French Textile Machinery:Offering not only innovative but disruptive solutions

China Textile： Could you please talk about the status quo of textile industry， especially textile machinery industry， in France？

Mr. AMELINE & Ms. CHOLET： The French Textile Machinery Manufacturers Association groups 30 companies. The total annual turnover is above 1 billion US Dollars. 2018 was at record levels. We have a good visibility for 2019 thanks to the order backlogs at the beginning of the year but， this year， order intakes are slower due to the international turmoil.

Geographically there are very clear trends which will not change in the next years whatever the uncertainties which can appear. But within these trends， there are fluctuations. On your own market， China， there has been a contraction but the Chinese market is still our most important one. Other Asian countries are doing well but the size of such markets as Pakistan， Sri Lanka， Bangladesh， Thailand， Vietnam cannot be compared with the Chinese market. The US economy is doing very well and the investments in textile machinery are booming. In Turkey， some investment decisions are postponed due to the currency crash. In India， some of our companies are doing extremely well but other think it is still a little slow even though the need to modernize the industry and the support of the Government are evident.

There are also clear trends in the type of products made with the machines. Sales of machines to produce traditional textiles （apparel） have slowed but sales of machines to produce technical textiles， carpeting or to recycle textiles have soared.

China Textile： How many French enterprises will attend ITMA 2019？ As far as you know， what new equipment and technology will be unveiled at the show？ And what are the new features and trends of the exhibits from France？

Mr. AMELINE & Ms. CHOLET： We have some interesting news from some of our members who are exhibiting.

· NSC （Hall 6 Stand A107） Machines for processing long staple fibres such as wool. Will introduce a ERA combing machine in a multiservomotor drive design for delicate material. New innovations for the GC chain gill and the FMV vertical rubbing frame. The new technologies are user-friendly and offer accurate settings via a control screen.

· LAROCHE （Hall 5 Stand C106） World leader in fiber processing equipment， will display an Airlay type “Flexiloft 2600” for improved web uniformity and weight range. It allows to make smart products from renewable resources and from wastes. Also a tearing machine for high capacity recycling of all types of textile wastes including post-consumer clothing and carpet wastes.

· SUPERBA （Hall 6 Stand D206） Will be showed the MCD3 Spacedyeing machine， combined with the new MF400 texturization device， and a heat-setting line， to produce carpet yarn in one continuous single-stepoperation. The TVP3 for PA， PET， PP or wool and blends. For acrylic， the saturated steam at atmospheric pressure at 100°C. Superba will unveil a new global process from the creel to the winding.

· FIL CONTROL （Hall 6 Stand B203） New yarn sensors and yarn cutters utilizing capacitive， optical， reflective， piezoelectric and strength gauge technology. At ITMA a new step forward in the optical detection R&D to detect yarn thinner than ever before， with to-and-fro motion but also with linear motion.

· PETIT Spare Parts （Hall 6 Stand B202） PETIT Spare Parts holds the exclusive worldwide trade of the original spare parts for all ICBT fine count machines. Petit has more than 20，000 spare parts references in stock. No copies or forgeries！ Built on experience in covering， twisting and texturizing.

· AESA Air Engineering （Hall 8.1 Stand B211） With offices in France， India， Singapore and China， AESA is a worldwide leader in airengineering for all textile production processes： spinning， knitting， weaving， hosiery， different types of nonwovens and fiber productions， as well as dyeing and finishing.

· EBELMANN （Hall 4 Stand B210） Hard materials machining， special cutting devices contribute to the enhancement of their customersproduction. For technical fibres as Kevlar？， carbon or glass， Ebelmann will offer very special scissors， with carbide tungsten blades， in association with polycrystalline diamond inserts.

· MALLEIN （Hall 4 Stand B213） Beams for warping and weaving. The integration of its aluminum foundry allows Mallein to answer to all specific enquiries. Will exhibit some new aluminum canisters. It will also propose a flange development for the big barrels that are adapted for delicate fibers such as carbon.

· ALLIANCE Machines Textiles （Hall 2 Stand B 318） The Rotora dyeing machine， will be shown with an integrated drying device. It will allow treatments and drying before off loading. Other machines will be presented thanks to augmented reality system. A software will be available for the customers to estimate their own annual savings.

· OUSSELET and CALLEBAUT de BLICQUY （Hall 2 stands B 316-317） On the common stand： a very “real” mock-up of dyeing house， complete from bale to bale， with all the required process machineries for a daily production of 30 metric tons/day of acrylic fibers in loose stock form or tow.

· DOLLFUS & MULLER （Hall 2 Stand C202）. A greatly improved compacting felt for knit finishing brings a special care to the fabrics thanks to its smoothest surface， has an excellent guiding and the best compacting rate. Sanforizing palmer felts， ideal for denim producers. and printing dryer belts.

