From the Sector

Trützschler Card Clothing (TCC), technology leader in the manufacture of high-performance card clothings for textile yarn processing, is expanding its site in Neubulach, Germany. With the twelve-million-euro investment, the supplier for the international textile machinery industry is expanding its production, warehouse and office capacities. A groundbreaking ceremony will take place during the coming winter.

The new building will expand the warehouse and logistics area by 600 square meters, to make a total area of 2,800 square meters. In the optimized cube of the new hall, a modern warehouse system will double the storage capacity. There will also be a fully automated warehouse for coils for sawtooth wires. During the construction phase, logistics and shipping will be temporarily outsourced to Pforzheim-Büchenbronn.

The move into the new building is planned for 2024. TCC will also expand the range of services and the production intensity at the site, while optimizing the process flows. Trützschler intends to recruit the additional employees required within a short timeframe by hiring new staff and offering apprenticeships at the Neubulach site. TCC employs more than 130 people in Germany, with a further 220 people employed worldwide at locations in Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Turkey and the USA.

Overall, the production area will be expanded from 4,000 to 5,400 square meters. This will enable the process flows to be optimized. The office space will be increased to 1,000 square meters. An additional level of the building will provide modern workplaces for administration and sales.

The new building will also improve access and exit routes for truck traffic. This will provide considerable relief for the local neighborhood in terms of noise emissions and other factors. Good integration into the region is very important to Trützschler. All contracts for planning, construction and air conditioning technology have been awarded to local companies.

In the future, TCC will operate its production facility in Neubulach in a climate-neutral manner. This will contribute important progress toward achieving the ambitious climate goals of the Trützschler Group. The new production facility will meet the highest requirements for energy efficiency and climate protection. Heating is provided by process heat recovery and geothermal energy. In addition, the company produces green electricity via its own solar panels.

"By expanding our business here in Neubulach, we are strengthening our presence in this area and our leading global market position too," says Managing Director Peter Gäbler. The Trützschler Group SE is also investing in India to build a new site with over 100,000 square meters for the Spinning, Card Clothing and Nonwovens business units. "It is important to be close to the customer worldwide because our foreign companies make a significant contribution to the success of the Group," says Gäbler.

TCC achieved another record sales result in 2021. Demand for the technology components for carding fibers in spinning mills and for carding in nonwovens production has increased significantly. The steel sawtooth wires, which are wound onto coils and produced for customers around the globe, eventually get worn down by use in production processes – so it is necessary to replace them regularly. For this reason, further growth is expected in 2022 and beyond.

At the recent CAMX 2022 Composites and Advanced Materials Expo in Anaheim, California, The Heat Sealing Module – HSM from Zünd was recognized with an Unsurpassed Innovation Award. The HSM significantly facilitates the processing and handling of dry fiber materials with thermoplastic content. This new tool is Zünd’s answer to a demand in the composites industry for wider-spread use and easier processing of these types of materials.

The American Composites Manufacturing Association, ACMA, proclaimed the Heat Sealing Module – HSM the winner of the ACE Award for Unsurpassed Innovation in the “Manufacturing: Equipment and Tooling” category. This award is presented annually to equipment, tooling, a production aid, or software designed to improve manufacturing production, environmental sustainability, or product quality and performance in composites manufacturing.

During processing, dry fiber materials are prone to fraying along the edges. Using hot air, the HSM seals the fabric along the cut path in advance of the Zünd Power Rotary Tool – PRT cutting it. Because of this sealing process, the cut can then be performed at full speed, in any direction, and produces both higher-quality parts and greater production efficiencies.

The HSM helps create clean, sealed edges when cutting fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites. It benefits not only the cutting process itself, but other production processes downstream. Cutting this way leaves behind no loose or uncut fibers and maintains a clean cutting surface and uncontaminated production environment. At the same time, it ensures that cut parts maintain their shape, and this increased stability makes them much easier to handle, especially in fully automated production workflows.

