Italian textile machinery manufacturers, which stand out in the technologies increasing sustainability and efficiency, continue drawing attention in the world markets. Answering the questions of the Textile World Magazine Group, Alessandro Zucchi, Chairman of the Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers’ Association (ACIMIT), evaluated the first half of 2017 for the Italian textile machinery manufacturers and gave special information on the preferences of the Turkish textile sector.
Can you provide information regarding the activities you carry out so as to enhance the international recognition of the Italian Textile Machinery?
ACIMIT employs a variety of tools to promote Italy’s textile machinery sector worldwide: incoming missions, technology seminars, training centers, etc. Thanks to the support provided by the Ministry for Economic Development and the Italian Trade Agency, every year our promotional initiatives are directed at different foreign markets. Industry trade fairs are no doubt an essential promotional instrument, as proven by the high number of trade fair events ACIMIT is present supporting its associated members.
How many active members does ACIMIT currently operating with?
ACIMIT currently represents roughly 170 associated companies.
What kind of approach-method does ACIMIT members work through in terms of quality and technological development?
I believe there’s no doubt that Italian textile machinery sector is among the most technologically evolved anywhere in the world. There’s an ongoing commitment by Italian machinery manufacturers to seek out and develop technology solutions capable of optimizing the production efficiency of machinery, including through a specific focus on cutting costs for energy and raw materials.
What is the significance of Industry 4.0 for the Italian textile machinery manufacturers? How successful are they at implementing the advancements taking place within Industry 4.0 to their technologies?
Industry 4.0 is a great container of technologies, capable of further enhancing production efficiency both in production processes for machinery manufacturers and the textile businesses who are their customers. It’s an opportunity that needs to be seized upon, but which must be used correctly. This is why ACIMIT provides its expertise and services to support Italian manufacturers in order to make the most of the proposals put forward by Industry 4.0.
How was the level of global sales generated by the Italian textile machinery manufacturers in 2017? Orders collected by our associated businesses for the first six months of 2017 were certainly positive. A comparison with the previous year shows a two-figure increase both in Italy and abroad. Foreign trade data relative to January-March period indicates a 12% rise in exports. I’m therefore optimistic in predicting further growth for our sector throughout 2017.
What is the position of the Turkish market for the Italian textile machinery manufacturers? Particularly in what areas do Turkish textile producers prefer Italian machines?
Turkey has always been a major export destination for Italian textile machinery. Indeed, in 2016 it represented the second foreign market, right behind China, with a value of imports from Italy amounting to around 170 million euros, and Turkey has confirmed this position through the first three months of 2017. Compared to the same period for 2016, our machinery manufacturers have recorded a 28% increase, for a value of 41 million euros. The primary types of Italian machinery requested by Turkish textile manufacturers are spinning machines (33% of the total exported), followed by knitting ones (26%) and finishing ones (20%).
What is the investor’s degree of interest for Italian machinery regarding their machinery preferences when engaging in new investments?
Today’s textile manufacturers who want to remain competitive in the global marketplace need to rely on technology capable of providing real savings in production costs, without reducing workmanship quality. That’s why the more globalized businesses take Made in Italy machinery into consideration in planning new investments. The efforts of Italian companies in terms of economic and environmental sustainability, thanks to the Sustainable Technologies project (green-label.it) promoted by ACIMIT, makes Italian products highly competitive and represents the highest level of technology.
What will be your activities regarding the global markets as well as Turkey in 2018?
As we’ve already been doing in recent years, in 2018 we’ll be focusing our promotional activities on geographical areas and Countries that we estimate to be growth markets over the medium term. Our initiatives will regard both markets in the Far East and those in Sub-Saharan Africa, not to mention the support we provide our associated members in niche sectors such as technical and innovative textiles. The primary goal remains, in any case, to promote the appreciation of Italian technology in markets in which it is still not well known. Concerning Turkey, while we don’t have promotional activities planned for the upcoming year, anyway I estimate the participation of Italian machinery manufacturers at the upcoming İstanbul fairs in 2018 will be significant, as it was for the previous editions.
