http://www.AdsaleATA.com/Publicity/Interview/lang-eng/Listing.aspxCTA Textile - 5-minute InterviewFrance-based Lectra has been supplying advanced cutting equipment and leading software systems to various industries such as textiles, leather, industrial fabrics and automotibles. As a world leader in integrated technology solutions, Lectra is directing its product R&D with global mentality, and meanwhile, it has formed a team well aware of China's fashion industry. Recently, Daniel Harari, Lectra's CEO, and Andreas A. Kim, Lectra's President in China and Japan areas, spoke to ATA on the company's latest developments. According to Mr Harari, influenced by the rising costs as well as the industry's trend of upgrading and synchronization, the fashion market in the next 10 years will grow in a model very different from the one a decade ago, and intelligent solutions can help fashion companies better cope with the changes.ATA: Lectra introduced the first PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) solution for the fashion industry in 2007. How is PLM going in the apparel industry? Has PLM been better received by Chinese companies?Mr Harari: At present, product lifecycle management solutions have been widely applied in the manufacturing industry. PLM for the fashion industry not only reduces product costs and development time, but also helps companies enhance their competitiveness. In the apparel industry, Mango is Lectra's first customer for PLM. In addition to the retail brands, customers from multiple market segments including traditional garment manufacturers, are also adopting PLM solutions, such as the Hermès and sportswear manufacturers from Italy. Therefore PLM is a product not only suited for companies of certain types.In the Asia market, we have cooperated with Les Enphants from Taiwan, and Wacoal from Japan, to name a few. The PLM’s application in China is still in the early stage compared with the US, unlike the cutting room which has been widely used by Chinese companies. Nevertheless, many apparel companies have shown great interest in the product, and are now enquiring about and evaluating the product.ATA: In terms of sales revenue, what is the percentage of the Asia-Pacific market in Lectra's global business? How was Lectra's sales performance in China last year?Mr Kim: At present, about 51% of our sales revenue is from Europe, while the Asia-Pacific region accounts for about 21%. China is our fastest growing market. In 2010, our business in China rose by nearly 120% compared with 2009. Therefore, we are very optimistic about the China market. Our business in China can hardly exceed that in Europe, but no doubt it will grow rapidly in future.ATA: Could you tell us Lectra's development strategy for the China market?Mr Kim: We have formulated specific strategies for the Chinese market, and one of the most important things is to choose the right target market, then cooperate with enterprises who can accept Lectra's value. Next, we hope to provide customers with complete solutions - on top of the hardware and the software, we also integrate our expertise and the best solution in the apparel industry into customers' production management. For instance, for the application of PLM and Modaris V7, a comprehensive assessment for the existing production process is required, and the management at the customer's company have to have the determination to change. It is only in this way that the new solutions can be genuinely implemented.ATA: To our knowledge, Lectra has also been working with many universities in China. Could you tell us more about this, as well as your company's future plan?Mr Kim: So far Lectra has been cooperating with 44 educational institutions in China, providing them advanced equipment and software free of charge. There are more than 9,000 Chinese students benefiting from this project. Last year, Lectra held a global education seminar in China. It shows how much we value China. Lectra participated in this project not for profit or sales promotion. Instead, we aim to grow with the Chinese fashion industry, upgrade its overall efficiency and competitiveness, and help the country to establish companies that are able to compete with international brands and suppliers.http://www.adsaleata.com/Publicity/Interview/lang-eng/article-467/Article.aspxIn today's fashion market, consumers' knowledge of elastic fiber is not confined to intimate apparel and swimwear. In fact, the application of elastic fiber can be seen in many apparel sectors such as denim, knitwear, shirts and socks, contributing to the improvement of garment's functionalities. Meanwhile, consumers' pursuit of comfort, trendiness and functionality in underwear is promoting the development of new fiber and fabric. Steve Stewart, Invista Apparel Global Director for Intimate Apparel and Swimwear, tells ATA about the development trends of the intimate apparel market, in addition to giving a brief introduction to its newly introduced fiber, Lycra T862W.ATA: First of all, could you tell us more about the Lycra T862W fiber?Mr Stewart: Lycra T862W fiber evolves specifically from Lycra T162B fiber to bring superior whiteness and more fashionable colors, and fabric uniformity and better washing fastness, so as to create more fashion space, on top of the strengths of our existing products.ATA: What makes Lycra T862W fiber unique?Mr Stewart: Lycra T862W fiber not only sets a new standard in fabric whiteness, but also achieves richer, more saturated colors when it is mixed with nylon. I have to say that Lycra T862W fiber has laid a solid foundation in critical characteristics including fabric whiteness, whiteness retention, color expressiveness and fabric uniformity.ATA: As far as elastic fibers for intimate apparel and swimwear are concerned, what