The 26th China International Manmade Fiber Conference was held this year from 7-9 September alongside the China Chemical Fiber Technology Conference in Qingdao City. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, no international speakers were able to be present live on site. However, Oerlikon sent more than just a greeting message to the over 400 participants at the Grand Mercure Qingdao Nanshan Resort.

The management of Oerlikon Manmade Fibers presented a hybrid, interactive talk: Wang Jun, Oerlikon's China President, on stage and the CEO Georg Stausberg, who joined in online, together convinced the congress participants of Oerlikon's performance as an innovation and technology leader even in challenging times such as the current pandemic, Oerlikon explains.

Green Deal

In addition to a current review of the international market situation in the machine and plant construction for manmade fibres, Georg Stausberg also dealt very clearly with the time after the pandemic in a question and answer interview with Wang Jun. When asked about the challenges and opportunities for the future of the manmade fiber industry, he said: "As a machine and plant manufacturer there is always one thing that will move us all forward: sustainable technologies. We all strive for innovative industrial solutions for a better world. And how can we achieve this? In Europe, we should all consistently pursue the goals of the announced 'Green Deal' of the European Union and produce climate-neutrally by 2050 – or even better much earlier".

The CEO of the Manmade Fibers segment had the appropriate technology solutions at the ready: "Digitization with all its innovative possibilities, for example through the use of artificial intelligence, can and will help us in this process. And last but not least, automation. The interaction of automation and digital processes will ensure more sustainable Industry 4.0 production solutions for the manufacture of man-made fibers and their production machines and systems.“

More sustainable production methods

The combined event then brought to light numerous other innovative ideas, Oerlikon reports. The Chinese speakers and the connected speakers from overseas talked about the latest developments in the field of functional textiles, bio-based fibres and materials, new fields of application for textiles and of course also about their sustainable production methods.

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