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No mission is impossible according to machine builder Picanol

Picanol’s Global Market Manager Technical Textiles Filips Lombaert explains the loom builder’s philosophy towards this sector, already an important part of its sales and one its latest campaign aims to develop, in an exclusive interview with Editor Nick Butler held during Techtextil.

Launched in April 2017, on the eve of Techtextil (held in Frankfurt, Germany, on 9–12 May 2017), Picanol’s latest marketing campaign, Impossible, Not anymore!, aims to build on the Belgian weaving machinery specialist’s already strong foothold in the technical textiles sector.

Picanol, which has its headquarters in Ypres, Belgium, makes airjet and rapier looms (see also, Airjet and rapier specialism, below) at its principal production facility in Ypres, and, since 1994, at Picanol Suzhou Textile (PST) Machinery Works in Suzhou, China, where it currently operates two lines. In addition, speaking at Techtextil, Global Marketing Manager Technical Textiles Filips Lombaert stressed the importance to the company’s global sales of the support offered by its additional sales and service teams around the world. Offering support in the local language, together with the provision of highly skilled engineers, these offices allow the company to respond quickly to any needs of its customers.

Picanol’s Global Market Manager Technical Textiles Filips Lombaert explained during Techtextil how and why the company is targeting the sector.

To make sure all its engineers are up to date with the latest developments, each one spends about two weeks a year training in Ypres, in addition to a basic training course of about three months and/or an apprenticeship of one year (all dependent on the individual’s prior experience). Further, training is given specifically for new developments and selected engineers attend specialist seminars to improve their own understanding as well as to pass what they have learned on to their colleagues.

Lombaert says this update training programme has been running successfully for about five to six years.

The company also runs training for customers at three centres in Ypres, Suzhou and Greenville, South Carolina, USA. In September 2014, for instance, Picanol inaugurated its new Technical Training Centre in Ypres, creating an area of 270 m2 for three rooms each equipped with looms. At the same time, Picanol invested in several new finishing machines and a new test area, at a combined cost of €17.5 million. In total, over the last eight years the company has invested more than €50 million, mostly on production equipment.

Picanol also puts an emphasis on supplying spare parts from its local centres, many of which are also able to repair printed circuit boards and offer mechanical workshops to ensure rapid repairs.

So far, this description applies to Picanol’s approach to all its customers, but Lombaert believes that good service, quick repairs for production continuity and modern manufacturing technology are particularly important for technical textiles.

Markets for woven technical textiles

Lombaert describes the market for technical woven fabrics as highly fragmented, but Picanol’s approach is focused. The company looks at each specific market application and decides if it can address the needs based on its existing machinery. In this regard, the research and development (R&D) facilities at its test centre are crucial.

Picanol also focuses on high-volume applications—fabrics for coating (including mechanical rubber goods and conveyor belts), the automotive industry (such as airbags and car seats), medical textiles and most recently filtration. In addition, a recent trend has been to develop wide machines for packaging, geotextiles, agrotextiles and carpet backings, illustrated by the development of a 5.40 m-wide machine with positive grippers.

Picanol’s latest rapier loom is the OptiMax-i, which it launched just before ITMA (held in Milan, Italy, on 12–19 November 2015).

Picanol’s general philosophy is to provide quality products and support at a reasonable price. This is helpful to those entering the technical textiles sector, says Lombaert, and the changing nature of the global markets suggests it is an approach that will greatly benefit the company. China’s textile industry, for instance, is reaching the end of an era of solely supplying high-volume products that compete on price and is embarking on investments in the high-technology sectors.

Further, manufacturers in other regions are being emboldened to compete with China’s industry, which is no longer subsidized by its Government. Consequently, all along the supply chain from spinners to weavers, there is wide-ranging investment in machinery. In particular, Lombaert cited the Indian industry’s growing ambition to manufacture and export technical textiles.

The current buoyant market for technical textiles should therefore prove to be lucrative for Picanol, which was among the first of the machinery builders to recognize the growing importance of the sector and organize itself accordingly. Lombaert started with the company in 1981 and now leads the technical textiles team, which was established in 2002 and has grown to the current three teams (in Europe, Asia and the USA), each consisting of technical, marketing and sales personnel.

The launch of the Impossible, Not anymore! Campaign, impeccably timed to coincide with such a vibrant Techtextil, shows the company is determined to build on this sturdy base. 

 

Airjet and rapier specialism

The machines available from Picanol are:

  • OMNIplus Summum airjet weaving machine*;
  • OptiMax-i rapier weaving machine (launched in October 2015, just before ITMA, held in Milan, Italy, on 12–19 November 2015)*;
  • TERRYplus Summum airjet weaving machine;
  • TerryMax-i rapier weaving machine;
  • OMNIplus 800 TC airjet weaving machine for tyre cords*;
  • GT-Max rapier weaving machine;
  • OMNIplus-X airjet weaving machine;
  • GTMax-i rapier weaving machine.

*Specialist brochures available for technical textiles.

Further Information: 

Erwin Devloo, Marketing Communication Manager, Picanol NV. Tel: +32 (57) 222090. Mobile/cellular: +32 (475) 443279. Email: [email protected]

Filips Lombaert, Global Market Manager Technical Textiles, Picanol. Tel: +32 (57) 222111. Fax: +32 (57) 222248. Email: [email protected]

http://www.picanol.be

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