ITMA 2023 emphasized innovations and other drivers for a circular economy

By Dr. Karen K. Leonas

ITMA 2023, Transforming the World of Textiles, provided insight to current and future issues facing the global textile complex. There were opportunities to learn about new and innovative technologies being developed and implemented to address these issues. There was a notable focus on sustainability and circularity throughout all sectors of the supply chain including new fiber development, processing, yarn production, fabric production, finishing, cut-and-sew operations, and recycling.

In addition to numerous exhibitors showcasing their products, there were ITMA live sessions, Innovator Xchange panels and presentations, and ITMA Innovation Awards related to Sustainability and Circularity. During ITMA, Planet Textiles 2023, a two-day conference sponsored by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), explored trends and the latest thinking on circularity, sustainability, and identified drivers that will shape the industry of the future. With more than 111,000 visitors and 1,700-plus exhibitors, ITMA provided opportunities to network with all those involved and gain insights on technologies and trends shaping the future of textile recycling.

Recycling & Environmental Sustainability In The Global Textile Complex

Reclaiming and reusing postindustrial waste has been a common practice throughout many textile industry sectors for decades. Postconsumer recycling is an emerging area of interest that has unique challenges requiring the development and use of innovative technologies to reach the goal. This article focuses on the drivers, challenges and solutions to post-consumer waste collection, separation, and recycling; and many such solutions were highlighted at ITMA 2023. There were numerous new technologies introduced, as well as innovative uses of existing technology that allow for the steps in textile recycling to be mechanized, automated and combined. Legislation, both in development and soon to be implemented, was reviewed, and noted as a driver in moving toward fiber-to-fiber recycling and circularity in the global textile value chain. It is also noted that numerous partnerships among companies in various sectors of the supply chain have been formed and are contributing to the transformation of the industry.

Textile production, from fibers to consumer products, often is resource intensive requiring large amounts of water, energy and chemicals depleting the world of natural resources. These processes can pollute the air, and water, and are known to produce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and impact the biodiversity of the environment. Recycling textile products at the end of life can reduce this depletion of natural resources, reduce pollution and help reduced the strain on the planet’s environment. In this article, recycling includes breaking the product down to the fiber level or its base molecules/monomers in support of the circular economy and closed-loop manufacturing is the interest and the focus. This level of recycling is completed using chemical or mechanical processes depending on the raw material being recycled and intended future use. Recycling will provide raw materials from which new products can be manufactured

There is an overabundance of post-consumer textile waste. Carolyn Chun noted that according to McKinsey, roughly 97 percent of all clothing eventually ends up in a landfill and within 12 months of its manufacturing date, 60 percent of clothing is in the landfill.¹ Media pressure, consumer demand, regulations and technology are driving forces behind the move toward fiber-to-fiber circularity.

Textile Waste: Pre- & Post-Consumer

Waste can be categorized as pre- or post-consumer. Pre-consumer waste is from the manufacturer and never makes it to the consumer or retailer. It can also be classified as post-industrial waste. Cutting room floor scraps, rejects, trimmings, threading or end of process waste are examples of post-industrial waste. For years, companies have found ways to reuse or sell this waste diverting it from landfills and sometimes it is used in other products. An advantage of pre-consumer versus post-consumer waste when considering reuse and recycling is there is a better understanding of the raw materials in the waste stream.

Post-consumer waste includes items that have been used by the consumer, disposed of, and diverted from the landfill. Post-consumer waste contains mixed material that is difficult to recycle. Although not truly post-consumer, 30 percent of garments produced are not sold and are commonly landfilled or burned, which also are potential raw materials for fiber-to-fiber recycling.²

Fiber-To-Fiber Recycling Of Post-Consumer Textile Waste

Numerous challenges have been identified regarding textile and apparel recycling in general and specifically related to post-consumer waste. Some critical challenges for effective fiber-to-fiber recycling include garment disassembly and fiber identification. As apparel and other textile products are commonly made of multiple components from various materials, a frequently identified challenge is the use of mixed materials within the products. These can include various fasteners and embellishments as well as various fabrics of different fibers within the garment. In many cases, the fabrics are made from unknown fiber blends, which is problematic in the recycling process. Remembering that the different materials are recycled differently, the presence of mixed materials has previously limited effective fiber-to-fiber recycling.

