There was tremendous interest in a new technology developed by Coloreel of Sweden and demonstrated at this week’s Texprocess show in Frankfurt.

Depending on its economic viability and its ability to be scaled up and transferred to other areas such as knitting and weaving, the development suggests an entirely new approach to highly-integrated and extremely efficient textile manufacturing may be imminent.

Coloreel’s system enables a high-quality instant digital colouring of textile thread while the thread is being used in textile production.

The first product to be launched based on this technology is Embroline, a thread colouring attachment that can be used with any existing embroidery machine.

By instantly colouring a white base thread during embroidery production, Embroline provides the complete freedom to create unique embroideries without any limitations in the use of colours. Colour changes on the thread can be made rapidly from one solid colour to another, millimetre by millimetre, or gradually, to make smooth transitions or any colouring effects possible.

The crucial technology – encased in a white box – is responsible for rapidly applying and printing with a special dyestuff, fixing with heat, washing, drying, lubricating and feeding the polyester thread to the embroidery machine.

Swedish textiles industry stalwart, Reimar Westerlind of the AB Group, at 87, has been a key figure in bringing the Embroline technology to market.

“I have been working with this project for a number of years now, invested some of my own money in the company and brought in some other Swedish investors,” he said in Frankfurt. “This is one of the most exciting developments I’ve seen in all of the years I have been involved in textiles.”

Visitors crowded around the Embroline booth for the duration of the show, amongst them many machine agents and distributors for embroidery machine manufacturers such as Barudan and Tajima, intrigued by the technology’s potential.

 “We have been aware of this technology for some time but have been unable to get concrete information on technical and commercial issues to date,” said Tony Dorsey, managing director at AJS Embroidery Services. “It’s definitely something we would be interested in selling and a very exciting development.”

“This has great potential but I would like to know more about the potential to improve running speeds,” added his AJS colleague Scott Mason. “The machine is running at about 700 stitches per minute, whereas you would normally expect to be running at around 1,200 stitches per minute. Another key issue will be price. So far we do not know how much the Embroline technology will cost.”

Innovation Award

The Coloreel technology received the 2017 Texprocess Innovation Award for outstanding new technology.

“We sought out innovations that are pioneering for the whole sector,” said Jürgen Brecht, chairman of the international expert jury. “Coloreel’s technology is a completely new approach for the embroidery industry.”

 “It is a very good idea, a very good application and I think it will have a great future” said Dirk Wiese, Parliamentary State Secretary at Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, who handed over the award.

This is something the European Commission agrees on, having just awarded Coloreel funding of €2.1 million from its Horizon framework programme for research and innovation.

Embroline units will be commercially available within the year. Until its release, a few exclusive partner customers will be able to design and order unique Embroline embroideries for exclusive limited-edition apparel or other products through Coloreel’s own embroidery production facilities.

www.coloreel.com