Swiss Textile Machinery:Many of the innovations will integrate digitalisation and sustainability

ITMA 2019 will demonstrate the “inventive DNA”of Switzerlands machinery producers.

Swissmem is keen to emphasise the spirit of inventiveness which has brought history-making breakthroughs as diverse as the chocolate bar， fizzy drinks and the computer mouse – as well as a continuing stream of textile-related innovations for which ITMA will provide the latest evidence.

The heritage of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association members is impressive， dating back to the dawn of the industrial revolution and amounting to a combined total of more than 4，000 years of expertise in meeting the needs of textile producers worldwide.

Across the generations of Swiss textile machinery firms， expertise has been handed down – along with the “inventor gene”. Driving it all， however， has been a recognition that customer requirements are the priority. Meeting those needs through innovative solutions is the real goal.

Mr. Ernesto Maurer， President of Swissmem， Swiss Textile Machinery Association， talked about the status quo of textile industry， especially textile machinery industry， in Switzerland. “After quite a few years with‘best-ever order volume and results， Switzerland， as many other industrial countries， encounters a certain slowdown of our industry. This is certainly uncomfortable but far away from downturns as we experienced 10 years ago. As our industry is very accustomed in dealing with such strong fluctuations， we are very confident， that the impact on our industry is very digestible.”

As for the ITMA 2019， Switzerland is one of the largest exhibiting countries in Barcelona， represented by 63 exhibitors. The number of exhibitors and the area occupied by Swiss exhibitors is slightly higher than in 2015. Of these 63 Swiss exhibitors， 40 are members of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association（Swissmem）.

“Many of the innovations will integrate digitalisation and sustainability aspects. Industry 4.0 offers various possibilities， be it in the optimization of products or processes or in the development of completely new business models. Our member companies use these possibilities to generate maximum customer benefit. With regards to sustainability， the optimized utilisation of resources is again one of the major topics. Raw materials are scarce and energy is expensive， therefore making our machines more efficient in both aspects is key.”

In regards to the development trend of textile machinery industry， Mr. Ernesto Maurer said that “To answer this question I would like to go back in time. Many of the companies in our association （Swissmem）- founded in the second half of the 19th century - have gone through many ups and downs and have gained outstanding reputation over time. Having such a long history， the Swiss companies have constantly managed to anticipate changes， developed their business strategy and have continuously evolved. R&D plays an eminent role in this. Nowadays the Innovation process has to take many aspects into consideration， mainly in the area of digitalization and sustainability.”

Mr. Ernesto Maurer also gave suggestions to the Chinese visitors to the exhibition： Sustainability is more than just a “buzzword” its THE innovation challenge especially for fast developing countries. The drivers for sustainability are manifold， scarce raw materials and the cost thereof， regulation for environmental impacts and above all economic constraints. China is definitely among the strongest growing textile industries， and therefore this year China is well advised to look out for this trend in innovation.

As the world largest show for textile equipment-ITMA 2019 is held every four years. Prominent innovations need time， and they have to prove themselves in extensive field tests. It is not by coincidence that the four years cycles of ITMA have been compared to the cycles Olympic Games. The members of Swiss Textile Machinery （Swissmem） are well prepared in various disciplines， and we expect them to win a considerable amount of medals during the Olympic games of textile machinery.

At the end of the interview， Mr. Ernesto Maurer talked about the general participation results in the last edition as well as his expect for this edition. “The last edition in Milano was very successful， both in numbers of exhibitors and visitors. It was almost unthinkable to surpass that volume in 2019. Nevertheless we will have one of the largest ITMAs in recent history. However， the last edition in Milano was on the verge of the incredible growth， whereas this yearsedition will mark a starting downturn. All of the exhibitors give their very best， and as visitor， there will be plenty of first-hand information on innovation and sustainability. If I could predict a slogan for ITMA 2019 in Barcelona I would make the choice of the old explorer motto： ‘When the going gets tough， the tough get going”