Page 43 - TEXtalks. August- September 2023

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Technologies for

transforming the

textile industry

ITMA 2023 in Milan has shown that efficiency, finishers, machine suppliers, chemistry suppliers,
digitalization, and circularity are the top themes of the and other technology providers is the key to future German Review
textile industry. Efficiency has been around for many success. Assistance via remote services/teleservice
years. However, the energy challenges made once and predictive maintenance software to avoid
again clear that efficiency with regard to energy and machine stops are provided by numerous VDMA
raw materials will remain a key issue in many regions textile technology suppliers. Digitalisation also helps
of the world. It is very impressive that developments to counter the increasing shortage of skilled workers.
have already been made with regard to efficiency. The machines of many VDMA companies offer a lot
The optimization of machines, components, and of useful features to assure reproducible quality
technologies provides a key to energy and results. They include process simulation on a PC to
resource-efficient manufacturing processes. optimise the process parameters before production
even starts. During production, the exchange of live
An expert team of member companies of the VDMA data between machines is used for monitoring and
Textile Machinery Association has studied the further optimisation.
energy-saving effects across the entire production
chain of five textile products: a cotton T-shirt, a Another issue worth mentioning is the digital product
functional T-shirt, a textile billboard, an architectural passport and the efforts in progress to enable this
fabric, and a hygienic nonwoven. The result of this from our side. A further aspect is recycling. The
analysis: in the manufacture of these products, machine manufacturers are working on advanced
today’s technologies of the VDMA member technology to create high-quality textiles from
companies can save up to 30% of energy compared recycled material. But for creating a circular
to what was available 10 to 15 years ago. In view of economy, design for recycling is very important. This
the uncertainties in the international oil and gas has impact on the used materials so that
markets, energy efficiency is more topical than ever hard-to-recycle material mixtures need to be
before. substituted with other materials achieving the same
functionality. VDMA and its members support the
The second big innovative theme is digitalisation and transition to a functioning circular economy. The
automation. Serving these markets, VDMA member textile machinery industry is an indispensable partner
companies see themselves not only as machine in this transition. At www.vdma.org/itma, under the
suppliers but also as competent partners in the heading “Machinery for recycling and processing
technological aspects of digitalisation and the recycled materials”, VDMA provides an overview of
processes of their customers. An intensive the products and services of VDMA members that
relationship between spinners, weavers, knitters or make this possible.

August/September 2023