Features

In  the continuous effort to develop textiles that fulfil a wide range of needs, raw materials, finishes and additives play vital roles. Among the exhibitors at Techtextil 2015, Nick Butler finds plenty of evidence to support this assertion.

Texprocess is an exhibition dedicated to the processing of textiles and flexible materials. Niki Tait spoke to the exhibitors and presents a round-up of the latest products and technologies to be found on the show floor.

Editor Nick Butler concludes our preview of Techtextil with a look at exhibitors who will travel the following month to take part in the North American satellite event, Techtextil North America, which once more runs alongside JEC Americas.

Several months before the exhibition’s doors open, the size of Techtextil 2015 has surpassed even that of the record-breaking year of 2013, prompting the show’s organizer to extend its footprint and duration, reports Nick Butler.

Currently, there are several reasons to be highly optimistic about the current state and future prospects of our industry.

The 4^th Annual General Meeting of the Indian Technical Textile Association provided evidence of an industry in good health, with excellent potential in domestic and export markets, according to Samuel Joseph.

John McCurry spoke to three of a young but experienced team that is developing Alexium International’s chemistry-based technology to create new products and open opportunities for the rapidly growing company.

A wide-range of initiatives are in place to eliminate waste in nonwovens manufacturing, as Adrian Wilson describes, but what can be done once they are converted into consumer products?

Speaking at a press conference ahead of  this year’s Techtextil and Texprocess trade fairs, Commerzbank analyst, Jürgen Grebe, described how the technical textiles industry fared well during the financial crisis and predicted further global growth.

Glass and other speciality fibres, such as aramids, have been used for many years as reinforcements for composites. Carbon fibre, however, is now very much the focus of the industry, particularly  for automotive end-uses, according to Adrian Wilson.