Together for more sustainability in the textile industry

In an announcement at an event held at the United Nations headquarters in New York， the Texpertise Network of Messe Frankfurt， the Conscious Fashion Campaign and the United Nations Office for Partnerships provided insights into their future cooperation.

Over 100 guests from the press， business， politics and associations met at the headquarters of the United Nations to learn how the Texpertise Network of Messe Frankfurt， the Conscious Fashion Campaign and the United Nations Office for Partnerships （UNOP） plan to collaborate in furthering the implementation of their Sustainable Development Goals （SDGs） in the fashion and textile industry.

The Executive Director of UNOP， Robert Skinner， opened the event and highlighted the importance of global engagement in the private sector and other stakeholders for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Mr. Skinner stated that the international fashion and textile industry have the potential to advance the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Together with Messe Frankfurt and the Conscious Fashion Campaign， UNOP welcomes the opportunity to reach a broad and professional audience， raise awareness of the goals and galvanize support.

Mr. Skinner， who moderated the event， invited Ambassador Jürgen Schulz， Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations， to deliver the opening remarks.

Detlef Braun， Member of the Executive Board at Messe Frankfurt， explained： “Along with digitalisation， sustainability is a topic currently exerting a significant influence on the global textile industry. Messe Frankfurt has been accompanying this development with its worldwide textile events under the umbrella of the Texpertise Network for more than ten years. Therefore， it is a logical conclusion that the Sustainable Development Goals should be integrated in our worldwide textile events to generate acute awareness of the importance of sustainability in the textile industry.”

Kerry Bannigan， Founder of the Conscious Fashion Campaign， stated that we need more examples of leadership for change as Messe Frankfurt to make the next decade the most impactful yet. Through our global event partners， the Conscious Fashion Campaign will integrate education， advocacy and ultimately， engagement while also seeking to implement sustainable and circular event operations and logistics.

With its Texpertise Network， Messe Frankfurt supports the Sustainable Development Goals within the framework of the cooperation with the Conscious Fashion Campaign and UNOP. The goals will be presented at the more than 50 textile events organised by Messe Frankfurt at venues around the world. Current planning includes interactive information stands， presentations， discussion forums， fair tours and the integration of special activities in the trade fair program.

Heimtextil， the worlds largest and most important trade fair for home and contract textiles that attracts around 3，000 exhibitors and expects 65，000 trade visitors from January 7th - 10th， 2020， will be the next stop on the tour to present the Sustainable Development Goals. During the opening press conference on January 7th， Lucie Brigham， Chief of Office for the United Nations Office for Partnerships has been invited as a guest speaker. Moreover， the goals will be presented and discussed at an interactive stand in the Green Village， and will be integrated into the Green Directory for the first time. For the past 10 years， this index has listed sustainably producing companies at Heimtextil. In 2020， the Green Directory will comprise a record 262 entries. Panel discussions will also be held in the Green Village.

The next event directly after Heimtextil is Neonyt （January 14th - 16th 2020）， which will once again take place during the Berlin Fashion Week. Within the framework of its international conference format Fashionsustain， Neonyt will feature， amongst others， the panel “SDGs X Fashion – The UNs Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action”. Speakers will be Lucie Brigham， Zachary Angelini， Environmental Stewardship Manager at Timberland， Alexander Gege， Manager Sustainable Business Development at the Otto Group， and Harold Weghorst， Global Vice President Marketing at Lenzing AG.

Swedish machinery companies see major opportunities at Heimtextil 2020

The decision by Messe Frankfurt， the organiser of the annual Heimtextil exhibition for home textiles， to significantly expand its focus on textile technologies in 2020， has received an extremely enthusiastic response from members of TMAS， the Swedish textile machinery manufacturers association.

“Heimtextil is already a huge show， having attracted well over three thousand visitors to Frankfurt in January this year， filling all twelve halls of the Messe Frankfurt fair grounds，” said TMAS Secretary General Therese Premler-Andersson. “The expansion of textile technologies at next Januarys Heimtextil can only help further boost this international community of manufacturers and suppliers for the home textiles market at all levels， and naturally we want to be a part of it.”