significant changes have you seen?Mr Stewart: When it comes to intimate apparel, consumers are no longer choosing products based on prices only, instead they increasingly focus on product quality, design and functions. Therefore, future fabrics should be able to offer a good blend among comfort, bodyshaping function and fashionability. Similarly, the consumption market will be in need of intimate apparel fabric that matches fashion trends and color trends, allowing for more variety of exquisite products and providing more inspirations for fashion design. Our Lycra Beauty fabric has been successfully applied to lace, printed apparel, swimwear and seamless underwear.ATA: What is the biggest trend for the development of intimate apparel and swimwear?Mr Stewart: According to our statistics, the intimate apparel market is rapidly expanding. Chinese consumers' consumption on underwear has grown from 5% few years ago to 8% of their total apparel consumption. However, compared with the US and Europe markets, it still has big room for growth.Within the entire underwear and swimwear sector, bodyshaping underwear is a fast growing sector, whether it is in terms of volume and consumers' preferences, and consumers have higher expectations for this kind of customized apparel - they want it to be more comfortable and better fitted, and have better bodyshaping effects. Even though we haven't got the figures related to the growth rates of elastic fiber demand in 2011, I'm sure that the market is continuously demanding more and more elastic fiber.ATA: What do you make of the development of the Chinese intimate apparel market?Mr Stewart: In 2010, China's total retail volume of bodyshaping underwear reached 37 million pieces, which made up about 3% of its consumption on brassiere, and it means that Chinese women aged 15-44 purchased a set of bras in the year. China has 152 million target customers and this denotes a huge potential market to be reckoned with. We anticipate that in the future, China's demand for brassiere and bodyshaping underwear will grow at the rates of 10% and 8% respectively.In the intimate apparel sector, we have worked with almost all major fashion brands in China.http://www.adsaleata.com/Publicity/Interview/lang-eng/article-465/Article.aspxEstablished in 1952, Mesdan is one of the leading producers of yarn joining devices for the textile industry, while Mesdan Lab has just celebrated its 20th anniversary in developing and producing instruments for laboratory analysis of textile materials. In further development, the company regards innovation and quality as the key driving force. Dejan Lalevich, Export Manager at Mesdan SpA, introduced to ATA the company's newest products showcased at ITMA 2011, followed by his views on the industry's latest developments.ATA: Mesdan is the market leader in yarn joining devices. Could you tell us more about your new products in the sector?Mr Lalevich: The hand-operated Hot Jointair 4983B is designed for ATS (Air Truck Supply) applications. It is endowed with a special heating element which heats the "head" of the splicer, thus the heated joining blast enables it to improve the obtained results on some specific yarns with count between 2.5 and 80NM. It can achieve excellent knot-free joining for "difficult yarns" such as high twisted wool, viscose and acetate, as well as for luxury yarns such as cashmere, silk, angora and mohair.Besides, the Indigo 4662 Splicer is designed for re-beaming operations of cotton denim yarns. Featuring indigo dye injection technology, it is a unique device to splice indigo dyed yarns on the re-beaming machines with indigo. It is small in size and its almost horizontal alignment eases yarn introduction and reduces excess yarn length. The activating cycle is performed by means of a small pneumatic valve. ATA: Mesdan Lab's new Eveness Tester MT? What makes it unique for testing labs?Mr Lalevich: Our new Evenness Tester MT is designed for the evenness and hairiness control of slivers, rovings and spun yarns. The system analyzes periodic mass variations generated in the manufacturing process.Mesdan’s new Evenness Tester MTThe tester features a capacitive sensor with wide testing range (from 80g/m of sliver up to Ne 200 yarn) and a modular system, enabling to integrate the H-Sensor (for hairiness measurement) and fully automatic testing (with the addition of the Automatic Cop Changer). It allows fully automatic system calibration, obtaining results that are compatible and comparable with the most popular international standards.ATA: In the textile sector, what are your major export markets? Has this changed in the past few years? Mr Lalevich: Besides the traditional markets such as China, India and Pakistan, we are getting excellent response from the former Russian countries, Middle East, South America and Africa. 2011 was exceptionally fruitful for Mesdan - a record year for us in all aspects.ATA: What have been driving Mesdan's development? How can these qualities be implemented in your operation?Mr Lalevich: Innovation and quality are Mesdan's driving force. We continue implementing and developing these values in our everyday operations, production process and R&D. On the other hand, we are implementing these to respond to customers' demand and our particular respect for the environment. In fact, we have participated in the "Sustainable Technologies" project organized by the ACIMIT (Italian Textile Machinery Association), and obtained the Eco-Green label based on carbon footprint of specific technologies and production process.ATA: In developing joining devices and testing equipment, what are the biggest trends?Mr Lalevich: For the development of joining devices and testing equipment, automation is definitely the key direction. Nowadays, the number of automatic splicers