Monforts continues to gain significant repeat orders for its equipment from Pakistan’s major vertically-integrated textile manufacturers as they seek to both expand and diversify into new markets.
Monforts customers in the regions around Pakistan’s three biggest cities of Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad include all of the main players in the fields of home textiles and denim production.
“These companies rely on our established technologies, including MONTEX stentering equipment, MONFORTEX sanforizing units and THERMEX dyeing ranges. As they look to new markets in today’s highly-competitive industry, we continue to assist them with trials and optimised processing parameters in developing advanced fabrics for a wide range of end-uses, both at their own plants and at our Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) in Germany.”Manfred Havenith. Area Sales Manager. Monforts
Nearshoring
Karachi-headquartered denim powerhouse Artistic Milliners, for example, has recently taken into production two new MONTEX stenter frames, along with a new THERMEX continuous dyeing range and a MONFORTEX sanforizing line from Monforts, for the new Art Mill finishing plant.
Artistic Milliners currently has an annual production capacity of 108 million metres of fabric and 30 million garments and fabric dyeing and finishing is naturally central to the company’s operations. It produces over 500 shades of denim, along with myriad different texture and surface treatments.
In recent expansion and diversification initiatives, in 2020 Artistic Milliners acquired Star Fades International (SFI), a denim factory in Commerce, California, providing it with a strategic foothold in the USA and the capacity to meet increased demand from international retailers and brands for nearshoring capacity, digital design services and sustainable solutions.
“California has historically been an important cornerstone for the international denim industry and as the first Pakistan denim company with an operational factory in Los Angeles, we are developing a state-of-the-art design and production hub based on Supply Chain 4.0 principles,” Murtaza Ahmed. Founder of SFI and Executive Director. Artistic Milliners
The demand for nearshoring in the USA continues to be driven by the need for shorter lead times, reduced carbon footprint and greater supply chain resilience. Consequently, in September 2024, Artistic Milliners announced the further acquisition of Dickies de Parras, a denim manufacturer based in Parras, Mexico, to raise its Americas production to five million pairs of jeans per year.
NML’s new THERMEX
Geographical expansion, alongside product diversification, is also a priority for Lahore-headquartered home textiles and denim leader Nishat Mills Limited (NML), another long-standing Monforts customer which is currently installing a new THERMEX dyeing range – the company’s sixth – as it moves to target the workwear market. “More than 40 THERMEX continuous dyeing ranges have been installed in Pakistan in recent years and we have achieved considerable success with our Econtrol system, which is a most effective and established dyeing process,” says Manfred Havenith. “Operator training on the Econtrol process by sophisticated technologists is an additional service we provide.”
Bespoke solutions
NML, established in 1951, also now operates eight MONTEX stenters and five MONFORTEX sanforizing units. With over 251,800 spindles and 7,320 rotors at seven spinning units, it has a daily production capacity of 270 tons of cotton and blended yarns and produces around 30 million square metres of fabric each month on 931 modern air jet looms. Its fabric processing facility is one of the largest and most modern in Pakistan, with an array of bespoke machinery and the capacity to dye and fully finish an annual 104 million metres of fabric. The facility is specially designed to handle heavy weight fabrics such as twills, canvases and poplins, as well as stretch fabrics and high density weaves.
In recent moves, Nishat has established a wholly owned subsidiary in Türkiye as well as offices in Bangladesh and the UK, and has also acquired Danish fabric maker Wernerfelt. Wernerfelt supplies performance fabrics for personal protection and workwear, specialising in flame retardant modacrylic blends made with flame-retardant properties as well as high visibility textiles, breathable, waterproof laminates and other fabrics made for industrial use.
“This collaboration heralds a new phase in the evolution of Nishat Group.” Umer Mansha. CEO.
Nishat Mills Limited UK input
Workwear is also now a major business for Sapphire Mills Limited, a second Lahore-based company and Monforts THERMEX customer. Since 2021, Sapphire has been involved in Carrington Textiles International, a dyeing and finishing joint venture with the UK’s Carrington Textiles providing up to 50 million metres a year of specialised fabrics to a well-established global customer base. With a legacy of over 130-years, Carrington Textiles and its dyeing and finishing partner company.