· SPOOLEX GROUP （Hall 1 Stand B209） Three different brands： CALEMARD， the converting machinery division. Highly technical cutting applications. DECOUP+ ultrasonic cutting and welding. The technology performs clean and soft edges. ROLL CONCEPT industrial rollers， cylinders and winding cores.

· SCHAEFFER Productique （Hall 8.1 Stand A104） Its digital tools are an essential asset to meet new market expectations： traceability， sustainability and flexibility. A new business process management tool will bring more efficiency and flexibility： cloud integration， artificial intelligence， self-adaptive， user-oriented.

China Textile： How do you regard the development trend of textile machinery industry？

Mr. AMELINE & Ms. CHOLET： We believe ITMA 2019 exhibitors and visitors will focus on new technologies including sustainability and the so-called industry 4.0.

Sustainability has become a major demand by the final customers， then the retailers and the major brands have been asking our clients to offer products with the least possible impact on our planet. The raw materials used are impacted， the recycled products are very much in demand as well as products made from natural raw materials which have not too much environmental inprints. The production process must also be very efficient not to waste raw material， to save energy and water. UCMTF has been very active in promoting savings of each machine but also from the whole production line. To achieve this goal， cooperation are needed between two or more machinery producers. We have been active to promote such cooperations.

Industry 4.0 is another trend which is becoming a reality in the textile industry. In fact it is already a reality in some factories and it will expand much quicker than most people envision. In todays global competition， the gap between the fast moving and the slow-moving competitors is widening at an incredible speed but great ideas are useless without the right execution.

We， as technology partners， have to offer not only innovative （each year we introduce some improvements in our machines） but disruptive solutions. Industry 4.0 is certainly the main way not only to improve the process of each machine but the whole line production process.

China Textile： The textile industry in China is right in a crucial period for transformation and upgrading， for which the state-of-the-art technology is of much importance. What suggestions would you like to give to the Chinese visitors to the exhibition？

Mr. AMELINE & Ms. CHOLET： The textile consumption is very stable with low single digit growth， and then the production is also very stable globally. But big changes may happen in the geographical location of the production. The United States and China are discussing on tariffs and trade. It seems they are close to an agreement. These uncertainties have had very clear effects on the investments decisions. Some are now in a postponement state but the need to modernize the production process is still there to improve the production costs， to have more flexible processes and offer high quality products with zero defects. There may be macroeconomic turbulences but， on the ground， realities are much more stable than suggested by the international headlines. We work very closely with our customers who face an array of challenges and opportunities： open new markets， design new products， produce them in a reliable， cost effective and sustainable way. They need strategic partners such as providers of innovative industrial solutions and cutting-edge technologies. The French machinery manufacturers are well positioned to be such partners. We have a recognized expertise in finding solutions for critical projects， whatever their scope， whatever their geographic localization. In fact， what we like is to be challenged by our customers to offer them the ma- chine or the process they need. To make it short， our DNA is R&D， service and partnerships.

China Textile： As the world largest show for textile equipment -ITMA 2019 is held every four years. Do you think it a too long period between two editions？ ITMA 2019 is just around the corner， what kind of preparation has been made for the member companies of UCMTF？

Mr. AMELINE & Ms. CHOLET： Our Association is proud to be part of Cematex， the owner of ITMA and then to take part of the strategic decision process. Our analysis is the following： during one week， ITMA in Barcelona will not be only the largest show for textile equipment but also the biggest and most diversified textile factory in the world. The machines will run. They need huge logistics for their erection， operation and dismantling. The costs are high for the exhibitors. Visitors come from every continent， not only from Europe but from Asia， from the Americas， from Africa and Oceania. It is also expensive for them. We believe such an expo cannot take place more than every four years. In the meantime we have many opportunities to meet our customers， thanks to regional shows， the road shows we organize and， on a day to day basis， through our subsidiaries， service centers， agents and our sales teams and after sales technicians who are travelling intensively. Of course， for ITMA we work very hard to complete on time new projects， thats why we encourage our customers and interested parties to visit our members stands. This is where they will see our latest innovations and have the opportunity to meet our teams at the highest level.

China Textile： Could you please talk about the general participation results in the last edition？ And how do you expect for this edition？

Mr. AMELINE & Ms. CHOLET： ITMA 2015 in Milano was a great edition. We have met many customers， taken good orders which have be delivered on time and have been up to our customers expectations. For next edition in Barcelona， as we said， our teams have been working very hard to surprise the visitors Then， ITMA will be a very important milestone for us. We expect a great edition again this time， it will take place June 20-26， in Barcelona.

With the participation of 1，700 exhibitors from 47 countries， the 2019 edition is very promising with an increase of nearly 10% in the stand space demand.

120，000 visitors are expected from 147 countries！

We are looking forward to welcome our well-known customers and new interested parties.