From the Sector

• Auraloop is a brand-new range of cushioning solutions made from an innovative structure of Polyester-based fibers, 100% recyclable, aimed at the mobility markets
• One of the objectives of Auraloop is a twofold reduction in the carbon footprint of car seat pads, currently made from polyurethane foam
• Auraloop offers an increased level of performance in terms of thermal comfort and durability

R&D teams within the Faurecia seating activity have recently penned an exclusive development agreement with Indorama Ventures. This partnership between Indorama Ventures and Faurecia, a company of FORVIA Group which is one of the largest automotive industry suppliers, has the aim of developing Auraloop, a new range of cushioning solutions for the mobility markets and intended to replace polyurethane foam currently used in car seats.

“By setting out these initial milestones in our close-knit collaboration with Faurecia, this partnership is an integral part of Indorama Ventures’ commitment to expand its existing Polyester (PET)-based portfolio and related activities into wider areas. By bringing together two leading players in the automotive industry, we aim to open up further growth opportunities for both partners”, stated Arnaud Closson, Chief Executive Officer at Indorama Ventures’ Mobility Group / Fibers Segment.

“Auraloop will replace those materials currently used in car seating with innovative and sustainable materials, based on polyester fibers that offer a total recyclability of 100%. This new material will allow for a twofold reduction in the carbon footprint of car seat pad solutions compared to current materials”, explains Nicolas Michot, Director of Technology at Faurecia Seating. Development of this product, which paves the way towards wider commercial release in two or three years, falls within the FORVIA Group strategy of going carbon neutral by 2045. For this, the group is seeking to root its commercial offer fully in the circular economy, with the development and production of sustainable cutting-edge materials under the banner of MATERI’ACT.

Auraloop offers a range of new perspectives in terms of seating comfort thanks to a more open fiber structure and permeability for air than current seating pad solutions, the breathability of seating is improved, enabling a better passive thermal regulation of occupants. The durability of seating is also increased by limited subsidence of the seat over its lifetime. The market for comfort aboard vehicles is constantly growing. The development of Auraloop falls within this dynamic, with a product offering significantly improved performances in terms of static, dynamic and welcoming comfort.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) has been included as a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) for the fourth consecutive year, with a 96 percentile, and the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index (DJSI Emerging Markets) for the sixth successive year, with a 99 percentile. The achievement aligns with IVL's purpose of “reimagining chemistry together to create a better world.”

In 2022, S&P Global invited over 11,000 companies to participate in the Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). Companies with outstanding results were then considered eligible for any DJSI. This year, there were 86 chemical companies that led the field in terms of sustainability and were eligible for the DJSI World, which tracks the performance of the top 10% of the 2,500 largest companies, and 34 chemical companies eligible for the DJSI Emerging Markets, which tracks the performance of the top 10% of the 800 largest Emerging Markets companies. Out of which, IVL is among only 10 chemical companies in the DJSI World and only 3 chemical companies in the DJSI Emerging Markets.

IVL's consistently high ranking in DJSI is driven by the company's ambition to build its industry leadership in sustainability. Under Vision 2030, IVL is committed to reducing GHG intensity by 30% and increasing renewable electricity consumption to 25%. This year, IVL also committed to setting science-based targets through the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). The company also participates in the SBTi Expert Advisory Group for the chemicals industry and provides funding for developing chemical sector decarbonization solutions.

The European textiles and clothing sector is set for a major transformation which will affect both industry and workers. The EU’s strategy for sustainable and circular textiles aims to ensure that by 2030, textile products placed on the EU market are long-lived and recyclable with the industry moving from a linear to a circular business model. This strategy is accompanied with the EU’s transition pathway for a more resilient, sustainable, and digital textiles ecosystem linking the green transition with the digital transition while stressing the need for the sector to remain competitive.

IndustriAll European Trade Union (industriAll Europe) and Euratex, representing the workers and employers in the textiles and clothing sectors respectfully, jointly highlight both the challenges and opportunities of the giant forthcoming transformation of the sector and call for action to ensure that European industrial policy is fit for purpose and enables the sector to transform without negatively impacting workers or European industry.