Pincroft – also a Monforts customer – supply workwear and protective clothing to some of the biggest corporate companies in the world. These include Airbus, Arcelor Mittal, BP, BUPA, Coca Cola, Jaguar Land Rover, McDonald’s, Shell and Tata Steel. The two UK companies also supply millions of metres of fabric to the armed forces of many countries.
“Carrington Textiles International is an excellent project we are excited to be part of, and we are pleased our longstanding relationship with Carrington Textiles has developed into this joint venture.”Nabeel Abdullah. COO. Sapphire Mills
Workwear based on high performance blended fabrics and flame retardant materials is also now a growing sector of Sapphire’s own portfolio, alongside home textiles, sportswear and denim.
Principles
“The Monforts commitment to customer service is based on four principles – being helpful, accurate, fast and reliable,” says Manfred Havenith. “We have established a reputation for quickly and efficiently dispatching spares and components, and online support is always available when needed.“We have also worked with Al Ameen, our valued partner in Pakistan for over 40 years and this close cooperation, along with constant R&D and machine innovations – both in terms of productivity and energy savings – has allowed Monforts to build an 80% market share for stenters in Pakistan and to retain it for a number of decades. We remain dedicated to the ongoing success of our valued customers in Pakistan.”
IGATEX 2025
At the forthcoming IGATEX textile machinery exhibition in Karachi from April 24-26, Monforts will highlight the benefits of its latest Universal Energy Tower.This stand-alone air/air heat exchanger module enables the heat from the exhaust air flow of thermal systems such as existing stenters and THERMEX dyeing ranges with infrared predriers to be recovered, resulting in energy savings of up to 25%, depending on the exhaust air volume and operating temperature.
The Energy Tower has an integrated fresh air fan with speed control. It offers good access to the heat exchanger modules for easy cleaning as well as a large condensate collection tank with a lint filter. Visualisation of real-time temperature and maintenance intervals is also included.
The Universal Energy Tower is one of a series of modular upgrades the company has developed to be added to existing finishing lines already in production, with a significant impact on a manufacturer’s operational costs. “Monforts machines are known for their robustness and long service life, but the retrofitting of specific modules with new control and drive technology – going far beyond the basic replacement of spare parts – can have a significant impact on the performance of an existing line,” says Manfred Havenith. “This is especially the case in achieving further energy savings. At this year’s IGATEX, we are looking forward to discussing the possibilities with customers. Compared to a new machine, upgrades are a low-cost investment that deliver clearly defined benefits.” The Matex Eco Applicator is an alternative to the conventional padding process for energy-conscious finishing and achieving considerable savings in the energy required for drying treated fabrics. The precise amount of chemical can be applied to the fabric and with less residual moisture after application of only approximately 35% so that less drying capacity is required in the stenter, which leads to huge energy savings.
Finishing chemicals can be evenly applied on either or both sides of the fabric, and two separate treatments can be applied to front and back.
This makes the unit ideal for the production of, for example, double-performance hydrophobic/hydrophilic fabrics for professional clothing, as well as the over dyeing or finishing of denim fabrics.
Options
“Other general retrofitting options available in our modular upgrade programme include a clip opener for the MONTEX stenter, which is located at the chain deflection points and reduces wear on the clip table and the blades,” says Manfred Havenith. “At the same time, it ensures a quieter working atmosphere due to the smooth opening and closing of the clips.” “There are also considerable benefits to be gained from bringing a machine’s HMI up to date with our new 19-inch compact OS Windows PCs, as well as with a range of frequency converter options for bringing a machine completely up to date technically and reducing downtimes. With more than 140 years of experience, Monforts is the right partner to assist retrofits to help with sustainability and energy savings.”
At Igatex 2025, Monforts specialists can be consulted alongside regional partner Al Ameen at stand A13-A30 in Hall 5.