When post-consumer waste is collected, the first step is sorting. Sorting is most commonly a manual process and there are numerous criteria — sometimes up to 60 sorting categories are used. Initially, those products of “high value,” identified as designer goods vintage items, are removed for high-end resale. Then items suitable for resale through thrift shops are identified and removed. The remaining products may be identified as suitable to sell to rag dealers, and fiber content is of importance in determining how functional they will be in this application.³

To move the remaining goods to recycling so the fibers and/or raw materials can be reused, resulting in effective closed loop manufacturing, it is important to accurately identify the raw materials. This is critical in determining appropriate recycling techniques — chemical or mechanical — and potential end-uses.

Fiber Content

In 2021, polyester had a market share of 54 percent of total fiber global fiber production, followed by cotton and other natural cellulosic fibers with about a 28 percent market share, man-made cellulosics about 6.4 percent and nylon accounting for approximately 5-percent market share.^{4/sup> In the clothing industry, more than 68 percent of the fibers used in apparel are synthetic fibers, primarily polyester,5 followed by cotton. Blends of cotton-polyester — such as 65/35 and 50/50 —are commonly used in apparel products.}

The majority of products contain multiple fibers that have been intimately blended and therefore it is difficult to separate the fibers. Historically, determining the materials within the product was cumbersome and has been achieved using a specially trained workforce that can identify fiber content by touch or others who examine the labels for this information. Next, the products need to be disassembled to remove non-textile components as this would interfere with the recycling process. As these processes are completed manually, they are time consuming and create a bottleneck in the recycling process.

Fiber Content Determination

Technology was presented at ITMA 2023 that aids in the identification of fibers using near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. NIR uses the unique signature based on the chemical composition of the fiber for sorting that may be completed incredibly quickly. Several companies at ITMA were promoting this technology including Belgium-based Valvan N.V. — a provider of high-tech sorting and baling systems — and Austria-based Andritz AG, among other companies. These two companies also have combined various technologies, partnering with others, to provide sorting and recycling systems.

Valvan has developed a library of fiber signatures and when the NIR signature from the fiber is compared with those in the library, the fiber is identified in milliseconds. The identification system, Fibersort™, uses artificial intelligence (AI) to predict the concentration of fibers. Fibersort can also separate by colors using an RGB camera. The quick identification allows this technology to aid in fast automatic sorting of the product. Valvan has stated that there is 99 percent accuracy on single fiber materials and 95 percent accuracy on blends.

Andritz recently announced a partnership with Pellenc ST and Nouvelles Fibres Textiles, both based in France, to establish the first combined industrial scale automatic textile sorting line in France. Technologies in Pellenc ST’s Mistrial machines use NIR, visible spectrometry, induction, and X-rays with NIR suitable for fiber identification.

Product Disassembly & Separation Of Fibrous/Non-Fibrous Components

Products must be disassembled by removing fasteners — such as buttons, snaps or zippers — and embellishments — including leather patches, studs and sequins — before moving to fiber recycling. The garment pieces are cut and innovative technology capable of identifying and removing the non-fibrous materials from the waste stream was demonstrated at ITMA. The technology pulls any garment components containing non-fibrous materials such button or zippers and removes them from the product stream while only fabric pieces move forward to the next step, which is shredding.

Both Valvan and Andritz demonstrated technology at ITMA that effectively separated non-textile components from the base fabrics that are found in post-consumer textile waste. Both companies have combined new technology to develop systems that have the potential to transform the textile waste industry and help the move towards a circular economy. Valvan’s technology first determines the fiber content before clipping the garment into smaller pieces and then feeding them into the Trim-clean™, a highly effective system for removing zippers, buttons, labels and other non-textile raw materials (See Figure 1). The undesirable components are pneumatically separated from the textile. This increases the purity of the feedstock resulting in both quality and reliable feedstock for fiber-to-fiber recycling. Valvan creates solutions for all steps in the recycling process including supply systems, bailing systems and sorting.