Specifically, the European social partners jointly call for:

1. EU action to guarantee that the European textiles ecosystem remains competitive, including ensuring a level global playing field.
2. Measures to increase the demand of sustainable products including awareness raising campaigns, incentives such as lower VAT rates, and sustainability criteria in public procurement.
3. Measures to ensure access to green and affordable energy.
4. Policy gaps to be addressed, such as promoting a harmonised Extended Producer Responsibility approach across the EU and ensuring that SMEs can use Product Environmental Footprints.
5. Action to ensure that the Sustainable Products Regulation and the forthcoming Digital Product Passport will offer a transparent, predictable and SME-friendly framework.
6. Investment in attracting, training and reskilling workers including via concrete support for the EU Pact for Skills.
7. Appropriate funding, sound metrics and legal incentives at regional, national, and European level to support the green and digital transitions of the textile and clothing sectors.
8. Regional and national authorities to coordinate with sectoral social partners to ensure that the green and digital transitions are fair and just and do not leave the industry, regions or workers behind.

From February 8th to 11th, 2023, the third edition of IFCO, Istanbul Fashion Connection will take place in the Istanbul Exhibition Center.

The fair with over 600 exhibitors in 9 halls gives an overview of the new collections in the areas of womenswear, menswear, kidswear, denim, shoes, leather & furs. Separate platforms at IFCO are LinExpo for lingerie and hosiery and FashionIST with a wide range of wedding dresses, evening wear and suits. IFCO Sourcing, a new area at IFCO, offers the opportunity to find numerous companies for sourcing capacities.

Also new is the partnership with Igedo Exhibitions, Düsseldorf, which is responsible for the EUROPEAN SELECTION area at IFCO. International fashion labels present themselves at the fair as part of this participation.

More than 25,000 visitors from over 100 nations from all sales channels, from department stores and boutiques to online platforms from Eastern Europe, the Central Asian markets and the Arabian Gulf region, alongside buyers from Türkiye are expected at the show.

The declared goal of the organizers is to offer a "one-stop shopping solution" with IFCO that shows the creativity of the Turkish fashion scene, enables access to new sales markets and at the same time establishes the connection to potential production partners for supply chain optimization. The competitive advantages of production in Türkiye are evident:
short delivery times, high production quality, young and well-trained employees, the possibility of small minimum order quantities, a vertical textile and clothing industry that allows "one-stop shopping".

The manufacturing sector is an important sector for the industry, with over 80% of companies in Türkiye engaged in this sector. Türkiye has the fastest economic growth among the G20 after Saudi Arabia at 7.6% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2022, according to the Turkish Statistics Authority. Export is one of the most important pillars of growth.

The trade fair concept is being supported by the government with several programs. These include the cooperation with IMA, Istanbul ModaAkademisi, which regularly produces design talents becoming an integral part of the international fashion scene. IMA was founded in 2007 by ITKIB / IHKIB with the help of the IPA I program ((IPA: Instrument for Pre Accession Funds, provided by the EU for the EU candidate countries). Young design talents are brought to the stage at IFCO in cooperation with the ‘’Koza Young Fashion Designers Contest’’.

• Award for near-net-shape 3D meshes for use in fibre-reinforced plastics

As part of the JEC FORUM DACH 2022, the AVK Innovation Awards were presented in Augsburg on November 29th. The innovation price in the category "Research/Science" (first place) was awarded to the team of scientists Dipl.-Ing. Dominik Nuss, Dr.-Ing. Cornelia Sennewald and Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Chokri Cherif.

With the development of the pull-off-free Jacquard weaving technology including the technological know-how in the field of highly complex 2D and 3D fabric geometries, which has been established at the ITM of the TU Dresden for many years, Dominik Nuss has succeeded in including different yarn lengths locally into the fabric structure solely through targeted variation of the fabric weave. There-fore, it is now possible to produce completely new types of fabrics without additional draping, especially spherically curved fabrics, but also large-format spiral or even curved fabrics. The fact that the required near-net-shape geometry of the component to be reinforced can be reproduced with significantly reduced preforming steps is to be emphasized.

Continuous simulation aided engineering from CAD design to integrally woven 2D and 3D preforms by means of highly complex weave development for spatial constructions is a unique at the ITM, which was indispensable for the development of these promising woven high-tech structures. This technology is completely new and has never been carried out in this way before. The fabric structures are characterised by a high innovation level due to their geometric diversity and purposes. It can be used in numerous applications and further more contributes to the development of completely new fields of application. The technology can be implemented on all Jacquard weaving machines with only an additional device and the preform geometry is only determined by the control of the Jacquard machine. The preform geometry can be used in the full working width of the weaving machine.

