From the Sector

At the forthcoming Texprocess, Techtextil and Heimtextil shows taking place in Frankfurt from June 21-24 – members of the Swedish Textile Machinery Association TMAS will be showcasing a range of solutions aligning with the growing trend for more localised and automated textile manufacturing.

Digitalisation and the push for more sustainable, shorter and less expensive supply chains are currently making manufacturing in high-cost countries within Europe more attractive and there have been many other contributing factors to this over the past two years.

The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of many countries to shortages of essential items like PPE while at the same time making the full exploitation of new digital options essential during national lock-downs and long periods of restricted travel. The escalating cost of global transportation, as well as the growth of online retailing and the associated benefits of on-demand digital manufacturing, are further reinforcing the many benefits of short-run and near-shore new operations.

Secure supply
At Texprocess, for example, Eton Systems will be unveiling its latest Ingenious software solution which further enhances the company’s Opta Unit Production System (UPS) introduced in 2021.

“Our automated technology has already had a great impact on the productivity of thousands of garment production lines,” says Eton’s Managing Director Jerker Krabbe. “Our systems help producers across the world to reduce repetitive manual tasks and increase efficiency, which evens out some of the differences between production in high and low-cost countries, making reshoring a feasible option. Creating a diversified production portfolio with a mix of production facilities, some closer to home, makes for a more secure product supply.”

Flexibility
Imogo meanwhile recently installed the first industrial scale dyeing system in Sweden for many years. The Dye-Max spray dyeing line has the potential to slash the use of fresh water, wastewater, energy and chemicals by as much as 90% compared to conventional jet dyeing systems. It is capable of carrying out the application of a wide range of fabric pre-treatments and finishing processes, providing users with unbeatable flexibility in production.

“Here in Scandinavia, we are currently seeing an explosion of companies developing sustainable new cellulosic fibres – many from waste clothing – but a problem is that all of the environmental benefits they deliver can potentially be lost in the further processing, and especially in conventional dyeing,” observes the company’s Founding Partner Per Stenflo. “The Dye-Max system positively addresses this, but interest in it has not just been confined to Europe. We are currently seeing a lot of activity in Turkey – largely as a near-shore partner to European brands – but also in Bangladesh.”

Robotics at Heimtextil
ACG Kinna Automatic specialises in automation solutions for filled products such as quilts, pillows and mattresses and its live demonstrations of robotics in action have proved a magnet for visitors to Heimtextil. This year’s show will be no exception.

“The use of robotics is now standard across many industries dealing in solid goods, but the handling of soft materials such as textiles is a little more complex,” says Managing Director Christian Moore. “Nevertheless, it’s something we have successfully mastered, and our robotic systems are proving highly beneficial to their users. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution when it comes to automation and our approach is always to carefully examine where it will make the difference in each bespoke system. A focus is on identifying and eliminating bottlenecks which will increase product flows.”

During the Covid-19 pandemic, ACG Kinna drew on all of its automation know-how and extensive network of contacts to build a new nonwovens fabric converting and single-use garment making-up plant in a matter of weeks, in order to supply the Swedish authorities with urgently-needed medical gowns.

Instant colour
Localised textile production is also booming in the USA, where Coloreel has recently secured multiple orders for its instant thread colouration technology via its US partner Hirsch.

“Coloreel technology enables the high-quality and instant colouring of a textile thread while it is actually being used in production and can be paired with any existing embroidery machine without modification, while also making it possible to produce gradients in an embroidery for the first time,” explains VP of Sales Sven Öquist.

“Advanced rapid colour formulation software and high-speed drive technology allow a single needle to carry out what it previously required many multiples of them to do – and with much more consistent stitch quality. By instantly colouring a recycled white base thread during production, our system enables complete freedom to create unique embroideries without any limitations. Colour changes along the thread can either be made rapidly from one solid colour to another, or gradually, to make smooth transitions or any colouring effect desired. This provides big benefits when it comes to sustainability and design creativity.”

Milestone
Svegea will be promoting its latest EC 300 collarette cutting machine at Texprocess 2022. This machine is used by garment manufacturers around the world for the production of tubular apparel components such as waistbands, cuff and neck tapes and other seam reinforcements. With its E-Drive 2 system and fully automatic FA500 roll slitter, the EC 300 has an output of around 20,000 metres per hour.

“Advances in automation are only making the specialised, bespoke machines we engineer even more efficient and we are expecting a very busy year,” says Managing Director Håkan Steene. “The garment components our collarette cutters produce make it logical for them to be integrated into the operations of making-up operations, wherever they are.”

Sensors
The advanced yarn tension monitoring technologies of Eltex of Sweden meanwhile play an essential role in rectifying defects in  weaving, tufting and composite reinforcement operations.