Andritz also demonstrated technology that successfully separates non-textile components from the fabrics. Like Valvan, the Andritz system covers several segments in the textile industry from sorting, shredding and mechanical recycling. The equipment shreds the fabric while simultaneously removing heavy and metal parts including buttons zippers, rivets and other embellishments commonly found in apparel. Andritz is moving forward into both chemical and mechanical recycling through collaborations with international partners.

Fiber Separation & Regeneration

Technology that can instantly identify fiber content in the sorting process and then remove non-textile components from post-consumer textile waste has been described. However, until recently, it has not been possible to separate fibers in multifiber blended fabrics and therefore fiber-to-fiber recycling has been limited to those products of a single fiber. As the push for recycling continues, technology to separate garments containing blends of fibers is critical. Through various panels, presentations and various networking events, companies pioneering fiber separation from mixed textile materials were present at ITMA.

Representatives from Circ, Ambercycle Inc., and Renewcell shared information about their technology that successfully separates the different fibers in fabric blends and the production of new fibers from the recycled raw materials.

Circ, Danville, Va., has flexible technology that is capable of separating synthetic fibers from cellulosic content; capturing the majority of the raw materials so it can be remade into high-quality fibers to be used in future clothing. The company initially focused on biofuel production, but now is applying a technical solution to blended textile fabrics. In an interview with Elle magazine, Peter Majeranowski, Circ CEO, stated: “A key step in a fully circular fashion system is creating technology to break down textile waste and create new fibers from it [and then] creating garments that are using fibers made from recycled textile waste.”⁶ Circ uses a hydrothermal processing technology to treat and separate the fibers.

Aksay Sethi and Moby Ahmed founded Los Angeles-based Ambercycle in 2015 as they developed a breakthrough technology using a biological recycling process that enables the molecular separation of different fibers, such as cotton and polyester. This process, known as Ambercycling, produces regenerated materials from post-consumer waste that has been separated and purified at the molecular level. In their process, a whole T-shirt goes into a reactor, and using their patented process, polyester is recovered and reformed into a yarn. These newly regenerated materials can then be made into fabrics for new garments. This not only reduces garments from going into landfills but also reduces the need to use new resources. Ambercycle introduced Cycora® which has been designed to serve as a direct replacement for polyester used in apparel. Cycora is a closed-loop circular yarn created using regenerated textile waste. Ambercycle also collaborated with Avery Dennison to create a unique, scannable QR code label, which allows for full traceability, transparency, and authenticity.

Renewcell was formed in Sweden in 2017 and its technology trans-forms cellulose waste into pulp and allows for the efficient reuse of chemicals. Renewcell’s goal is to recycle more than 1.4 billion T-shirts every year by 2030. The process still has limitations when recycling blends, however Renewcell’s technology can recycle clothes that are made of cotton and up to 5 percent non-cotton material like polyester.

Legislation Driving Textile Recycling

There are numerous drivers moving industry and consumers to a circular economy. Increased awareness of the environmental impact of the global textile complex through scientific reporting, social awareness, and ease of access to information is one of these drivers. Another driver is legislation related to textile waste, both pre- and post-consumer waste, and in some cases the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibilities.

Specifically, the European Union’s Waste Directive Framework requires countries to separate all textile waste by 2025, and the Circular Economy Action Plan ensures that circular economy principles are applied to all textile manufacturing products. These actions have pushed forward the technologies discussed here and support their implementation so companies throughout the supply chain will be in compliance with such legislation.

The SAC-organized Planet Textiles conference that took place during ITMA 2023 highlighted upcoming legislation during a panel presentation titled “The Global Legislative Landscape: What to Expect for Fashion, Sport and Footwear.”

