From the Sector

Leading fashion and textile industry training centre offers UK professionals hands-on experience with 3D digital design tools
 
EFI™ Optitex®, Electronics For Imaging's global provider of integrated end-to-end 2D & 3D CAD/CAM software solutions for the fashion and apparel industry, today announced its partnership with Fashion Enter Ltd. (FEL), a UK training and technical skills development centre for the fashion and textile industry. FEL has implemented EFI Optitex 3D solutions into its course curriculum.
 
Established in 2006, London-based FEL is a veritable "all-in-one" technology hub for the fashion and textile industry, offering multiple training and technical skills development services encompassing the entire design to production cycle. A not for profit, social enterprise, FEL also provides apprenticeships and adult learning through an Educational Skills and Finding Agency- and Social Enterprise London-approved technical centre supported by Haringey Council, Mayor's Good Growth Fund and online fashion retailer ASOS®.
 
To help lay the foundation for the UK's fashion and textile industry on its imminent journey towards digital transformation, FEL was determined to close the mounting skills gap in both industry and academia and offer UK professionals hands-on experience and exposure to 3D digital design tools. With a keen understanding of the market's growing need for speed, flexibility and shifting demands, in September 2019, FEL selected EFI Optitex as its 3D technology partner. FEL sought advanced 3D solutions that would enable innovative digital design courses, apprenticeships and bespoke training, including collaboration with leading fashion retailers such as Marks & Spencer®, ASOS, Next®, and many others.
 
After a short but highly intensive training period FEL implemented EFI Optitex 3D into its design and production processes, including pattern design and 3D tools for design and fitting. Since the recent implementation, FEL has already reaped the benefits of EFI Optitex 3D fully digital design, from sampling and grading, through to production. During a preliminary implementation phase, EFI Optitex 3D will enable FEL to deliver a wide range of accredited 3D design courses and forge collaborations with new customers, a result of EFI Optitex 3D's intuitive design tools, ease of use, and time and resource savings.

At the Swiss-Egyptian Investment Forum which took place on February 3 in Cairo (Egypt), the Cotton & Textiles Holding Company and Rieter signed additional contracts related to the modernization program for the Egyptian textile industry.

Further Orders from Egypt:

• Contracts for additional projects signed in Cairo
• Order volume is around 30 million Swiss francs
• Order intake in the first half year of 2020 expected

The total volume of the contracts sums up to around 210 million Swiss Francs, including the contracts which had been signed at ITMA 2019 in Barcelona and which represent a volume of around 180 million Swiss Francs.

Rieter expects the full amount of orders to be booked as order intake in the first half year of 2020. So far, 165 million Swiss Francs have been booked.

Bemberg™ gears up for Première Vision - February 11th-13th, Paris, France; with a great deal of novelties and a key statement on sustainability: Let’s Make it Circular! That’s why the Japanese brand of regenerated cellulose fibers joins the fair with two booths, one in the yarn-focused sector – Hall 6 C52 6D53 – the other one in the Smart Creation area, the curated district showcasing cutting-edge sustainable innovation for the textile and fashion business. Hall3 S14.

“We simply could not miss out on the Smart Creation Area as sustainability is the founding pillar of our company,” says SHUNSUKE SATO, sales manager of Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei. “Indeed, the smart fiber is made from a cotton linter which is pre-consumer material, a natural derived source, that doesn’t deplete forestry resources. The strategy beyond our double presence is to highlight our deep commitment to responsible innovation to a larger target of professionals.”

Let’s take it circular! is the motto at the Smart Creation booth. The lifespan of Bemberg™’s regenerated cellulose fiber derived from cotton is fully circular: from the source to manufacturing. The whole sustainable closed-loop process is supported by the LCA study, signed by ICEA and validated by Paolo Masoni. Recyclability is granted by the Global Recycle Standard - GRS certification by the renown Textile Exchange. An influential guarantee that involves the whole production process and supply chain behind the company’s smart yarns. Bemberg™ yarns are entirely biodegradable and ecotoxicity-free – meaning that at the end of their life circle they break down into the environment leaving no trace in terms of toxic substances as attested by the Innovhub-SSI report.