At Heimtextil 2019， TMAS member ACG Kinna Automatic generated a significant buzz with live demonstrations of its new robotic pillow filling system and will provide details of how it has been further developed over 2019， with several commercial systems now in place.

It has the ability to fill and finish some 3，840 pillows per eight-hour shift， which is a considerable improvement on what is currently possible with either manual or semi-automatic systems， resulting in significant savings in both labour and energy for busy home textile businesses.

“We believe many visitors to Hemitextil 2020 who saw the demonstration last year will be astonished to hear of the potential gains we are making，” said ACG Kinna CEO Christian Moore. “The use of robotics is now standard across many industries dealing in solid goods and the handling of soft materials such as textiles – while a little more complex – is next.”

Meanwhile， in the first quarter of 2020， Automatex ES， the specialist in automated cutting， sewing and folding equipment， is planning to launch another innovation in advanced manufacturing for the bedding industry.

“We have developed a new fitted sheet machine which is able to sew ninety-degree corners and the elastics simultaneously， in a single operation，” explained the companys CEO Stefan Persson. “Its a revolution for the industry and were looking forward to telling visitors all about it.”

Three further TMAS members will be exhibiting for the first time at a joint stand at the show. Central to the technologies of both IRO AB and Eltex is advanced sensor technology.

IRO AB has consistently introduced new milestones in the field of yarn feeding technology for weaving machines and at Heimtextil 2020 will be providing information on new introductions to its product range.

These include the ZTF Zero Twist Feeder which keeps yarns or fibre tows constantly stretched to avoid the risks of any snarls or twisting and the ATC-W advanced tension controller for constantly regulating weft feeders at high speeds.

Eltex is achieving considerable success with its yarn fault detection and tension monitoring systems across a range of sectors， including the tufting of carpets and the creeling of woven materials， but at Heimtextil 2020 the focus will be on its advanced systems for the sewn products sector， including the UPG-Stitch thread break sensor， which is based on the piezoelectric principle and is suitable for all types of yarns while being insensitive to dust， dirt and humidity variations.

The Eltex thread sensor is meanwhile designed to monitor up to six intermittent running threads on automatic sewing machines. The eyelets are scanned electronically and it detects both broken and continuously moving threads， allowing yarn movement to be precisely monitored even at low yarn tension.

Svegea of Sweden now has over 60 years of experience in exclusively designing， manufacturing and installing bespoke bias cutting， roll slitting and rewinding and inspection machines.

The companys complete Bias System includes a tube sewing unit a bias cutter/winder for opening up previously-formed tube material – spirally on a bias –and strip cutter.

Circular woven materials are fed to the cutter via the revolving winder to be slit at angles， so that both the warp and weft of the weave are skewed at specified angles rather than just in the vertical and horizontal directions， as is usual.

This allows the slit fabrics to drape and form much more easily to complex shapes， with a range of potential applications in areas such as indoor and outdoor furniture， as well as bedding etc.

“The ability to produce tubular fabric which is cut on the bias allows our machine to provide textiles which not only have improved drape and elasticity properties for complex and intricate shapes， but also eliminates unnecessary wastage from the manufacturing process，” said Svegea managing director H？kan Steene. “Pre-cutting the fabric to a specific bias reduces extra handling of the fabric in further processes， saving both production time and costs. Were looking forward to discussing the systems potential in the home textiles market at Heimtextil 2020.”

“For visitors to Heimtextil 2020， there is much more to discover about how Swedish textile machinery innovations can help in the production of high end fabrics for the home and we extend a warm invitation to all to visit us at stand E15 in Hall 11，” Therese Premler-Andersson concluded.

Texpertise Network

With a unique portfolio currently embracing 58 international textile trade fairs， Messe Frankfurt is the global market leader in trade fairs for the textile industry. In 2018， some 22，000 exhibitors and 520，000 visitors took part in the events around the world. The trade fair portfolio spans the entire textile industry value chain. As a central communication platform， the Texpertise Network provides information on the worldrenowned trade fair brand and the first-class services offered by Messe Frankfurt.