The panel was moderated by Baptiste Carriere-Pradal, co-founder and director of 2BPolicy, and featured speakers ESG, Simple Approach General Manager Ilishio Lovejoy and New Standard Institute Director Maxine Bédat. Current and future legislation is expected to impact all sectors of the value chain.

Carriere-Pradal began the session with an overview and noted that 10 years ago it was thought that consumers would be the drivers of a change to more environmentally and socially sustainable goods, and brands would change things to meet this demand by ensuring the choices they provide to consumers are made with a “fairly minimum impact.” However, Carriere-Pradal noted that is it now the citizens that are requiring change which has resulted in an increase in legislation addressing the way products are designed, sourced, manufactured, marketed and what happens at end of life. Chun1 noted that regulatory trends are also a factor influencing the landscape of sustainability within the global textile complex and regulation will factor into future innovation development and implementation. Many of the legislative acts mentioned during Planet Textiles relate to transparency and traceability of the product. Increased transparency will allow more accurate and easily accessible information regarding product raw material content and processing and will aid in the recyclability of post-consumer textile waste. Following are the pieces of legislation discussed and or mentioned during the Planet Textiles session. It is expected this legislation will drive the development and implementation of innovative technologies leading to a more sustainable industry.

The Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act — also known as the New York Fashion Act — was a bill introduced in the New York Assembly in 2022. However, the bill did not move forward because of lack of support. A 2023 version of the bill was reintroduced, which stalled in the last session. The act has the four key elements of supply chain map-ping, due diligence, adverse impact disclosures and targeted impact reduction.⁷ During the Planet Textiles panel presentation Bédat noted that this bill includes due diligence language incorporating what has other-wise been voluntary. The approach is requiring the fashion seller and/or brand to set and achieve science-based targets. “The idea is not to put the information on the consumer and have the consumer do decide and decipher any labeling,” Bédat said. The brand will set the goals and decide how they will structure their business to meet these goals. There is language within the New York Fashion Act, of not only what the fashion seller/brand has to do, but also what information regulators must provide and make available to prevent lack of clarity about what is the responsibility of the supply chain and seller.

The aim of the Corporate Sustain-ability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) adopted by the European Commission in February 2022 is to “foster sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour throughout global supply chains …. requiring companies to identify, and where necessary, pre-vent, end or mitigate adverse impacts of their activities on …. the environment for example pollution and biodiversity loss,” as well as “anchor human rights and environmental consideration in companies’ operation and corporate governance.”

When referring to the CSDDD during the Planet Textiles panel, Carriere-Pradal stated, “…even if this obligation will be for the people putting the product on the market, it’ll have definitely ripple effect for every-body in the value chain, so there will be changes throughout the industry.”

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive adopted by the European Parliament in November 2022, strengthens and expands sustainability reporting to move to a green and sustainable economy. This framework will be introduced in phases beginning in 2024. It includes reporting on environmental and social aspects and how related issues impact their business and how their operations affect people and the planet. Items related to environmental areas include science-based tar-gets, E.U. Taxonomy, and climate risk related reporting.⁸

On March 30, 2022, the proposal for a new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) was published by the European Commission, which will improve product circularity, energy performance and other environmental sustainability aspects. It allows performance and information requirements to be set for most categories of physical goods placed on the European Union market. The requirements cover a broad range including product durability, reusability, and reparability, recycled content, carbon, and environmental footprints, including Digital Product Passport. The ESPR proposal will apply to all products placed on the E.U. market whether they are produced inside or outside of the European Union.

