From the Sector

The American company WPT Nonwovens invests in a new thermobonding line for filter media. Trützschler Nonwovens teamed up with Schott & Meissner to deliver a state-of-the-art, high-capacity line including the T-BLEND fiber preparation system, two TWF-NC roller cards and Schott&Meissner’s high-speed “Speedliner” belt oven.

Air conditioning systems are not only an integral part of many buildings all over the world. They are vital components in cars, trucks, planes and other. Home and Vehicle Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems often rely on thermo- or through-air bonded nonwovens for air filtering.

WPT Nonwovens is a specialist not only for filtration media but also for nonwovens used in the medical, hygiene and industrial sectors. The US-based company started its business in 2008 and quickly became a trusted supplier of spunbonded, needle-punched, wet-laid and carded nonwovens.

To enable further growth, WPT Nonwovens now decided to invest in a new through-air bonding line. The Trützschler machinery has been selected to ensure reliable fiber preparation and web forming processes for various special, technically demanding filtration media.

The start-up of the through-air bonding line is planned for the 3rd quarter 2023.

Art meets sustainable fashion in the third edition of the project "CirculART", the initiative that sees companies, artists and fashion designers working together with Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto, showing how new balanced forms of production, design and sharing can be explored through a careful choice of materials and of sustainable supply chains. Three key concepts underpin the circularity of sustainable fashion and therefore this project: Reduce - reducing the consumption of raw materials, Reuse - reuse of raw materials, Recycling - regeneration.

The project CirculART is conceived and developed in collaboration between Fashion B.E.S.T. and UNIDEE Residency Programs, and led by the Foundation's team of curators.

Fashion B.E.S.T. - Better Ethical Sustainable Think-Tank, Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto’ sustainable fashion office, was created by artist Michelangelo Pistoletto and Franca Sozzani. Since 2009, B.E.S.T. has been working on the development of sustainability in the textile sector, to lead to a contamination between art, which assumes social responsibility, and the world of fashion, which is looking to define a new ethical and sustainable model.

CirculART proposes a new link between fashion and art, engaging both in a conscious and innovative combination of sustainability, sensitivity, beauty and union. The project links territory and production factories, bringing together actors from the different sectors making up the textile supply chain that work on the basis of a circular economy with companies that have chosen to embrace the ideal of sustainability and develop an innovative business model.

The protagonists of this year’s edition are two international artists and two international fashion designers, selected through an open call launched by Cittadellarte: Augustina Bottoni, Lucia Chain, Huge Sillytoe and Rebecca Sforzani, young talents called upon to create a work with fabrics produced by partner companies, focusing on dialogue and on the enhancement of the textile industry production chain.

In early 2023, the programme will give the four selected artists the opportunity to visit and work actively with the partner companies that have joined the initiative.
These are: Achille Pinto S.p.a, manufacturer of textiles and textile accessories for the main international fashion brands; Albini Group, Europe's largest manufacturer of cotton fabrics for shirts; Erica Industria Tessile, a leading company in the creation of textile prints, original and customised designs; Filatura Astro, eco-sustainable regenerated yarns; G2B S.r.l., a chemical and environmental analysis laboratory working with vertical cultivation from which indigo is obtained; Lampo by Ditta Giovanni Lanfranchi S.p.A., leader in the creation and production of zips for fashion; Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti, a Biella-based weaver for haute couture; Lenzing, world leader in the production of fabrics made from fibres derived from renewable wood raw material; Milior, a producer of high quality fabrics; Officina +39 – Chemistry plus creativity, a chemical company with thirty years' experience dedicated to research and chemical application in textiles; Tessuti di Sondrio, a factory inspired by the century-old local textile tradition of processing cotton, linen, hemp and wool; Tintoria Emiliana, garment-dyed production and sustainable practices; Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia, a manufacturer of 100% Made in Italy fine combed and carded yarns.

Extrem steigende Energiepreise und zunehmende Unsicherheit in fast allen Industriezweigen: Viele produzierende Textilunternehmen stehen heute vor großen Herausforderungen. Um auf dem Markt bestehen zu können, müssen sie die Flexibilität und die Effizienz ihrer Produktion erhöhen und Herstellungskosten durch Reduzierung des Ressourceneinsatzes minimieren. Die Online-Qualitätskontrolle in textilen Produktionsprozessen ist aktuell wichtiger denn je.