we manufacture monthly is more than that we produced yearly 10 years ago.Our hand-operated splicers also have very good market. This is mainly because the "knotless yarn" concept merged into the splicers has been transformed into "knot-free fabric" concept; that's why our applications are shifting to warping, and more and more mills are considering supplying fabric without any knot. But still, we can say that Two-For-One (TFO) remains the key application area.For Mesdan Lab, most products for yarn testing have automatic features, such as twist testers, friction testers, and strength/elongation testers.For fabric testing, due to the growing technical textile market, we have launched several "high capacity" heavy-duty testers such as tearing testers with measuring up to 30,000cN and strength testers with maximum capacity up to 50,000n.http://www.adsaleata.com/Publicity/Interview/lang-eng/article-459/Article.aspxIn the textile and apparel industry, dyeing and finishing are the sector that is always considered to be the main culprit for posing harms to the environment. To wipe off the sector's negative image, dyeing and finishing machinery makers have sought to develop green technology which allows dyehouses to operate in a more eco-friendly fashion. Among them is the Germany-based Thies. At the ITMA exhibition in Barcelona, Verena Thies, General Manager of Thies GmbH & Co KG, shared with ATA her views on developments of the dyeing and finishing machinery sector.ATA: In the dyeing and finishing sector, have you seen any significant changes in recent years?Ms Thies: Asian manufacturers are paying a lot of attention to eco issues. They are finding ways to reduce water consumption, electricity consumption and carbon footprint. They used to be just talking about going green, but now the survivors are those who have actually implemented it. We have put so much R&D on environmental things and our efforts have paid off now.ATA: What is the leading direction for the development of dyeing and finishing machinery?Ms Thies: For dyeing and finishing machinery, cost-efficiency and high productivity as well as treatment technology to produce good quality fabric are already the basic requirements. Development towards sustainability remains the top priority. In Asia, in particular India, China and Bangladesh, environment-related regulations have become very strict. Asian dyehouses are in dire need of sustainable technologies.ATA: Thies adopted "Go green with Thies" as its corporate slogan. Could you tell us more about this?Ms Thies: Our slogan "Go green with Thies" stresses the proper use of resources, including water and energy, which in fact make up a considerable portion of dyehouses' expenses. We have borne in mind that "the less water you use, the less dyestuff you use" and developed a comprehensively sustainable dyeing concept. For instance, the new iMaster H2O can save a tremendous amount of water, while the new Advanced Aftertreatment Process (AAP) can achieve rapid, energy-efficient decoloration of dye liquor by using ozone. ATA: Thies displays the new iMaster H2O high temperature fabric dyeing machine. What unique benefits does it offer to dyehouses?Ms Thies: iMaster H2O can achieve significant saving of water. For cotton, it starts at a liquor ratio of 1:3.7, depending on the pick-up of water on the fabric. It can also reduce the process time significantly while improving quality in terms of both appearance and elongation of the fabric. It can handle a wide range of fabrics and knitted natural and synthetic fibers and blends. With minimal rope lifting, it provides improved shrinkage control and less rope curling for elastic fabrics such as cotton and Lycra.http://www.adsaleata.com/Publicity/Interview/lang-eng/article-456/Article.aspxMarching into its 80th anniversary in 2012, French chemicals supplier Protex International, which initially focused on producing chemical products for the textile industry, has extended its expertise to such fields as agriculture, electronics, paints, inks, paper, perfume compositions and water management. Robert Moor, President of Protex International, spoke to ATA about the company's latest development strategies. ATA: What are new products Protex offers to the textile industry? What benefits do they offer to the textile industry?Mr Moor: Our textile auxiliaries cover a diverse range of products for the preparation, dyeing, process assistance, finishing, special effects and coating.Our products are directly coming from our own R&D and our innovations. Our main objective is to help users face challenges concerning environmental demands, and products' energy requirements.ATA: In developing textile finishing agents and chemicals, what are the biggest trends? In other words, what can dyers and finishers be looking forward to in the future? Mr Moor: The trend of textile auxiliaries for us is in the finishing. Our main goal is to improve the features of textiles, such as softness, colorfastness and durability. The moisture management on all kinds of fibers is also very important and that's why we have launched the product PROTE-CARE to reduce the humidity of certain textiles and the impact of perspiration for better comfort in wearing. We also take care of the environmental aspects of our products to minimize water consumption. And we also take in into account the ecological aspects of our products. ATA: In the textile sector, what are the major export markets of Protex?Mr Moor: Our major Asian markets are South Korea, China, Thailand and Indonesia, while our European markets are the UK, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland. ATA: Protex strengthened its presence in China by setting up subsidiaries there as early as 1979. What drove your company to make such a move back then? What has