From the Sector

Kelheim Fibres, a manufacturer of specialty viscose fibres, showcases its latest developments at this year's Global Fiber Congress in Dornbirn. The focus is on innovative solutions that not only promote environmental sustainability but also strengthen the European supply chain.

In his presentation "Towards high performing plant-based AHP products - a joined approach of Pelz and Kelheim Fibres," Dr. Ingo Bernt, Project Leader of Fiber & Application Development at Kelheim Fibres, together with Dr. Henning Röttger, Head of Business Development at PelzGROUP, introduces the development of a plastic-free yet high-performance panty liner. The water-repellent Kelheim specialty fibre Olea plays a crucial role in both the top and backsheet of the panty liner. This product emerged from the ambition to offer eco-friendly alternatives to conventional disposable hygiene solutions without compromising on product performance.

A similar approach is pursued in the second presented project. Under the title "Performance Fibres meet Sustainable Design - example of a reusable Baby Diaper," Natalie Wunder, Project Leader from Kelheim Fibres' New Business Development team, together with Caspar Böhme, Co-Founder of Sumo, introduce the washable and reusable SUMO diaper. Made from biobased materials and featuring a unique construction with Kelheim specialty fibres, this combination offers double environmental benefits compared to conventional disposable baby diapers.

Both the panty liner and the SUMO diaper are manufactured entirely in Europe, resulting in shorter transportation routes and a reduced CO2 footprint. Moreover, these innovations contribute to strengthening the European textile and nonwovens industries by fostering innovation within Europe.

At this year’s Techtextil India, the Polymer Processing Solutions Division of the Swiss Oerlikon group will be presenting the trade audience with new applications, special processes and sustainable solutions focusing on the production of industrial textiles. Between September 9 and 12, the discussions at Jio World Convention Centre (JWCC), Mumbai, will be concentrating on airbags, seat belts, tire cord, geotextiles, filter nonwovens and their diverse applications.

More polyester for airbags
The yarns used in airbags are made predominantly from polyamide. As a result of increasingly diverse airbag applications and also the increasing size of the systems used, polyester is today used as well, depending on the application requirements and cost-benefit considerations. Against this background, the Oerlikon Barmag technol-ogies make an invaluable contribution. In addition to high productivity and low energy consumption, they particularly excel in terms of their stable production processes. Furthermore, they comply with every high quality standard for airbags, which – as in the case of virtually all other textile products used in vehicle construction – must provide the highest level of safety for vehicle occupants - without any loss of function in any climate and for the lifetime of the vehicle

Buckle up!
Seat belts have to withstand tensile forces in excess of three tons and simultaneously stretch in a controlled manner in emergencies in order to reduce the load in the event of impact. A seat belt comprises approximately 300 filament yarns, whose individual, high-tenacity yarn threads are spun from around 100 individual filaments. “With our unique, patented Single Filament Layer Technology, we offer a sophisticated and simultaneously gentle high-tenacity (HT) yarn process for manufacturing these lifesavers and other applications made from industrial yarn”, explains André Wissenberg, Head of Marketing.

Road reinforcement using geotextiles
Low stretch, ultra-high tenacity, high rigidity – industrial yarns offer outstanding properties for the demand-ing tasks carried out by geotextiles; for instance, as geogrids in the base course system under asphalt. Normally, geotextiles have extremely high yarn titers of up to 24,000 denier. Oerlikon Barmag system concepts simultaneously manufacture three filament yarns of 6,000 denier each. Due to the high spinning titers, fewer yarns can be plied together to the required geo-yarn titer in a more cost- and energy-efficient manner.

hycuTEC –  quantum leap for filter media
In the case of its hycuTEC hydro-charging solution, Oerlikon Neumag offers a new technology for charging nonwovens that increases filter efficiency to more than 99.99%. For meltblown producers, this means material savings of 30% with significantly superior filter performance. For end users, the consequence is noticeably improved comfort resulting from significantly reduced breathing resistance. With its considerably lower water and energy consumption, this new development is also a future-proof, sustainable technology.

