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| Issue date:22/02/2010 |
| ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel - Feb 2010 Issue |
| Source:Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel |
| by Staff Reporters |
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| Automation and digitization are two catchwords in the current development of China-made textile machinery. The potential market of automated machinery in China's textile industry is estimated to exceed RMB 2 billion a year, such as in the areas of various controllers, servo systems and so on |
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Getting stronger with automated textile machinery
The global economic downturn, though bringing adverse effects to the textile industry, has presented an opportunity for stronger textile manufacturers to grow bigger in the market, while producers less competitive are under more intense pressure. In the meantime, the Chinese authorities has continued its policy to advocate industry optimization (see the latest official directive on the right), which can fuel the growth of the textile machinery industry. To phase out obsolete equipment, the Chinese authorities encourage industry players to invest in more advanced machinery for their own sustained development in the global supply chain, as well as for catching up with higher requirements in energy and water consumption for the society.
Frequency converters
Frequency converters are extensively used in textile machinery and processes, ranging from carding, drawing, roving, spinning, winding, warping, sizing to shuttleless looms. The use of frequency converter is also critical in auto-winding machines.
A frequency controller can act as the main command unit for a motor, which in turns drives a textile system. This is often the case in a drawing machine, roving machine and spinning machine. In addition, a system can also consist of several frequency controllers so as to command multiple motors, which are synchronized by the computer. This can be found in a more advanced version of the roving machine, yarn sizing machine and section warping machine.
It is projected that China annually demands about more than 200,000 sets of textile-specific frequency converters. At the moment, the frequency converter is made locally as well as imported.
The traditional stenter setting adopts a single line-shaft transmission and thus makes it hard to achieve a change of speed when required. Internationally advanced enterprises, such as those in Germany, started to substitute the traditional line transmissions with multi-chain synchronous transmissions. In order to meet this technological trend in the market, Shaoyang No.2 Textile Machinery Works in China adopts Danfoss frequency converters in its latest product (e.g. Shaoyang's M5469 stenter setting machine). Germany-based Danfoss offers improved flexibility by providing frequency converter with a synchronous card so as to achieve multi-chain transmission.
In addition, Siemens, Lenze, the ABB Group, Schneider Electric and Fuji Electric Group are also suppliers in this field.
Programmable logic controller
Programmable logic controller (PLC) is more and more important in the complex and increasingly automated industrial setting.
Advanced PLC assures programming of various applications via USB port or other forms of electronic communications. They are often in compact sizes and can withstand severe industrial environments.
Some major technical suppliers in this aspect are Siemens, Schneider Electric, Mitsubishi and Fuji Electric Group. For instance, Modicon M340 of Schneider Electric manages applications up to 70K instructions and 256KB data. It accepts from four to 12 modules with maximum density of 64 channels per module.
Human-machine interface
In the industrial design field of human-machine interface (HMI), the user interface is an interactive platform between the operator and the machine.
Generally, HMI is essential to equipment built with PLC. The demand for HMI is therefore closely linked to that for PLC. In recent years, more textile machinery builders in China have developed systems with a user-friendlier touch-screen interface rather than the previously used text-based interface. Suppliers in this field include Siemens, Advantech and Arbor.
Headquartered in Taiwan, Arbor offers an open HMI platform, HMI 2.0. The computing system provides upgraded hardware and OPC (Object linking and embedding for Process Control) sever support for various automated communication requirements, the company says. The open operating system can also provide special features such as smart data recovery, CAN (Controller Area Network)-bus function and RFID (radio frequency identification) module.
AC servo system and on-site bus
China's textile machinery industry started to adopt the AC servo system in these years. A number of shuttleless loom manufacturers have developed AC servo systems for electronic warp feeding and winding. The use of the AC servo system is expected to grow substantially in China's future industry.
Also on the rise is the use of on-site bus that takes up the job to control a variety of systems at the factory floor. The textile manufacturing process is often comprised of several closely linked stages. Adopting the on-site bus helps users coordinate the different stages more efficiently.
