From the Sector

Reifenhäuser Cast Sheet Coating - specialists for cast film, sheet extrusion and extrusion coating lines - will showcase a new production process for cost-effective film/nonwoven composites with an exceptionally low grammage at ICE (International Converting Exhibition) Europe. The leading international trade show for paper, film, and foil conversion and processing will be held at Messe München (Munich trade fair center) from March 15-17, 2022.

The Covid-19 pandemic and current supply shortages have exposed the dependence of companies on global supply chains. This situation is both a warning signal and an opportunity to boost and reorganize the local production of semi-finished products from the ground up. Reifenhäuser Cast Sheet Coating has now developed a trend-setting production process termed Ultrathin Coating, in particular for the sector of medical protective clothing. The process will permit customers to produce particularly lightweight film/nonwoven composites with greater cost efficiency and, as a result, more competitively. The patent-pending process has several advantages: It cuts film grammage by 66%; material consumption in the overall composite is reduced by 28%; and it slashes costs by up to 34% compared to conventional semi-finished products. Significant cost savings are achieved in various ways, for example, by replacing hotmelt adhesives, which reduces line maintenance to a great extent at the same time.

Mark Borutta, Sales & Marketing Specialist bei Reifenhäuser Cast Sheet Coating, erklärt: „Wir erleben derzeit einen nachhaltig wachsenden Mehrbedarf für medizinische Schutzbekleidung verbunden mit einer Rückholstrategie für lokale Produktionskapazitäten. Vor diesem Hintergrund erzielen Produzenten mit ‚Ultrathin Coating‘ einen schnellen Return on Invest und hohe Profitabilität – auch bei einer Produktion innerhalb Europas.“ Die Vlies-erfahrene Schwesterfirma Reifenhäuser Reicofil –führender Hersteller von Vliesstoffanlagen – hat die Entwicklung unterstützt.

Mark Borutta, Sales & Marketing specialist at Reifenhäuser Cast Sheet Coating, explains: "We are currently experiencing a sustained increase in demand for medical protective clothing combined with a return strategy for local production capacity. Against this backdrop, producers achieve a fast return on investment and high profitability with Ultrathin Coating - even when production is based in Europe." The sister company, Reifenhäuser Reicofil, an experienced and global leading manufacturer of nonwoven lines, provided their support to the development.

Even if manufacturers already produce medical protective clothing and prefer to handle the coating process internally in the future instead of importing the necessary composites, it is worthwhile to set up an in-house production facility. In either case, the investment in Ultrathin Coating usually pays for itself in less than 12 months. The lower material input also reduces the consumption of fossil raw materials and this in turn responds to the increased demand for more sustainable products.

Première Vision - Each year, since its creation more than 20 years ago, the JEC Composites Innovation Awards celebrate successful projects and cooperation between players of the composite industry.
The competition has especially shined a light on some 203 companies and 499 partners, awarding them for the excellence of their composite innovations.

After pre-selection of the finalists, one winner is selected in each category:

• Aerospace – Application
• Aerospace – Process
• Automotive & road transportation – surface
• Automotive & road transportation – structural
• Building & Civil Engineering
• Design, Furniture & Home
• Equipment & Machinery
• Maritime Transportation & Shipbuilding
• Sports, Leisure & Recreation
• Renewable Energy

The international jury representing the entire composites value chain includes:

• Michel COGNET, Chairman of the Board, JEC Group
• Christophe BINETRUY, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, EC Nantes
• Kiyoshi UZAWA, Professor/Director, Innovative Composite Center, Kanazawa Institute of Technology
• Jiming Sung HA, Professor, Hanyang University
• Brian KRULL, Global Director of Innovation, Magna Exteriors Inc
• Karl-Heinz FULLER, Manager Future Outside Materials, Mercedes Benz AG
• Deniz KORKMAZ, CTO, Kordsa Teknik Tekstil AS
• Henry SHIN, Head of Center, K-CARBON
• Véronique MICHAUD, Associate Professor/ Director, EPFL – Laboratory for Processing of Advanced Composites
• Alan BANKS, Lightweight Innovations Manager, Ford Motor Company
• Enzo CRESCENTI, Technical Authority and Composite Expert, Airbus

Discover the finalists in each category here.