Beaulieu International Group will turn the spotlight on geotextile products with sustainability benefits to support progress in resilient civil engineering projects at the 12^th ICG Rome from 18^th -21^st September 2023, presenting options to target fossil carbon reduction by choosing PP-based staple fibres or woven geotextiles that are among the lowest in carbon footprint for geosynthetics.

For manufacturers of nonwoven geotextiles, Beaulieu Fibres International (BFI) offers PP fibres with > 25% carbon footprint reduction compared to the European standard PP fibres, generating 1.48 kg CO₂/kg PP fibres. A step further is to accelerate the replacement of fossil carbon in engineered fibre applications by choosing its ISCC Plus certified bio-attributed MONO-PP with a negative carbon footprint.

For construction projects, nonwoven geotextiles made with high-tenacity HT8 fibres are proven to secure a longer service lifetime and reduce the environmental impact, as they offer high mechanical performance at a reduced weight.

Beaulieu Technical Textiles' (BTT) woven geotextiles provide a wide range of functions, including separation, filtration, reinforcement and erosion control, and are among the most sustainable in the industry. Depending on weight, the carbon footprint of its woven geotextiles (m²) ranges between 0.37 and 1.40 kg CO₂ eq./m². They also minimize the use of natural resources for more sustainable infrastructure development. Case studies such as at the Ostend-Bruges airport highlight significant CO2 reduction on the jobsite by replacing the transport of 960 trucks of gravel with 3 trucks of woven geotextiles, and by extending the runway’s life span.

The ICG launch of its new line Terralys MF woven filtration geotextiles with monofilament boosts the performance of a common solution in building layers that require high water flow rates. High-tenacity extruded polypropylene tapes and monofilaments are interwoven to form dimensionally stable and highly permeable geotextiles. These new filtration geotextiles provide greater resistance to dirt and biological clogging. They allow water to travel freely while reducing soil erosion when employed as a separation and stabilizing layer.

As of September 2023, all PP staple fibres and woven geotextiles will have Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) based on LCAs. Each EPD is an essential tool for communicating and reporting on the sustainability performance and helps carbon-conscious customers in their purchasing and decision making. Registered EPDs are globally recognized, publicly available and free to download through EPD Libraries.

TRÜTZSCHLER Spinning presents an innovation for the textile machinery market: the high-performance comber TCO 21XL with 12 combing heads. For many decades, eight combing heads has been considered state-of-the-art in the spinning industry. Now, Trützschler’s advanced technology and engineering proves that it is possible to build a heavy-duty comber that maximizes productivity by 50 % and saves space without compromising on quality.

They say two heads are better than one, so just imagine what 12 heads can do! That’s the simple but effective idea behind the TCO 21XL. Increasing the number of combing heads by 50 % makes it possible to increase productivity by 50 %, enabling rates of up to 150 kg/h. As a result, two TCO 21XL combers offer the same production capacity as three conventional combers. And that means companies that buy and operate two machines instead of three can achieve significant benefits in terms of their price-performance-ratio (cost/kg). The costs of running the machines are broken down into 12 instead of eight heads, making the machine more cost-effective over its entire operating life.

50 % higher productivity is great – and it can be even greater if the machine is operated with JUMBO cans. The can changer needs to keep up with the extra performance, and JUMBO cans can easily collect the additional output of the TCO 21XL because they feature a 1200 mm diameter. This makes it possible to minimize non-productive time when changing cans. Anybody who is planning a new spinning mill knows that every square meter of space adds to the overall costs. The new TCO 21XL comber offers huge benefits in this regard because 25 % less floor space is required to operate same number of combing heads. This reduces the initial building costs, while also decreasing operating costs related to lighting, air conditioning and other overheads.

From mechanical engineering to the construction industry, from logistics to rescue technology – tensioning and clamping systems fulfil important tasks in a number of industries. The possible uses of technical textiles for industrial applications of this kind are manifold.

