worked for the Swiss specialty chemicals company Archroma, an important supplier of the textile and paper industry, as a Member of the Board of Directors and Chief Operating Officer (COO).He has been responsible for forming the integrated operational structure and the strategic development of the company.

Christian Skilich, who will assume management responsibility for the new Pulp and Wood Raw Materials Division in the Lenzing Group, boasts outstanding expertise in the field of paper and pulp technology. With a Master of Science in Paper Technology and Engineering & Economics, he first held various positions in the paper, packaging and glass industries. Since 2004, he has worked in a broad range of management areas on behalf of the internationally operating Mondi Group. Christian Skilich most recently served as Chief Operating Officer on Mondi’s Board of Directors, overseeing projects in the USA and Europe.

Sateri has scored ‘A-‘ in CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) for Climate Change in 2019, placing it at Leadership band and the top 27% of companies in its sector, for implementing current best practices. And making Sateri World’s First Viscose Producer to Reach Leadership Band

This is the first time Sateri has participated in this annual voluntary reporting. It is also the first time that a viscose producer has reached Leadership band. Sateri attained an ‘A’ for more than half of the 11 categories that it was assessed for, including value chain engagement, Scope 1,2,3 emissions, and governance. Its ‘A-‘ overall score is higher than the ‘C’ average globally, in Asia, and in the Textiles and Fabric Goods sector; no companies in the same sector scored ‘A’.

Allen Zhang, President of Sateri, said, “We are very pleased to achieve such a commendable score on our first attempt at CDP reporting. It is a validation of our efforts and actions to combat climate change and our contribution towards decarbonising the textile industry. The CDP platform not only helps us measure and benchmark our sustainability performance against more than 8,400 companies globally, but also serves as a management tool for continuous improvement.”

Sateri has made great strides in the last year on emission reduction work. In June 2019, Sateri and the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) jointly launched the EcoCosy® Climate Leadership Programme. The programme invites Sateri’s value chain partners to participate in the Climate Stewardship 2030 Initiative to set a decarbonisation pathway for the fashion industry to reduce the industry’s GHG emissions by 30% by 2030. Results of the first phase of the programme were published in the EcoCosy® Climate Leadership Whitepaper 2020, which was shared at COP25 in Madrid last year.

The Board of Directors of Autoneum Holding Ltd appoints Bernhard Wiehl, the longstanding Head of Finance & Controlling of Business Group Europe, as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and member of the Group Executive Board with immediate effect. The previous CFO Dr Martin Zwyssig has decided to leave Autoneum.

Bernhard Wiehl has been responsible for Finance & Controlling at Business Group Europe since 2013. Also thanks to his financial leadership, this Business Group with its numerous legal units has become highly profitable in recent years. Prior to joining Autoneum, he held senior finance and controlling positions with various automotive suppliers and has therefore extensive experience in the financial management of internationally active suppliers. Additionally, he is very familiar with the challenges of the automotive industry in a global environment. From 2007 to 2013, he was Head of Finance & Controlling and member of the Executive Board of the Lighting and Electronics division at the German automotive supplier Hella and from 2004 to 2007, among other things, in charge of controlling of the Europedivision of the supplier Hydraulik-Ring. Wiehl started his professional career in 1995 at TRW Automotive in Germany. He studied mechanical and industrial engineering at the Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, Germany, and holds a degree in industrial engineering (FH).

Bernhard Wiehl’s predecessor Dr Martin Zwyssig decided to leave the Company and to take up a new professional challenge. The Board of Directors and CEO Matthias Holzammer thank him for the commitment to the Company and wish him all the best for his professional and private future.

The Board of Directors of Autoneum Holding Ltd has appointed Matthias Holzammer, the former, long-term Head of Business Group Europe, as CEO with immediate effect. He is taking over from Martin Hirzel, who will be leaving the Company in agreement with the Board of Directors. Since the existing problems in North America are proving more challenging than expected, the Group's operating result in the second semester of 2019 will not improve, contrary to previous forecasts.

Matthias Holzammer has already demonstrated his operational expertise as the Company’s Head of Business Group Europe, which he successfully restructured from 2012 on and transformed into a highly profitable Business Group. Due to the severe operational and commercial issues in North America, the turnaround and improvement of results will take more time than expected. Matthias Holzammer will devote himself to this task with the highest priority, in order to return the Business Group and the Group back to profitability as quickly as possible. "In view of the current challenges in North America and the volatile global market environment, Matthias Holzammer is the ideal choice to lead the Company as CEO with his industry experience, knowledge of Autoneum and track record in restructuring”, said Hans-Peter Schwald, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Autoneum Holding Ltd.

