In fabric inspection, Uster Technologies provides a safe and secure solution for nonwovens producers where quality is critical and contamination unacceptable.

Practical cases and established success stories are always valuable in the nonwovens business – everybody wants to know the secrets of success. How do some companies achieve outstanding product quality standards and maintain a highly profitable business?

This information is, of course, private, and jealously guarded by the companies, as well as by the Uster experts who share their confidences.

What Uster can do, however, is provide the key for companies to unlock these secrets for themselves via a combination of leading technologies and application knowledge.

Powerful imaging spectroscopes in the Uster contamination sorter will detect and eject any particle that differs even slightly in colour from the main fibre. Contamination in cotton or synthetic fibres can be reliably identified down to a size of one square millimetre.

The Uster Jossi Vision Shield N is ideally located directly after the fine opener, exactly at the point where contamination can’t hide from the spectroscopes.

Recycled fibres

Many nonwovens producers are now seeing the growing business potential in recycled fibres where profit margins may look fine, but getting the quality right is not easy.

“It is a proven fact that recycled fibres are still prone to infinite and inconsistent quality variations,” says, Mario Siegenthaler Uster fibre inspection product manager. “Operating a high-performance contamination sorter in the production line is the best way to ensure an acceptable end-product. The Uster Jossi Vision Shield N can detect defects from any light pastel, greyish or brownish base material. We use our know-how and expertise to further develop technologies in the ‘invisible’ range of IR and UV light for our imaging spectroscopes.”

The Uster EVS Fabriq Vision N comes at the end of the production sequence for automated detection of all the main defects arising from the process – and any remaining contamination. Even at full line speeds, Uster guarantees reliably high levels of fault detection for nonwovens manufacturers. Fabrics are automatically inspected and graded..

The most common defects include unopened fibres, neps, black spots, holes and other issues, all of which are reliably detected by the Uster systems. They prevent raw material losses, second quality production, or – worst of all – customer claims.

“Uster EVS Fabriq Vision N ensures reliable fault detection by using automated inspection during the production process – and significantly reduces the risk of customer claims,” says Michelle Salg, product manager for fabric inspection at Uster. “The system’s ability to capture any visible faults also allows web yield to be optimized.”

Uster’s automated quality monitoring solutions are also attracting interest from the nonwovens machinery manufacturers.

“Completed projects show that the Uster Jossi Vision Shield N has a relevant impact on major business goals and influences key performance indicators positively,” says Siegenthaler. “With our reputation for attention to detail, nonwovens companies are eager to raise their issues for discussion.”

Nonwovens companies regularly call at Uster exhibition booths to leave samples for testing – or send them in later.

“We consider this as a sign of trust. And of course, we like to help and use our expertise to give advice,” says Siegenthaler.

The producers also appreciate the detailed advice of Uster experts on obtaining greatest business value from their investment, by ideally integrating its systems into their production and processing environment. It is this perfect balance between open collaboration within the mill and total confidentiality outside that makes Uster a reliable partner for the nonwovens industry.

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