Patented and precisely configured
The ElasTool system from the elastics expert consists of a connection tool and a rubber rope connected to this tool via integrated locking elements. The stainless steel, aluminium or plastic connection tool and the rubber rope – with a thickness of between 12 and 38 mm – are each configured to fit precisely. The highlight of the patented connection solution: the more tensile force is exerted, the more the rope is jammed. Thanks to the locking system, ElasTool still provides a secure hold even when the diameter of the rubber rope narrows to up to 60 percent due to the tensile load. A crucial advantage over conventional end connections by pressing.

Economical and low maintenance
The system has further advantages: the textile solution runs quietly. Unlike clamping systems with steel cable springs, there is no creaking here. In addition, textiles, plastic and aluminium are particularly lightweight materials. ElasTool therefore saves energy. Another benefit: the connection system works without lubricating oil. While conventional tensioning and clamping solutions in industrial plants and products have to be oiled regularly, the JUMBO textile system works completely maintenance-free.

Versatile and easily interchangeable
Depending on the area of application of the ElasTool, the interchangeable head can be exchanged: Plastic hook instead of aluminium eyelet, stainless steel flange instead of aluminium hook – for example. The interchangeable head can be replaced effortlessly and without special tools.

"A lifting system in a high-bay warehouse, a trolley in a crane, damping for compressors or crash systems – these are just three of the many possible applications. We adapt the dimensions, material, force-stretch behaviour, flame retardancy – like all properties – specifically to the respective project," emphasises Carl Mrusek, Chief Sales Officer of JUMBO-Textil. "Thus, with ElasTool, we offer a safe load connection for a wide variety of applications in industry."

ElasTool from JUMBO-Textil

• Lightweight and flexible alternative to conventional tensioning and clamping systems
• Suitable even in small installation spaces
• With individual specifications and infinitely customisable dimensions
• Connection tool optionally made of plastic, aluminium or stainless steel
• Rubber rope in a thickness of 12 to 38 mm
• Rubber rope made of polyamide, polyester, recycled PES, polypropylene, aramid, Dyneema, monofilament, natural fibres
• Different interchangeable head shapes possible
• As an end connection or for coupling with other machine elements
• Tensile load up to 600 N, in individual cases more than this
• Individually configurable e.g. with hook, eyelet or flange

Trützschler announces their cooperation with Balkan Textile Machinery. INC.CO, a partner which completes Trützschler's product portfolio for recycling by cutting and pulling solutions.

Both Balkan and Trützschler are family-owned companies for whom sustainability in the textile chain is a major concern. Balkan is well established in Turkey, one of the most important markets for textile recycling. Their robust and reliable machines help to cut, mix and tear textile waste to individual fibers, and to press them into bales of secondary fibers. These bales can be fed to the preparation process with Trützschler machines.

“We are now able to provide a complete line-up of technologically leading machinery which has been specifically developed for rotor and ring yarns from recycled materials”, says Markus Wurster, Director Sales and Marketing at Trützschler Group. “Customers benefit from less complexity when planning and executing a mill project. The combined processes from Trützschler and Balkan are perfectly fine-tuned, reliable and reproducible. And of course, customers have access to Trützschler’s premium service.” Osman Balkan, Owner of Balkan Textile Machinery. INC.CO, adds: “I am very happy that we can join forces with such a strong international player like Trützschler. Together we can make a significant contribution to dealing with textile waste globally."

• Currency-neutral revenues flat versus the prior-year level
• Top-line development reflects improved sell-out trends and conservative sell-in strategy
• Gross margin up 0.6pp to 50.9%; strong improvement compared to Q1 reflecting better sell-through and less discounting
• Operating profit of € 176 million includes extraordinary expenses of around € 160 million related to one-off costs, donations and accruals for future donations
• Inventory position improves substantially versus Q1 level to € 5.5 billion; now up only 1% year-over-year

In the second quarter of 2023, currency-neutral revenues were flat versus the prior-year level. The top-line development continued to be impacted by the company’s conservative sell-in approach in order to reduce high inventory levels, particularly in North America and Greater China. At the same time, adidas second quarter revenues benefited from the first sale of some of its Yeezy inventory. The initial product drop in June generated revenues of around € 400 million in Q2, which is largely in line with the Yeezy sales generated in the prior year’s quarter.