• Operations, Product Development, Sales and Technical Support Growth

Celine Huang 黄秀蔚 is named Chief Executive Officer for HeiQ Greater China and Ming Wen Liang 梁銘文is named Chief Executive Officer HeiQ Taiwan. Huang, with her background as a general manager of a large player in the same industry brings a total of over 20 years of solid testing lab, agent and country strategies management expertise with an excellent relationship skills with customers, distributors, dealers and end users. She has a chemical engineering degree in dyeing and finishing from China Textile University. Huang has worked in both Australia and China in senior management positions. Huang will lead the group’s Greater China business from the newly created Shanghai office (瑞士海屹科新材料有限公司上海办事处).

Liang will manage mill relations, technical support and distribution at HeiQ Taiwan. She brings close to 20 years of experience in textile and garment production supply chain focusing on sales, material innovation and development, sourcing and production. Liang holds a Bachelor of International Trade from the National Taipei University of Business, Taiwan, speaks Chinese, English and Spanish and has lived in both Taiwan and Argentina. And will be based in the new office in Taipei (瑞士海屹科有限公司).

HeiQ continues to increase its global footprint with the creation of HeiQ Shanghai and HeiQ Taiwan. In addition to HeiQ Hong Kong, these offices aim to provide dedicated technical support in the Greater China area, further broaden its geographical reach in strategic locations and support HeiQ’s brand partners’ manufacturing activities in the region.

At the 128th Annual General Meeting of Rieter Holding Ltd. on April 4, 2019, 502 shareholders, who represent 63.8% of the share capital, participated. A dividend of CHF 5.00 per share was agreed. The shareholders approved the proposed maximum total amounts of the remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors and of the Group Executive Committee for the fiscal year 2020.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Bernhard Jucker, and the members of the Board of Directors This E. Schneider, Michael Pieper, Hans-Peter Schwald, Peter Spuhler, Roger Baillod, Carl Illi and Luc Tack were confirmed for an additional oneyear term of office.

Furthermore, This E. Schneider, Hans-Peter Schwald and Bernhard Jucker, the members of the Remuneration Committee who were standing for election, were also re-elected for a one-year term of office.

Shareholders also adopted all other motions proposed by the Board of Directors, namely approval of the annual report, the financial statements and the consolidated financial statements for 2018, and formal approval of the actions of the members of the Board of Directors and those of the Group Executive Committee in the year under review.

Feb. 2019 Event Targets Laundry Execs, Upper Management Teams Serving Hospitality and Hotel Lodging Markets

Anthony Melchiorri, the renowned hospitality expert, creator and host of The Travel Channel shows Hotel Impossible, Hotel Impossible: Five Star Secrets and Hotel Impossible: Showdown once thought of opening his own hotel laundry when he was fresh out of the Air Force and entering the hospitality industry. Attendees at TRSA’s inaugural Hospitality Conference, Feb. 20-21, 2019, will hear about that and more when Melchiorri delivers the keynote address at the Walt Disney World’s Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL. Melchiorri’s 20 years of hospitality industry experience and resultant successes has provided a wealth of insights and actionable steps that he will share during his presentation, How to Build Your Personal Brand.

TRSA has added the Hospitality Conference to its growing professional-development opportunities in response to member requests for enrichment specific to this rapidly-growing market. Attendees for this event, which is targeted to laundry executives and their upper management teams who serve the hospitality and hotel lodging markets, will benefit from opportunities to build skills, learn best practices from industry leaders and spend time collaborating and sharing information. Agenda highlights include these general session topics:

• Contracting with Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs)
• Hospitality Market Research
• Understanding Hospitality Textiles

Panel discussions pay professional growth dividends in the form of networking and information-sharing. The TRSA Hospitality Conference’s agenda includes these interactive opportunities:

• CEO Panel: Hospitality Market Trends
• Customer Perspectives: Benefits and Challenges of In-House (OPLs) and Outsourcings
• Making the Case for Outsourcing Laundry Services and Closing In-House or On-Premise Laundries (OPLs)

Day two of the agenda will consist of tours at these state-of-the art central Florida plants: Walt Disney World Textile Services Resort Linen Plant and Hotelier Linen Service. Following the plant tours, management teams will offer debriefing sessions that allow for comparison of operations, thereby enriching the discussion of alternative approaches to similar tasks among conference attendees.

Early-bird registration pricing for this event is open now through Jan. 11, 2019. An additional 10% off registration for three or more who register from the same company is also available. Visit www.trsa.org/hospitality for additional information. The full TRSA professional development calendar for 2019 can be viewed at www.trsa.org/calendar.