Mahlo will zeigen, wie eine datengesteuerte Produktion Probleme in der Textilbeschichtung und -veredelung lösen kann.

I4.0-konforme Qualitätskontrollsysteme von Mahlo, die in einer modernen Textilbeschichtungsanlage installiert sind, zeigen die Vielfalt der Möglichkeiten zur Produktionssteuerung. Um unterschiedlichen Anforderungen gerecht zu werden, hat Mahlo ein breites Portfolio an intelligenten Sensoren und Messrahmen im Qualiscan QMS-System, die online Produkt- und Prozessparameter wie Flächengewicht, Auftragsgewicht, Dicke, Feuchtegehalt, Bahntemperatur, Restfeuchte, Abluftfeuchte, Luftdurchlässigkeit etc. in den verschiedenen Phasen der Produktion erfassen.

Die Messwerte werden direkt in den Echtzeitprozessoren der Sensoren verarbeitet. Die fertigen Messdaten werden intern in einem intuitiven Steuerungsdisplay visualisiert oder über Schnittstellen (OPC-UA, Modbus etc.) an ein externes Netzwerk übertragen. Die implementierten Regelungsalgorithmen interagieren direkt mit den entsprechenden Aktoren der Textilbeschichtungsanlage und reduzieren die Abweichung vom Sollwert. So entsteht ein gleichmäßigeres Endprodukt. Dies ermöglicht optimierte Sollwertvorgaben und führt neben einer besseren Produktqualität zu deutlichen Einsparungen bei Rohstoffen und Energiekosten. Zudem steigen Prozesssicherheit und Produktionsdurchsatz. Neben der Online-Kontrolle der oben genannten Parameter ist die Bereitstellung detaillierter historischer Daten eine wichtige Funktion jedes Qualitätskontrollsystems.

Durch einen vereinfachten und direkten Datenaustausch kann der Endanwender jederzeit nachvollziehen, wo und vor allem wie sein Produkt gefertigt wird. Damit sei nicht nur eine reibungslose Wertschöpfungskette gewährleistet, so Wulbeck. Der Endverbraucher kann auch sicher sein, dass sein Stoff immer mit den richtigen Parametern produziert wird. "Diese Sicherheit ist in diesen unsicheren Zeiten von hohem Wert."

Fibre Extrusion Technology Limited (FET) of Leeds, England, a supplier of laboratory and pilot melt spinning systems, is celebrating a record breaking year of sales and product innovation. “Sales revenue for 2022 has easily beaten our previous high” said FET Managing Director, Richard Slack “and the research projects we have collaborated in have become increasingly challenging in terms of technical specification.”

Prestigious new projects during 2022 included a multifilament melt spinning line for Senbis Polymer Innovations, Netherlands enabling the development of textile fibres from recycled polymers or biopolymers; a FET-200LAB wet spinning system at the University of Manchester which will play a major part in advanced materials research in collaboration with the renowned Henry Royce Institute; and a FET-103 Monofilament line for RHEON LABS of London to help develop a hyper viscoelastic fibre from RHEON™ which displays high strain-rate sensitive properties. The latter two of these examples were aided by significant UK grants to develop advanced materials.

FET is now looking forward to 2023 with a record order book. The company’s newly opened Fibre Development Centre features over £1.5 million investment in customer laboratory systems that will further enable fibre trials and product R&D. Three new polymer types were developed with clients in 2022 and several more are lined up in 2023, which is expected to bring the total of different polymer types to more than 40 in multifilament, monofilament and nonwoven formats.

FET will be exhibiting at two major exhibitions in 2023; INDEX 23, a leading Nonwovens show at Geneva in April; and ITMA, Milan, an international textile and garment technology exhibition in June.

Gunnar Meyer has been assigned the new Managing Director of A. Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG in Mönchengladbach, Germany, as of January 1st 2023.

He started his career with Monforts and has spent his whole working life in the textile machinery industry. Between 1985 and 2010 he was a key part of the Monforts team in various roles related to sales and commercial issues, including as General Sales Director. He returned to the company in 2019 after working for other well-known German textile machine manufacturers in the field of nonwovens.

“Working in other parts of the textile industry, I have gained a lot of experience in the management of complex technical textile projects and my special focus will certainly be on challenges like the current energy crisis, alternative heating systems and sustainable textile finishing,” stated Meyer.