your company achieved so far?Mr Moor: The presence in China of Protex began in 1979, with the establishment of Prox-Asia in Hong-Kong to sell products within China, which were manufactured at the Synthron plant, at Auzouer-en-Touraine, in France.Aware of China's strong growth potential of China and the necessity to establish proximity with local clients, Protex decided to establish an industrial presence there. Sino-Prox Chemicals Gaoyao plant was set up in Guangdong in 1995, followed by Suzhou Prox-Chem in Suzhou, Jiangsu, in 2003, Shandong Prox-Chem in Qingdao in 2006, and Suzhou Protavic in 2009. These Chinese subsidiaries are wholly-owned by Protex and benefit from polyvalent equipment on their production sites.Protex has different R&D laboratories in Asia, including Chinese R&D laboratories in Guangdong, in Suzhou, in Jiangsu as well as South Korean laboratories in CheonJu and in Dee-Jun, where the research teams develop specific innovative solutions for the Asian market, and follow a policy of "cross-fertilization" from one market to another. I personally believe in the advantages of know-how developed in various fields, from chemical synthesis to polymerization and formulation.ATA: Besides China, other emerging Asian markets such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Vietnam are gaining significance in the textile industry. How important are they to your business in the textile sector?Mr Moor: Besides China, we are currently present in countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Vietnam with distributors. We are also reviewing the opportunities to start producing in these countries, although their current political and economic situations may postpone such projects. These markets, especially Bangladesh, are very important for us to sell our textile auxiliaries.(For the full version of this article, please refer to the "Corporate Profile" column in the forthcoming Dec 2011/Jan 2012 issue of ATA Journal.)http://www.adsaleata.com/Publicity/Interview/lang-eng/article-448/Article.aspxThe US-headquartered Dow Corning specializes in silicones and silicon-based technology for various industries such as electronics, energy, healthcare and textiles. At the recent Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics 2011, Dow Corning and its partner Guangzhou Dongqi Textile Technology Co Ltd jointly exhibited a series of silicon-based products and their applications, including its organic silicon textile printing silica gel, its Easy Style emulsion system as well as new impact-resistant textiles through its Deflexion technology. Peter Wu, AETS Manager, Asian Area, Textiles & Chemicals Industry of Dow Corning Taiwan, spoke to ATA on the company's latest development.ATA: What makes Dow Corning's organic silicon textile printing silica gel unique?Mr Wu: Dow Corning's organic silicon textile printing silica gel is soft, non-sticky and elastic, providing different options in appearance and design with good printing fastness. It can be used in highly elastic fabrics such as swimwear and sportswear, and no distortion or breakage will occur in case of low temperature and elongation.ATA: Dow Corning is noted for product development. What is the key emphasis in your company's R&D?Mr Wu: Dow Corning emphasizes sustainability, ecology and environment protection on the development of products and new technologies. For instance, our printing silica gel creates no harm to the environment as it contains no heavy metals, phthalate, formaldehyde, and meets the standard Oeko-Tex 100. In addition, the optimal printing effect can be reached with only small portion of this product - not only can it shorten the production time, but it can also minimize wastage.ATA: How well received is the printing silica gel in the China market so far?Mr Wu: Frankly speaking, for the time being, not many Chinese textile firms truly adopt organic silicon printing silica gel due to the cost pressure. We expect that brand merchants and designers could accept the environmentally friendly products more due to their higher additional value. In my opinion, the future trend must be sustainable development, and those undertaking social responsibility shall not stray from this direction.http://www.adsaleata.com/Publicity/Interview/lang-eng/article-443/Article.aspxAs a leading textile machinery supplier, Rieter is always committed to research and development of sophisticated textile machines. The Switzerland-based company is the only supplier offering all ring spinning, compact spinning, rotor spinning and air-jet spinning systems from fiber to yarn from a single source. According to Huang Wei, Marketing Manager of Rieter Textile Systems (Shanghai) Ltd, Rieter's plant in Changzhou, China will double its current production capacity in the near future and introduce more advanced spinning technologies. At the recent Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics, Mr Huang shared with ATA his insights on the future development of the textile machinery industry.ATA: China is a rather significant market for Rieter. How is your company's development in this market?Mr Huang: China has surpassed Turkey to become Rieter's most important market. Despite certain unfavorable factors, such as price fluctuation of cotton, financial difficulty caused by national macro-control policy, our sales orders still witness stable increase this year. It is also worth mentioning that our plant located in Changzhou City will complete capacity expansion to a double this December. Rieter has continually invested in the China market for two reasons: one is China's growing demand for advanced textile machines, and the other is that China is encouraging the development of the machinery manufacture industry.ATA: How do you see the textile machinery industry during China's 