Monforts has installed and commissioned a new Montex finishing range at the Baltic Works of Halley Stevensons in Dundee, Scotland, to further boost the weatherproofing specialist’s highly flexible operations.

The range, with a working width of two metres, was built at the Montex assembly plant in Austria and consists of a Montex®Coat coating unit in knife execution for paste and foam coating and a Montex 8500 6F stenter.

Founded in 1864, Halley Stevensons has amassed unique technical know-how and manufacturing experience in the art of waxed cotton for weatherproofed fabrics and is able to provide international orders in custom colours and finishes to very low minimum quantities where required. The company exports worldwide and its premium brand customers include Belstaff, Barbours, Filson and J.Crew.

The range has replaced one of the company’s older stenter/coating lines and has already enabled Halley Stevensons to recreate various products with lower coating applications at higher speeds than was previously possible.

Waxed cotton was originally developed by sailors in the early 15th century when Scottish North Sea herring fleets began treating flax sailcloth with fish oils and grease in an attempt to waterproof their sails. Remnants of these sails were used by the sailors as capes to withstand the high winds and sea spray.

By the mid 1850s, sailcloth was being treated with linseed oil, but while initially highly effective, it would yellow and stiffen through weathering over time and eventually lose its waterproofing qualities.

In the years that followed, various treatments were applied to cottons in an attempt to find the most effective weatherproofing solution, and the combination of densely-woven cotton impregnated with a paraffin waxed coating proved most successful. For over 150 years, Halley Stevensons created many different variations of both woven constructions and finishing treatments and now supplies thousands of metres of waxed cotton every year, with each roll produced to custom specifications.

“The beauty of waxed cotton is its durability and longevity,” says Managing Director James Campbell. “The fabrics are breathable, with the wax adjusting to ambient temperatures to be softer and more breathable in warm weather and stiffer and more wind proof in cold conditions.”
While traditional waxes are petroleum or paraffin based, Halley Stevensons has always been comfortable about using a waste product from industry and reusing it to make products that last a lifetime.  

“We are always exploring different finishing techniques and one of our most popular finishes is our hybrid aero – an emulsified blend of waxes,” Campbell says. “This fabric is water repellent but has little wax in the mixture so the handle is much drier to touch than the traditional wet waxes.”

The company has also recently launched a new 100% plant-based wax – Ever Wax Olive – consisting of a blend of olive oil, rape seed and castor bean with comparable water repellence to petroleum and a far better rating than other natural waxes which have come before it.

“The high tradition of skills and fabric innovation imposed by our original guildsmen is still our benchmark standard of honest workmanship today,” Managing Director James Campbell concludes “We use responsibly sourced cotton fabrics and processes that are gentle to the product and low impact to the environment. Our dyeing methods use very low levels of water and our waxes are simply heated up for application and cooled down to store when not in use, meaning no waste discharges. Now, with this new Monforts line, we are also achieving running speeds two-to-three times faster than with the older stenter, combined with less gas usage. It’s proved a great partnership.”

Leading computerized knitting machine manufacturer SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. of Wakayama, Japan, together with its Turkish sales representative TETAS A.S., will participate in the CAITME 2022 Central Asian International Textile Machinery Exhibition in Tashkent, Uzbekistan next month.

This is the first time SHIMA SEIKI products are shown at the exhibition. Uzbekistan has been keen to convert its industry from raw material supplier to garment exporter, and therefore its market offers new opportunities for development and implementation of new technology.

To that end, SHIMA SEIKI will exhibit its WHOLEGARMENT® knitting technology that can knit an entire garment and requires no post-process sewing. On display will be the MACH2VS WHOLEGARMENT® knitting machine. The flexible and versatile MACH2VS is capable of knitting a range of production styles. As a conventional shaping machine, it is capable of all-needle knitting in its available range of 8 to 18 gauge, while WHOLEGARMENT® knitwear can be produced in half-gauge fabrics. The range of usable yarn and material has increased as well, thanks to i-DSCS＋DTC® as standard equipment. The R2CARRIAGE® system that yields quicker carriage returns for greater efficiency, now features a lighter carriage for even higher productivity. MACH2VS is even capable of gaugeless knitting whereby a number of different gauges can be knit into a single garment.