Transformational Change Is Coming

ITMA 2023 provided the opportunity to learn about the trends impacting sustainability and circularity within the global textile complex. With increased media attention and consumer awareness on the environmental impacts of textile industry, technology, and legislation, there is a transformational change coming in the future. Innovations that allow the mechanization and automation of textile sorting, fiber identification, and the creation of new fibers from textile pre- and post-consumer waste are being developed and implemented as the textile industry moves to meet this change. Both start-ups and well-established companies are taking leadership roles through all sectors of the textile and apparel supply chain to meet the new criteria imposed on the industry. Increased collaboration among non-governmental organizations, industry and academia are tackling the complex issues facing the textile industry. New collaborations, innovative technologies, increased consumer awareness and legislation are driving this transformative change.

References:

1. Chun, C. (2023, June 11) “The Recycling idea at Levi’s, Adidas, Zara to stop trillions in fast fashion from going to waste”, CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/11/a-recycled-idea-at-levis-adidas-to-stop-clothing-from-going-to-waste.html
2. Rudenko, O. (2018, December 10) “The 2018 apparel industry overproduction report and infographic” ShareCloth.com Retrieved from https://medium.com/nataliya-makulova/the-2018-apparel-industry-overproduction-report-and-infographic-by-sharecloth-284cda8f1f9
3. Englund, F., Wedin, H., Ribul, M., de la Motte, H., and Ostlund, A. (2017) “ Textile tagging to enable automated sorting and beyond-a report to facilitate on active dialogue within the circular textile industry”, Mistra Future Fashion report number 2018:1, RISE Research Institute of Sweden, 2017.
4. Textile Exchange, (2022), Preferred Fiber & Materials Market Report. Retrieved from https://textileexchange.org/app/uploads/2022/10/Textile-Exchange_PFMR_2022.pdf
5. Chen X, Memon HA, Wang Y, Marriam I, Tebyetekerwa M. (2021) Circular economy and sustainability of the clothing and textile industry. Mater Circ Econ. 2021;3(1):12. doi: 10.1007/s42824-021-00026-2. Epub 2021 Jul 6. PMCID: PMC8257395.
6. Chong, D. A. (2023, May 5) “The future of fashion is circular- here’s how major fashion brands are adapting. Elle. Retrieved from https://circ.earth/the-future-of-fashion-is-circular-heres-how-major-fashion-brands-are-adapting/
7. Lupo, A.V., Santos, A. M., Roque, R. E., Xu, F.A., and Lewis, E.B. (2023, July 17) “ New York’s fashion sustainability and social accountability act – Round 2 underway”, ArentFox Shiff, Retrieved from: https://www.afslaw.com/perspectives/alerts/new-yorks-fashion-sustainability-and-social-accountability-act-round-2-underway
8. Crabbendam, N. (2022, December 15) “Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) Explained”, Carbon Trust. Retrieved from https://www.carbontrust.com/news-and-insights/insights/corporate-sustainability-reporting-directive-csrd-explained

Editor’s Note: Dr. Karen K. Leonas is a professor of Textile Sciences in the Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management department at Raleigh, N.C-based North Carolina State University’s Wilson College of Textiles, as well as co-chair of the Wilson College Sustainability Committee.

September/October

Recent innovations in the spinning sector focus on automation and process integration, higher efficiencies and better controls with remote access.

By Dr. Helmut H. Hergeth

“Cautiously moving forward” appears to be the overarching motto of the spinning sector at ITMA 2023 held recently in Milan, Italy. Of course there were some technical advances on display, but economically speaking, no new innovations that completely shake up existing business models. Some of the incremental investments1 of the 1980s are coming back to mind. Incremental investments allow textile manufacturers to utilize new or improved technologies without having to completely replace existing equipment. This conserves financial resources, which is relevant in uncertain economic times, as well as during times when technological directions are not yet clear. The theme of economic uncertainty was definitely visible and frequently mentioned in many conversations during ITMA.

Many machine manufacturers as well as their clients still mentioned “surviving COVID” in the post-COVID times. Economic activity is still reduced, and survival is simply more important than innovation, or at least more imminent. For equipment producers, just like for their clients, raw material prices have been very volatile and considerably higher than five years ago2. These kinds of cost increases impact machine prices, thus changing the cost/benefit analysis for new equipment and new technologies. Similar price increases and volatilities have taken place in raw materials for yarn producers — in cotton and polyester2 prices, for example — making long-term decisions like the purchase of new spinning equipment extremely difficult.

