Lightweight nonwovens need to perform like heavier & thicker materials
DiloGroup is a leading supplier of complete lines for nonwoven fabric production, traditionally specialised in all types of needling lines for staple fibre products as well as high speed needlelooms for spunbonds. Johann-Philipp Dilo, CEO of DiloGroup, spoke to Paulami Chatterjee about how the company is dealing with the pandemic and the way it has bounced back thus receiving more orders from existing and new customers since September 2020.
Trade events are extremely important for textile machinery manufacturers. With so many events being cancelled around the world since the pandemic, how have these developments impacted your company? Could you elaborate both in terms of orders (since buyers were so adversely affected) as well as shipments (since supply chains were disrupted)? Are you looking at the future differently than earlier, especially since brands/retailers have been heavily hit and are likely to cut down on investments?
In our special field of machinery manufacturing for the nonwovens industry, the general situation has changed completely since September 2020 when many orders have been given to DiloGroup from the range of customers-existing and new-for complete plants in different nonwovens sectors. This very positive development has altered completely the picture after spring and summer 2020 and has allowed us to go back to normal operations. Of course, we observe there are still some supply chain issues but we are confident to overcome those by flexible reactions from a large range of suppliers from Germany and Europe. We are, therefore, very optimistic about the future particularly when the pandemic will have been overcome completely.
I do not look differently at the future when general development is concerned. Nevertheless, the pandemic has given us a lesson in a way that we can save time and energy in travelling by more state?of?the?art video communications.
Given this backdrop, how are you going to adapt to a post-pandemic world? Investment in textile machinery is done keeping the next 3-5 years in mind. Do you think buyers will now think more in terms of short-term investments (after all, one full year was lost to the pandemic)?
In our case, our business being a supply for complete production lines as a general contractor is based on long?term investment planning of our customers. When large investments have to be paid off during longer periods of time, short?term investments usually are not part of this consideration.
In an increasingly digitised world, how are your machines keeping pace? What new innovations on the anvil?
Our production lines are completely computer controlled, operating widely automatically, based on programmes and production recipes where operators are menu guided on a graphical screen receiving note of problems and reminders to trace them and to take care if need be. Advances in this sector are consequently made to help operators and maintenance departments to stay on top of the situation also through the help of Internet of Things (IoT) features for predictive maintenance to give an example. This is a constant evolutionary process where we can set standards as a market leader.
What is the global machinery market size of Mesdan? What are the key factors contributing to its growth? How big is the market for the ancillary industries related to your machinery?
In our case, this figure is not readily available since we have no insight for example of the activities of machinery suppliers within China. Generally speaking, the growth rate for complete needling lines is dependent on the growth of consumption of needle punched material which has been for many years in an area of approximately 5 per cent per year. The key factors are at staple fibre processing lines-an almost endless array of material parameters since any fibre be it man?made organic or inorganic, natural or recycled or even metallic-can be processed on nonwoven needling lines.
The huge array of parameter combinations associated with textile technology parameters and adjustments of the machines bring about an almost endless array of different products for so many different applications like floor coverings, car interior linings, technical felts for composite structures, thermal and acoustical insulation, geotextiles, roofing material, filtration media for gas and liquid filtration, wipes for household and industry, furniture and bedding materials, synthetic leather, cosmetic and medical applications, garment applications for padding, wadding, stiffening functions, paper machine felts and so on just to name the most important ones.
How big is the market for the ancillary industries related to your machinery?
In this area, there is good business for manufacturers of needles, aprons, cutting tools, wrapping and packing equipment, and so on. Dilo takes part in ancillary and auxiliary business through its elaborate spare parts sector which are supplied worldwide through agents, representations or subsidiaries like the one we operate in Gurugram near Delhi, our subsidiary Dilo India Pvt Ltd.
Where is the manufacturing done for your machines?
Most of the parts and components are manufactured in Germany, either at Dilo when high precision and complex know?how bearing parts are concerned. Nevertheless, we source from outside in our region in Germany and from all over Germany as well as from some European neighboring countries. We employ currently approximately 400 people in our administrative, engineering, service departments and in three manufacturing locations at DiloSpinnbau in Bremen, DiloTemafa near Cologne and DiloMachines in Eberbach near Heidelberg. We are doing this machinery business since 1902 and apply modern tools, apply elaborate quality control measures on the basis of an ERP software package to control all internal functions as well as customer and supplier relations. As I said earlier, this business is more long?term oriented and currently our delivery times are nine to twelve months.
What will you showcase in this year's ITMA Asia fair?
ITMA Asia this year will be handled almost completely through our Dilo Shanghai office, where our standard and specialty range of machinery is promoted but the machinery is not showcased like at the European ITMA events. We rely more on literature, video presentations and textile product samples in order to explain the complex functions of a complete line. Due to our long-term business in China which became substantial in the 1980s, it has been steadily and considerably doing state-of-the-art nonwoven production at the required high efficiency rates, quality requirements and reliability which we offer through our engineering.
What are key machinery industry trends for future?
The key trends for the future are already visible since quite some time and can be named as demand and requirement for low energy consumption rates per kg of textile material, a low CO2 footprint associated with the operation of the machines as well as the recyclability of used textile material be it from durable or disposable applications-these will be the key issues in the long run. At the same time material resources, the fibre consumption should reach minimum levels to fulfill the physical functions of the textile products needed to perform. In short: lightweight nonwovens will have to fulfill and perform like heavier and thicker materials.
In this context, we have developed a new system which is called '3D-Lofter' to create material of different thickness in the plain. This technology may be imagined as a 3D printer using sliver from any fibre in an aerodynamic process which puts aerodynamic web forming heads in an array across the width of the material. Using this principle, we are capable to place anywhere in the product's plain as much as additionally up to 1000 grammes on a substrate fabric. Another interesting energy-saving and water-saving production tool is our intensive needling concept 'MicroPunch' which allows to needle very lightweight medical and hygiene products at high speeds. (PC)
Published on: 21/05/2021
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.