“A correct tension of the warp and weft threads ensures proper machine operation,” explains Eltex Global Marketing and Sales Manager Anoop K. Sharma “The constant tension monitoring and automatic control of the tension of the thread help to overcome unnecessary problems.

“We continue to make advances in both the hardware and software of our tension monitoring systems, such as the EyE™ for the warping process. With the EyE™, the yarn tension values from all yarns are continuously updated and displayed on screen. In addition, tension values outside the warning level are indicated both on the sensor’s LEDs and on the screen for complete quality control. No fabric can be woven without the appropriate and correct tension.”

Monforts will highlight its advanced finishing and coating technologies for the production of technical textiles at Techtextil North America, which takes place at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta from May 17-19.

The company and its US representative PSP Marketing, of Charlotte, North Carolina, will be part of the centrepiece VDMA German Pavilion at the show.

Energy prices
With energy prices continuing to go through the roof, an emphasis at Techtextil North America will be on the energy and heat recovery that can be achieved with Montex stenters, through features such as the MonforClean system, in which waste heat from the drying process is used to pre-heat the drying air. This results in a radical reduction in the conventional heat supply required. A range of further resource-saving and energy recovery options can be specified per individual line installation.

Advanced machine operation
With the highly intuitive Qualitex 800 visualization software, 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.

The Qualitex 800 system is available for the automatic and continuous operation of the company’s Montex stenters, as well as its Thermex continuous dyeing ranges, Monfortex shrinking systems and Montex®Coat coating units.

Versatility is the key
Monforts Montex®Coat coating units serve an equally diverse number of markets, including tents, tarpaulins and awnings, black-out roller blinds and sail cloth, automotive interior fabrics and medical disposables. Full PVC coatings, pigment dyeing or minimal application surface and low penetration treatments and solvent coatings (in explosion-proof conditions) with knife coating, roller coating or screen printing can all be accommodated with this system.

With just 3 months to go before Techtextil Frankfurt, UK company Fibre Extrusion Technology Limited (FET), is looking forward to exhibiting at this trade show once again. Techtextil attracts international blue-chip companies at the cutting edge of technology, seeking innovative solutions to technical challenges, so this event represents an ideal opportunity to demonstrate how FET can help achieve their goals.

FET is an acknowledged leader in laboratory and pilot meltspinning equipment for a vast range of applications, such as precursor materials used in high value technical textiles, sportswear, medical devices and specialised novel fibres from exotic and difficult to process polymers. Where melt spinning solutions are not suitable, FET provides a viable alternative with pilot and small scale production wet spinning systems.

However, FET will also showcase at Techtextil its more recent laboratory scale spunbond system, which enables client development of nonwoven fabrics in a number of formats and polymers. FET already has a number of spunbond systems in the field, including composite systems which utilise both spunbond and meltspun functions.

A major theme to be highlighted on the FET stand is Sustainability. The FET range of laboratory and pilot extrusion lines is ideally suited for both process and end product development of sustainable materials.

FET has successfully processed almost 30 different polymer types in multifilament, monofilament and non-woven formats, collaborating with specialist companies worldwide to promote greater sustainability through innovative manufacturing processes.

Die Firma Lindauer DORNIER GmbH spendete der Fakultät Textil & Design der Hochschule Reutlingen eine neue Hochleistungs-Luftdüsenwebmaschine. Das Familienunternehmen mit Sitz in Lindau am Bodensee zählt weltweit zu den Technologieführern im Bereich Textilmaschinenbau.

Die gespendete Maschine verfügt über die hochmoderne, patentierte Antriebstechnik und ist eine wertvolle Ergänzung des weltweit einzigartigen Maschinenparks der Fakultät Textil & Design im Bereich der textilen Lehre. Inhaber und Geschäftsführungsvorsitzender, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Peter D. Dornier, übergab “das Geschenk“ persönlich und betonte dabei, die seit Jahrzehnten und bereits zu Zeiten der Gründung der Lindauer DORNIER GmbH in den 50er-Jahren bestehende, vertrauensvolle Partnerschaft mit der Fakultät Textil & Design und deren Vorgängerorganisationen.

Studierende der Fakultät Textil & Design erhalten an der neuen Luftwebmaschine Praxis-Unterricht auf dem neuesten Stand der Technik.

Das Schussgarn wird mittels Luftstrahl ins Webfach eingetragen. Eine Technik, die insbesondere bei hohen Schusseintragsfrequenzen elektronische Regelungen für Luftdrücke und Blaszeiten der Luftdüsen im Millisekundenbereich für einen stabilen Maschinenlauf und eine hohe Gewebequalität erfordert. Die Webmaschine verfügt über die weltweit einzigartige und patentierte Antriebstechnik DORNIER SyncroDrive®. Zwei servogeregelte Motoren sorgen hier für den separaten Antrieb von Webmaschine und Fachbildeeinrichtung mit elektronischer Synchronisierung. Das Ergebnis ist die Minimierung der Gleichlaufschwankungen und die Schwingungsreduktion und damit die Maximierung der Konstanz der Gewebequalität.