Over the past year, TMAS, the Swedish Textile Machinery Association, has been working with ClimatePartner on a corporate carbon footprint (CCF) mapping project with its member companies, as a natural step towards supporting a more sustainable textile industry.

Over half of the members of TMAS are participating in the project, which involves calculating each operation’s Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions in order to identify the current climate impact and areas where reductions can be made.

“Integrating climate action into strategies is becoming increasingly important in Europe and we have decided to take a pro-active role,” says TMAS secretary general Therese Premler-Andersson. “There is growing pressure from customers to be more transparant in this area and forthcoming legislation will soon make it necessary for all to take climate actions. TMAS members, however, recognise the benefit of taking action now, not least in terms of taking responsibility and demonstrating credibility.”

The CCF project’s scope examines all aspects of a business split into five areas:

• Facility Management (heating, electricity, water, cooling agents and waste disposal).
• Employee Mobility (commuting and company cars).
• Business Travel (flights travel by train, rental cars).
• Procurement (production, packaging and office materials).
• Logistics (inbound and outbound).

Primary data is being used wherever possible and emission factors originate from internationally recognised databases such as ecoinvent and GEMIS.

The ClimatePartner measurement programme is based on the guidelines of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (GHG Protocol), and factors in all greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol. These are carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC), sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃).

Each of these gases affect the atmosphere differently and remain in the atmosphere for different lengths of time. Rather than reporting on each gas separately, they are expressed as a CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) for the sake of simplicity. A CO₂e is essentially a conversion into a ‘global warming potential’ value that enables the influence of different gases on global warming to be compared.

ITM - International Textile Machinery Exhibition, which is one of the world's most important exhibitions in its field and carries its success beyond its borders, will be held in a country other than Turkey for the first time next year under the name 'ITM Uzbekistan'. 'ITM Uzbekistan 2023 Exhibition', which will be held in Uzbekistan New Expo Center on September 12-15, 2023, will bring together buyers from Central Asia and Turkic Republics with the world's most important textile and garment technology manufacturers.

ITM Uzbekistan to be organized in odd years
'ITM Uzbekistan', organised by Teknik Fairs Inc. and Tüyap Tüm Fuarcılık Yapım Inc., will be first held in September 2023, from 12th to 15th, and thenorganized in the following odd years such as 2025, 2027, and so on. The exhibition calendar was created by taking into account the dates of the exhibitions organized in the same sector in different countries of the world and in Europe and the benefits of the sector.

Tashkent New Expo Center
New Expo Center, built in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, will host the most important events of both Central Asia and Turkic Republics. New Expo Center, where many national and international events will be held, will be the gateway of Central Asia to the world. The exhibition center, consisting of a total area of 44 thousand square meters and two stages, was built with the latest technology, taking into account all needs. The new exhibition center, which includes cafes/restaurants, resting areas, meeting, congress, seminar and exhibition halls, is an important attraction center with its proximity to the new airport under construction in the capital and the facilities where the international Olympic Games will be held.

Von regenerativen Energien, nachwachsenden Rohstoffen über innovative Werkstoffe, Wassertechnik bis zu Wissens- und Ressourcenmanagement – gemeinsam tragen sie zu einer zukunftsfähigen und nachhaltigen Welt bei. Grundvoraussetzung dafür ist ein gesellschaftlicher Diskurs, in dem neue Entwicklungen Aufmerksamkeit bekommen und verbreitet werden. Mit dem UMSICHT-Wissenschaftspreis prämiert der Förderverein des Fraunhofer UMSICHT zum 14. Mal Menschen, die mit ihrer Arbeit diesen Diskurs ermöglichen.

Klimawandel und globale Krisen zeigen es auf: Die Menschheit braucht Veränderungen. Veränderungen, die unseren Alltag direkt betreffen, setzen sich langfristig aber nur mit einer breiten gesellschaftlichen Akzeptanz durch – als Beispiele seien nachhaltige Agrarprodukte, Verpackungen, Mobilität oder Energie genannt. Gerade deshalb ist es so wichtig, den Diskurs über Innovationen und wissenschaftliche Errungenschaften zu stärken und so ein Vertrauen in diese aufzubauen. Dabei kann die Basis für den Diskurs verschiedene Formen haben: Während die einen Fortschritte in ihrer Disziplin erlangen und auf Fachebene kommunizieren, bereiten andere diese für die Allgemeinheit möglichst verständlich auf. Nur so kann die gesamte Gesellschaft an der Gestaltung einer nachhaltigen Zukunft teilhaben.