Footwear revenues grew 1% during the quarter, reflecting strong growth in football, basketball, tennis and US sports. Apparel sales declined 3% in the second quarter. As the apparel market continues to be particularly overstocked, the company continued its conservative sell-in strategy to improve sell-through and margins in the medium term. Accessories grew 8% during the quarter driven by growth in football.  

Lifestyle revenues were down during the quarter despite extraordinary demand for the company’s Samba, Gazelle and Campus franchises. While adidas slowly started to scale its offering for these product families during the second quarter, the total volume still only represents a small portion of the company’s overall business. Sales in the adidas Performance categories continued to show positive momentum. This reflects strong demand for new product introductions such as the latest iterations of its Predator, X and Copa football boots, as well as jerseys for both the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 and the company’s unique portfolio of football teams ahead of the start of the European club season. In addition, the Adizero product family in running continued to gain a lot of attention around marathon races across the world, translating into higher demand. At the same time, the brand’s Barricade tennis franchise grew strongly, leveraging the excitement around major tournaments.

In euro terms, the company’s revenues declined 5% to € 5.343 billion in the second quarter (2022: € 5.596 billion).

Stronger sell-out trends and conservative sell-in
As a result of the company’s initiatives to reduce high inventory levels, currency-neutral sales in wholesale declined 10% despite double-digit growth in Greater China and Latin America. At the same time, direct-to-consumer (DTC) revenues grew 16% versus the prior year. This development was driven by strong growth in both the company’s e-commerce business (+14%) as well as own retail stores (+19%), reflecting continued strong sell-out trends across most regions. The outperformance of the company’s DTC channel versus the wholesale business was also related to the first sale of the Yeezy inventory, which was done exclusively through adidas’ own e-commerce channel.

Double-digit growth in Greater China and Latin America
Currency-neutral sales in North America declined 16% during the quarter. The region is particularly affected by elevated inventory levels in the market and – in response to this – the company’s significantly reduced sell-in. Revenues in Greater China grew 16% in Q2, reflecting double-digit sell-out growth in both wholesale and own retail. Sales in EMEA were down slightly (-1%) despite double-digit DTC growth. While the company’s initiatives to reduce inventory levels and discounting weighed on the overall top-line development in the region, adidas recorded significantly improving full-price trends during the quarter. Revenues in Asia-Pacific increased 7% during the quarter, driven by strong double-digit growth in DTC. Latin America continued to increase at a double-digit rate (+30%), reflecting strong growth in both wholesale and DTC.

Gross margin improves to 50.9%
The company’s second quarter gross margin increased 0.6 percentage points to 50.9% (2022: 50.3%). This improvement was mainly driven by price increases the company has implemented as well as by an improved channel mix. At the same time, higher supply chain costs and unfavorable currency movements continued to strongly weigh on the gross margin development. While still adversely impacting the company’s gross margin in the quarter, discounting levels significantly improved compared to the first quarter of the year.  

Operating profit of € 176 million, resulting in an operating margin of 3.3%
Other operating expenses were up 3% to € 2.582 billion (2022: € 2.501 billion). As a percentage of sales, other operating expenses increased 3.6 percentage points to 48.3% (2022: 44.7%). Marketing and point-of-sale expenses decreased 7% to € 617 million (2022: € 663 million). As a percentage of sales, marketing and point-of-sale expenses slightly decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 11.5% (2022: 11.8%). Operating overhead expenses were up 7% to € 1.965 billion (2022: € 1.838 billion), reflecting higher logistics expenses. In addition, the company recorded one-off costs of around € 50 million related to the strategic review the company is currently conducting as well as donations and accruals for further donations in an amount of around € 110 million. As a percentage of sales, operating overhead expenses increased 3.9 percentage points to 36.8% (2022: 32.8%). The company’s operating profit amounted to € 176 million (2022: € 392 million) in the quarter. This amount includes the extraordinary expenses of in total around € 160 million reflecting the one-off costs related to the strategic review as well as the donations and accruals for further donations. The sale of the Yeezy product positively impacted adidas’ operating profit by an incremental amount of around € 150 million in Q2. The operating margin reached 3.3% in the quarter (2022: 7.0%).