Die konsequente, konstruktive Umsetzung physikalisch-technischer Zusammenhänge wird in dieser Maschine an einer Vielzahl von Einzelheiten erfahrbar und begreifbar. Damit wird die Theorie aus der Vorlesung in idealer Weise eindrücklich unterstützt und ergänzt.

In einer, nach aktuellen Verordnungen, klein gehaltenen Feierstunde brachten der Präsident der Hochschule Reutlingen, Prof. Dr. Hendrik Brumme und der Leiter des Fachgebiets Weberei, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Scholze der Firma Lindauer DORNIER den Dank für die Spende zum Ausdruck. Dipl.-Ing (FH) Peter D. Dornier wünschte sich in seiner kurzen Rede eine interdisziplinäre Nutzung der Webmaschine durch Textiltechnologie sowie Design-Studierende und zeigte die vielversprechenden Chancen der Textiltechnologie für die Gestaltung einer nachhaltigeren Zukunft auf.
Die großzügige Spende ist ein Meilenstein in der langjährigen Beziehung zwischen der Fakultät Textil & Design und der Firma DORNIER, deren Inhaber sich auch als Stiftungspräsident der Walter-Reiners-Stiftung stark für den textilen Nachwuchs engagiert.

Ergänzt wurde die Spende der Webmaschine mit dem von der Kuenzel GmbH, Münchberg, kostenlos überlassenen Webblatt, sowie der gestifteten Webkette und Schussgarne durch die Zweigart & Sawitzki GmbH & Co.KG, Sindelfingen.

Knopf’s Sohn, a contract finisher of technical textiles, has installed a fully automated Montex stenter at its plant in Helmbrechts, Germany.
Knopf’s Sohn is processing technical textiles for the automotive, aerospace, home furnishings and workwear markets, based on wool, cellulose, polyamide and polyester fabrics, along with elastane blends, in weights of 80-800gsm.

The Montex machinery range is constantly being upgraded to meet evolving customer needs for greater automation, ease of operation and energy optimisation. The latest ten chamber line at Knopf’s Sohn, with a working width of up to 2.0 metres, was engineered to specific requirements in order to accelerate the company’s move to fully automatic control of its production, and high scaffolding was required for its installation.

The line benefits from two integrated ECO Booster modules to provide high energy savings. These compact, air-to-air heat exchangers, installed within the roof structure of the line, exploit energy from the exhaust gas to preheat up to 60% of the incoming fresh air entering the stenter.

The use of a single ECO Booster unit has been calculated to save up to 35% in energy costs, based on fixation processes. Fully automatic operation, set at the Monforts Qualitex control unit, ensures there is no additional burden on the machine operator.

The line is powered by Exxotherm indirect heating, which practically eliminates the yellowing which can be experienced during the treatment of certain polyamide and elastane-based fabrics, and is also equipped with a Conticlean circulating air filter system for constant high drying capacity.

Software
The latest Qualitex visualisation software offers operators reliability and easy control with its full HD multi-touch monitor and slider function, dashboard function with individual adaptation to operating states and faster access to comprehensive recipe data management.

With the Monformatic control system, the exact maintenance of the dwell time in combined treatment processes (drying and heat-setting) can be monitored. When the heat-setting point is reached, the fan speed is automatically adjusted, keeping energy consumption fully under control.

• Introducing TexCoat G4 to US textile industry
• Non-contact precision spray fabric-finishing system enhances sustainability and process control

Baldwin Technology Company Inc. will be showcasing its TexCoat G4 non-contact precision spray fabric-finishing system at the Techtextil North America trade show, held Aug. 23 to 25, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

With extensive sustainability benefits, unprecedented tracking and process control, and Industry 4.0 integration, the TexCoat G4 provides consistently high-quality fabric finishing, with no chemistry waste, and significantly reduced water and energy consumption.

Baldwin’s innovative non-contact spray technology eliminates chemistry dilution in wet-on-wet processes. The TexCoat G4 consistently and uniformly sprays chemistry across the fabric surface and applies it only where needed, on one or both sides.

Customers can expect no bath contamination during the finishing process, as well as minimal downtime during changeovers, which are made easy with recipe management that includes automated chemistry and coverage selection. The TexCoat G4 also enhances sustainability by wasting no chemistry during color, fabric or chemistry changeovers, and because only the required chemistry volume is applied to the fabric, wet pick-up levels can be reduced by up to 50 percent—leading to 50 percent less water and energy consumption.

Furthermore, in single-side applications, drying steps can be eliminated for various textiles, including those that are back-coated and laminated, thereby streamlining and simplifying the production process.