Hangzhou Kaiyuan's CCK system
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Automated systems
Automation is another keyword. One of the active developers is Hangzhou Kaiyuan Computer Technology Co Ltd, based in East China.
The company's marketing manager, Xu Changyuan, said that Hangzhou Kaiyuan has put great emphasis on automation so as to further modernize China's textile and apparel manufacturing.
Hangzhou Kaiyuan has developed by itself a fully automatic size-mixing system that can double the production efficiency compared with the conventional printing, dyeing and mixing process, said Mr Xu. Users are able to save as much as RMB1.5 million a year previously spent on sampling and associated costs.
The automatic CCK system for printing/dyeing developed by Hangzhou Kaiyuan provides dosing of dyes (liquid). Featuring advanced recipe management software and a high-precision electronic scale, the system is able to memorize a number of recipes for repeat orders.
In 2009, Chinese textile machinery suppliers felt the chill from abroad, but some of them remained upbeat considering the domestic environment, industry players told ATA Journal. Hongda Textile Machinery (宏大紡机) under China Textile Machinery (Group) Co Ltd is one of them.
Hongda Textile Machinery launched its automatic winding machine in 2008 after six years' research and development.
Although the global economy receded starting the second half of 2008, Hongda Textile Machinery was able to sell its newly developed machine, thanks to its use of integrated circuit drive instead of a mechanic link. The new China-made automatic winder offers users the chance to increase output while reducing costs and the number of operators. The company's marketer said that automatic winding machines in China were under-supplied last year.
In addition, electromechanical integration is crucial in textile machinery, for instance, with the help of a transmission system that synchronized multiple motors and drives. A simple mechanical structure is thus possible, and it is easy to make adjustment during the production process. This in turns allows the textile machine users to response market changes faster, to achieve higher product quality and variety, and to produce in smaller batches.
Motion control
Following the increasing use of frequency converter, PLC and HMI these years, motion control technology is expected to further develop in the Chinese textile industry.
The current trend of motion control is to have the control command source close to the drive, Delta Electronics Inc explains. Hence, the Taiwanese supplier launched the new ASDA-A2 in 2009. As a new generation of the high-performance motion-control servo motor, the ASDA-A2 features a built-in electronic cam for flying shear, rotary cutoff and synchronized motion applications.
Digitalization help promise more market share
As digitial technologies have been getting more mature, China has increaased its investment in digitalization to catch up with the international trends in machinery. Major digital technologies used in the textile and apparel industry are computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided engineering (CAE), computer-aided process planning (CAPP), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and product data management (PDM).
Some Chinese suppliers have gained more recognition after spending years to innovate and advance themselves technologically.
Pacific Mechatronic Group rolled out its development roadmap for digitalized textile machinery in 2002 to promote a more transparent information flow of a textile manufacturing unit.
At the moment, the enterprise has integrated its self-developed digital technology into a range of machines, including the combing machine, roving machine, spinning machine, automatic winding machine, rotary screen printing machine and polyester staple fiber equipment. The EJK211 roving machine, equipped with a four-motor frequency-variable drive, represents a new height in the China-made digital textile machinery, according to the enterprise's president Li Peizhong.
He said: "The constant product development has rewarded us a higher level of market share and prestige in the digital equipment market. We have gained substantial benefits with the quest for advanced digital technology being applied in the textile machinery."
Meanwhile, Hangzhou Honghua is pleased with the potential of digital printing, which allows a faster and more efficient design process. Patterns can be changed quickly and the inkjet printer is able to produce the image without making a screen. Above all, users can swiftly respond to market changes and therefore achieve improved profitability, said Du Sien the company's marketing manager.
A recent product development by Hangzhou Honghua is the VEGA DBP high-speed digital textile ink-jet printing system. It is equipped with 16 sprinklers, and each sprinkler has 256 nozzles, running at maximum 140 square meters per hour. The resolution is 1,080 dots per inch (dpi), and four or eight colors can be offered to ensure a vivid printing effect, according to the company.
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| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
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| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
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