From the Sector

HANRO chooses Iluna lace containing the sustainable premium stretch fiber ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei for its Zula lingerie set

HANRO, the Swiss brand that produces high quality daywear, nightwear and loungewear for both men and women and world’s leading premium brand in its segment, chooses Iluna Group for its advanced design and sustainability, innovation, aesthetics and quality made of “ethical” laces and an attentive look at fashion.

Iluna uses responsible premium ingredients such as GRS certified Q-NOVA®, more than half of which are made from pre-consumer waste and GRS certified ROICA™ EF premium stretch yarn produced by more than 58% from transformed pre-consumer content. The yarn belongs to the ROICA Eco-Smart™ family produced by Asahi Kasei and it’s the world’s first responsibly made premium fiber range, which includes smart ROICA™ yarns and their exceptional certifications.

Seductive and luxurious lingerie defines the SS 20 Zula collection in which we find Iluna lace. This lingerie set is smooth and soft satin viscose made, with an elegant Jacquardtronic lace detail along the cup, straps and band of the bra. It is paired to the matching briefs in the collection with generous elegant Jacquardtronic lace on the front and the backside. The particular lace used is a delicate and modern reinterpretation of the Duchesse lace, a particular type of Brussels lace from the mid-19th century. The set is available in light viola, purple night and marzipan range of colours.

Die Popken Fashion Group ist in den letzten Jahren kontinuierlich im Versand-/ Onlinehandel gewachsen. Das in Rastede (Niedersachsen) ansässige Unternehmen verkauft bereits seit Jahren seine Eigenmarken ULLA POPKEN, GINA LAURA, JP 1880 und STUDIO UNTOLD in 30 Ländern erfolgreich über verschiedene Vertriebskanäle.

Der zunehmende Wettbewerb im Onlinehandel sowie die steigenden Kundenerwartungen hatten das Unternehmen dazu veranlasst, nach neuen Wegen zu suchen, um in der Logistik noch mehr Geschwindigkeit und eine noch höhere Produktivität zu erreichen.

Die neue Logistik wurde vor wenigen Monaten erfolgreich in Betrieb genommen. Das Herzstück dieses Neubaus sind zwei RFID-Tunnel der Berliner sys-pro GmbH. Das Softwarehaus aus Berlin steht der Popken Fashion Group bereits seit 2016 als Systementwickler und Integrator zur Seite. Popken nutzt deren RFID-Lösungen in den Bereichen Logistik und Retail für verschiedene logistische Abläufe, wie die automatische Kommissionierkontrolle, schnelle, transparente und zuverlässige Warenein- und –ausgänge sowie schnelle kontaktlose Bestandserfassungen und Inventuren. Wer im Omnichannel-Commerce wirtschaftlich erfolgreich sein will, braucht genaue Informationen über seine Artikelbestände. Anderenfalls entstehen bedeutende Mehrkosten in der Logistik und im Marketing.

Um in der neuen Förderanlage die steigenden Mengen an Versandpaketen korrekt und mit hoher Geschwindigkeit zu erkennen und dabei automatisiert die Vollständigkeit der Versendungen zu kontrollieren, d.h. ob alle von den Kunden bestellte Artikel im Paket enthalten sind, führte Popken die beiden weiterentwickelten RFID-Tunnel von syspro ein.

Mit den installierten RFID-Tunneln wird nun die komplette kommissionierte Ware für den Versandhandel erfasst, sodass die Qualität der Auslieferung um ein Vielfaches erhöht und dementsprechend die Retourenquote gesenkt wird. Im Hintergrund sorgt ein hochkomplexer und von den Entwicklern der syspro immer weiter entwickelter Algorithmus dafür, dass Störfaktoren wie z.B. Streulesungen ausgefiltert werden können. Der Kunde bekommt exakt die Ware, die er bestellt hatte.

Mit dem in Betrieb genommenem Logistik-Neubau ist es der Popken Fashion Group jetzt möglich, pro Tunnel stündlich 500 Kundenaufträge vollständig zu erfassen und automatisiert zu kontrollieren.

