Most technologies showcased at ITMA 2023 will incorporate green features
ITMA, the world’s largest international textile and garment technology exhibition, is going to be held at Fiera Milano Rho in Milan, Italy from June 8-14, 2023. The exhibition will highlight innovations that will help textile and garment manufacturers transform and grow their business. To know more about the event and the expectations, Fibre2Fashion speaks to Ernesto Maurer, President of CEMATEX (European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers), the show owner of ITMA 2023.
How have the current geopolitical crisis and rising inflation impacted the textile engineering industry?
The world is fraught with challenges and all industries have been impacted, including the textile engineering sector. The biggest opportunity for positive change in the post-pandemic world is that the textile industry is pivoting to digital and sustainable manufacturing in earnest.
Textile machinery makers are also innovating and providing technologies to help textile and garment manufacturers automate their processes, thus increasing productivity and bringing products faster to market.
On the sustainability front, green technologies that reduce carbon footprint or use less water and energy are being developed across the complete textile and garment making value chain.
What will be the highlights of the upcoming ITMA 2023 exhibition in Milan?
The theme of ITMA 2023 is ‘Transforming the World of Textiles’. Many of the 1,600 exhibitors will be unveiling their latest innovations that will help their customers to be more competitive. Participants can also explore the Start-Up Valley – a new initiative which spotlights companies in its early stages of development with game changing solutions.
For this edition, we have value-added to the ITMA experience by introducing ITMAconnect, the world’s largest directory of textile technology manufacturers. With this platform, both exhibitors and visitors can plan their participation more effectively and be more productive during the exhibition.
Last, but not least, we have expanded our index of products by introducing textile composites. Visitors will be able to source machinery for textile reinforcement structures for composites, auxiliary machinery and accessories.
What percentage of machinery and technologies at ITMA Milan would focus on sustainability and reducing carbon emissions?
Most of the technologies showcased at ITMA 2023 will incorporate green features, from spinning to finishing and even raw materials. In particular, the finishing sector will showcase water-free dyeing units and commercial non-contact spray application technologies. The recycling sector alone has over 70 exhibitors who will be displaying a broad spectrum of solutions, ranging from textile recycling equipment to wastewater treatment equipment, heat recovery systems, waste management and pollution prevention equipment, and more.
As owner of ITMA, how do you see the evolution of the exhibition over the years, both in terms of exhibitors and visitors?
ITMA is considered the Olympics of textile machinery exhibitions. Since 1951, textile machinery makers have leveraged this innovation platform to launch their new machines. Over the years, ITMA has been reinventing itself to ensure that the exhibition remains relevant to the industry. It has been expanding its product index in order to offer a full suite of solutions for vertically-integrated manufacturing.
Before each edition, we review the index of products and introduce new sectors in line with industry needs. For example, we expanded the exhibit profile to include raw materials in 2011, and fabrics in 2015. This year, we have introduced textile composites. These new sectors attract many exhibitors who are new to ITMA and add tremendous value to the sourcing experience of visitors.
In terms of visitors, the exhibition is attracting more brands and retailers, as well as professionals from technical textile end-user industries, such as automotive and transport, building and construction, medical and hygiene.
How many companies are participating in the upcoming ITMA in Milan? What is the growth in numbers over the previous years?
Over 1,600 exhibitors from 44 countries will be at ITMA 2023. There is a slight reduction compared with ITMA 2019, however it’s not the number of companies that is important; it’s the quality and the exhibition space that counts. Nevertheless, we are pleased as our space application period was during the pandemic. The number of exhibitors totalled around 1,600 in some previous ITMA exhibitions.
What was the volume of the business generated in last ITMA and what can be expected in June 2023 edition?
Our exhibitors do not reveal the sales and orders received at the exhibition. However, feedback from CEMATEX associations has indicated that their members who exhibited at ITMA 2019 were happy with their participation. This explains why we have a high percentage of repeat exhibitors. Everyone is looking forward to face-to-face interactions at the upcoming exhibition, the first mega textile machinery exhibition to be held after the pandemic.
Can we say that ITMA has a big role in promoting and strengthening the textile machinery industry of nine CEMATEX member associations?
ITMA has been an important platform for the promotion of European textile technology. Since 1951, it holds a key position in strengthening the textile machinery industry in the CEMATEX countries by providing a reputable exhibition for them to launch their latest technologies.
European textile machinery manufacturers invest substantially in R&D. Therefore, the European machinery sector is well-placed to offer the most sophisticated automation and digital solutions, and sustainable technologies. A lot of these new innovations will be launched at the upcoming ITMA exhibition in Milan.
Tell us about the startup funding initiative started recently at CEMATEX? How many projects or technologies have been funded so far?
Start-Up Valley is a new initiative by CEMATEX to spotlight companies in its early stages of development with game changing solutions. Sixteen of the 31 applicants have been selected for the grant and they will be exhibiting at ITMA 2023.
Interviewer: Shilpi Panjabi
Published on: 08/06/2023
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.