On show at Première Vision some of the most recent collaborations with GRS-certified partners such as FIVEOL, SMI TESSUTI, TESSITURA UBOLDI, INFINITY, SIDONIOS, MATIAS & ARAUJO, TINTEX, IPEKER, EKOTEN, for fashion fabrics as well as PEZZETTI and BRUNELLO & G.CRESPI from lining partners.

The first Bemberg™ partner to present a commercial collection enriched by Velutine™ Evo is the Portuguese Matias & Araújo. With an innovative spirit, dynamism and a determined entrepreneurial spirit, the company is a leading knitwear producer for the textile industry.

In the Hall 6 Bemberg™ displays key commercial items developed by premium brands such as CAALO that is making its mark in the outerwear market with its Sustainably produced Functional-Luxury proposal. For SS20, CAALO utilized Bemberg™ lining because of the sustainability properties and it's unique colour.

CAALO looks to utilize as much eco-friendly and sustainable materials as possible without compromising on design or quality. This Bemberg™ lining was a perfect fit.

Chomarat Group, expert in composite reinforcements for the marine market developed a high performing C-PLYTM reinforcement for the hull and deck of Arcona 435 and 465. Both cruiser-racer are a unique combination of comfort onboard and performances, for fast family cruising and high-level races thanks to their specific design, and the use of C-PLY™. The carbon NCF reinforcement allows structural design benefits, premium surface quality and overall parts cost saving.

“With 45 years of expertise, Chomarat is a pioneer in developing solutions to achieve weight reduction, improved surface appearance and stronger structure.

C-PLY™ makes it possible to meet these specifications, while ensuring stable quality and cost-effectiveness” explains Vincent Cholvy, Marine market Manager at Chomarat.

THE CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY FOR SERIAL PRODUCTION OF CARBON BOATS
A study was led to determine the optimal construction to develop a high performing C-PLY™ range for a better permeability in infusion process. The result is a carbon NCF that achieves high mechanical performances, multi resins compatibility and cost efficiency. “Chomarat is the best choice for supplying the product our factory prefers to work with: stable quality and cost effectiveness are the key benefits” explains Nicolas Broberg, Managing Director Arcona Yacht.

Infusion technology for hull and deck with up to 70% level of carbon in the laminate gives the greatest possible strength.

Direct-to-garment system for polyester “is ideal for handling a wide variety of products in small quantities, which should help us attract new customers” says Image Magic CEO

Kornit Digital (Nasdaq: KRNT), announced that Tokyo-based Image Magic has installed two Kornit Avalanche Poly Pro systems, expanding its longstanding digital direct-to-garment capabilities to imprint polyester and poly-blend fabrics. The move supplements Image Magic’s continuous development of internal efficiencies, and increases capacity for an operation that has observed 40% year-over-year growth. The brand serves a mix of corporate clients, including some of Japan’s leading apparel brands, and general consumers via a predominantly internet-based sales model.

Using the eco-friendly NeoPigment™ Olympia ink set, Kornit Avalanche Poly Pro was developed to extend digital design complexity, color gamut, and durability to polyesters, which have grown in popularity as a result of sportswear and “athleisure” trends.

Shanghai - ROICA™ lands in Shanghai to showcase its complete range of premium stretch fibers for the modern wardrobe and disclose its visionary approach and strategy for a cutting-edge and sustainable fashion.

On show, leading material innovator Asahi Kasei introduces a premium stretch fiber starting from the ultimate ROICA Eco-Smart™ Family. The certified and multi-awarded range has astonished the textile world for its hyper-performative features. “The new premium stretch is synonymous of transformation: from standard to speciality, from basic to special, from ordinary to clever and from standard to Smart.” Explains Shinichiro Haga, Senior Executive Manager - ROICA™ Division.