Additionally, like for most other industries, a lot of technological innovation is happening in the integration, control and coordination of textile processes. This upgrade requires computing equipment and semiconductors — items that are still in supply chain recovery mode since 2018. Shortages in some cases lead to “allocation” of equipment to existing or strategic customers only, most definitely not a desirable situation for the industry.
Some themes do emerge in the technology directions despite this economic backdrop.

Process Integration

Most of the equipment manufacturers at ITMA showed very sophisticated programs that monitor, control, optimize, and integrate processes within and between plants. Cloud computing, remote access and control, and a plethora of data analyses was shown by most of the companies at ITMA. Software programs are key to efficient plant management, and exhibitors integrate maintenance and spare part businesses into their plant management toolboxes. While spare parts have always been an important business component, today these services are strongly promoted, showing how much more important they have become to the suppliers.

MyTrützschler — available from Germany-based Trützschler Group SE — for example, allows users to access to detailed plant information with live feeds from practically any-where. The MyWires functions help optimize card clothing management, whether the spinning mill conducts its own wire maintenance or utilizes the service provided by Trützschler. Technologically, this kind of real time data allows for optimized plant management, optimized equipment maintenance, and faster and better decision making. Economically, it also shows how much more integrated the supply chain on the textile equipment side is. Not only are the textile equipment manufacturers much more integrated in bale handling through spinning, but also any of the auxiliary suppliers— such as monitoring and maintenance, for example — are tied into the supply chain through acquisitions and strategic alliances.

In similar fashion, digital solutions offered by Italy-based Marzoli Machines Textile S.r.l. optimize the spinning process and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) in real time. According to the company, implementing its predictive maintenance program analyses a large volume of company data against benchmark values, resulting in maintenance cost savings of up to 30 per-cent. Using the cloud based marketing resource management (MRM) soft-ware, problems can be analyzed remotely and energy consumption and efficiencies can be optimized.

Spinning Equipment Innovations

On the equipment side, Trützschler showed the TC 19i card at ITMA 2023, with the T-GO gap optimizer, which automatically fine-tunes the carding gap to compensate for changing temperatures and conditions during operation, leading to higher production and better quality. The optical sensor of WASTECONTROL continuously monitors the waste quality at the licker-in and automatically optimizes the mote knife setting via the servo motor. With rising raw material costs, any raw material savings are an important cost factor, no matter what textile market is served. NEPCONTROL data is monitored and uploaded to the MyMill system, where any deviation in nep count can be analyzed and addressed at the machine level from anywhere in the world. The TC 30i card has been updated since Barcelona and shows an increased carding area — with approximately 1/3 more active flats plus a precarding and post-carding zone. While an increased carding surface is not a new idea or technology, the existing carding technology has certainly been improved, leading to higher production levels, better quality and more efficient waste management —including minimizing fiber waste and separating waste fibers to optimize the recovered value. Similar improvements can be seen in drafting — like the self-optimization of Trützschler’s TD 10 — leading to higher efficiencies, improved quality monitoring and better integration of mill management.

Switzerland-based Rieter showed very similar directions in its developments, with the C77 and C81 carding machines featuring an increased carding surface — the company reports the C81 sports the “largest active carding area” in the market — automatic Carding Gap Control and optimized fiber yield using its Trash Level Monitor. Improvements in its spinning machines also continue, for example in ring-spinning with the G38 and G37 models; rotor-spinning, like the fully automatic R70; or in compact spinning, like the K48. How-ever, the J70 for air-jet spinning was specifically highlighted at ITMA. With a roughly 25-percent higher production speed compared to ring spinning and unusually high flexibility offered via the VARIOlot option — up to two different lots per machine side — the J70 matches the ever-changing market demands for smaller lot sizes. Cost and flexibility remain relevant.