Meanwhile the N.SSR112 computerized flat knitting machine offers leading technology in an economical yet reliable package. Featuring industry-leading innovations such as the R2CARRIAGE®, spring-type moveable sinker, DSCS® Digital Stitch Control System, stitch presser and takedown comb, Made-in-Japan quality, reliability, productivity, user-friendliness and cost-performance combine to satisfy the high expectations of the world's fashion industry.

Demonstrations will be performed on SHIMA SEIKI's SDS®-ONE APEX4 design system. At the core of the company’s "Total Fashion System" concept, SDS®-ONE APEX4 provides comprehensive support throughout the production supply chain, integrating production into one smooth and efficient workflow from yarn development, product planning and design, to production and even sales promotion. Especially effective is the way SDS®-ONE APEX4 improves on the design evaluation process with its ultra-realistic simulation capability, whereby virtual samples replace physical sampling, consequently reducing time, cost and material that otherwise go to waste. Digital prototyping using virtual samples on SDS®-ONE APEX4 help to digitally transform the fashion supply chain for realizing sustainable manufacturing

The German machinery producer BRÜCKNER used exactly these chances and repositioned itself during the pandemic period. For more than 70 years, the family-run company has been specialized in individual finishing concepts for textiles, technical textiles, nonwovens and floor coverings. The current challenges in the textile industry are serious. The clear increase of the energy costs and the general uncertainty of the energy supply as well as political requirements make a profitable textile production more and more demanding for many companies.

The company responds to this with a newly developed stenter concept with double heating system. Depending on availability, the lines can be operated with gas or oil, but also other combinations with steam or renewable energies are possible. This means that production delays and machine downtimes can be avoided as far as possible. In addition, developed intelligent assistance systems for its machines have been developed that support the machine operator in using the best possible process to operate the line as energy-efficiently as possible. Further energy savings are possible with new energy-efficient motors or heat-recovery and exhaust air cleaning systems. This also helps to avoid harmful emissions.

But many textile producers are also focusing on reducing chemicals. For this purpose, BRÜCKNER's further developed ECO-COAT minimum application unit can make a decisive contribution. Knitted and woven fabrics, but also nonwovens can be finished on one or both sides via different fabric paths. With the minimum application via an engraved roller, a single-sided application of up to 100 g/m² can be achieved. A double-sided and higher application quantity is achieved, for example, by impregnation in the nip. Irrespective of the selected fabric path, a very small liquor reservoir means that only minimal quantities of waste water are produced when changing batches or liquors, and the use of chemicals can also be significantly reduced. In addition, less water has to be evaporated in the subsequent drying process than, for example, in the case of impregnation in a water bath, so the energy requirement is significantly reduced.

On the two upcoming trade fairs ITM in Istanbul and TECHTEXTIL in Frankfurt in June, interested customers can personally get an idea of BRÜCKNER's new developments.

The orders index for textile machinery for the first quarter of 2022, processed by ACIMIT, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, shows a slight decrease (-4%) compared to the same period from January to March 2021. In absolute value, the index stood at 117 points (basis: 2015 = 100).

On the domestic front orders shrank by fully 22%, whereas abroad the decline was more contained (-2%). The absolute value of the index in Italy was set at 136 points. On foreign markets, the index scored a value of 114.9 points.

ACIMIT President Alessandro Zucchi commented that: “The global pandemic and Russian-Ukrainian conflict have accentuated the climate of uncertainty for the whole of the textile industry. Criticalities already present in the past year (such as a sharp rise in prices of raw materials and their scarce availability, as well as increased transport costs) are now accentuated more than ever. While orders appear to have settled on foreign markets, domestically, following a strong recovery in 2021, we now have to deal with a general negativity permeating the Italian economy.”