Unter dem Motto #GemeinsamGegenCorona hat der Workwear-Hersteller Weitblick gemeinsam mit der Mey GmbH & Co. KG rund 90.000, mit dem Unternehmenslogo versehene Mund- und Nasenschutzmasken an die Deutsche Bank geliefert.

Die Corona-Krise hatte die Weitblick-Geschäftsführung veranlasst, die Produktion auf dringend benötigte Masken umzustellen – um zum einen den hohen Bedarf insbesondere in systemrelevanten Bereichen zu bedienen, und zum anderen, um die vielen Näherinnen trotz eingebrochenen Umsatzes weiter beschäftigen zu können.

Weitblick produziert seit 2019 unter dem Label „Supporting Fairtrade Cotton“ und hat sich freiwillig verpflichtet, ein Drittel der benötigten Baumwolle im fairen Handel einzukaufen. So lassen sich für die Baumwollbauern Abnahmemengen besser planen und auch die Handelsbedingungen sind in den von der Corona-Pandemie stark betroffenen Ländern der Baumwollproduktion deutlich gerechter als üblich.

Im Rahmen einer Ausschreibung mit mehr als ein Dutzend Bewerbern hatte Weitblick insbesondere aufgrund der Aspekte Tragekomfort und Material den Zuschlag für die Produktion erhalten. Mitarbeiter der Deutschen Bank, Postbank, DWS und des Wealth Managements erhalten nun in den kommenden Tagen Masken, die dann künftig im direkten Kundenkontakt getragen werden sollen.

• R&D support for textile odor-management according to international testing standards

To ensure responsible use of biocides and international comparability, test methods and test results for antimicrobial treated products must be transparent, useful and comparable. This is precisely why  SANITIZED AG, the specialist for antimicrobial material protection and hygiene function in textiles and polymers, had its in-house Microbiology Laboratory in the SANITIZED TecCenter certified by IAC, the International Antimicrobial Council. This non-profit, U.S.-based institute aims to increase safety for antimicrobial treated products and for consumers. Textile and polymer product manufacturers value the assistance that the in-house SANITIZED TecCenter provides them with developing and optimizing their products. It supervises technical application aspects, and conducts microbiological tests and analytics—all from a single source. SANITIZED provides specific assistance with the textile manufacturer's R&D work, particularly for the demanding challenge of developing the best possible odor-management for textiles. Now the TecCenter has been certified by the IAC and is a designated “International Antimicrobial Council Certified Laboratory.”

Thanks to the IAC Certification, SANITIZED AG now offers innovation expertise according to international standards that are also recognized and valued in the U.S. and Asia.

“In addition to assistance with product development and product optimization from our TecCenter, SANITIZED customers receive certification of the antimicrobial treatment of their products from an independent organization, the IAC,” explains Erich Rohrbach, Head of Microbiology at SANITIZED AG. “This is an important building block for production chain transparency in the textile industry, which is demanded by a growing number of manufacturers and brands that are driven by end customer requirements,” adds Erich Rohrbach. Many SANITIZED customers particularly value the TecCenter for their development work in odor-management for textiles. SANITIZED offers an innovative product portfolio to meet this demand also including non-biocide additives.

• Australian production of medical masks to commence from April 2021 with Oerlikon Nonwoven meltblown technology

Neumünster/Germany, Brisbane/Queensland/Australia – Queensland company OZ Health Plus will establish Australia’s first manufacturing plant to make the critical fine plastic material used in most protective face masks. OZ Health Plus has purchased a plant of the Swiss-based technology company Oerlikon to establish a Queensland-based production plant for spun-bond and meltblown nonwovens. These fabrics are essential for Australia’s face mask manufac-turers, who currently produce about 500 million medical and industrial masks per year. However the fabrics have to be imported from overseas and access to these materials has been severely disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oerlikon’s German-based business unit Oerlikon Nonwoven has now executed legal and commercial arrangements to supply the specialised machinery which can manufacture the nonwoven material lo-cally. The same machinery is used to make almost all face masks material manufactured in Europe. The world-leading Oerlikon Nonwoven meltblown plant will commence operations in April next year, with a second stage planned for late 2021.