Professor Chokri Cherif, Institute Director of the ITM, and his team are very pleased about these continuous research success in the constantly growing research field of 3D weaving technology, which are achieved at the ITM in close cooperation with industry and users. "This award is a special honour for our institute and confirms that the many years of our excellent research in the field of near-net-shape 3D weaving for the fibre-reinforced plastics sector plays a significant role and that we are making a significant contribution to the sustainable and resource-efficient production of lightweight structures with our development".

Matthias Holzammer is handing over the operational management of Autoneum for family reasons as of March 27, 2023. As his successor the Board of Directors has appointed Eelco Spoelder, who has over 25 years of experience in the automotive supply industry.

Eelco Spoelder has held global leadership positions in the automotive supply industry at Faurecia and previously Continental, where he ensured operational competence and strategic continuity even in a challenging market environment.
He has extensive experience in operations, manufacturing, purchasing, customer satisfaction, quality and IT and has proved successful in transforming businesses and delivering profitable growth. His core competencies include negotiating with an international network of customers and suppliers in the automotive supply industry. He is also deeply familiar with technology trends in the automotive industry.

“In view of the many challenges and opportunities in the automotive industry, we are proud to have found in Mr. Spoelder a very accomplished and experienced leader who will further develop and implement our proven strategy,” said Hans-Peter Schwald, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Autoneum Holding Ltd.

Matthias Holzammer is leaving Autoneum at his own request for family reasons and will hand over operational management of the Group to Mr. Spoelder on March 27, 2023. He will then serve as Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the new CEO until June 30, 2023.

Baldwin Technology Co. Inc. has appointed Adina Starke, a seasoned print and packaging professional with wide-ranging expertise, as Regional Sales Leader for the West Coast.

At Baldwin Technology Company Inc., a leading global manufacturer and supplier of innovative process-automation equipment, parts, service and consumables for the printing, packaging, textile, plastic film extrusion and corrugated industries, Starke will be responsible for all product sales to print and packaging professionals in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Alaska and western Canada.

Starke has spent the past 15 years in various technical and sales roles in the print and packaging industry. Most recently, she spent four years with All Printing Resources (formerly JVI Solutions), as a Territory Manager and a Technical Sales and Business Development Representative. Prior to that, she spent several years with Lohmann Specialty Coating and Sun Chemical.

Starke graduated from Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Graphic Communications.

• The European Confederation for Flax and Hemp (CELC) has unveiled its new visual identity and name: Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp.
• The European Flax-Linen and Hemp industries have announced they are organizing their development around a strengthened team with a clear mission: to expand the entire industry whilst making European Flax-Linen and Hemp the preferred sustainable premium fibers worldwide.
• The Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp will launch its new identity in the first semester of 2023 for all target groups including Natural Fiber Composite Applications.

CELC has announced its new name and visual identity. The organization, which is the only European agro-industrial organization that serves as a global reference, will now be known as the Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp.

The new name - Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp – reflects a newly restructured European industry which brings together the entire value chain around a common goal: to make European Flax-Linen and Hemp the preferred sustainable premium fibers worldwide for Fashion, Technical Textiles and Natural Fiber Composite Applications.

The new brand identity is accompanied by a new logo that connects the identity, values and strategic direction of the Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp. In addition to visual changes, the Alliance has announced enhanced values and a clear strategic path to turn European Flax-Linen and Hemp into the preferred sustainable premium fibers worldwide.

The Alliance’s future development pathway will focus on three distinct strategic pillars.

• Enhancing its work in publishing structured, reliable economic data and information on a regular basis, in order to be able to continuously deploy a set of specific decision-making support tools.
• Transforming the Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp into an innovative and sustainable international reference which continuously improves its environmental footprint through two essential elements: traceability and Life Cycle Analysis.
• Guaranteeing quality and better describing the quality of its fibers by using technological innovations to create a reference for describing long fibers. A description of European Flax® fibers through optical imaging will soon complement the organoleptic method.