• Polynova to gain market share for the GRAFE Group in the Swiss region from November The GRAFE Group, Blankenhain, has found a new sales representative for Switzerland in Polynova Group AG, Risch-Rotkreuz (Switzerland).

The partnership will be officially launched at Fakuma 2021. "Our new Swiss agency specialises in the distribution and production of high-quality technical plastic granulates and has been active on the market for more than 20 years. The company has a large customer base and the necessary technical expertise to advance our goals in this important market. This includes raising our profile, educating people about our product range and ultimately gaining market share," says Stefanie Theuerkauf, Sales Manager for the D-A-CH region. Polynova employs five sales staff and three in logistics, all of whom have a technical background. The company's own warehouse in Rothenburg also ensures the availability of the plastics.

"GRAFE fits perfectly into our product portfolio," says Thomas Weigl, co-owner and responsible for business development at the Swiss distribution company, whose employees recently underwent intensive training in Blankenhain. "Our customers come from the sports goods, housing technology, automotive supplier and medical technology sectors - there are many synergies with GRAFE." Weigl himself has extensive experience in the masterbatch sector and has worked for two companies in the industry - Sukano and Americhem - as managing director. "Swiss companies want Swiss contact persons. We speak the languages German, Italian and French, are on site in the shortest possible time, offer direct contact and understand the needs of the customers and the requirements of the market," he explains. "Polynova is thus faster, closer and more direct." "The Swiss market is large and important for us," reports Theuerkauf and Weigl explains the background: "There are over 300 plastics processors, many are family-run and very technically oriented. The origins of the companies are often in the watch industry and in the production of the smallest precision parts such as gear wheels. In addition, coffee machine manufacturers, medical technology providers and automotive suppliers are important market players. A large number of well-known OEMs are located here."

Even though there are already masterbatch manufacturers in the Alpine country, says the sales expert, no one has the know-how to adjust compounds and masterbatches as perfectly and precisely as the company from Thuringia. In addition to a complete range of colours on practically all plastic substrates, flame retardants, UV additives, thermal stabilisers or lubricants are further examples of the extensive product portfolio. GRAFE is one of the specialists in the modification of thermoplastics and is an innovation driver in the production of colour masterbatches. "The technical possibilities in terms of a state-of-the-art technical centre and production machinery, as well as one of the largest research and development departments in the industry, are also not to be found elsewhere on the Swiss market. Our task now is to bring these to the attention of domestic customers," says Thomas Weigl, co-owner of Polynova AG together with founder Renato R. Huebscher.

Composites Evolution Ltd has teamed up with leading natural fibre reinforcement specialists Bcomp to launch a new range of flax-epoxy prepreg materials, designed to offer enhanced sustainability without compromising on performance.

Evopreg ampliTex™ prepregs combine Composites Evolution’s high-performance Evopreg epoxy resin systems with Bcomp’s award-winning ampliTex™ flax reinforcements, to deliver a family of materials which offer outstanding performance for component applications.

To reach the full performance of natural fibres, Evopreg ampliTex™ prepregs have been tailored to be compatible with Bcomp’s powerRibs™ reinforcement grid, enabling the same stiffness and weight as thin-walled monolithic carbon fibre parts while decreasing the CO₂ footprint by 85% and improving safety thanks to a blunt braking behaviour without dangerous debris or sharp edges.

Composites Evolution’s Sales & Marketing Director, Ben Hargreaves, explains further.
“Sustainability is an increasingly important factor for many of our customers - particularly those involved in motorsports and high-performance automotive applications. As you’d expect in these sectors though, sustainability can’t come at the expense of performance the two must go hand-in-hand. This is something that other prepreggers can struggle with, as natural fibres behave very differently to carbon or glass, for example.”

Customers would be able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of natural fibre composites, and to show where and how they can be adopted without the need for significant changes to existing composite component production processes.

One such customer is Retrac Group, whose composites division is one of the UK’s most experienced composites engineering companies across motorsports, automotive and aerospace. It recently used Evopreg ampliTex™ + powerRibs™ to produce a demonstrator bonnet panel for a race-bred supercar. Project Manager Alan Purves explains.