Net income from continuing operations of € 96 million
After taxes, the company’s net income from continuing operations amounted to € 96 million (2022: € 360 million), while basic EPS from continuing operations decreased to € 0.48 (2022: € 1.88).

Outlook

adidas expects revenues to decline at a mid-single-digit rate
On July 24, adidas had adjusted its full year financial guidance to reflect the positive impact of the first sale of some of its Yeezy inventory and a slightly better-than-expected development of the adidas business in the first half of the year. At the same time, macroeconomic challenges and geopolitical tensions persist. Elevated recession risks in North America and Europe as well as uncertainty around the recovery in Greater China continue to exist. In addition, the company’s revenue development will continue to be impacted by the initiatives to significantly reduce high inventory levels. As a result, adidas now expects currency-neutral revenues to decline at a mid-single-digit rate in 2023 (previously: decline at a high-single-digit rate).

Underlying operating profit anticipated to be around the break-even level
The company’s underlying operating profit – excluding any one-offs related to Yeezy and the ongoing strategic review – is still anticipated to be around the break-even level. Including the positive impact from the first Yeezy drop of around € 150 million, the potential write-off of the remaining Yeezy inventory of now € 400 million (previously: € 500 million) and one-off costs related to the strategic review of up to € 200 million (unchanged), the company now expects to report an operating loss of € 450 million in 2023 (previously: loss of € 700 million).

On August 2, the company launched a second drop of Yeezy inventory. Throughout the month of August, adidas is making a range of existing products available through both its own e-commerce channel as well as the digital platforms of selected wholesale partners. If successful, this second drop would further improve the company’s results. However, as the results of this drop are yet unknown, it is not accounted for in the company’s current top- and bottom-line outlook for 2023.

West Yorkshire is to have a first-of-its-kind apprenticeship training course for textile engineering technicians, reflecting a resurgence in the industry locally, and more generally in the UK.

Calderdale College has partnered with the Textile Centre of Excellence (TCoE) and the British Textile Machinery Association (BTMA) to develop the bespoke Level 3 apprenticeship course which will start in September 2023.

Engineering Technician apprentices at Calderdale College will receive training from the TCoE, helping them to develop the engineering maintenance skills required to close the skills gap in West Yorkshire’s textile industry.

While the region has been a flourishing hub for textile excellence since the 19th century and is being revitalised through digitalization and the localisation of supply chains, its success is currently being hindered by an ageing workforce and high staff turnover.

Through adapting the engineering training at Calderdale College to address the current requirements of the textile industry, the unique new course will ensure the passing on of vital know-how and good practice aligned with the new skills demanded by Industry 4.0 and automation.

Collaborative Apprenticeships
Calderdale College has developed the programme over a two-year period through close collaboration with the TCoE and the BTMA, as well as through consultation with British heritage weaver AW Hainsworth and a number of other local textile companies.

The course launch follows on closely from the success of the Collaborative Apprenticeships project launched in 2022 at Calderdale College. To date, this has seen the college engage with over 100 local employers on the benefits of increasing the quantity and improving the quality of the apprenticeships that they offer, as well as encouraging others to introduce apprenticeships for the first time.

“Over the years, we’ve seen how beneficial apprenticeships can be for several sectors, particularly in terms of helping businesses to retain staff and ensuring that they have a steady flow of skilled workers coming in,” said Claire Williams, head of employer engagement at Calderdale College. “Having identified that employers in the textile manufacturing industry were struggling to find apprenticeship training that was designed around their needs, we knew that alongside employers and our partners, we needed to satisfy this critical gap in the market. We hope that this programme will act as a leading example for the rest of the industry to follow.”

