From the Sector

Laying the bases for a more sustainable world, adopting responsible strategies is no longer an option but an indispensable and compulsory structural revolution today and for the future to come. This topic is the subject of the Smart Voice "The Circular Stories of C.L.A.S.S.: the journey of Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei towards a smart, responsible and contemporary luxury" organised by C.L.A.S.S. eco hub that has taken place on Thursday 27th May at 4 pm CET. 4 unique and complimentary design realities has been sharing  the  Bemberg ™ choice as unique and precious fibre ingredient that gives rise to a performing design incorporating new generation values, for their unique paths of style and fashion to offer to the contemporary consumer.

Specialist and expert of innovative fibres, during the session Ettore Pellegrini, Marketing & Sales Manager-Marketing & Sales Manager Asahi Kasei Fibers Italia, illustrated the history of Bemberg™ starting from its origins to nowadays, reporting its various applications that have been then illustrated in their uniqueness by the speakers of the session.

Paolo Verdoia, Lining research and development raw materials at Ermenegildo Zegna, who has been involved in the development of accessory raw materials for the Ermenegildo Zegna Group for 14 years. During the digital meeting he talked about priority collaborations with responsible and high quality materials such as Bemberg™, the brand's approach to sustainability and future projects.

The session has also been attended by new generation designer Gilberto Calzolari winner of C.L.A.S.S. ICON 2020, who used Bemberg™ in his latest AW 2021-22 collection entitled "At this stage".

Camilla Carrara, founder and zero-waste designer Zerobarracento says "We select Bemberg™ for our creations for two fundamental reasons: firstly, from a stylistic point of view for its extreme versatility: in the various collections we have adopted it to create Kimonos, padded jackets, wrap dresses as well as for the interiors of our garments, which are intended to be soft embraces for total physical and mental comfort. The second but no less important reason is that this fibre has circular values in line with our zero-waste commitment."

“By choosing to work with Bemberg™, we have made an exclusive and sustainable choice in order to offer tailors, designers, brands and garment manufacturers who believe in and are committed to responsible but at the same time premium and exclusive fashion a new business opportunity" says Alessandro Ivaldi Director Business Unit of Carnet, a division of Ratti Group that produces and distributes worldwide fabrics for the creation of made-to-measure garments for men and women.

Captivating colours, optimum cost efficiency and a sustainable value chain: these are some of the typical features of Sappi’s Inkjet and Dye Sublimation Papers. The global manufacturer will showcase its diverse, high-quality product ranges at FESPA Madrid, in hall 3, stand D30.

• Transjet Drive dye sublimation paper tailored to industrial printing machines with a glue-belt system
• Scrolljet, a large inkjet paper, with impressively razor-sharp lines
• Digitally printed corrugated board with Fusion Topliner for consumer goods packing and displays

Eye-catching posters, textiles with excellent prints and labels that stand out clearly, this is how brand owners, advertising companies and retailers draw attention to themselves and their products. The comprehensive range of Sappi’s Dye Sublimation Papers, Inkjet Papers and Silicone Base Papers form the perfect basis for impressive brand communication. Customers and potential customers can come and convince themselves at this year’s FESPA event in Madrid, which takes place from 24 to 27 March.

Paper with impressive sustainable qualities
At its large exhibition stand in the Digital Printing hall, Sappi will showcase its Transjet range, which represents highest quality and optimal cost efficiency, offering also environmental advantages, such as low ink consumption and low transfer times. Minimal shrinkage of high elastic textiles is one of the key features of the Sportsline tacky grades. The special Transjet Drive, its extremely smooth backside and fast ink drying on the printable side, allow more efficient production on high-speed printers with glue belt systems. Sappi stands for much more than just the highest paper quality. Professional support through a special team of technical application engineers, Digital Solutions assist customers from their initial product idea to final production ensuring impressive results.

Differentiation through precision and sharpness
With its range of Inkjet papers, Sappi will demonstrate its considerable expertise in large format digital printing in Madrid. At the heart of the exhibition presentation is Scrolljet, a multi-layered coated paper for a wide range of outdoor applications, such as city light and mega light scrolling systems. DT-Plot and Swiss Matt are the best choice for graphic drawings and poster printing due to their exceptional colour results and the high precision and sharpness of the print.

Everything from a single, innovative source
When it comes to making classic packaging, shelf-ready packaging and POS displays stand out from the rest, marketing managers, brand owners and designers can always count on Fusion Topliner with its high degree of whiteness. As the topliner reproduces colours brilliantly and can be processed excellently, products made with this clearly stand out and attract attention. The product range presented by the paper and paperboard specialist is topped off by Silicone Base Papers for self-adhesive applications such as car wrapping, outdoor advertising and office supplies. This makes Sappi a versatile, long-term partner on which customers can rely. Sappi’s paper and paperboard thus go far beyond FESPA 2020: “Where colour comes alive.”

