The textile machinery branch of Germany’s VDMA held a press conference ahead of the ITMA ASIA 2021 textile machinery show on May 31^st.

Due to ongoing Covid-19 travel restrictions, many small and medium-sized companies from Europe who do not have a branch office or suitable representation in China are unable to attend the show as they have done in the past.

“Nevertheless, 56 VDMA companies will be participating in Shanghai, making Germany the second biggest exhibiting country after China itself,” said the VDMA’s head of exhibitions Boris Abadjieff.

The organisation is also extending its Textile Machinery Webtalks series for those unable to attend, with new presentations scheduled by Erema on polymer fibre and composites recycling on June 9^th, Thies, on IoT-Solutions for fully automatic weighing, provision, dispensing and dosing on June 10^th, and Lenze, on the digital engineering of textile machinery on June 11^th.

Companies taking part in the press conference spoke of an excellent current order situation, largely as a result of China’s return to full productivity.

André Wissenberg chairman of the VDMA’s Trade Fair and Marketing Committee and head of marketing at Oerlikon Polymer Processing said his company’s order book for filament and texturing machines was full until 2023 and the company was now expanding capacity to meet demand.

In Shanghai the company will showcase the new eAFK Evo automatic texturing machine, and is also holding an Open House at its plant in Suzhou,  just an hour away from the NECC exhibition centre.

Harald Schoepp, general manager at Truetzschler Textile Machinery Shanghai spoke of a similar booming business for spinning preparation technology and cards.

“We have an order backlog we’ve never before experienced, and it is mainly for the Chinese market,” he said.

Having delivered over 6,500 cards to the Chinese market, Truetzschler Textile Machinery Shanghai is now expanding to the production of complete, customer-tailored nonwovens installations with its own service and know-how.

An emphasis for all companies was on increased automation and digitalisation of technology, especially in light of the difficulty Chinese manufacturers are currently experiencing in recruiting experienced staff, as well as the increasing cost of labour in the country.

Neuenhauser, for example, has expanded its AGV transportation technology initially for cans in the spinning mill to fabric roll automation in the weaving mill, while Karl Mayer will introduce both advances in digitalisation for warp knitting and a new Stoll Industry 4.0 platform for flat knitting.

“Automation is the new normal,” said Pia Terasa of spinning solutions leader Saurer.

Registration for the VDMA Textile Machinery Webtalks can be accessed at:

https://en.industryarena.com/vdma-textile-machinery