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine, together with successive pandemic lockdowns in the main market for textile machinery manufacturers, namely China, have undermined the confidence of Italian companies in the sector. “I believe 2022 will be a transition year for the industry, as we await a calming international economic scenario. In the meantime,” adds Zucchi, “our association continues to work to strengthen the positioning of Italy’s textile machinery industry worldwide through promotional initiatives in collaboration with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Italian Trade Agency.”

The latest of these initiatives was carried out at the end of April, with the opening of an Italian technology training center for textile machinery in Mongolia, a Country that ranks among the world’s leading producers of raw cashmere. ACIMIT’s president concludes that, “With the training center starting its operations, our sector is laying the foundations for further business opportunities in an emerging market. I’m certain the initiative will bear a return in terms of image not only for individual Italian companies who are participating by supplying machinery, but on the entire Italian textile machinery sector as a whole.”

This month, the circular knitting machine manufacturer Mayer & Cie. is launching its upgrade kits for circular knitting machines that are already successfully in use by customers. With tailor-made packages, the company wants to give its users the opportunity to take advantage of technological progress in their existing machines. The aim is to improve the performance of the existing machines and to extend their service life. In addition to the machine-specific upgrade kits, the company now starts offering tailormade spare parts packages. They are intended to ensure machine availability and equip customers with spare parts for standard situations. In addition, they offer a degree of independence from possible failures in the supply chain and rising transport costs.

Longevity, a popular product property
“Longevity of our circular knitting machines is definitely a property that our satisfied customers mention regularly”, Mayer & Cie. sales director Wolfgang Müller says. The company estimates that up to 50 percent of all the circular knitting machines it has ever made are still around in the market somewhere.

Upgrades boost performance and value
Value retention, maintenance and upgrades for existing machines are a key issue for the company – and for the customers who successfully use existing Mayer & Cie equipment. That’s why the company recently launched customised upgrade kits to improve the long-term performance of machines.

Low budget, clear benefit
Compared to a new machine, upgrade kits are a low-cost investment that deliver clearly defined benefits. For example, an improved yarn guide ensures a significant increase in the plating reliability and output of the machine in question.

Most of the upgrade kits is machine-specific; the aforementioned yarn guide ensures a boost in productivity for the Relanit 3.2 II and Relanit 3.2 S. For S4 machines an optimised fluff blowing device can be the solution. It ensures that less fluff is knitted in and thereby improves the fabric quality. It also reduces downtimes that would otherwise be required for cleaning. Upgrade kits suitable for most Mayer & Cie. machines are the edge trimmer to open a fabric hose before the fabric’s rolling-up and the laying facility for high-quality hose fabric.

Spare part packages: Inside is what is required
In addition to individual upgrade kits Mayer & Cie. now offers spare parts packages. They too are customised for individual machines. When purchasing a machine, the customer can also order a small or a large spare parts package. Selected specially for the machine in question, it contains the most important consumables and spare parts.
The new spare parts packages also increase customers’ independence of supply chain failures and rising transport costs.

• Innovation begins with creativity
• A pioneer of the manmade fiber industry

When the manmade fiber age began a century ago, a German company was responsible for the pioneering work involved. Barmag, established in 1922, was one of the world’s first companies to construct machines for the large-scale production of synthetic staple fibers. To this day, the leading manufacturer of manmade fiber spinning systems and texturing machines in Remscheid – a brand under the aegis of the Swiss Oerlikon Group since 2007 – has shaped technological progress in this sector; in future, with ever more innovations focusing on sustainability and digitalization.