“We’re seeing a growing interest in flax fibre composites, particularly in the motorsports and niche vehicle sectors. It is therefore essential that we have developed an in-depth understanding of the processing requirements and performance capabilities of these materials, and are ready to respond to our customers' requirements. Being able to tap into the combined expertise and experience of both Composites Evolution and Bcomp is proving invaluable.”

Circular fashion and textile technology group Infinited Fiber Company has secured investments totaling 30 million euros in its latest financing round completed on June 30. The round also brought Infinited Fiber Company new investors, including sportswear company adidas, Invest FWD A/S, which is BESTSELLER’s investment arm for sustainable fashion, and investment company Security Trading Oy. Among the existing investors contributing to this round of financing were fashion retailer H&M Group, who was the lead investor, investment company Nidoco AB, and Sateri, the world’s largest viscose producer and a member of the RGE group of companies.

This securement of new funding follows Infinited Fiber Company’s April announcement of plans to build a flagship factory in Finland in response to the strong growth in demand from global fashion and textile brands for its regenerated textile fiber Infinna™. The factory, which will use household textile waste as raw material, is expected to be operational in 2024 and to have an annual production capacity of 30,000 metric tons. The new funding enables Infinited Fiber Company to carry out the work needed to prepare for the flagship factory investment and to increase production at its pilot facilities in the years leading to 2024.

“We are really happy to welcome our new investors and grateful for the continued support from our older investors,” said Infinited Fiber Company co-founder and CEO Petri Alava. “These new investments enable us to proceed at full speed with the pre-engineering, environmental permits, and the recruitment of the skilled professionals needed to take our flagship project forward. We can now also boost production at our pilot facilities so that we can better serve our existing customers and grow our customer-base in preparation for both our flagship factory and for the future licensees of our technology.”

H&M Group is one of Infinited Fiber Company’s earliest investors. They first invested in Infinited Fiber Company in 2019.

H&M Group has also signed a multiyear sales deal with Infinited Fiber Company to secure its access to agreed amounts of Infinna from the planned flagship factory.

New investor BESTSELLER has struck a similar sales deal with Infinited Fiber Company.

In addition to strong interest by global fashion leaders, the technology has significant promise for major textile fiber producers. Allen Zhang, President of Sateri, said: “Sateri is excited to continue to invest in and collaborate with Infinited Fiber Company as part of our long-term commitment towards closed-loop, circular and climate-positive cellulosic fibers. This financing round marks a major milestone for our collaboration in scaling up next-generation fiber solutions.”

Infinited Fiber Company’s flagship plant preparations are also proceeding on other fronts. Several Nordic and international investment banks have given Infinited Fiber Company proposals on the financing options for the investment.

Infinited Fiber Company’s technology turns cellulose-based raw materials, like cotton-rich textile waste, into Infinna, a unique, premium-quality regenerated textile fiber with the natural, soft look and feel of cotton. Infinna is biodegradable and contains no microplastics, and at the end of their life, garments made with it can be recycled in the same process together with other textile waste.

On the occasion of the VDMA press conference, André Wissenberg, Head of Marketing, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions Division, presented the company's concept for ITMA Asia with the claim: Clean Technology. Smart Factory.

Due to the Corona pandemic, Oerlikon has decided to concentrate with their Chinese sales and service teams on guests primarily from China and greater Asia. However, some experts from Germany, who are working in China at our locations anyway, will be live on site at the booth. Other experts from Germany, India and US will be available online for the entire 5 days of the trade fair and will simply be connected by video conference to the discussion with the visitors on site if there is a need for.

At ITMA Asia 2021, Oerlikon will present the next generation of an automatic texturing solution with up to 25 % energy saving and up to 30 % higher production speed, easy maintenance and best yarn quality. The core of this machine, the socalled EvoCooler, will be shown as an exhibit in combination with digital solutions like AIM4DTY. In the field of high-precision flow control solutions components, the two new gear metering pumps developments for the production of aramid and spandex will be presented as well.

Todd Zimmerman, a long-time graphic arts executive with a strong track record of growing advanced technology initiatives in print, has joined Electronics For Imaging, Inc. as its new vice president and general manager, Display Graphics.

