From the Sector

• Contracts signed for seven projects
• Contract comprises delivery of compact- and ring-spinning systems
• Total amounts to roughly CHF 180 million
• Order intakes are anticipated to be realized in 2019; sales posted in the 2020/2021 financial years

Rieter Group has signed contracts with the Cotton & Textile Industries Holding Company, Cairo (Egypt), at the ITMA 2019. These seven projects entail a total of 180 million Swiss francs. The contract comprises delivery of compact- and ring-spinning systems over the next two years. This order is part of a comprehensive modernization program of the Egyptian textile industry. The order intakes are anticipated to be realized in 2019 with sales posted in the 2020/2021 financial years.

The contracts were signed at the ITMA in Barcelona, Spain, by Dr. Ahmed Moustafa Mohamed, Chairman Cotton & Textile Industries Holding Company, and Dr. Norbert Klapper, CEO Rieter.

Dr. Klapper was very pleased at the formal signing of contracts: “We would like to thank our Egyptian business partners for the confidence they are placing in Rieter by awarding us this contract. Rieter has been the partner of choice of the Egyptian spinning industry for decades. We are delighted to be given the opportunity of making such an important contribution to the modernization of the Egyptian textile industry.”

• Lenzing sets net-zero CO2 emissions target by 2050
• Reduction of specific CO2 emissions by 50 percent until 2030
• Investment of more than EUR 100 mn to combat 1.3 Mt of CO2 emissions
• Commitment to follow the Science Based Targets concept

Lenzing, member of the CEO Climate Leaders Group of the World Economic Forum and a signatory to the United Nations Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, will drastically reduce its CO2 footprint. The Lenzing Group will invest EUR 100 mn over the coming years to reduce carbon emissions both inside its operational boundaries (scope 1+2) and in its supply chain (scope 3). Due to its ambitious CO2 emission reduction strategy, the Lenzing Group will further contribute towards helping customers to transition their business to a lower CO2 base.

A first milestone is set for 2030, when Lenzing plans to reduce CO2 emissions per ton of product by almost 50 percent (scope 1+2 and 3) compared to a 2017 baseline. The total CO2 reduction of all the planned initiatives will yield 1.3 Mt.

The italian Company Filidea s.r.l., specialized in technical and performing products made out of natural, synthetic and artificial fibers, announces the acquisition of Hoftex CoreTech GmbH from the German group Hoftex. The agreement was signed on May 18th, the closing time for this acquisition is fixed on September 1st. Through this acquisition, Filidea confirms its international dimension, consolidates its leadership within the sector of technical yarns and expands its presence in the European territory.

Mayer & Cie. (MCT) is premiering the OVJA 1.1 EETT at the industry’s leading trade fair, ITMA. A premium jacquard machine, it is part of the focus on sports of the company’s “Stay a winner: With Mayer & Cie.” presentation in Barcelona. The industry leader developed the OVJA 1.1 EETT especially for the manufacture of shoe uppers now that “fabrics” are in demand for sports and leisure footwear. The OVJA 1.1 EETT comes with double electronics and double transfer technology, which is reflected in an extra variety of patterns and, in particular, in innovative hole structures.

“The OVJA 1.1 EETT is yet another machine in our portfolio with which customers can claim to be on the winning side in keeping with our ITMA slogan ‘Stay a winner: With Mayer & Cie.’,” says Marcus Mayer, Managing Director of Mayer & Cie. in charge of technical development. “The OVJA 1.1 EETT is most definitely a premium machine and the right choice for especially exacting requirements such as multi-coloured spacer fabrics with a 3D effect or a wide range of hole structures.”

Swiss textile innovator HeiQ launches a new fluorine-free product in their HeiQ Eco Dry product family for a full range of durable water repellence technologies, from apparel to footwear options. As one of the pioneers in this field, HeiQ is the go-to solution provider for many apparel brands that seek fluorine-free sustainable water repellent solutions. Used by over 50 brands worldwide today, HeiQ Eco Dry is a family of innovative, eco-friendly and PFC-free water repellent textile technologies.

After adding HeiQ DuPont™ ECO-LED to the range last year, recently HeiQ has further developed another technology targeting footwear materials. This new solution, HeiQ Eco Dry FW, is Oeko-Tex® conform and bluesign® pending, enables very high hydrophobic properties, and is suitable for wool, polyamide and their blends. It does not compromise on breathability and is fluorine-free. For leather on footwear, HeiQ DuPont™ ECO-LED is recommended. With HeiQ Eco Dry, brands protect their products in a sustainable manner.