Marzoli showed the FTM320 roving frame with the central headstock in the middle of the machine. This layout not only simplifies managing the machine itself and optimizes automated transport of bobbins to the spinning machines, but it significantly reduces exchange and cleaning times by almost 30 percent, according to the company, thus increasing efficiency and reducing cost — specifically energy cost — which is of course an ongoing concern in the textile industry. The layout of the FTM320 also reduces space requirements, and while looking at productive area versus non-productive area is not always one of the most urgent decision criteria considered, in some cases, space becomes an absolute deal-breaker or deal-maker. Marzoli’s MDS2 spinning frame also offers improved efficiency and reduced energy consumption, inline with the concerns of the industry. Energy consumption, and specifically air consumption, also are the key improvements seen in Marzoli’s comber CMX, with increased productivity and up to 10 combing heads.

In addition to the high degree of automation within each of the machines, from self-correcting adjustments to automated and integrated maintenance, Marzoli also showed the integration between machines. Automated transport and coordination between combing, roving, and spinning are key elements in addressing concerns about labor availability and reliability.

An overarching theme for Rieter also was automation and integration. Its ROBOspin fully automated piecing robot now is also available for compact spinning machines. Improved control systems allow quality control going into and out of the machines, and Rieter helps mills with its Rieter Digital Spinning Suite to monitor, manage and optimize spinning mills remotely. Service, maintenance, and spare parts, as well as carding wire management are an essential part of the Rieter business model.

Saurer Intelligent Technology AG, Switzerland, also showed automation and process integration as a major theme. Like most equipment producers, it addresses automation as a managerial response to rising labor costs worldwide and independent of cost automation, which helps address reduced avail-ability of skilled labor in the industry. All equipment manufacturers mentioned training programs at ITMA —in person, online, or at the machines — as well as automation in order to address various labor issues — skill levels and ongoing training, availability and cost — that are an industry concern worldwide. Saurer offers training through the Saurer Academy. Additionally, automation and process integration can improve quality and efficiency by reducing human error. Saurer specifically showed the Autocard SC7 carding machine— which features automatic gap adjustment for recycling, and increased carding surface area for improved quality and production rates — and automation in automatic transportation or “linking” from one process to the next.

The ZI 72XL compact spinner, the Autoairo air spinning machine, the Autocoro 11 and BD8 with Twinsuction on both ends rotor spinning machines, and ZI 451 worsted com-pact-spinning machine were on dis-play, as well as twisters, cablers, and winders. Energy efficiency and reduction of energy consumption are an important topic in spinning, where energy cost often exceeds the cost of direct labor. Saurer addresses this through its Texparts product line, which introduced a smaller diameter spindle, Eshape, to reduce energy costs, among other variables.

Automation in process and product monitoring and inspection is of course a key component in any textile manufacturing setting, and Switzerland-based Uster Technologies AG showed the 360Q solution suite as a fully integrated system helping with data generation, analysis, and solutions for quality as well as cost management. This leader in textile testing and monitoring has integrated in-line monitoring at all levels with analysis and decision-making tools. Human error is essentially removed from the equation. The RSO3D, Uster Quantum, and Uster Sentinel are key elements in mill management that existing and new spinning mills need to remain competitive.

The Yarn Master PRISMA from Loepfe Brothers Ltd., Switzerland, offers superior clearing with its dual measurement system — infrared and mass sensors — thus improving quality while saving costs — two key business drivers in yarn production. Using an innovative Autostart feature, set-up times are drastically reduced, allowing for faster and less costly product changes, which is a key aspect of agile manufacturing. Integrating software enables a complete management system, and as additions to existing equipment Uster and Loepfe technologies have always been part of new and incremental investment strategies in the industry.

Italy-based Savio Macchine Tessili S.p.A. also showed trends towards more automation with its Proxima Smartconer automatic winder, for example; and increased flexibility in air-jet spinning with its Lybra Smart-spinner, which allows changing fiber blend ratios in the yarn from two slivers via computer (See “Just A Few Of The “Cool” Things On Display — The ITMA 2023 Edition,” TW, July/August 2023).

