From the Sector

In the printing industry, direct-to-film technology is having a transformative impact on the apparel decoration space. It provides a simple and affordable garment printing process that facilitates vibrant, dynamic, full-colour designs with a durable print. It opens up opportunities for digital print service providers (PSPs) to expand their product offerings in the textile industry, their network of potential customers and expand the range of fabrics they can print on.

Direct-to-film vs. Screen Printing
Direct-to-film printing is the process of digitally printing directly onto a special transfer film sheet. The printed film is subsequently sprinkled with a hot-melt powder and heated. Once the transfer sheet is cured and dried, it can be heat-pressed onto a variety of fabrics to create premium transferred designs for customised merchandising, sportswear, and an array of other promotional applications for the textile market. Compared with traditional screen printing, the plate creation required for that process is far too time-consuming. Not only this, but it does not match direct-to-film’s ability to produce vivid colours and quality details such as shapes, lettering, and motifs often sought after in the promotional and merchandising space for bespoke textiles.

The Mimaki TxF150-75
Mimaki’s first direct-to-film inkjet printer is the TxF150-75, a fitting extension to the 150 series, with a maximum printing width of 80cm. Offering a stable printing plotter, the model’s built-in ink circulation system and degassed ink pack are resolutions to common direct-to-film challenges such as poor ink ejection and white ink clogging. The new printer also includes core Mimaki features including NCU (Nozzle Check Unit) and NRS (Nozzle Recovery System) for stable, uninterrupted print production. Operating in harmony with the textile printer itself is Mimaki’s ECO PASSPORT by OEKO-TEX® certified water-based pigment textile inks, formulated especially for the TxF150-75. Coupled with Mimaki’s RasterLink7 RIP software, users are offered end-to-end oversight and efficiency from creative design to final product.

In addition, and in line with Mimaki’s collaborative approach to meeting customer needs, Adkins has developed an 80cm wide powder shaker cure unit to complete this ‘A brand’ direct-to-film printing solution. By offering the printer and post-processing unit at 80cm wide, customers can print larger garments with less waste and quicker production times, making the process much more cost effective.

From circular knitting machines and braiders via upgrades to digital solutions, Mayer & Cie. presented at ITMA 2023 a wide range of solutions that make circular knitting machines and braiding machines even more durable and thereby more valuable, for which the long-established firm received a positive visitor response.

From machinery manufacturer to solution provider
Three circular knitting machines – a Relanit 3.2 HS, an SF4-3.2 III and the OVJA 2.4 EM – and an MR-15/18C/Single Deck braiding machine took up about half the floor space of Mayer & Cie.’s ITMA stand. That reflected the weighting of the trade fair presentation. Along with high-tech circular knitting and braiding products the Mayer & Cie. focus at this year’s ITMA was on solutions that increase the value and durability of its machines. Including the digital platform knitlink, the new Control 5.0 machine control system, the camera-assisted error recognition system knithawk, almost a dozen upgrade kits for existing machines and the new oiler system Senso Blue RS.

Trade fair debut for Mayer & Cie. braiding machine
Mayer & Cie. also exhibited a braiding machine at ITMA for the first time. The company has integrated the braiding division at is Albstadt headquarters since 2019. “Braiding machines are a part of textile machinery,” said Mayer & Cie. Managing Partner Benjamin Maye, “but we nevertheless saw presenting the MR-15/18C/SD braider at ITMA as an experiment – and are satisfied with the result. The machine attracted a great deal of attention and we were able to make interesting contacts.”

A positive conclusion on ITMA 2023
Expectations of this year’s ITMA were moderate, Benjamin Mayer said. “War, high energy prices, inflation and recession are the signs of the times. Not even an ITMA is going to change that.” In addition, there had been serious problems with the issue of visas that had made it impossible for many potential visitors to attend the trade fair.

The Mayer & Cie. management therefore judged its success not by the general demand but by the positive visitor feedback. “For us that was an indicator of our future competitiveness,” said CEO Benjamin Mayer, “and we can definitely be sure of that with our developments.”

Spinnova has entered into a yarn development cooperation agreement with the Portuguese company Tearfil, where Tearfil will operate Spinnova’s R&D yarn-spinning line. The yarn-spinning line is intended for product development and will be located in Guimarães, Portugal at Tearfil's facilities.  

The rationale behind the yarn-spinning line is for research and development into using Spinnova's fibre in commercial scale yarn production and to streamline development work with industry partners.   
Spinnova has decided to locate the line in Guimarães in Portugal, at Tearfil’s facilities. Spinnova will benefit from the industry know-how of a strong partner and from the proximity of one of Europe’s most significant textile industry hubs in Portugal. This will improve Spinnova’s access to global textile markets.   

