Two expert juries will select the latest, most intelligent and outstanding innovations from the sector thus ensuring that all award-winning companies and their best solutions are brought to the attention of all visitors to Techtextil and Texprocess 2024, organiser Messe Frankfurt said in a press release.

“We are proud to once again present the very latest innovations—the result of unrivalled research, products, and technologies of the textile manufacturing and processing industry—at the coming Techtextil and Texprocess trade fairs. For our visitors, the Techtextil and Texprocess Innovation Awards are genuine highlights. Every two years, these innovations give a perfect demonstration of the future-oriented direction being taken by the industries in fields of development, such as efficiency, ultra-new materials, coatings and sustainable production, which incentivises the market and illustrates the innovative power and spirit of the industries,” said Sabine Scharrer, director Techtextil and Texprocess.

The closing date for all entries for the 2024 Techtextil and Texprocess Innovation Awards is December 15, 2023. The awards are open to all companies, institutes, universities, polytechnics, and individuals, regardless of whether they are exhibitors of Techtextil or Texprocess in 2024. The developments entered must have been on the market for a maximum two years, or be shortly before their market launch. From mid-December 2023, two juries of experienced international experts will thoroughly examine the products submitted and evaluate them in terms of criteria such as novelty, economic relevance, potential, and creativity. The winning companies will be presented for the first time during a well-publicised ceremony during the first day of the fair in Frankfurt am Main on April 23, 2024.

Award-winning companies and research institutes benefit from the high degree of attention for their innovations generated by the Techtextil and Texprocess Innovation Awards. For example, FibreCoat GmbH of Aachen, Germany, which received the Techtextil Innovation Award in the ‘New Technology’ category together with Deutsche Basalt Faser GmbH in 2022, reported, “Winning the Innovation Award represents a milestone for us because it has always been our ambition to be honoured in this way. The Techtextil Innovation Award is the most prestigious award in the textile industry.” The two companies were chosen for the joint development of an aluminium-coated basalt fibre.

According to FibreCoat, the new product means that electromagnetic shielding as wallpaper in buildings, such as hospitals or server farms, will be up to 20 times cheaper than conventional aluminium foil. Another attractive and particularly fast-growing market is shielding solutions for electric vehicles.

A positive response was also noted among the customers of Juki Central Europe after the company was selected for the 2022 Texprocess Innovation Award in the ‘New Technology’ category. The company won the award for its innovative AW-3S automatic bobbin thread winding and feeding device. The jury was impressed by the change from a manual to an automated process as another example of Industry 4.0 and said the device not only increases productivity but also reduces fatigue for sewing machine operating personnel.

Italy’s Vérabuccia company was also one of the winners in 2022 and received the Techtextil Innovation Award in the ‘Performance Fashion’ category for its patented, innovative production process that enables fruit waste to be transformed into fashion highlights. In distinction to other vegetable leathers, which tend to imitate genuine animal leather, this process retains the original appearance of a pineapple skin. The jury honoured the unconventional thinking of the Italian label whereby original fashions are created using unexpected materials. Currently, a year after receiving the award, Verabuccia is working on opening up important markets with its patented process.

Now, companies, institutes, universities, polytechnics, and individuals have until December 15, 2023 to enter their inspiring, disruptive and innovative new products for the Techtextil Innovation Award 2024 or the Texprocess Innovation Award 2024 and have the opportunity to present their award-winning ideas on an outstanding platform in Frankfurt am Main during the first day of the fair on April 23, 2024. The juries are looking forward to judging the most innovative ideas emerging from the many exciting segments of the two industries.

The Techtextil Innovation Award 2024 is now accepting submissions. Innovators in the textile industry can submit their entries online. The award categories span a broad range of topics, including New Concept, New Technology, New Material, New Application, and New Product. Additionally, there are categories focused on sustainability, such as New Approaches on Sustainability & Circular Economy, New Technologies on Sustainability & Recycling, and New Technology & Digitalisation, added the release.

Similarly, the Texprocess Innovation Award 2024 is also open for submissions. Interested parties can submit their projects via the official website. The categories for this award are designed to recognise excellence in various dimensions of textile processing. These include Economic Quality, which focuses on cost minimisation, time and process optimisation, and automation. Ecological Quality covers aspects like climate protection, energy efficiency, sustainability, recycling, and circularity. Other categories are Digitalisation and AI, as well as Innovation for Quality Improvement. Both awards offer a prestigious platform for innovators in the textile industry to showcase their achievements.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)