Sustainability and a responsible approach are the true core of research and development to create high-tech engineered yarns.Such visionary imprint imbues all ROICA™ innovations:

• ROICA Eco-Smart™ family: A true world-first with the most contemporary sustainable range of responsibly produced premium ingredients. ROICA Eco-Smart™ family offers 2 sustainably designed stretch yarns

- ROICA™ EF is GRS by Textile Exchange certified, thanks to the fact that more than 50% of yarn content comes from the recycling of pre-consumer waste.
- ROICA™ V550 yarn got the Cradle-to-Cradle® Innovation Institute’s GOLD LEVEL Material Health certificate for impacts on human and environmental health. This yarn is also Hohenstein Environment Compatibility Certificated, signifying at its end-of-life, ROICA ™ yarn smartly breaks down without releasing harmful materials.

• ROICA Feel Good™ family: A unique range of advanced stretch yarns that deliver personal performance and measurable wellness, freshness and comfort metrics for travel, sport, leisure and more.
   
• ROICA Colour Perfect™ family: A range of yarns that can give excellent, flawless and world unique colour dimensions in advanced fit solutions.
   
• ROICA Resistance™ family: A high performance range of stretch solutions with performance resistance designed for match particular applications.
   
• ROICA Contour™ family: A range of yarns that create new shaping, stretch and silhouette solutions for a calibrated fit, effortless control, softness, comfort and support.

ROICA™ already entered the most advanced collections of leading brands as: Wolford for exceptional European Skinwear including legwear, Sarah Borghi for hosiery, SITA Active for Smart pret-a-porter,  Daquini for athleisure, Livy for sensual lingerie, SCOTT Racing Team for cycling uniforms, Closed for denim, Un-Sanctioned for running suits, Vitamine A for beachwear and many others.

In Shanghai, ROICA™ is set to stand out as leader in Smart Innovation. As tangible proof of this, the company brings to Intertextile Shanghai some of its ultimate collaborations across China and the Far East.

• Reduction of material usage by up to 50 percent through innovative draping strategy in the production of fibre composite materials

In fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) production, stamp forming is one of the most economical processes for automated large-scale production, e.g. in the BMW i-series. However, the current processes are susceptible to draping errors and a high proportion of waste. An innovative process developed at the Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University, short ITA, can now significantly reduce the scrap rate and reduce the waste rate of high-priced reinforcing textiles, such as carbon fibre textiles, by up to 50 percent. Sven Schöfer from ITA achieved this effect with his work "Development of a textile-based material feed to increase the preform quality during stamp forming of reinforcing layers". On 10 September 2019, he won the third AVK Innovation Prize in the "Research and Science" category at Composite Europe in Stuttgart, Germany.

Current process
In stamp forming, clamping grippers are usually used in industry to feed the stacked individual layers to the forming process and position them on the lower tool via a clamping frame or hold-down device. Due to the clamping grippers, the cutting proportion of cost-intensive reinforcing textiles is high, as additional material at the textile edge is necessary with clamping systems. Other approaches to feeding the reinforcing semi-finished product during forming and simultaneously improving the draping quality are also not economical: they are usually only designed for certain textile cuts, cannot be automated, are prone to errors or are expensive special solutions.

There is currently no system in the industry that can apply retention forces along a final contour with low waste and remains flexible in terms of geometry.

Innovative approach of Sven Schöfer
The innovative process developed by Sven Schöfer works with a detachable textile joint, a so-called tufting seam. It allows the single layers to slide off during the forming process under a retention force dependent on the seam design.

This reduces or completely eliminates draping errors in previously critical areas, even with complex preform geometries. This leads to a significant increase in preform quality and a reduction in scrap rates. The process is also highly efficient, as tensile forces can be applied to any component geometry on near-net-shape blanks. This reduces the material input by up to 50 percent.

In a strongly declining market, Autoneum increased revenue in local currencies by 1.9% in the first six months of 2019 thanks to numerous model ramp-ups. At CHF 1 156.1 million, revenue in Swiss francs reached the previous year’s level (CHF 1 159.4 million). All four Business Groups outperformed the market. The turnaround program in North America is showing progress, but the persisting operational inefficiencies at two US plants continue to impact the profitability of the entire Group, as already communicated. Accordingly, EBIT fell to CHF 16.4 million in the first semester, while the anticipated negative net result totaled CHF –6.0 million.