12th Five-year Plan period?Mr Huang: A target in the 12th Five-year Plan of China is to reduce the number of workers per 10,000 spindles in textile industry from 100 now to 60. We see the opportunities therein. In fact, the average number of workers per 10,000 spindles will be only 23 for carding if Rieter's whole process equipment is employed, and thus, efficiency will be highly improved and recruitment difficulty will be relieved. Our machines manufactured in Changzhou will be for domestic supply and export in the future. The Indian market is also growing fast, but their product demand is different from China.ATA: Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics focuses on textile fabrics. Why did Rieter choose to exhibit at the fair?Mr Huang: Only a few of machine manufacturers are exhibiting at this fabric exhibition. This is the first time for us to participate in the exhibition. We will continue to exhibit in future because Rieter will make great efforts to promote the brand of Rieter yarn. Also we have registered trademarks for the products manufactured by our four types of Rieter machines. I believe this will be beneficial for our clients in the sales and promotion of their products.http://www.adsaleata.com/Publicity/Interview/lang-eng/article-437/Article.aspxDiloGroup is a Germany-based specialist in nonwoven technologies. At the recent ITMA exhibition in Barcelona, the company presented a complete nonwoven production line comprised of its new MultiCard, which is designed for operation in combination with a crosslapper. During the fair, Weng Wenchao, Sales District Manager of Dilo Systems GmbH, shared with ATA his insights into the nonwoven industry.ATA: The nonwoven sector always seems different from other sectors in the textile industry. What are the key factors that set it apart?Mr Weng: Unlike other sectors in the textile industry, the nonwoven sector is a capital-intensive industry instead of a labor-intensive one. For the nonwoven manufacturers, fiber and machinery would be their biggest investment. Therefore, for the nonwoven sector, automation is definitely the keyword - in fact, from fiber to finished products, it takes less than half an hour for production.ATA: DiloGroup is one of the market leaders in nonwoven machinery. What is the leading direction of your company's technological development? Mr Weng: The leading direction for our nonwoven technologies will be towards higher capacity, higher efficiency, higher productivity, better quality as well as more fiber material savings. Another trend is easy maintenance - for manufacturers, easy maintenance means higher production efficiency, because their production won't be interrupted.Besides, the enhancement of product quality and uniformity is also very important. Higher uniformity means you are saving the fibers, which is particularly important at times when the price of raw materials is getting higher and higher.Our new technology Profi-Line CV1, for instance, can reduce fiber consumption considerably by reducing weight variations in the batt. Depending on fiber and technological parameters, a coefficient of variation between 0.5-1.5 can be achieved. Such minimum weight variations avoid excessive fiber usage outside the minimum weight limit.ATA: How would you see the future development of the global nonwoven industry?Mr Weng: Nonwoven manufacturing activities will stay evenly distributed in the EU, the US, and Asia. Nonetheless, Asia has very high potential for development in the nonwoven industry. At the moment, Asia is developing at a growth rate of 5-10% with higher capacity year by year and China is already a very big market.On the other hand, nonwovens have very wide applications, as home textiles, geotextiles, and in the medical and hygiene, automotive and filtration industries. I believe nonwovens will find wider and wider applications.http://www.adsaleata.com/Publicity/Interview/lang-eng/article-430/Article.aspxAt the recent ITMA 2011, Shima Seiki showcased a wide range of machines under the theme "Solutions for diversity" in Barcelona. Among others, the Japanese flat knitting machinery maker presented the new SWG FIRST 154 S21 computerized ultrafine gauge knitting machine, which according to Shima Seiki, offers the highest gauge (21 needles per inch) in the flat knitting machinery market. During the fair, Masaki S. Karasuno, Creative Director, Corporate Planning Division of Shima Seiki Mfg., Ltd, spoke to ATA on the industry’s significant changes as well as the leading trend for development in the knitting machinery market. ATA: AdsaleATAMr Karasuno: Masaki S. Karasuno, Creative Director, Corporate Planning Division of Shima Seiki Mfg., Ltd. ATA: In the knitting machinery industry, what significant changes have you seen lately?Mr Karasuno: As the world economy is slowing down, consumers are less willing to spend money on knitwear. China has become such a superpower in the textile manufacturing – a large portion of our machinery sales goes to the country. On the other hand, those markets we used to go to, such as Japan, Europe, and the US, have shrunk down and are faced with high costs and unavailability of labor. For those markets, we have machines more suited to their needs, such as WHOLEGARMENT machine, which doesn’t require labor for sewing and knitting.But within two years, China has become more expensive. This happened before when things were made in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. When cheap labor becomes the key factor to manufacturing of a country, more and more companies will go there for production; and when the country has become rich, people will be more demanding, and the wages will naturally increase and labor will become unavailable for manufacturing. We see more demand for automatic machines like