The Oerlikon Nonwoven plant can produce meltblown fabrics for 500 million masks per year, along with other medical and non-medical grade products, filtration products, sanitary items, antiseptic wipes and more. Rainer Straub, Head of Oerlikon Nonwoven said: “We are very proud that we can now for the first time supply our Oerlikon Nonwoven meltblown technology to Australia. Due to the short delivery time, we hope to make our contribution to the Australian population and their safe sup-ply of high-quality protective masks as soon as possible.”

Queensland company secures manufacturing plant for the only Australian production of critical face mask material

OZ Health Plus director Darren Fooks said: “Australia has access to raw polypropylene feedstock but lacks the plant to convert that raw material to specialised spunbond and meltblown fabrics. These fabrics are essential for local mask manufacturing. The Australian-based Oerlikon Nonwoven plant will fill the production chain gap for Australia by producing the fabrics we need for mask production and many other products – it will reduce Australia’s protective mask supply chain from thousands of kilo-metres, to tens of kilometres.”

“Our decision in favor of Oerlikon Nonwoven was a given once we had analyzed the material samples. It was a matter of course for us that the Business Unit of the Oerlikon Manmade Fibers segment could supply high-quality machines and systems”, added Darren Fooks.

OZ Health Plus’ new facilities will take up 15,000 m2 of manufacturing space and will employ 100 full-time roles once the second stage of the project is complete. OZ Health Plus continues to work with both Queensland and Federal Government stakeholders and values their support in bringing this vital capability to Queensland.

Leading meltblown technology

Oerlikon Nonwoven meltblown technology, which can also be used to produce nonwovens for protec-tive masks, is recognized in the market as the technically most efficient method of producing high-separation filter media from plastic fibers. Most of the protective mask capacities available in Europe to date are produced on Oerlikon Nonwoven equipment.

• 10% of their offer is eco-responsible.
• Sustainable cotton is a priority for retailers for the coming years.
• Sustainable garments cheaper than standard garments.

Brands are prepared for the new health protection rules and have reopened their stores. But aside from the direct impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, is the fashion market ready to respond to customers’ desire to act by changing their spending habits?

Based on analyses by Retviews, a recently acquired startup, Lectra has produced a survey of sustainable fashion among the leading fast fashion brands*.

The COVID-19 crisis has given many people the desire to live more meaningfully and to act more responsibly. The crisis period could be seen as the catalyst that forces the fashion industry to change the way it designs, produces and distributes its products. Since, for consumers, buying is a way of expressing a commitment and affirming their values, brands have an incentive to change their offer in preparation for the future, by taking a more eco-responsible, authentic and transparent approach.

While these factors were apparent before the pandemic, they have now become the key to interacting with consumers wanting a more responsible offer. The era of the consumer activist, long heralded without actually becoming a reality, is now here, and brands must adapt in response.

*Please read the attached document for more information

• Specialised in dye-sublimation printing, the Italian company has conquered the heights of the high fashion sector with its top-quality printed fabrics.
• With its recent investment in a direct-to-fabric printing line, Digitak is preparing to expand its range of printed products, focusing on fabric differentiation.

Dye sublimation printing of high fashion designs is the beating heart of Digitak, an Italian company specialised in digital textile printing. Operating in the textile district of Lombardy, Italy, the company has established itself among the main suppliers in the world of high fashion and sportswear in just under 15 years.

Making production versatility one of the cornerstones of its philosophy, Digitak has continued to invest in technology, as well as research and development its product portfolio. This forward-thinking approach has enabled the company to guarantee innovative, personalised products with meticulous attention to detail, with the highest – almost obsessive – standards of quality and maximum design flexibility. Over the years, the extensive experience gained by the company’s management in the field of sublimation with traditional and digital techniques, combined with their investment decisions have allowed Digitak to enhance its production performance, gradually implementing higher quality standards and differentiating itself from the competition in the complex and competitive sector of high fashion. An important feat, which has not, however, dampened its enthusiasm and willingness to continue growing and exceeding its goals. The company’s latest investment in a direct-to-fabric digital printing line with pigment ink propels the company into a new and promising production dimension.

