Trützschler, one of the world's leading textile machinery manufacturers, specialises in machines, installations and accessories for spinning preparation, the nonwovens and man-made fibre industry. Fibre2Fashion spoke to C Maennich, area sales manager India, Truetzschler Nonwovens & Man-Made Fibers GmbH, to know how the cancellation of trade events have affected the company since the pandemic gripped the world.
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?
The pandemic has caused Truetzschler Nonwovens to invest more into online marketing and online events because of travel restrictions and the lack of face-to-face meetings.
For existing clients, Truetzschler has established a robust online support system to service and technical support are still ensured. Fortunately, Truetzschler has strong ties with local agencies, such as ATE in India. With the support of ATE Truetzschler was in close contact with customers and ensured our brand visibility for new potential customers in the Indian market.
Despite the pandemic, the nonwoven sector saw solid growth during the last year until today. In fact, covid-19 has caused a surge in nonwovens for disinfection and medical applications. Therefore, Truetzschler Nonwovens order intake has been robust despite the difficult global economy.
How big is the market for the ancillary industries related to your machinery?
In hydroentangling lines, Truetzschler Nonwovens' core product, many secondary machinery types are needed. There are, of course, card clothings for the nonwoven cards, but there is also equipment for water filtration, air conditioning and process air generation. Growth rates for the latter industries are determined by other factors than the relatively small nonwovens application. Usually-, companies in the card clothing business, for instance our sister company Truetzschler Card Clothing, have a less cyclical market because the product is a kind of consumable.
Where is the manufacturing/ production done for your machines? What is your installed capacity? How is the demand and supply worked out?
Truetzschler Nonwovens is part of the globally active Truetzschler Group. Therefore, most of our machinery has local content. We take advantage of Truetzschler's production facilities in India, China and the Americas. Nevertheless, all machinery is designed in Germany and core components are manufactured at Truetzschler Nonwovens' two German production sites Duelmen and Egelsbach.
Due to the close cooperation of all production sites, we are able to respond to the needs of a booming market-as it is the case right now.
On Truetzschler's service business-we believe in being close to our clients around the world. Best in class service at their doorsteps is made possible by a closely cooperating network of German and local field engineers and technicians.
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)?
Truetzschler Nonwovens is expecting a robust post pandemic growth. The demand for production machinery for personal protective equipment and disinfectant wipes has been fulfilled. Now we expect nonwoven markets worldwide to pick up the idea of sustainability. In particular, Truetzschler Nonwovens and partner company Voith see growth potential in the area of bio-degradable and sustainable nonwovens for single use products such as baby and body wipes.
In an increasingly digitised world, how are your machines keeping pace? What new innovations on the anvil?
The Truetzschler Group is on the forefront of industrialisation 4.0 already. Thus, we could quickly scale capabilities such as remote service and remote monitoring during the pandemic. Truetzschler Nonwovens started digitalisation of operator interfaces and data collection for production systems last year. The year 2020 was a catalyst to speed up the existing efforts for a digital future of the nonwovens industry.
What will you showcase in this year's ITMA Asia fair?
Truetzschler Nonwovens' focus at ITMA Asia-and the ANEX/SINCE show in July-is on production lines for sustainable nonwovens. Chinese and other Asian producers embrace the opportunity product innovations give.
The latest breakthrough in the wipes segment are carded/pulp (CP) products. CP nonwovens are hydroentangled nonwovens consisting of a wet-laid pulp and a separate carded layer. As a highly cost-effective material, pulp significantly reduces production costs. Moreover, it gives volume to the end product while the carded layer from regenerated cellulose fibres such as viscose or lyocell give softness and strength. Baby and body wipes from CP nonwovens are fully functional, affordable, bio-degradable and come from renewable resources. Truetzschler Nonwovens partners with Voith to supply high throughput CP lines as well as wet-laying/spunlacing lines for flushable wipes.
What are key machinery industry trends for future?
Carding, wet-laying, hydroentangling and drying are mature processes. Proven solutions exist and we don't expect revolutionary new technologies. But there will be further developments concerning higher throughput, higher machine efficiency, better process and product quality. Here digitalisation will play a major role. Moreover, we see further developments for production line concepts for sustainable nonwovens. During the last decade Truetzschler Nonwovens and Voith brought the wet-laid/spunlaced (WLS) and carded/pulp (CP) technologies to market. The next steps will be a further refinement concerning flexibility and easy handling. (PC)
What is the global machinery market size? At what rate is it growing? What are the key factors contributing to its growth?
The nonwoven machinery market has always been and still is a cyclical one. A typical production line for hydroentangled nonwovens produces some 15,000-20,000 tonnes of material per year. When a bunch of new lines start up in a year, the market needs some time to absorb the new capacity. During that time there are almost no new investments. A new cycle begins when demand is in balance with supply again.
During the last decade hydroentangled nonwovens production outgrew all other segments. Typical end products-wipes, cosmetic pads, medical wound care and some hygiene products - are single-use products. Consumer demand grows with rising personal incomes and product availability. There are still nearly untapped markets-India is one of them-with huge growth potentials for years to come.
Published on: 28/05/2021
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.
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