Spinnova’s yarn-spinning line will be installed at Tearfil's premises. The technology delivery and installations are expected to take place in the fall of 2023, and the spinning line is intended to be operational by the end of the year. Tearfil is responsible for the yarn-spinning line's operations, and Spinnova will use a part of the line capacity for its product development.  

In 2021, Spinnova announced that it would establish an R&D yarn-spinning line in Jyväskylä, Finland. The decision to change the location was made during the feasibility planning and discussions with potential partners. This change in location and operational model will slightly decrease the capital expenditure and will lead to lower operational expenses.  

The technology supplier for Spinnova's new spinning mill line is the Swiss-based company Rieter. Rieter is a leading supplier of systems for manufacturing yarn from staple fibers in spinning mills. The company develops and manufactures machinery, systems and components used to convert natural and man-made fibers and their blends into yarns in the most cost-efficient manner.

Mimaki Europe, a provider of industrial inkjet printers, cutting plotters, and 3D printers, is debuting the new Tiger600-1800TS, Mimaki’s most productive sublimation transfer printer, on its stand at ITMA 2023. This latest high-speed, compact and robust roll-to-roll inkjet printer has been designed to accelerate the analogue to digital transformation within the textile printing industry.

The Tiger600-1800TS boasts a maximum printing speed of 550 m2/h (143% faster than the previous model) owing to the renovated high-speed printhead and Mimaki’s proprietary image quality enhancement technologies. The printer’s size has also been halved compared to the previous system, with the paper mounting and winding system both located at the back of the machine. This smaller footprint enables customers to easily install multiple units to meet fluctuating demand, whilst also increasing overall production capacity.

A further environmental benefit of the Tiger600-1800TS will be the bluesign® certification of its MLSb510 series sublimation transfer inks. This certificate, expected to be awarded in June 2023, will provide assurance that these inks are of highest quality combined with due consideration for the safety of consumers and print operators, and environmental conservation, and therefore, contributing to the sustainability of the textile industry.

Mimaki’s expertise in developing reliable, easy-to-use and efficient solutions has also not faltered in the development of the Tiger600-1800TS. The printer’s ink tanks can be replaced without interrupting the printing process, minimising down time. Maintenance of the printer is also reduced with its roller paper feeding method eliminating the need for the application of adhesives onto a belt.

From April 25^th to 27^th, 2023, the Institute of Textile Machinery and High Performance Material Technology (ITM) of TU Dresden will be exhibiting at the pavilion SAXONY! at JEC World 2023.

The ITM will provide a comprehensive overview of its current research in the field of machine and product development along the entire textile process chain.

The upcoming JEC 2023 exhibition will highlight innovative Customised Connective Cores (CCC), which are custom-made core-insert structures additively manufactured using cellular metal and a form-fit integrated insert. These CCCs can be seamless integrated either as patches or as full-surface core material into lightweight panels, offering significantly improved load-bearing behavior (especially 4 times the load-bearing capacity and fail-safe behavior) compared to existing technologies. This breakthrough opens up new possibilities for fastening lightweight panels.

Another highlight at the exhibition is the repair process for fibre-reinforced composites (FRP) developed at the ITM. Instead of mechanically grinding the damaged area, the matrix in the repair area is locally dissolved using a UV-rays-induced depolymerisation process. Damaged fibres can thus be replaced by a customized repair patch. Free yarn ends on the textile repair patches are spliced with the UV-exposed yarn ends in the repair area using an adapted splicing process. In this way, a very clean, simplified and mechanically improved repair area can be achieved compared to the state of the art.

The diverse possibilities offered by the structure and process simulation of textile high-performance materials and textile manufacturing processes will also be presented. By means of multi-scale modelling and simulation, a profound understanding of materials and processes is achieved at the ITM. Finite element models on the micro, meso and macro scale have been developed and validated for this purpose. Examples from current ITM research projects demonstrate the various possibilities and areas of application of modern simulation methods in the field of textile technology.

Moreover, an innovative process for the integral manufacturing of 3D rib-stiffened preforms with complexly arranged stiffeners in 0°, 90° and ± 45° orientation was developed and successfully implemented at the ITM. Due to the process-integrated structure fixation and the continuous fibre reinforcement between shell and rib structure, the 3D preforms are perfectly suited for the production of highly load-bearing FRP components with increased bending stiffness, which will be exhibited at JEC. Hence, the lightweight construction potential of high-performance fibres can be fully exploited.

A successfully established development are partially flowable 2D textile reinforcement fabrics that are continuously manufactured in one single process step. For this purpose, the entire process chain was developed at the ITM, which allows a cost-effective and high-volume production of load-bearing thermoplastic 3D FRP components with continuous fibre reinforcement between shell and stiffeners.