With the increased global push for environmentally friendly and sustainable paper-based packaging solutions, Sappi has made great strides in developing breakthrough proprietary barrier technology to offer new opportunities to satisfy this need. These unique solutions enabled Sappi to closely collaborate with the world’s largest food and beverage company, Nestlé to support the launch of the YES! snack bar wrapped in recyclable paper. Sappi worked in partnership with Nestlé and packaging supplier, Constantia Flexibles to develop solutions suitable for recyclable paper production processes.

Susanne Oste, Vice President of Innovations and Sustainability at Sappi Europe commented: “Sappi has been working with leading consumer brand owners to develop and supply renewable paper-based packaging solutions understanding and supporting the goals of making their packaging recyclable without compromising on food protection and shelf life. One example of this is the new Sappi Guard range of products providing brand owners with a paper confectionery wrapper to meet market demand for more sustainable products.”

At the booth, let's have a look at TINTEX exceptional, Naturally Clean® finishing process launched last September 2018. Naturally Clean® enhances the natural beauty of cotton and cellulosic fibres, takes a cost effective modern approach to eliminate aggressive treatments and optimizes clean surfaces, vivid colors, providing an exquisitely smooth handfeel. Naturally Clean® achieves this by using Novozymes technology, a company that is a world leader in biological solutions. Second, using textile chemicals Beyond Surface Technologies AG which have the lowest possible environmental impact, without compromising performance. Naturally Clean® maintains the original characteristics over an extended period of time. All materials are Oeko-Tex and can also be Bluesign® certified, which will evidence the future elimination of harmful substances.

Between the first and key adopters of TINTEX brandnew Naturally Clean finishing, shines Filippa K, a leading Nordic fashion brand with a modern, smart approach to the responsible development of their lines. Emblematic pieces for the SS 2019 main collection are the Linen Wrap Dress, the M Linen Long Sleeve Tee and the M Linen R-neck short sleeve Tee made with a TINTEX heavy stretch linen, made with ROICA Colour Perfect™ family of dyeable premium stretch yarn, enriched by the unique Naturally Clean finishing.

Business networking event on the future of leather interiors

Lectra, the technological partner for companies using fabrics and leather, welcomed guests from all areas of the automotive leather supply chain at its International Advanced Technology Center (IATC) in Bordeaux-Cestas, France, for two action-packed days of demonstrations, workshops and talks by industry experts during the fourth annual “Go Digital” automotive leather event.
Building on the previous editions’ themes of digitalization of manufacturing processes and the adoption of Industry 4.0 principles, this year’s presentations focused on the value creation enabled by leveraging manufacturing data. A showcase for the innovative applications Lectra is developing based on Industry 4.0 principles, the company’s trade gathering demonstrated how disruptive new technologies are enhancing the onboard experience while reorganizing the automotive interiors supply chain.

Several guest speakers provided insight into the ways industry megatrends are impacting the automotive cockpit of the future. As motorized vehicles become increasingly autonomous, connected and electrified, cementing their place in the shared mobility landscape, suppliers must now devise new strategies to achieve profitable growth. Traditional business models are losing ground to cross-functional collaboration partnerships, making it even more challenging to compete in the fast-moving connected, shared economy.
“It is disruptive for the entire automotive supply chain,” remarks Nathalie Saint Martin, Vice President, Group Purchasing, Faurecia. “We are all learning to evolve together and enhance the added value to our end-customers. The level of collaboration we are now seeing among suppliers is unprecedented.”

Other keynote speeches included market research consultancy Frost & Sullivan’s analysis of automotive trends in the data-driven economy, Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) specialist Bureau Veritas’ vision of data protection for automotive and a presentation of industry insights firm WardsAuto’s selection of top 10 best vehicle interiors of 2018.
The event enables a diverse array of supply chain players in automotive interiors to gather with their peers. "Events like this one are a great opportunity to talk face-to-face with other suppliers about industry-wide challenges,” notes Claus Lattner, Director Engineering, Process Management, CoC Cut Sew Wrap Global, Yanfeng Automotive Interiors. “It is not often we find ourselves in the same room to talk about consumer perception and the sustainability of leather, for instance."

“The event provided a great opportunity to interact with suppliers who have a direct impact on innovation in interior design and manufacturing,” said John Sousanis, Managing Director of Wards Intelligence.
For Javier Garcia, Senior Vice-President, Automotive Sales, Lectra, bringing together the automotive leather community is especially important as it rises to new business challenges stemming from continually changing consumer habits and the digitalization of manufacturing processes. “Connectivity and occupant comfort are increasing the amount of high-tech content in automotive interiors, but the up-market appeal of leather makes it a constant,” states Javier Garcia. “By fostering exchange, Lectra is doing its part to help the automotive leather ecosystem evolve to meet new consumer expectations.”