Kommunikation: Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft
Seit 2010 verleiht der UMSICHT-Förderverein den UMSICHT-Wissenschaftspreis und zeichnet Menschen aus, die Forschungsergebnissen aus den Bereichen Umwelt-, Verfahrens- und Energietechnik – den Kernthemen des Fraunhofer UMSICHT – der Gesellschaft zugänglich machen. Das Preisgeld verteilt sich auf einen mit 8000 Euro dotierten Preis in der Kategorie Wissenschaft und einen mit 2000 Euro dotierten Preis für journalistische Arbeiten.

Bewerbung
Sämtliche veröffentlichte Arbeiten sind zugelassen, die sich mit den Themen Umwelt-, Verfahrens- oder Energietechnik beschäftigen. Wissenschaftliche Arbeiten dürfen nicht älter als zwei Jahre, journalistische Arbeiten nicht älter als ein Jahr sein. Beide können auf Deutsch oder Englisch eingereicht werden. Bei Gemeinschaftsarbeiten ist darauf zu achten, dass die Haupt-Anteilsträgerin bzw. der Haupt-Anteilsträger die Arbeit einreicht.

Bewerbungsschluss ist der 28. Februar 2023.

The UK’s new Business Secretary, Grant Shapps has visited the Henry Royce Institute’ hub in Manchester to seal the second phase of R&D investment in the institute of £95 million. Fibre Extrusion Technology Limited (FET) of Leeds, England had previously installed its FET-200LAB wet spinning system at the University of Manchester site and this proved to be a focus for the Business Secretary’s interest, as he discussed the project with FET’s Research and Development Manager, Mark Smith.

This wet spinning technology enables fibres to be derived from sustainable wood pulp to produce high quality apparel and trials are now underway to perfect this process. FET is a world leading supplier of laboratory and pilot melt spinning systems, having successfully processed more than 35 different polymer types in multifilament, monofilament and nonwoven formats.

During his visit, Shapps spoke of the investment programme as a means of reinforcing the UK’s standing as a leader in advanced materials research, development and innovation.

“R&D investment is a critical way to turbocharge Britain’s growth. Growing an economy fit for the future means harnessing the full potential of advanced materials, making science fiction a reality by supporting projects from regenerative medicine to robots developing new recycling capabilities, right across the country. Today’s £95 million investment will do just that, bringing together the brightest minds across our businesses and institutions to help future-proof sectors from healthcare to nuclear energy.”

The Henry Royce Institute was established in 2015 with an initial £235 million government investment through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the latest £95 million sum represents the second phase of the investment.

Opportunities being investigated by Royce include lightweight materials and structures, biomaterials and materials designed for reuse, recycling and remanufacture. Advanced materials are critical to the UK future in various industries, such as health, transport, energy, electronics and utilities.

Montex Maschinenfabrik – the key site for the manufacturing of Monforts finishing machines in Austria – has celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022.

Located in St. Stefan, in the centre of Austria’s Lavant Valley in Carinthia, the advanced manufacturing hub was founded by Monforts in 1982.

“From the outset, we have specialised in all aspects of machine production, including high-precision sheet metal working, laser cutting and welding, and the pre-assembly of machines and components, , along with a well-organised quality management and spare parts service,” says Montex plant manager Gert Hanzl.

“We work very closely with the Monforts research and development team in Mönchengladbach, Germany, to take the latest new ideas through testing and prototyping, in readiness for future series production,” Hanzl says. “We are fully exploiting the many new possibilities in the continuous development of design and manufacturing methods. The respective electrical switch cabinets for the machines are delivered just-in-time from Monforts in Germany according to our production schedules.”

While there is standardisation in series-produced Monforts machines, Montex is also increasingly called upon to construct bespoke machines with unique designs, according to the special needs of customers in technical textile or special textiles, he adds.

The core Monforts machine range, including the industry standard Montex stenters, along with relaxation dryers, Thermex dyeing ranges, Monfortex compressive shrinking ranges and Montex®Coat coating units is built at the Austrian site.