To reach its goal of being the world’s leading supplier of enhanced recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET), gr3n is signing a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with its shareholder Intecsa Industrial to set up a Joint Venture.

gr3n together with Intecsa Industrial will join forces and build a “First-of-a-Kind” manufacturing facility able to produce 40.000 tons of virgin-like PET, commencing EPC phase in Q4-2024 and aiming to be operational in 2027. gr3n’s chemical recycling technology is capable of processing PET from various industries including textile waste, closing the loop for hard-to-recycle PET applications.

The world’s first industrial-scale MADE PET recycling plant will have the capability to process post-industrial and post-consumer PET waste including hard-to-recycle waste, to produce approximately 40.000 tons of virgin PET chips from the recycled monomers saving nearly 2 million tons of CO2 during its operating life. The post-consumer and/or post-industrial polyesters will be both from bottles (colored, colorless, transparent, opaque) and textiles (100% polyester but also mixtures of other materials like PU, cotton, polyether, polyurea, etc. with up to 30% of presence in the raw textile).

The technical concept of the MADE plant is to break down PET into its main components (monomers) so they can potentially be re-polymerized endlessly to provide brand new virgin PET or any other polymer using one of the monomers. Polymers obtained can be used to produce new bottles/trays and/or new garments, essentially completely displacing feedstock material from fossil fuels, as the recycled product has the same functionality as that derived traditionally. This means that gr3n can potentially achieve bottle-to-textile, textile-to-textile, or even textile-to-bottle recycling, moving from a linear to a circular system.

gr3n’s process has the potential to change the way PET is recycled worldwide, enabling huge benefits for both the recycling industry and the entire polyester value chain. Many efforts have been made in the past to transfer enhanced recycling from research laboratories to the manufacturing industry, but the economics and skepticism of the first adopters have constantly blocked the progress of the proposed solutions. Thanks to the MADE technology developed by gr3n, this approach is now feasible and makes gr3n one of the few companies with the potential to provide a reliable enhanced recycling solution that closes the life cycle of PET, and also offers food grade polymer material, processes a large variety of waste and reduces the carbon footprint of these materials usually destined for incineration or landfill.

On June 26, 2023, the Alexander Zverev Foundation and WorldChanger founder Robert Laner hosted an exclusive charity tennis tournament at the Bio and Wellness Resort Stanglwirt in Tyrol, Austria.

Based on the motto "helping by playing", 24 top-class athletes and celebrities came together to play tennis doubles for a good cause. Participants in this special event included Olympic champion and two-time ATP world champion Alexander Zverev, actress and presenter Palina Rojinski, influencer & entrepreneur Pamela Reif, soccer world referee Dr. Felix Brych, ski legend Maria Höfl-Riesch, actor Herbert Knaup, rapper Kool Savas, ski jumper Gregor Schlierenzauer, actor Hans Sigl, tennis legends Barbara Schett and Charly Steeb, soccer world champion Roman Weidenfeller, influencer Younes Zarou, and many more.

BOGNER took part in this event and equipped the participants with suitable sports and tennis wear. The collected proceeds of more than 100,000 euros will benefit the Alexander Zverev Foundation, which supports children and young people affected by diabetes. The Alexander Zverev Foundation is helping to raise awareness and acceptance of diabetes within the public discourse, as Alexander Zverev himself is affected by the disease. To wrap up this unforgettable experience, the tennis tournament then evolved into an exclusive Red Carpet evening event. The invited guests met for the award ceremony and a closing speech by Alexander Zverev and Robert Laner on the topic of "Diabetes, the right mindset on the way to the world's best and positive change" at the mountain chalet Hüttlingmoos, directly below the Wilder Kaiser. The grand finale of the day in the mountains was then the outdoor party, again in Hüttlingmoos, with live music from the Fast Boys and star DJ Topic.