“Summer just started. And in many countries it also means the start of rainy season!”, says Hoi Kwan Lam, Chief Marketing Officer at HeiQ. “We work with over 150 brands all over the world on a daily basis and what we see is the unstoppable growth in their craving for innovative, sustainable and effective solutions.” continues Lam. “Our ecological solutions allow brands to send a positive message and maintain a sustainable image. Today, 58% of consumers that are willing to pay more make their purchase decisions based on a brand’s environmental commitment*. We are happy for such a trend and it also means business opportunities for all”.

STAMFORD, Conn. – At this year's Paris Airshow [Le Bourget, June 17-23] Hexcel will promote a range of carbon fibers and composite materials used to manufacture high-performance weight-saving structures in civil aircraft, engines, helicopters, and space applications.

Visitors to the Hexcel stand will see an Integrated Wing Panel demonstrator and an I-beam, both made with HiTape® carbon fiber reinforcements. HiTape® dry carbon reinforcements were developed for the automated lay-up of preforms and to complement a new generation of HiFlow™ resin systems, producing high-quality aerospace structures using the resin infusion process. The reinforcements incorporate a toughening veil to enhance mechanical properties and meet the structural requirements for aerospace parts. The I-Beam was manufactured using C-RTM (Compression Resin Transfer Molding) and was injected with Hexcel’s RTM6 resin in a process taking less than five minutes.

Hexcel honeycomb saves weight and enhances stiffness in composite structures, and the company provides a range of engineered core solutions that enable highly contoured parts with precision profiling to be produced to exact customer specifications. A sample part made from aluminum FlexCore® that is CNC machined on both sides and formed and stabilized with both peel ply and flyaway layers of stabilization will be on display.

Another honeycomb innovation is Hexcel’s Acousti-Cap® broadband noise-reducing honeycomb that significantly improves acoustic absorption in aircraft engine nacelles. The acoustic treatment may be positioned at a consistent depth and resistance within the core or can be placed in a pattern of varying depths and/or resistances (Multi-Degrees of Freedom and 3 Degrees Of Freedom), offering an acoustic liner that is precisely tuned to the engine operating conditions. These technologies have been tested at NASA on a full engine test rig and meet all 16 design conditions without trade-offs.
Another Hexcel technology to benefit aircraft engines is HexShield™ honeycomb which provides high-temperature resistance in nacelles. By inserting a thermally resistant material into honeycomb cells, Hexcel provides a core product with unique heat-shielding capabilities that allows for the potential reuse of material after a fire.

With 50 years of experience behind its comprehensive range of high-strength, high-strain PAN-based carbon fibers, Hexcel continues to innovate and is introducing two new fibers to its portfolio. HexTow® HM50 combines high modulus and high tensile strength, making it ideal for commercial and defense aircraft and engines. HexTow® 85 was developed specifically to replace rayon-based carbon fiber for ablative applications.

Another area of expertise that uses HexTow® carbon fiber is additive manufacturing, where Hexcel uses PEKK ultrahigh performance polymers and HexAM™ technology to manufacture carbon reinforced 3D printed parts. This innovative process provides a weight-saving solution for intricate parts in highly demanding aerospace, satellite and defense applications. HexPEKK™ structures offer significant weight, cost and time-to-market reductions, replacing traditional cast or machined metallic parts with a new technology.

Later this year Hexcel will open a joint research and development laboratory in Les Avenières (Isère), France with Arkema to develop carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic prepreg tapes for aerospace, space and defense applications. A spool of thermoplastic prepreg tape will be on display on Hexcel’s stand to showcase this cost-effective technology that enables lightweight parts to be produced in faster production cycles for future generations of aircraft.

Hexcel’s stand is located next to Hexcel’s official distributor for aerospace products, Groupe Gazechim Composites. In 2018, Hexcel and Gazechim formed a joint venture, HexCut Services, to provide aerospace and defense customers with customized kitting services that include Hexcel’s innovative carbon fiber prepreg, fabrics and adhesives. Pre-cut kits save customers time and investment, reduce inventory and minimize material losses through scrap reduction.