Barmer Maschinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft (Barmag) is founded in Barmen, located in the Bergische Land region, on March 27, 1922. The German and Dutch founders enter unchartered technological territory, one created as the result of a groundbreaking invention: in 1884, French chemist Count Hilaire Bernigaud de Chardonnet used nitrocellulose to produce the first so-called artificial silk, later known as rayon. The following decades see rapid development focusing on the search for synthetic textile fibers and their manufacturing technologies. As one of the first machine factories, Barmag battles its way through the eventful early years of the manmade fiber industry, the ‘Roaring Twenties’ and the Great Depression – and suffers the extensive destruction of its factories at the end of World War Two. Rebuilding is successful. With the unstoppable success story of purely synthetic plastic fibers such as polyamide, the company flourishes from the 1950s through to the 1970s, establishing sites in all international, for the textile industry at the time important, industrial regions and garnering prestige across the globe in the process. In the ups and downs of expansion, global competition and crises, Barmag reaches the very pinnacle of the market and becomes the preferred technological development partner for the manmade fiber industries in China, India and Turkey. The company has been a high-impact brand under the umbrella of the Oerlikon Group since 2007.

On the wings of innovation
Today, Oerlikon Barmag is a leading supplier of manmade fiber filament spinning systems and part of the Manmade Fibers Solutions business unit of the Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions Division. And our aspirations have not diminished: “The striving towards innovation and technological leadership has been, is and will always be part of our DNA”, emphasizes Georg Stausberg, CEO of Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions. In the past, this has been observable in such trailblazing innovations as the revolutionary WINGS generation of winders for POY in 2007 and WINGS for FDY in 2012. Currently, the focus of new and further developments is very much on digitalization and sustainability. Here, Oerlikon Barmag has – as one of the world’s first systems manufacturers – been implementing fully-networked smart factories for globally-leading polyester manufacturers since the end of the last decade. Within this context, digital solutions and automation are also helping to provide greater climate and environmental compatibility. This sustainability commitment is not only evidenced by the e-save label introduced for all products back in 2004: Oerlikon is endeavoring to also make all its sites carbon-neutral by 2030 and to acquire its energy exclusively from renewable sources. An ambitious target, whose achievement could be helped by the Oerlikon Barmag anniversary, states Georg Stausberg: “Innovation begins with creativity. And remembering the past provides plenty of motivation and inspiration for the future.”

BB Engineering GmbH (Germany) delivers a melt filter for recycling PET flakes to polyester manufacturer Indorama Polyester Industries (Thailand). Indorama will be using the type NSF38 filter in its recently assembled recycling system in order to produce rPET granulate from flake PET bottle waste. The NSF38 filter enables continual filtering – in other words, the system switches from one filter to the other during the process without the need for conversion shut-downs. The filter allows the processing of consumer waste for example, in the form of shredded PET bottles into new, high-quality rPET granulate. This granulate is subsequently processed into manmade fibers in spinning systems.

The NSF38 is a switchable filter with a filter surface area of ap-prox. 16 m2 on each side, with throughputs of between 1,000 and 1,900 kg/h. The filter inserts each contain 19 pleated filter candles (60 x 1,000mm Ø). The filter medium comprises a sin-tered metal fiber nonwoven with a filtration fineness of 25 μm. This ensures that the melt remains free of contaminants and gel particles, which in turn enables the production of high-quality end products.

• Smart Workflows for Digital Cutting & Kitting

At JEC World 2022 in Paris, Zünd presents the latest developments in modular cutting solutions for composites. Known for its expertise in digital cutting and workflow integration.
As specialist in digital cutting for composites applications, Zünd demonstrates how data management, digital cutting, and downstream processes such as picking, sorting, and kitting, can be automated intelligently and based on specific needs.

In Industry 4.0 in general and processing composites in particular, an unencumbered flow of data is key to workflow efficiency. With Zünd PreCut Center, the user is well equipped to handle the challenges of demanding manufacturing processes. The software automatically optimizes contours and adjusts cut paths depending on the material and choice of tools. With the integrated nesting function, parts are laid out automatically for optimal material utilization. Considering the high cost of materials, maximum yield is essential for economical digital cutting.

With Pick&Place, Zünd presents a cost-effective solution for fully automated picking and kitting of cut parts. The Pick&Place interface enables direct communication with the robot via Zünd Cut Center – ZCC, the Zünd operating software and user interface. Pick&Place makes it possible to completely automate parts removal, kitting and placing. The necessary parameters are derived from the metadata supplied with the job order.