Features

John W. McCurry reports on the latest developments from three producers of nonwovens who are all taking their first steps towards establishing international manufacturing bases by investing in the USA.

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.

Speaking to the company during the recent Techtextil (held on 9–12 May 2017 in Frankfurt, Germany), Geoff Fisher learned that Olbo & Mehler has opened a sales office and warehouse in the USA to shorten its supply times and extend its customer base in the region, as well as taking its first steps towards manufacturing locally.

With its theme of ‘Connecting the Future’, it was only to be expected that smart fabrics – together with many complementary Industry 4.0 developments in automation, connectivity and digitized processing – would be prominently featured at this year’s Techtextil and Texprocess shows held together in Frankfurt, Germany, on 9–12 June 2017, and this certainly turned out to be the case. Adrian Wilson reports. 

The growth in the development of specialist machinery and equipment targeted specifically at the manufacture of technical textiles is never better illustrated than in the importance that all of the major builders devote to Techtextil. Editor Nick Butler presents his selection of the highlights to be found during the exhibition’s next edition, taking place in Frankfurt, Germany, on 9–12 May 2017.

Research and development and the diverse organizations that support it are vital to the health of the technical textile sector and will be well represented at Techtextil, writes Editor Nick Butler.

Chemical suppliers continue to create treatments that can add a variety of functionalities to textiles, but one major theme at Techtextil in 2017 will be the development of alternatives to fluorocarbons as water- and liquid-repellents, reports Editor Nick Butler.

Coating, laminating and finishing processes are vital to the transformation of textiles for technical applications. Once again, the latest innovations in these processes will be to the fore at Techtextil, says Editor Nick Butler.

Textile developments for all kinds of applications will fill the halls of Messe Frankfurt, according to Editor Nick Butler.

Despite following closely on from the Nonwovens for High-performance Applications conference⁽¹⁾ and Index 17⁽²⁾, Techtextil's exhibitors will reveal even more technical end-uses for nonwovens. Editor Nick Butler picks some highlights from their plans.