• 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 ITMA 2019 in Barcelona from June 20-26th, Goller will introduce the new Knit Merc for achieving the highest quality mercerization of knitted fabrics at the lowest tension and with under 3% variation in dimensional stability with high grade fabrics, for perfect dyeing results every time.

Mercerization is an essential textile finishing step for all cotton and cellulosic fibre-based fabrics in order to improve dye uptake and tear strength while reducing fabric shrinkage and imparting a silk-like lustre to the materials.

The Knit Merc is the result of intensive R&D developments at Goller and follows the successful introduction to the market of the company’s Sintensa Cyclone drum washing compartments for achieving the highest washing efficiency at the lowest tension.

The Knit Merc being exhibited at ITMA 2019 can accommodate 8.4 metres of fabric in its impregnation compartment and a further four metres in its first chain section to achieve a production speed of 25m/min at 30 seconds dipping time.

It is designed for dry-on-wet mercerizing, either cold or hot, and is equipped with an inlet combination of scroll and slat rollers for fabric guidance, a Tandematic uncurler in front of a rubberized de-airing roller and a grooved 320mm bottom roller with 320mm and 600mm perforated upper drums.

It benefits from automatic tension regulation and the low liquor content is ensured by the integrated lye tank and automatic circulation and filtration units.

An 8-ton high efficiency squeezer is stationed at the exit before the chain section and a 5-ton squeezer at the exit of the chain field.

Further fabric control and stability is provided by a cast iron pin chain with automatic optical and mechanical sensors, the Tandematic uncurler, an overfeed device and a driven belt arrangement for fabric support.

Following its successful beginnings in summer 2018 and its expansion in January 2019, TRADE UNION will be developed yet further as a dedicated space for selected brands and agencies.
 
“TRADE UNION is very close to our hearts,” explains SEEK Director Maren Wiebus. “Being able to work together to fill a space with life, interact with customers and products, and tell authentic stories in a laid-back, relaxing atmosphere – this open-minded, collaborative approach is ultra-modern and of the minute in its simplicity. We are all in the same big boat and can consider ourselves lucky that colleagues and customers are and have become friends. Together, we can achieve a lot this way.”

It has always been integral to SEEK’s DNA to continually work with partners and friends to develop new concepts that are perfectly suited to the demands of the market. The carefully curated setting of TRADE UNION, featuring brands such as Eat Dust, Porter-Yoshida & Co and Knickerbocker, is especially popular with the top buyers.
 
Felix Engelmann has supported the concept right from the off through his marketing agency Haptiques, and is full of passion and on board again with the concept this season.
“The TRADE UNION concept really came off for us in January. We worked well with our partners; the vibe was positive and nicely relaxed. I’m expecting the atmosphere in the summer to be just as fantastic and I’m sure it’ll be a good occasion with friends, partners and employees.”
 
In July, buyers can look forward to an expanded portfolio including Red Wing Shoes, a brand from Minnesota. European Marketing Manager Rik van Dijk comments:
“We can't wait to attend the inspiring setting, because our buyers really feel at home there. We need a location where you can take a step back, find a quiet place to sit and talk to everyone. The extra space at the TRADE UNION guarantees this. We’ve only heard good things from friendly brands and we’re really looking forward to the trade show.”

Research and restoring of ancient tradition to shape a denim style which is always cutting-edge, focusing on a 100% Italian supply chain and on the outstanding quality of materials and processes.

“Ciao Milano”, the new edition of the Denim Première Vision show, for the first time in Milan (28-29 Maggio 2019), includes among its protagonist the project signed by Paolo Gnutti, aka PG DENIM. The company, under Gnutti’s creative guidance, has restyled its proposals, with two clear objectives in mind: on the one hand expanding its presence on the high-end denim market, focusing more and more on a bespoke approach and on product innovation, on the other side the ambitious goal of manufacturing one million metres of fabric in the year 2019.

This path of constant research is combined with a totally integrated and 100% Italian manufacturing structure, in order to give the market not just new products, but also new “tools”, says Paolo Gnutti, R&D Head at PG DENIM:
“We are targeting the market section where production always requires thinking out of the box, which feeds the imagination of those who are asked to transform it. Our approach is often made of provocations, suggestions, reflections, through continuous research which leads us to designing frequent and always innovative capsule collections”.

A creative input which almost always results from situations and pathways which bring back the creativity of
PG DENIM, to rediscover techniques and processes of the great Italian and international tailoring tradition.