At JEC 2023, the ITM will also present a partially embedded textile latice girder as reinforcement for carbon concrete applications, which was produced by means of an innovative textile manufacturing process based on the multiaxial warp knitting technology. Through the development of a customized warp insertion, manipulation and take-off system as well as appropriate shaping methods, it is now possible to produce tailored textile semi-finished products, e.g. for use in wall and ceiling panels. These textile latice girders represent a resource-saving alternative to conventional steel girders due to the reduced among of concrete required and the additional cavity for media and cable guidance.

The integration of textile actuators and sensors in FRP provides structures with additional functionalities. The research and application of such interactive FRP with different matrix materials (e.g. with thermoset, elastomer or concrete matrix systems) for structural health monitoring or adaptive systems is one of the key research areas of the ITM.

Moreover, the development and implementation of innovative yarn constructions based on recycled high-performance fibres (e.g. rCF, rGF, rAR) for sustainable FRPs is successfully promoted at ITM. By use of a special carding machine, recycled fibres are opened up, separated and joined to form a wide, uniform ribbon. Subsequently, innovative hybrid yarn constructions made of evenly mixed recycled high-performance and thermoplastic fibres with variable fibre volume fractions can be manufactured by means of various spinning technologies. Selected yarn constructions and components will be showcased at JEC.

Fibre Extrusion Technology Ltd (FET) of Leeds, UK will shortly be exhibiting at INDEX 23, the leading nonwovens exhibition in Geneva, 18-21 April.

As well as featuring its latest meltblown and spunbond technology, FET will focus on its new Fibre Development Centre. Construction and fit-out of this new purpose-built building is now fully operational. This modern two-storey development provides state-of-the-art facilities, including enhanced laboratory for client testing and product development.

Resident equipment in the Fibre Development Centre reflects the wide range of fibre extrusion systems offered by FET to clients across the globe and will enable continued growth of the company through innovation.  

Complementing FET’s highly successful meltblown technology, the more recent spunbond range provides unprecedented opportunities for the scaled development of new nonwoven fabrics based on a wide range of fibres and polymers, including bicomponents.

• Longer parking times for greater efficiency

Since 2018, Oerlikon Barmag has been offering the market’s only currently available concept for high-end home textile applications using the POY and DTY process. The spinning concept with the WINGS HD winding unit in conjunction with an automatic eAFK Big V Multispindle texturing machine manufactures high-titer yarns with maximum machine efficiency.
 
“We have correspondingly modified WINGS HD in order to once again better align the increased requirements of these special yarns to the spinning process and make everyday production even simpler for our customers”, comments Stephan Faulstich, POY Process Technology Manager. The parking times are extremely short when winding high titers. We have increased the parking times by up to three times in the case of the new WINGS HD models. To this end, the parking time for a 300d/384f yarn, for example, has been increased from a standard 6.5 min. to 15.7 min. – and, in the case of a 400d/192f yarn, from 4.3 min. to 10.3 min. This makes the doffing process more even, hence increasing doffing reliability.

At the same time, the draw unit now has a more flexible design, meaning that two-godet operation is also possible in the case of products with low overall titers. This has a positive impact on the winding unit’s energy consumption.

12 POY packages of up to 600d/576f (final) are produced in the spinning process using WINGS HD 1800. This is made possible as a result of an additional godet, which ensures that the high yarn tensions developing in the process are reduced to the yarn tensions common in the case of the winding process to date. At the same time, the newly-developed suction unit with the accompanying yarn cut-ting device (yarn collecting system) ensures – both during string-up and in the event of a yarn break – reliable handling of the yarn with an overall titer of 7,200 den (final).

Whereas DTY yarns up to 1,200 den and with up to 784 filaments have in the past, as standard, been plied from four POY 300d/192f bobbins using DTY machines, high titers can also be manufactured directly using the WINGS HD take-up machine. Combining the WINGS HD and the eAFK Big V allows all available winding positions to be utilized during texturing.

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.

The 11^th edition of India ITME 2022, a textile engineering and technology B2B Exhibition, was hosted in IEML, Greater Noida, U.P. under participation from 68 countries. It showcased more than 1600  Live machinery and unveiled 69 new products.

After a gap of six years, the event recorded a high flow of quality visitors - approx. 87,400 unique visitors - which included industry members, technocrats, academicians, students and government officials apart from the delegations from 13 countries lead by senior officials of respective country who are looking to engage with India as sourcing and trade partner for developing their textile industry.

The high-profile technology & engineering exhibition for textiles witnessed participation from leading Indian institutes for textile engineering such as VJTI Mumbai, DKTE Ichalkaranji where MOU’s were signed for knowledge exchange with Swiss Textile Machinery Association and Italian Textile Machinery Association, paving way for collaboration not only in business but also in technical education.

The six-day event carried forward its theme “Empowering Textile Through Technology” encouraging indigenously developed innovations and research by Indian companies.

The six-day event set the foundation for upgradation and modernization of the textile industry of India which is the 2nd largest employment generation sector after agriculture.

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.