Sublimation printing specialists

Since Digitak’s establishment, Filippo Taccani, the founder and current owner of the company, had set himself a clear and ambitious objective: “I wanted to take up the challenge of operating digitally - printing fabrics using this innovative technology to create products on a par with those  I had achieved with traditional sublimation textile printing methods during my previous work experience.”

The purchase of a Mimaki JV4 plotter, one of the first to be installed in Italy, marked the beginning of Digitak’s adventure. “To start the business, I needed a printing system that could operate with dispersed inks to print on polyester and I found the JV4 to be the best option,” explains Taccani. “It was an excellent decision, because I used these plotters to build the company and its success.”

The first Mimaki plotter was in fact followed by a second and a third. When it bought the fifth, the company moved to an industrial unit in Tradate (Varese) – Digitak’s current site – which now houses around fifteen Mimaki JV33 plotters, in addition to three Mimaki TS500-1800 wide-format sublimation printers, and a Mimaki TS300P-1800 high-speed sublimation printer. This Mimaki powered production facility – which is one of the company’s core strengths – was recently expanded with the addition of a Mimaki TX300P-1800B belt-type hybrid printing system, together with a Mimaki TR300-1850C textile coater and a Mimaki Tiger-1800.

“Naturally, over the years, we have also tested printing systems from other suppliers, but we have always returned to Mimaki. With high fashion as our key market, we need to guarantee our customers the highest levels of quality and, to date, we have never found solutions that beat the quality of this Japanese brand’s technology.”

According to Taccani, the difference lies in the “calligraphy” of Mimaki’s machines, that is the line of the ink on the fabric: “Unlike its competitors, Mimaki has focused on the ‘waveforms’, i.e. the electronics associated with the print heads. This attention paid to the way the ink jet is managed from the print head has allowed Mimaki to achieve unparalleled levels of accuracy, an aspect that has given my company a clear competitive edge.”

Moreover, at Digitak, quality comes before quantity: “We prefer to dedicate an extra day to production to guarantee the customer a final product that fully meets requirements and expectations. Mimaki’s technology not only suits this business model bult on top quality, but it crucially enables it.”

Operational and creative flexibility

Digitak currently prints around 2,000 linear metres of fabric per day. Its portfolio ranges from clothing and scarves, to beach and swimwear, with related personalised accessories, to sportswear, with technical properties such as breathability, comfort, resistance to external agents. The company have even added customised outdoor furniture to their offering of diverse and creative products.
The company’s machines operate continuously, 24/7. During the day, the machines are mainly used to develop and produce samples and colour proofs, while the actual production is carried out at night. “Thanks to our technology, we have developed an extraordinary operational flexibility. The fact that we have so many plotters allows us to work on multiple designs at the same time and to launch projects that are also very different from one another,” explains Taccani. “There are also some other crucial factors that have contributed, and continue to contribute, to increasing our production efficiency. The reliability of Mimaki’s solutions and the remote monitoring option offered is key. Once the standard start-up monitoring has been carried out and the machines are found to be printing correctly, we can let them work overnight without an operator. This is a great benefit for people who, like us, manage such a large and diverse fleet of machines.”

Digitak takes the same approach to customer service. Faced with an increasingly demanding market in terms of creativity, precision and completeness of service, the company wants to guarantee flexibility and customisation. “We decided to set up a department dedicated to the pre-press stage, in charge of preparing and checking the files supplied by customers. Seldom do our teams not need to do some editing of the files supplied, even if it’s only to make small changes that are essential for the print document to be as suitable as possible and to achieve the best final result.”

Technologies of the future

With a view to further enhancing production and customer service, Taccani has chosen to take on a new challenge, switching things up with some of the most recent investments.