He comes to EFI™ from Fujifilm® USA, where he spent a decade and a half in a variety of executive roles, most recently as division president and corporate VP of Fujifilm Global Graphic Systems. Prior to joining Fujifilm, Zimmerman worked in sales with Kodak Polychrome Graphics.

Zimmerman assumes his new role at a time when many EFI customers are growing their businesses to meet recovery-fuelled, post-pandemic business needs, especially in key application areas, such as point-of-purchase graphics, tradeshow and event signage, and environmental graphics and décor. As print businesses regain their momentum, Zimmerman will lead EFI’s largest inkjet business segment, a Display Graphics business that is among the world’s largest developers of superwide-format UV LED and dye-sublimation inkjet printers and inks.

International technology Group ANDRITZ has always been at the forefront in providing innovative and sustainable solutions for the global nonwovens industry. Optimization of resource management, especially reducing the consumption of raw materials and other substances used and also keeping resources in use for as long as possible, are decisive factors in enabling nonwovens producers to offer competitive and sustainable products.

As a world market leader for nonwovens production equipment and services, ANDRITZ offers a full range of products to meet these challenging demands.

Maximizing the evenness of the product across the entire production line is one of the key success factors. The weight profiling product range of ANDRITZ – consisting of ProDynTM and ProWidTM – has been extended by ProWinTM. This new development is the combination of the two existing systems ProDynTM and ProWidTM. It allows nonwovens producers to achieve optimum weight profiling at the crosslapper delivery and increase their process speed by up to 15% at the same time. ProWin combines the long-term process experience and in-depth knowledge ANDRITZ has on needlepunch lines with innovative software to synchronize action across the line. Guillaume Julien, Head of Needlepunch Sales at ANDRITZ Nonwoven, explains,

“We have developed a self-regulating, advanced technology to reduce fiber deposits at the edges of the web and eliminate the “smile” effect across its width. ProWin enables producers to optimize the CV ratio autonomously and precisely while also generating significant fiber savings of up to 10% and increasing production speed. Thus, it also provides a faster ROI.“

When it comes to the spunlace process, a better product quality can be obtained by ensuring that the different equipment units in the production line are consistent with one another. The TT card, the Jetlace hydroentanglement unit, and the neXdry through-air dryer are the perfect combination to obtain premium visual quality and characteristics in the web. For an equivalent amount of fibers, this set-up is designed to produce an even web with significant bulkiness and an excellent MD:CD ratio without impacting the production capacity.

Maximizing performance by minimizing the raw material input and the amount of waste produced is a real driver of cost optimization. This is why ANDRITZ has created and integrated a solution that allows nonwovens producers to retrieve the wasted edges of their spunlace fabric and re-use it as recycled fibers. As a result, roll-good producers can even obtain the same web characteristics as when using virgin fibers, and most importantly, the exact same quality.

ANDRITZ also offers – under the brand Metris – ANDRITZ digital solutions – a variety of several service apps for optimum customer benefit. The Metris Cost Management app is used to track raw material consumption. It is an advanced system aimed at monitoring fiber consumption and allowing in-depth diagnoses to investigate raw material losses and savings grouped by different process areas. Thanks to this Metris application, ANDRITZ customers are able to optimize their system’s consumption of raw materials.

All these innovations are available in ANDRITZ’s technical centers, where ANDRITZ process experts will be glad to welcome customers in order to discuss and define their product expectations.

Based on Article 27 of Regulation 3 on measures to combat the Corona Virus (COVID-19), the Board of Directors of Rieter Holding Ltd. decided that shareholders can exercise their voting rights exclusively by authorizing the independent proxy. Shareholders therefore could not attend the Annual General Meeting in person. The AGM was held on the premises of Rieter Holding Ltd. at the company’s headquarters in Winterthur.

At the Annual General Meeting of Rieter Holding Ltd. on April 15, 2021, the independent proxy represented a total of 2 084 shareholders who hold 63.6% of the share capital.

The shareholders approved the proposal of the Board of Directors not to distribute a dividend in view of the negative business result. In addition, they approved the proposed maximum total amounts of the remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors and of the Group Executive Committee for fiscal year 2022.

