The plant was started under the leadership of Austrian textile expert Dr Klaus-Juergen Wolf, along with his multinational team of 16 textile experts.

The engineers and specialists in each finishing field came from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Israel, India, South-Africa, France, Italy, Greece and Croatia to set up the plant, train the Russian workforce and hand over the operations to Russian technicians and technical management after an adaptation period.

Operation and machinery

Preceding the plant’s erection was a huge R&D project based on Swiss know-how, coordinated and executed by Dr Wolf. The cost-intensive R&D project also determined which machinery to buy in order to achieve the desired result in top quality level functional fabrics that complies with the highest industry standards.

The plant is now equipped and running with textile machinery from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Netherlands, Hong-Kong and Israel. Brands include Then-Fongs (dyeing), Monforts (dryeing/finishing), Andritz/Kuesters (calendering), Zimmer (printing and coating), Benninger (pre-treatment and after-print wash), Salvade & Arioli (steaming), and Mario Crosta (raising and shearing).

Automatic inspection is done by EVS and MAAG, Santex (lamination) and is said to guarantee the achievement of required standards, as well as high reproducibility. Operations management is organized and supported by the fully-textile-specialized ERP System from Datatex.

Training and expertise

According to Dr. Wolf, in order to set up such a high-tech finishing plant in Southern Russia where there is no strong textile industry, he created a temporary textile college in Shakhty where highly motivated young Russian engineers from the mining, engineering and commercial sectors were trained in the art of textile making and textile finishing.

The workforce was not only trained in the relevant processes but also in the engineering part of the machines they were going to operate in the plant. A Knit&Weave Center with Dornier weaving machines and Mayer & Cie circular knitting machines aims to ensure that the BTK group can grow successfully into vertical textile manufacturing and developing new products Made in Russia.

BTK Group

According to BTK Group, it is the largest Russian holding company in the consumer goods industry, specializing in designing, production and further implementation of high technology clothing for various business industries.

BTK Group possesses its own high technology production base comprising the enterprises situated in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad Region, Rostov Region, Bryansk Region, Belgorod Region, Ulyanovsk, Tula Region (and Kursk Region, as well as in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, Altai Krai, the Republic of South Ossetia, and Republic of Belarus.

Amongst BTK Group clients, there are companies such as Aeroflot – Russian Airlines JSC, Rossiya Airlines JSC, Russian Railways JSC, Gazprom Gazoraspredelenie JSC, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, and others. In 2014, BTK Group was ranked amongst the companies listed by Expert-400, the biggest companies of the Russian business.

www.btcgroup.ru/en

www.wolf-international.net