“Europe is the top global producer of Flax fiber. In an international context of growth and reindustrialization, Flax, which accounts for just 0.4% of global textile fibers, is a globalized fiber with remarkable technical and environmental properties. At the same time, the European textile Hemp industry is organizing itself to boost growth. Today, the European Flax-Linen and Hemp ecosystem thus embodies an innovative and sustainable European textile dynamic that meets the needs of consumers and brands.” Bart Depourcq, President, Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp.

Trützschler Card Clothing (TCC), technology leader in the manufacture of high-performance card clothings for textile yarn processing, is expanding its site in Neubulach, Germany. With the twelve-million-euro investment, the supplier for the international textile machinery industry is expanding its production, warehouse and office capacities. A groundbreaking ceremony will take place during the coming winter.

The new building will expand the warehouse and logistics area by 600 square meters, to make a total area of 2,800 square meters. In the optimized cube of the new hall, a modern warehouse system will double the storage capacity. There will also be a fully automated warehouse for coils for sawtooth wires. During the construction phase, logistics and shipping will be temporarily outsourced to Pforzheim-Büchenbronn.

The move into the new building is planned for 2024. TCC will also expand the range of services and the production intensity at the site, while optimizing the process flows. Trützschler intends to recruit the additional employees required within a short timeframe by hiring new staff and offering apprenticeships at the Neubulach site. TCC employs more than 130 people in Germany, with a further 220 people employed worldwide at locations in Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Turkey and the USA.

Overall, the production area will be expanded from 4,000 to 5,400 square meters. This will enable the process flows to be optimized. The office space will be increased to 1,000 square meters. An additional level of the building will provide modern workplaces for administration and sales.

The new building will also improve access and exit routes for truck traffic. This will provide considerable relief for the local neighborhood in terms of noise emissions and other factors. Good integration into the region is very important to Trützschler. All contracts for planning, construction and air conditioning technology have been awarded to local companies.

In the future, TCC will operate its production facility in Neubulach in a climate-neutral manner. This will contribute important progress toward achieving the ambitious climate goals of the Trützschler Group. The new production facility will meet the highest requirements for energy efficiency and climate protection. Heating is provided by process heat recovery and geothermal energy. In addition, the company produces green electricity via its own solar panels.

"By expanding our business here in Neubulach, we are strengthening our presence in this area and our leading global market position too," says Managing Director Peter Gäbler. The Trützschler Group SE is also investing in India to build a new site with over 100,000 square meters for the Spinning, Card Clothing and Nonwovens business units. "It is important to be close to the customer worldwide because our foreign companies make a significant contribution to the success of the Group," says Gäbler.

TCC achieved another record sales result in 2021. Demand for the technology components for carding fibers in spinning mills and for carding in nonwovens production has increased significantly. The steel sawtooth wires, which are wound onto coils and produced for customers around the globe, eventually get worn down by use in production processes – so it is necessary to replace them regularly. For this reason, further growth is expected in 2022 and beyond.

• Lectra extends its software offer to material traceability

Lectra announces the signature of an agreement to acquire 51% of the capital and voting rights of the Dutch company TextileGenesis. As a major player in the fashion, automotive, and furniture markets, Lectra contributes with boldness and passion to the Industry 4.0 revolution by providing software, equipment, data, and services to brands, manufacturers, and retailers.

Founded in 2018, TextileGenesis provides a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that enables fashion brands and sustainable textile manufacturers to ensure a reliable, secure and fully digital mapping of their textiles, from the fiber to the consumer, and thereby guarantee their authenticity and origins. This solution ensures the traceability of TextileGenesis’ customers' entire sustainable textile supply chain in order to meet the demands for transparency, driven by changes in legislation in a growing number of countries and by growing consumer awareness, thereby encouraging sustainable development.  

Its innovative traceability mechanism, which addresses both ends of the textile value chain, as well as its network of partners for material certification, and its technology platform guarantee the exchange and tracking of reliable and secure data throughout a material's life cycle.

Several of the world's most prestigious fashion brands as well as leading sustainable fiber producers are already convinced of the value of TextileGenesis' innovative offer, which enables the connection of multiple actors of the sustainable fashion ecosystem on this platform.

At the beginning of January, Lectra will acquire 51% of TextileGenesis for 15.2 million euros. The acquisition of the remaining share capital and voting rights is expected to take place in two stages, in 2026 and 2028, for an amount that will be calculated based on a multiple of the 2025 and 2027 recurring revenues.