Simon Blake
Chief Marketing Officer Baldwin Technology, Inc.
We have perfected precise application using non-contact spray for finishing line
Baldwin Technology is a global manufacturer of non-contact textile finishing technology. Headquartered in St Louis Missouri, Baldwin has been innovating process automation for textile, print and industrial applications for over 100 years. Baldwin’s Chief Marketing Officer Simon Blake speaks to Fibre2Fashion about the revolution in textile manufacturing.
Where is the demand more, these days? Is it for machines used in the production of technical textiles or those which reduce power and water consumption? Why?
Coming out of exhibiting at ITM Istanbul and TechTextil Frankfurt, energy was a big topic. It’s clear the industry in investing in technology and the current Russia-Ukraine conflict driving energy inflation has focused the industry more on processes which can mitigate against a medium-term uncertainty around energy prices. This move to more energy efficiency was already taking place, but now commercial reasons are accelerating it. Reducing water in the context of reducing chemical waste has also become even more acute as overall costs of production increase, but also it can address sustainability pressures that brands are dictating.
Baldwin is pioneering a revolution in textile manufacturing with a non-contact application of finishing chemistry. Why is this a revolution?
104 years ago, Baldwin’s founder William Geggenheimer pioneered a printing press washing system for the print industry reducing cleaning time from hours to minutes so we’re no strangers to pioneering technology. Taking what we knew about precision spray in one industry, we applied that thinking to the textile industry. We saw the hugely wasteful process of a pad and foulard to apply finishing chemistry to fabric and said what if we could optimise the amount of chemistry applied, eliminate the chemistry waste on changeover and deliver a better and more sustainable product. We set about developing a precision spray system that the fabric passes through, where overlapping nozzles spray chemistry with exacting precision on single or both sides of fabric. While this flexibility is of interest to producers, where people’s eyes really light up is when they realise that they can eliminate chemistry waste on change over due to no foulard and achieve faster speeds through the stentor frame as fabric is less saturated. Often with new technology there is a trade off somewhere; however, with non-contact spray you get all the commercial benefits along with the significant sustainable benefits. No trade-off. That’s revolutionary.
What are the challenges you face in trying to change an established market?
Being a pioneer of a new technology can be a lonely place at times. You are trying to convince an established market to move from a tried and trusted method of production. In effect, you are asking them to take a risk on an unknown. This means building an installed base can be slower than selling established technology. But we have remained consistent throughout on proving that the concept works in real life production scenarios, by working closely with early adopter customers on their fabrics and chemistry to witness the results. When we do this, the risk is removed, and adoption takes place. Five years later, we have many named companies, chemistry manufacturers and research bodies who stand over the technology. We have machines in all major textile mill production areas in almost every possible type of woven and knit application, from upholstery to technical textiles and everything in-between, with customers expanding the technology in facilities and geographies.
Baldwin is a regular participant at ITMA, Techtextil and other trade fairs. What kind of response do you get at these fairs?
Help us save money. Help us be more sustainable. Disrupt our process as little as possible. Everyone we speak to in finishing comes away with these three positive answers.
Tell us about remote and after-sales services offered by Baldwin to both its old and new customers.
Baldwin is a more than 100-year-old global company with 21 facilities spread across 11 countries. This allows us to address local customers with local technical, sales and language support. We also have a wide network of agency partnerships with sales and service in areas not served directly by Baldwin.
Brands are heavily involved with sustainability and push their supply chain to meet certain ‘sustainability goals’. How active is Baldwin with the brands?
We actually have active projects with a few well-known brands where they measure our performance of finishing application as well as the tangible reduction in carbon footprint compared to traditional pad applications. The ultimate goal of these projects is to convince the brands of all the benefits of TexCoat finishing and that they encourage their supply chains to adopt the technology.
What are the next plans at Baldwin Technology Company?
We have perfected the precise application using non-contact spray for the finishing line. Customers, chemistry manufacturers, and research bodies such as the North Carolina State University’s Wilson College of Textiles have seen the evidence. They are saving money on chemistry by only using what is needed with no waste on changeover, they are saving money on energy in the stenter frame as less saturated fabrics dry faster, they are increasing the capacity of their facility by being able to run fabric faster through the stenter frame, they are seeing a better and more consistently reliable product, and they are being as sustainable as possible in this area of production. This is great validation of what we have pioneered, and we believe there are other applications in textile production where this technology can add even more value. Visit us at ITMA 2023 in Milan to find out.
Published on: 11/07/2022
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
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