From the Sector

Messe Frankfurt India has announced new dates for the Mumbai edition of Screen Print India - the leading trade fair for screen, textile, sublimation and digital printing technologies The exhibition will be held in parallel with Gartex Texprocess India, from 19 – 21 March 2021 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai. With the gradual re-opening of commercial activities and businesses, the co-located fairs will enable the industry to channel their efforts back towards business development and cater to the needs of screen printing, textile and garment manufacturing industry players as it gears up to bring the production and manufacturing value chain under one roof.
 
While the focus segments under Gartex Texprocess India will draw attention to innovations in garmenting & apparel machinery, the product launches and live demos at Screen Print India will enable business visitors and traders to track technological advances in digital textile and screen-printing technologies. The secure, business-focused ambience will enable both printing and textile sector players to showcase, source and strengthen their supply chains and keep pace with the shifting demand for screen printing, textile printing, digital and sublimation technologies across other sectors.
 
Screen Print India will also host a series of sessions on processes and innovations related to the graphics industry. Another key highlight of this successful trade fair is the Screen Print Excellence Awards that upholds a strong tradition of honouring technology inventors and trailblazers within the screen-printing industry. With this in mind, the Mumbai edition will curate a special “SPI Gallery” to showcase award winning pieces of screen-printing excellence.

Protective masks for Europe
With FleeceforEurope and Lindenpartner, Düsseldorf-based Kloepfel Group purchasing consultancy and Berlin-based industrial consultancy Bechinger & Heymann Holding plan to manufacture and distribute up to 50 million protection class FFP1 through FFP3 respiratory masks a month exclusively for the European market from the beginning of fall. And the primary focus will be on quality.
With protective masks – including those used in operating rooms – this quality is provided above all by  virus-absorbing nonwovens. And these will be manufactured by ‘FleeceforEurope’ using an Oerlikon Nonwoven meltblown system.
But masks effectively protecting against infections can only be guaranteed with the right quality. A crucial factor in this is the inside of the mask. Because the nonwoven used in protection class FFP1 through FFP3 respiratory masks plays a decisive role.
Here, the meltblown technology from Oerlikon Nonwoven will be deployed. In a special, patented process, the fibers laid into a nonwoven fabric during manufacture are subsequently electrostatically-charged, before the material is further processed downstream.

European market for protective masks with a promising future
Those responsible at Oerlikon Nonwoven and FleeceforEurope, which will primarily focus on producing high-end nonwovens, and Lindenpartner, which will manufacture and distribute the protective masks, are certain of one thing: the market for protective masks has a very promising long-term future in Europe.
What has been commonplace in Asia for many years now will also become normal in Europe. People will be increasingly wearing face masks when venturing out, in order to better protect themselves against health risks such as the current pandemic and also against increasing environmental pollution in the form of  fine particles and exhaust fumes in the future. A

Medical face masks from a vending machine
Mask producer Lindenpartner has already secured supplies of nonwovens and will be producing face masks for the European healthcare sector over the coming weeks. To fight the coronavirus pandemic, Lindenpartner is planning to install 100 self-service face mask vending machines in Germany over the next four weeks, positioning them in publicly-accessible places such as shopping centers and airports, for example.

• All motions approved
• Dividend of CHF 4.50 agreed
• COVID-19

In relation to participation in the Annual General Meeting on April 16, 2020, the Board of Directors of Rieter Holding Ltd. arranged exclusively written or electronic voting and the granting of power of attorney to the independent proxy. In taking this approach, the Board of Directors relied on Article 6a, lit. b of Ordinance 2 of the Swiss Federal Council (Measures to Combat the Coronavirus of March 16, 2020). Physical participation by the shareholders was therefore not possible. The Annual General Meeting 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 16, 2020, the independent proxy represented a total of 2 025 shareholders who hold 64.3% of the share capital.

A dividend of CHF 4.50 per share was agreed. The shareholders 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 2021.

The Chairman of the Board, Bernhard Jucker, and the members of the Board of Directors This E. Schneider, Michael Pieper, Hans-Peter Schwald, Peter Spuhler, Roger Baillod, Carl Illi and Luc Tack were confirmed for an additional 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 approval of the annual report, the financial statements and the consolidated financial statements for 2019, 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. In addition, the authorized capital was extended for a further two years.

COVID-19
At present, it is not possible to predict how the global COVID-19 pandemic will affect Rieter’s sales and earnings in the first and second half of 2020, and thus also for 2020 as a whole.

Rieter therefore refrains from providing an outlook for financial year 2020 and will issue the relevant information as part of the semi-annual report on July 16, 2020.
The company has taken the necessary measures to protect employees and to meet commitments to customers as far as possible.

Thanks to long-standing customer relationships, a focus on innovation, global positioning and the company’s financial stability, Rieter will successfully overcome the challenges.

Textile innovator and specialty chemical producer Devan answers questions regarding anti-viral textile finish solutions following the growing spread of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Devan studied enveloped viruses (e.g. H1N1, Corona-types etc.) as well as naked viruses (e.g. Rotavirus). For both virus families BI-OME AV showed strong activity in wet state.
In the first instance, the company wants to focus on professionals who need to stay working such as policemen, logistics workers, shop employees, day-care workers.

A common complication of respiratory viral disease can be a secondary bacterial infection. Professionals could be helped with either an anti-bacterial on their facemask to reduce the chance for these secondary bacterial infections, for better hygiene and less odour build-up. On workwear, a combination of a virus spread reducing and antibacterial solution could help as these garments are typically used during long hours, are non-disposable and most likely will be washed at home.