Picanol develops, produces and markets high-tech weaving machines around the globe. It also offers services for installation, commissioning and troubleshooting.
Mr Erwin Devloo, the Marketing Communication Manager PICANOL N.V., Belgium, shared recent developments of Picanol with TEXtalks International, giving a further insight to company’s focus.
TEXtalks: What are the key advantages of Picanol for technical weaving?
Erwin Devloo: The key advantages of Picanol technical weaving are morally as the same as for main stream market because our products came to such maturity that they are ideally suited for technical weaving. On the top of that we have a service organization which is operational all over the world and we have dedicated teams of people who are experts in technical weaving. So, they assist our customers not only with machines but also with service, with spare parts, with weave-ups, with retrofitable upgrades for weaving machines and they are locally based so they are one phone call away.
TEXtalks: What is the basis of Picanol’s technical weaving principles?
Erwin Devloo: The technical weaving principles of Picanol are same as our main stream machines with some adaptations and are ideally suited to weave technical fabrics. 10 years ago, maybe you need specialized tailor made machines but this is not the case anymore. So with our machines you can weave technical weft at a much higher speed than it used to be.
TEXtalks: How do Picanol see sustainability?
Erwin Devloo: We see sustainability in every aspect of our profession. Not only our machines are sustainable but also the way of working, the way of producing them and the way of interacting with the customers.
TEXtalks: What does industry 4.0 means to Picanol?
Erwin Devloo: Now industry 4.0 everybody is talking about, but in fact long before the word was invented, our machines were already industry 4.0. If you look into our modern air jet for example, we have devices on that, that are adjusting, the air consumption, while the machine is running, it’s self-learning. But also industry 4.0, we are adopting that and we are using this in our production system.
TEXtalks: How was the response from the visitors at Techtextil?
Erwin Devloo: It was quite good because it is a typical fair for networking and not only the textile machinery manufacturers who are here are, mainly our customers that are the producers of technical textile and so every body of the textile chain is present and this gives good interaction.
TEXtalks: How do you see the future of technical textile?
Erwin Devloo: Technical textile is something which is un-doubtfully growing, because there are more and more applications for use, just thinking about smart textile for example. And as you said, industry 4.0 is also present in the textile industry and it can only grow.