The weak global macroeconomic environment, ongoing trade disputes and the resulting uncertainty among car manufacturers and consumers led to a further sharp decline in global light vehicle production in the first half of 2019. In this difficult market environment, Autoneum was able to increase its revenue by 1.9% in local currencies in the first six months compared to the prior-year period, particularly thanks to numerous model ramp-ups. At CHF 1 156.1 million, revenue in Swiss francs reached the prior-year’s level (CHF 1 159.4 million). While the number of vehicles produced in all regions declined, Business Groups (BG) North America, Asia and SAMEA (South America, Middle East and Africa) grew and outperformed the respective market developments, two of them significantly. Only at Business Group Europe did the sharp drop in production volumes among vehicle manufacturers result in fewer call-offs and lower year-on-year revenue.

• 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.

• Clean Technology. Smart Factory.

Remscheid – Oerlikon invites all visitors to this year's ITMA in Barcelona on a journey into the future of manmade fiber production. From 20 to 26 June 2019, the world market leader will show all its guests its vision of a sustainable and automated manmade fiber production in a virtual 4D showroom at its 1,000 m² stand in Hall 7, A101: "Clean Technology. Smart Factory." is the motto of the future. And this is only a stone's throw away from reality at the stand. Because today Oerlikon is presenting four world premieres for efficient machine and plant concepts in a new, innovative industrial design. Together with numerous other innovations, all this forms the new DNA of the Oerlikon Manmade Fibers segment.

The challenges for the manmade fiber industry are manifold and Oerlikon shows its customers solutions:

1. Choosing the right business model
Price pressure on fiber and yarn manufacturers is growing due to global market consolidation. Here it is important to position oneself correctly. Are you producing polyester, nylon or polypropylene for the niche market and skimming off good margins with innovative products and ingenious material properties, or are you looking for business success through economies of scale in the volume market such as the constantly growing apparel sector? Oerlikon has the right answers for both business models. And the most important thing: the market leader supplies all solutions from a single source. See for yourself at the world premieres of the machine and system concepts of WINGS FDY PA6, BCF S8 Tricolor and the revolutionary eAFK Evo texturing machine.

2. Finding alternatives for good personnel
Finding good operators in the manmade fiber industry is becoming increasingly difficult, even in emerging industrial nations such as China, India and Turkey. The solution is obvious. What, for example, the automotive industry achieved years ago with the 3rd Industrial Revolution is now also taking its course in the textile industry. And at the same time it is even shifting up a gear. In the next step, automation in combination with digitization will lead to new, sustainable production. Oerlikon will be showing how automation and digitization interact at ITMA. Self-learning machines and systems, artificial intelligence (AI), remote services and edge computing are just a few of the key words in the digital half of the new Oerlikon Manmade Fibers DNA.

3. Guarantee quality and traceability
The qualities of the fibers and yarns must meet the highest demands and their production must be traceable throughout the textile value chain. This no longer only plays an important role in the automotive industry, where safety is of paramount importance. Other branches of industry that use fibers, yarns and nonwovens also want to know where the raw materials they produce for consumer articles come from. Legal regulations are demanding this more and more frequently. Oerlikon offers optimal solutions with its DIN ISO certified manufacturing processes. More than half of the world's manmade fiber producers are convinced every day that the qualities produced on Oerlikon Barmag, Oerlikon Neumag and Oerlikon Nonwoven equipment are right – and all visitors to ITMA can do the same on site.

4. Efficient and sustainable production
In the future, the materials produced from manmade fibers must become part of a further improved global recycling economy. The recycling of polyester – with over 80% market share the most frequently used manmade fiber in the world – has not only been on the agenda since today. Oerlikon already has solutions at hand: from PET bottles to fibers and filaments, to textiles and carpets. ITMA is the next step. With the VacuFil® Oerlikon in cooperation with the subsidiary company BBEngineering presents the world premiere No. 4 – a recycling solution within a running polyester production with a waste-free approach.

Vision becomes reality
The Oerlikon Manmade Fibers segment thus demonstrates what the ITMA in Barcelona promises as the world's leading trade fair for textile machinery and plant construction: "Innovating the world of textiles – sourcing for a sustainable future". In Hall 7, A101, this is already reality.