WHOLEGARMENT in China as well as Eastern Europe where labor is becoming less available. Also within China, there are regions where labor are unavailable, it means that there is a strong demand for switching from hand flat machines to automatic or computerized machines. In fact, it is also happening in Eastern Europe. On the other hand, there are countries with more labor available like Vietnam, Cambodia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India - these are the markets we should focus on.ATA: Do you see automation as the leading direction for the development of knitting machinery?Mr Karasuno: Definitely. Automation will become the leading direction for the development of knitting machinery. Labor basically has become less available in largest markets from Japan and Taiwan, to China now. [Manufacturing] is already going to Cambodia, India and Bangladesh, maybe to Africa. Before, manufacturing went away from Japan and Taiwan to go to China. But still, we cannot ignore China in the future - I believe manufacturing will stay in China except now it is becoming more diversified to other areas. As a country, China has become wealthy and has its own domestic market. Practically, it will produce for its domestic market and exports as well. Besides, China will bring in the orders and then outsource to other cheaper-cost countries to produce for China. ATA: “Solutions for diversity” – the slogan Shima Seiki has adopted is very interesting. Could you tell us more about this?Mr Karasuno: We have adopted the theme "Solutions for diversity" to deliver the message that we have developed a wide range of machines to cater to the needs of different markets from different countries. In fact, we may be the only manufacturer that supplies flat knitting machines all across the board from very coarse gauge to very fine gauge; we also have machines for garment knitting and accessory knitting."Solutions for diversity" is the concept we could relate to ITMA 2011, but I believe this is going to continue. Interestingly, a journalist asked our President Dr Shima this morning what his plans are for 2012, which is our company’s 50th anniversary. Right now, we aim to deliver this message of "Solutions for diversity" to customers, hoping that they will purchase our machines, have them running in their factories, and then make profits out of them, so that by the time when 2012 comes, we can all celebrate together: they can be happy about the profits they make out of our machines, and we can celebrate our 50th anniversary. But we don’t just focus on the next 12 months until 2012, instead, we think about what we can do for our customers in the next 50 years. This is something we keep in mind at this moment.http://www.adsaleata.com/Publicity/Interview/lang-eng/article-382/Article.aspxAlthough localization may lead to higher profitability, for Dornier, one of the market leaders in rapier weaving machines and air-jet weaving machines, "Made in Germany" is critical to ensure the quality of its products. In a recent interview with ATA, Musik Cheuk, General Manager, Administration & Sales of Dornier Machinery (Shanghai) Co Ltd, gave an account on this strategy while sharing the company's global business development and his views on China's and Asia's high-end textile industry.ATA: Could you tell us about Dornier's global sales in recent years? Have Europe, the US and other textile markets recovered from the financial crisis?Mr Cheuk: At the moment, the US, Europe, China and Turkey are the major markets of our weaving machines. The sales in Europe are at a high level in whole, and Turkey also sees very high demand for our machines due to its favorable geographic position and high textile manufacturing level.During 2007-2008, due to the financial crisis, our sales went down a bit. Among them, the US seemed to be affected the most and now has not even been back to the pre-crisis level. On the contrary, our sales in China have steady growth with the PS rapier machine being the bestseller in China. During January to September 2010, we sold nearly 200 machines in China, which was much better than what it was in 2009.ATA: Europe and the US have very high demand for high-end textiles. Will this situation continue in the future? In your opinion, where will the high-end textile industry go in the future?Mr Cheuk: In the past two years, we have seen more and more market shifting. The high-end textile industry appears to be shifting from the west to the east. Some enterprises in the US and Europe gradually closed their local production plants and established production bases in Asia and other regions, such as Turkey and China. This is mainly due to low-cost production and industrial upgrading in these countries.Given that the textile industry was heavily hit by the financial crisis, it is essential for companies to improve their competitiveness and advance their technology. Because of this, the industry started developing towards high-end, and it can be said that the financial crisis has actually accelerated this process.The technological development of Turkey and China is rather fast, and our business in these two markets is stably increasing. Following the advancement of Asian weaving technologies, I believe that the demand for high-end weaving machinery will be definitely growing.ATA: What are the major businesses of Dornier Machinery (Shanghai)? Will you have plans to make any production localized in the future?Mr Cheuk: Dornier Machinery (Shanghai) serves the East Asia market, covering such countries and regions as China, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Taiwan. All our weaving machines are 100% produced in Germany, and I believe it should be staying this way in the future. The main reason is that our largest markets are still Europe and the