While maintaining the focus on dye sublimation printing, Taccani has focused on technological diversification by installing a direct-to-fabric digital printing line. This consists of a Mimaki TX300P-1800B printing system with pigment inks and a TR300-1850C coater from Mimaki’s TR series. “The market continues to evolve and now requires even more flexibility regarding both processes and the fabrics supplied. This means that great opportunities exist for a print shop capable of simultaneously producing the same design – with minimal colour adjustment – on different fabrics, guaranteeing similar and accurate results. And this is precisely the path we are taking,” says Taccani. “Why have we opted for Mimaki again? Well, I had an opportunity to try out their new pigment inks and I immediately realised that they are a generation ahead of the other pigments available on the market. The cyan is very clean, the black is deep and there is a very interesting fullness of colour, suitable not only for furnishings, but also for other applications in the clothing sector.”

With its pigment inks, the new direct-to-fabric printing line allows Digitak to explore other related market segments. Thanks to the innovative automatic belt system, the TX300P-1800B guarantees good productivity and high-quality results. A standard of quality that is also boosted by the TR300-1850C fabric pre-treatment system: “This coater is essential for ensuring the best possible preparation of fabrics for printing. In fact, we are able to treat fabrics to make them suitable for the type of print they are intended for, sanitise them for specific applications and, in some cases, even dye them, with excellent quality.”

According to Taccani, another beneficial factor of direct-to-fabric pigment printing technology is the eco-sustainability of the process and its lower environmental impact. “We are proud to be able to offer our customers excellent printing results using little water and printing in ‘green mode’, with both the technologies we have available. I consider them winning technologies for the future, as both dye sublimation printing and direct-to-fabric printing with pigment inks use little water while mainly requiring the use of energy. Therefore, if you use renewable energy, then you’re done.”

Digitak’s other trump card is the Tiger-1800 installed in 2019. With this industrial printing system, the company aims to increase production volumes while maintaining its high-quality standards and further optimising costs. “We are excited to have these promising technologies available to us in-house. We are currently experimenting with these solutions, testing new opportunities and evaluating which paths to take to stay ahead of the game,” concludes Taccani.

• Zuverlässiger, schneller SureColor SC-F10000 bietet Textilbranche reproduzierbar hohe Druckqualität
• Neuer Epson Dye-Sublimationsdrucker setzt höhere Produktionsstandards

Meerbusch – Epson stellt mit dem SureColor SC-F10000 seinen ersten 76,8 Zoll breit druckenden Großformatdrucker vor. Der SC-F10000 ist ein neu entwickelter Sublimationsdrucker für Textilproduzenten mit besonders hohen Ansprüche an Produktivität, Geschwindigkeit und Zuverlässigkeit. Zu den zahlreichen Arbeitsbereichen der neuen Maschine zählen die Produktion von Modeartikeln, Sportbekleidung, Möbel, Werbeartikel und Soft-Signage. Der neue Epson SureColor SC-F10000 ist ab September 2020 im qualifizierten Fachhandel verfügbar.

Frank Schenk, Leiter Commercial and Industrial Printing der Epson Deutschland GmbH, erklärt: „Im Sublimationssektor erwarten Kunden von ihren Maschinen schnelle Auftragsbearbeitung, eine hohe Leistung sowie reproduzierbar qualitativ hochwertige Ergebnisse. Mit diesen Anforderungen im Hinterkopf haben wir einen Dye-Sublimationsdrucker für Industrieanwendungen entwickelt, der unserer Meinung nach neue Standards setzt. Der SC-F10000 bietet den höchsten Durchsatz aller Epson Großformatdrucker und ist mit vier neuen PrecisionCore Micro TFP-Druckköpfen und besonders großen, auch im Betrieb nachfüllbaren Tintentanks ausgestattet. Damit bleiben Unternehmen immer einsatzbereit. Die Schaffung innovativer Lösungen liegt in den Genen von Epson und dies ist einer der Momente, in denen wir in Bezug auf Produktivität im Sublimationsmarkt erneut die Messlatte höher legen.“

Wichtige Produktmerkmale des Epson SureColor SC-F10000:

•     Druckgeschwindigkeit von bis zu 255 m²/h 2
•     Neue PrecisionCore Micro TFP-Druckköpfe
•     Epson Precision Dot-Technologie(Kombiniert drei ausgefeilte Technologien für höchste Druckqualität: neues Halbtonverfahren, LUT- und Micro-Wave-Technology)
•     Einfache Medieneinrichtung(Bedienung von vorne oder von hinten)
•     Überprüfbare Medienführungdank eingebauter Kamera
•     Verbesserte Trockunungseinheit(für geringeren Tintendurchschlag und zur Vermeidung von Falten)
•     Funktion zur automatischen Überwachung der Medienspannung(Advanced Auto Tension Control, Ad-ATC) für genaue und stabile Medienzufuhr
•     Große Tintentanks (Bulk):10 Liter oder 3 Liter Volumen, während des Betriebes austauschbar
•     Vom Bediener austauschbare Teile
•     Benutzerfreundlichkeit des Tintensystems(einfache Montage, bodenbasiert, Sensor für Restbehälter)
•     Präzise Papierführung
•     Kürzere Reinigungszeit mit neu entwickeltem Hochdrucksystem
•     Neu entwickeltes 9 Zoll LCD-Touchpanel für intuitive Bedienung

Bei dem SC-F10000 kommen alle relevanten Komponenten aus einer Hand. Damit erhalten Anwender eine besonders zuverlässige Maschine, denn Druckköpfe, Tinte, Firmware und Treibersoftware wurden von Epson selbst entwickelt und perfekt aufeinander abgestimmt.

Due to the COVID 19 crisis and its significant impact on the automotive industry and Autoneum's course of business, the Company and a bank consortium have amended the existing long-term credit agreement in the amount of CHF 350 million, amongst others with regard to the financial covenants.

At the same time, the two major shareholders Michael Pieper and Peter Spuhler have  agreed to extend the term of the subordinated loans of CHF 20 million each, granted in December 2019, subject to the financial performance of Autoneum Group and aligned with the credit agreement with the bank syndicate. As a result, Autoneum's liquidity and long-term financing continue to be secured on a sustainable basis.

• ISKO and Bluesign announce their partnership for the creation of a cleaner, safer, and transparent world of denim. ISKO just released its landmark
• Sustainability Report, setting the target of achieving bluesign® APPROVED accreditation by the end of 2020.

Denim is a timeless staple in wardrobes around the world. ISKO, the leading denim ingredient brand, and Bluesign, the architects of a sustainable and responsible textile supply chain, are joining forces in a partnership. Alliances like this are the source of effective improvements.

ISKO has a long-standing commitment to ensure the integrity of its ingredients and the traceability of the fibers and materials used in its denim apparel. By releasing the Sustainability Report, ISKO again demonstrates its commitment to creating and designing denim apparel that has a positive connection with the planet. In this report, a primary target of ISKO is to achieve bluesign® APPROVED accreditation for its denim textiles, attaining the strictest industry standard for consumers and environment alike.

With the goal of completing this process by the end of 2020, the company has already performed bluesign® COMPANY ASSESSMENT at an above-average level. This shows how ISKO anticipates changes rather than simply reacting to legal or stakeholder requirements, pursuing an approach that has a huge potential and includes several actions for further improvements. Through this partnership, ISKO and Bluesign continue the movement of the textile and fashion industry into a future that pays more attention to people and the environment, because only when both are considered can the industry truly make a positive long-lasting impact.

“ISKO, as the soul of jeans, has a vision for denim that is creative in design and innovative in the use of technologies. These distinct qualities in combination with a determined commitment to a sustainable supply chain makes ISKO a true leader in the textile industry. We look forward to the next impactful steps we will take together.” Jill Dumain, CEO, bluesign technologies. “As the leader of this industry, we feel it is our responsibility to be and act as a force for good. We have always prioritized transparency and accountability, highly valuing every improvement that can be achieved by sharing values and goals through partnerships. This one makes us particularly proud, as it raises the bar of our efforts and challenges us to maintain our improvement efforts.” Ebru Ozkucuk Guler, Senior Sustainability & CSR Executive.