There was much anticipation surrounding Japan-based Toyota Industries Corp.’s Helix vortex spinning machine, but unfortunately the machine was not on display at ITMA. Only videos were available to customers. According to company associates, production speeds are in the 50,000 revolutions per minute range with very fast start-up speeds. This technology is something to look forward to seeing in person at ITMA 2027!

Murata Machinery Ltd. (Muratec), Japan, manufacturer of the Vortex spinning system, had only a small booth with videos and chose not to display any machines at ITMA.
France-based NSC/N. Schlumberger SAS showed similar directions of improvement — in automation, energy savings and process integration— for long-staple-fiber yarns.

Spain-based Spinhole® Consulting offers consultancy services to help spinning mills change the configuration of the drafting zone and yarn guides to create a double “multi” balloon, allowing increased production speeds, reduced energy consumption, and thus reduced costs— a true incremental investment as defined above.

Italy-based C.P.S.TEX S.r.l. with its Greenspin technology, offers similar retrofitting drafting systems for worsted and woolen ring spinning machines.

Also, in winding, companies such as Dietze+Schell Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG and Georg Sahm GmbH & Co. KG, both based in Germany illustrated the trend towards more automation, higher production, increased flexibility — like the Flexible Traverse option from Sahm — as well as remote support and service.

It should be noted that in addition to the traditional spinning machinery producers, there are equipment producers from India — Lakshmi Machine Works Ltd. (LMW®) for example — or China — such as Jingwei Textile Machinery Co. Ltd. — that offer a full range of equipment for spinning mills.

Going Green

All major manufacturers of spinning equipment showed not only how energy consumption has been reduced, but also how the technologies can contribute to a circular economy. Recycling has moved from an also mentioned ability to a separate business concept that warrants complete business segments within the companies with dedicated equipment from opening through spinning. At ITMA, manufacturers market dedicated product lines specifically for recycled materials — such as TRUECYCLED by Trützschler or the COM4 Recycling process by Rieter, for example — and with raw materials being the biggest cost factor in textile processing, recycling makes sense economically as well as environmentally. Being able to process obsolete products into raw materials is as essential in the circular economy as any other step within this circle.

All of the equipment manufacturers also describe reduced energy consumption in their products; this is of course an ongoing trend, and economically highly relevant as energy costs in spinning tend to be more relevant than labor costs. Managerially speaking, cost savings are always easy to justify, especially when these costs are getting more volatile. Additionally, reduced energy consumption results in a smaller carbon dioxide footprint, which is good for the environment and a company’s corporate social responsibility report. While these are all easy concepts to sell, they are not necessarily easy concepts to implement into the equipment, and tend to make equipment more complex and difficult to maintain. This is where remote training programs, and service and maintenance programs offered by the manufacturers become an integral part of the business models.

Conclusion

The world economy is still recovering, and supply chain issues — specifically in the electronics areas — impact spinning equipment like any other machinery. In terms of innovation, there is not a completely new mouse-trap, but the existing mousetraps are continuously improving — higher efficiencies, more automation and process integration, better controls, and remote access. Most equipment features self-correcting systems that ensure higher speeds, more flexibility, and better quality. Simultaneously, manufacturers are aligning with cultural trends toward sustainability by embracing energy efficiency and product lines for the circular economy.

References:

1. H. Hergeth, “Investitionsstrategien für Stagnierende Branchen“, in der Reihe Empirische Wirtschafts-forschung Bd. 1, Münster, 1986. Also, H. Hergeth, Incremental Investments and their Results in the Textile and Apparel Industries, Ars Textrina 26, 1996, pp. 65-79.
2. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Commodity Prices for various products, https://fred.stlouisfed.org/.

Editor’s Note: Dr. Helmut H. Hergeth is an associate professor in the Wilson College of Textiles at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.

September/October 2023