US. Even though our sales in China are stably increasing, the absolute volume is not large, and so local production is not the best choice for now. In addition, in terms of total production output, we could reach 7% of the total weaving machines in the world when we produced in full swing. Therefore, production in Germany can fully meet the current market demand.When it comes to branding, we are serving the high-end market and the image of "made in Germany" is actually a testimony of quality. Despite that some international weaving machinery manufacturers have started production in China, our high-end clients prefer imported machines.ATA: Technologically speaking, what makes your air-jet looms and rapier looms stand out from your competitors? What is your yearly investment on R&D of new technology? Mr Cheuk: Technologically speaking, our competitive advantage can be noticeably seen in our rapier looms. For instance, in terms of weft insertion, most looms in the market adopt a passive type of weft insertion, but we use an active weft insertion system, which can be said to be an exclusive technology - rapier can be moved in the course of weaving. For years, our technology has had advantage on the specialty textiles that are very difficult to be woven.The key to improving machinery is the application of electronic technologies. For example, electronic warp feeding and electronic curling device and other control technologies can make operation easier and improve the quality of textiles. And we maintain stable investment in R&D regardless of fluctuation of sales.Machinery enhancement and development is an interactive process between machinery manufacturers and designers. For example, one of our machines used for denim edge weaving can weave company logos, names and other information on fabric edges. It can strengthen personality and design, meeting the demand of European fashion. That's what makes it so popular in the European fashion industry. At present, this machine is mainly sold in Europe and Turkey.ATA: What do you think of the Asian market in the future? And what do you think of the development of China's high-end loom market in the next three to five years?Mr Cheuk: Our gross sales volume in Asia is about half of our global sales, so the Asian market is very important for us.Currently, China is certainly one of our major markets. Our Chinese users are mainly engaged in the manufacture of products with high added values, for example, fabrics for industrial use.However, China's production output of high-end textiles is still low, and the production technologies are backward, compared with Europe and the US. Many Chinese enterprises have not used advanced technologies yet, for example, carbon fiber textile weaving technology. So I consider that there is a vast growth space in the Asian high-end market.Recently, the production of tire cord fabric has a rapid development in China and quite a few manufacturers are increasing their investment, including some foreign-funded enterprises from South Korea and Japan. This is an opportunity for us. We have already obtained a large share in the field of tire cord fabric sector.http://www.adsaleata.com/Publicity/Interview/lang-eng/article-416/Article.aspxWith its efforts on product development and business expansion, Lucky Textile, a Chinese fabric manufacturer based in Jiangsu province, has achieved rapid business growth in the past five years. With an annual production output over 100 million meters, the company is putting more resources into the domestic market to offset the sluggish demand in overseas market. ATA recently spoke to George Zhen, Managing Director of Lucky Textile Group, on the company's future business plans and his outlook of the global textile market.ATA: Many textile manufacturers are concerned about the unstable demand in western market. How's business for Lucky Textile so far?Mr Zhen: Lucky Textile has many years of experience in exporting. Around 70% of our products are exported. We are targeting the middle- and high-end level and have formed long-term cooperation with large retailers like J. C. Penny, Coles and Target, as well as major brands like Gap, Lee and Levi's.I think what we achieved so far is satisfactory. However, purchasing power in the US and Europe was seriously weakened in the financial crisis and is still not back to the pre-crisis level. In addition, both regions are now dealing with the debt crisis. These things are making it difficult for textile manufacturers to do business.ATA: How's Lucky Textile dealing with the weakening demand? Will your company allocate more resources to the domestic market?Mr Zhen: We want to generate more businesses from the domestic market. Our sales in the China market keep rising in the past few years. We used to export nearly all of our products but now 30% is supplied to the local market. This trend is particularly noticeable after 2008.We are now trying to expand into the retail arena. Our company is currently operating a brand for menswear in China and we will open more stores in the next few years. There is a risk behind this because running retail business is quite different from running a textile factory. But we will keep track of the progress and be prudent.ATA: Lucky Textile has a design and R&D team in the US. Can you tell us more about this?Mr Zhen: In today's business environment, companies need to respond to the market quickly. Developing new products is a quite important way to enable fast adaptation to market changes. Our design team in New York is the brain of our R&D. We want to understand the market and listen to our customers. That is why we set up an office in New York. The team there will observe market trends – they visit stores of these fashion brands that we cooperate with and see what they