The Chairman of the Board, Bernhard Jucker, and the members of the Board of Directors This E. Schneider, Hans-Peter Schwald, Peter Spuhler, Roger Baillod, Carl Illi and Luc Tack were confirmed for an additional one-year term of office. Stefaan Haspeslagh was newly elected to the Board of Directors for a one-year term of office.

Furthermore, This E. Schneider, Hans-Peter Schwald and Bernhard Jucker, the members of the Remuneration Committee who were standing for election, were also each re-elected for a one-year term of office.

Shareholders also adopted all other motions proposed by the Board of Directors, namely the approval of the annual report, the financial statements and the consolidated financial statements for 2020, and formal approval of the actions of the members of the Board of Directors and those of the Group Executive Committee in the year under review.

Outlook Updated
As already communicated at the Results Press Conference on March 9, 2021, Rieter expects the market recovery to continue in 2021. The company expects an order intake exceeding CHF 500 million in the first half of 2021. For the first half of 2021, Rieter still anticipates that sales will be below break-even point. For the full year 2021, Rieter expects an operating profit.

Order Intake Continued to Recover in the Fourth Quarter of 2020:

• Order intake increased to CHF 215.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 and reached a total of CHF 640.2 million in the 2020 financial year
• As expected, sales of CHF 573.0 million in the 2020 financial year were significantly down on the previous year
• EBIT margin of around -15% and net profit of around -16% of sales expected
• First half of 2021 still heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
• Change to the Group Executive Committee

Rieter posted a globally and broadly supported order intake of CHF 215.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Thus, the recovery that began in the third quarter of 2020 after the slump in demand in the second quarter continued (order intake second quarter: CHF 45.7 million, third quarter: CHF 174.4 million). Overall, Rieter’s annual order intake for the 2020 financial year totaled CHF 640.2 million, which corresponds to a decrease of 31% compared to the previous year.

At the end of 2020, the company had an order backlog of about CHF 560 million (December 31, 2019: about CHF 500 million).

As expected, as a consequence of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rieter Group closed the 2020 financial year with considerably lower sales than in the previous year. According to the first, as yet unaudited figures, total sales of CHF 573.0 million were achieved, which corresponds to a decrease of 25% compared to the previous year (2019: CHF 760.0 million).

Order Intake by Business Group
All three business groups were affected by the slump in demand in the second quarter of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the recovery in order intake in the third and fourth quarters of 2020, the weak second quarter was only partially offset.

The Business Group Machines & Systems was particularly hard hit by the effects of the pandemic, with a year-on-year decline of 35%. The Business Groups Components and After Sales each recorded a 24% reduction in order intake.*

Sales by Business Group
The exceptional market situation in 2020 gave rise to a significant decline in sales in all three business groups. Accordingly, reluctance to invest and deferred deliveries by customers caused sales in the Business Group Machines & Systems to decline by 24% compared to the previous year.

Due to COVID-19, a large number of spinning mills stopped production worldwide. This led to low demand for spare parts and wear parts, especially in the second and third quarters of 2020. Accordingly, compared to the previous year, sales in the Business Groups Components and After Sales fell by 24% and 27% respectively in the 2020 financial year.*

Sales by Region
With the exception of Turkey, all regions were affected by the low demand as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.*

EBIT Margin and Net Profit
In the 2020 financial year, Rieter anticipates an EBIT margin of around -15% (2019: 11.2%) and net profit of around -16% of sales (2019: 6.9%). As of December 31, 2020, Rieter had liquid funds of exceeding CHF 280 million and unused credit lines in the mid three-digit million range.

First Half of 2021 Still Heavily Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic
Thanks to the improved capacity utilization, Rieter is planning short-time working in only a few areas in the first half of 2021. Nevertheless, Rieter expects sales in the first half of 2021 to be below the break-even point.*

Change to the Group Executive Committee
With effect from March 1, 2021, the Board of Directors of Rieter Holding Ltd. has appointed Roger Albrecht as Head of the Business Group Machines & Systems and a member of the Group Executive Committee.*

Annual General Meeting April 15, 2021
The 2021 Annual General Meeting of Rieter Holding Ltd. will take place in Winterthur on April 15, 2021.*

*See attached document for more information.