sell there.ATA: In the first five months of 2011, the average price for exported textile products went up by 21% compared with the same period of last year. Do you agree that this indicates the rising value of China-made products?Mr Zhen: Chinese manufacturers are working toward the upstream of the value chain. We are laying great emphasis on products that contribute to higher values though this is a long-term goal that cannot be reached shortly. I think the current price hikes are driven more by the rising costs, the surging raw material prices in particular. As a fabric manufacturer, we cannot absorb all the cost increases therefore the rising costs will be passed along the supply chain. I believe that the retail prices for the upcoming autumn/winter collection is likely to go up by at least 10%.http://www.adsaleata.com/Publicity/Interview/lang-eng/article-411/Article.aspxNow ITMA 2011 is only about one month away and Karl Mayer, one of the market leaders in warp knitting machinery, will be presenting their latest innovations to the industry. Recently, the company's CEO Fritz P. Mayer talked about Karl Mayer's expectations of ITMA 2011 and previewed what it has to offer for visitors at the quadrennial fair.As one of the largest exhibitors at ITMA 2011, what does Karl Mayer expect to achieve by exhibiting at ITMA?Mr Mayer: We are hoping to meet highly qualified visitors from all over the world at ITMA 2011. We are particularly geared up to welcoming visitors who lead the way in their own particular fields. As part of our twin product line strategy, we can supply innovation-driven companies with high-end machines of exceptional technical quality. The ITMA fair in Europe continues to be an effective platform for us, where we can showcase our high-tech machines, most of which are developed and manufactured in Western Europe.What role can the textile machinery fair in Europe play, given that the textile industry is being increasingly dominated by Asia?Mr Mayer: ITMA 2011 is a good opportunity for European textile machinery manufacturers to highlight their pioneering position and to demonstrate their exceptional innovative strengths. It is true that new technical innovations are increasingly being developed in Asia, but in the textile machine building sector, the leading manufacturers are still important sources of inspiration and new ideas.What development prospects do you see for non-Asian textile producers over the next few years?Mr Mayer: Since the economic crisis in 2009, the textile markets outside Asia have recovered exceptionally well and also offer good business prospects for manufacturers who are based outside this emerging continent. In order to be successful, it is important to develop new products all the time, offer ranges that can cater for lucrative yet small end-use fields, and increasingly be able to deliver high-quality goods on time.How can European textile machinery builders stand out against their Asian competitors in the future, especially in view of China's increasing expertise in machine building?Mr Mayer: The strength of European textile machinery manufacturers lies both in their traditional pioneering spirit as well as in their expertise in engineering and development, which is based on strong interdisciplinary cooperation. With their high-tech systems, European textile machinery builders have traditionally determined the performance limits of the textile and clothing sector. On the other hand, their international, market-oriented location enables European manufacturers to manufacture goods having a competitive price-performance ratio. Above all, the use of modern production technology and efficient process control and management techniques offer a huge potential when it comes to strengthening and consolidating production locations in Western Europe.What level of interest are you expecting from the Asian visitors at ITMA in Barcelona?Mr Mayer: We are expecting a large number of visitors from all over the world - especially from emerging nations like India. In addition to visitors from Europe, the Near and Far East, and North and South America, we expect that many interested people from Asia will also take the opportunity to examine our latest innovations for themselves.How important are the markets outside Asia for Karl Mayer?Mr Mayer: The markets outside Asia have always been extremely important to us. This is where there is a demand for high-tech products manufactured in Germany. We have built up long-standing and close relationships with a large number of companies, which have resulted in the development of many new innovations.What can we be looking forward to seeing on Karl Mayer's stand?Mr Mayer: We will be exhibiting the latest developments from all our business units at ITMA under the motto of "We care about your future". Whereas the focus of our machines for producing technical textiles is on offering individual, client-based solutions, we also aim to showcase our warp knitting machines with their optimized price-performance ratios, as well as new, innovative textiles. Our warp preparation machines also offer an impressive, well-balanced price-performance ratio and a high, reproducible product quality. The performance profiles of our latest new developments are based on the requirements of their relevant markets - not only the current ones but also the emerging ones of the future.We see ITMA as the focal hub for the industry. This is the first time that all our business units will be exhibiting on the same stand. It is here that companies will find new impetus and ideas, as well as practical tips and information to help them do business - and they will also be able to exchange ideas and information with each other.http://www.adsaleata.com/Publicity/Interview/lang-eng/article-404/Article.aspx