Being one of the biggest textile machinery exporters of the world, French textile machinery sector is among the six biggest countries in terms of textile machinery export with its market share of 6.5 %. The main markets of the French who allocate 8 % of their annual income to R&D and P&D works are Hong Kong and China by far, which are followed by Belgium, Japan, Turkey, USA, Germany and Italy. It makes almost 40 % of its export to Asian region and 35 % to Europe. In the total sales of the French textile machinery manufacturers, Turkey has a share of 8-10 %.
French Textile Machinery Manufacturers’ Association (UCMTF), umbrella organisation of French textile machinery manufacturers, was established with the association of leading textile machinery manufacturers of France. UCMTF covers 30 firms, each of which operates throughout the world and is leader in its own markets. Members of UCMTF that operate in such fields of the textile sector as yarn, nonwoven, woven, finishing and software are increasing their recognition and sales rates with their investments in R&D and P&D works. It is now widely accepted that French textile machinery manufacturers are not only machinery suppliers but also technology partners thanks to the works of UCMTF. Offering the products they designed with their clients and their special solutions to the national and international markets as high value added products, members of UCMTF are increasing their market shares day by day.
UCMTF
Being the 6th biggest exporter in the global textile machinery market, French machinery manufacturers earn more than € 1 billion on an annual basis. Evelyne Cholet, General Secretary of UMCNTF, answered our questions about the market power and works of the French textile machinery manufacturers developing machinery and technology solutions for all segments of the textile sector.
Reminding that UCMTF is a part of both CEMATEX – European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers and FIM – French Federation of Mechanical Engineering Industries, Cholet pointed out to the expertise of French machinery manufacturers in their fields. Cholet said that: “Textile manufacturers need innovative industrial solutions and strategic partners offering superior technologies in order to survive in the rapid-changing environment of today’s world. Whatever their areas of activity and geographical locations are, French machinery manufacturers act as such a partner for their clients and have a distinguished expertise in terms of solutions for critical projects.”
We Assist the Sector
Stating that French textile machinery manufacturers mainly consist of SMEs, Cholet added that: “Thus, they play a pioneering role in the sector with respect to production, sales and marketing. We support our members in offering supplementary machines for the sector and developing new projects. Christian Guinet, our Vice-President, has significant works in this regard.”
Emphasizing that promoting the machines manufactured by their members is of great importance, Cholet said that: “We attach importance to such global fairs as ITMA. In addition to fairs, we organize seminars for specific markets. Lastly, more than 300 sector representatives participated in the event we held in Gaziantep.” Stating that leading textile firms of Uzbekistan participated in the seminars they held in Tashkent and Bukhara in April, Cholet added that they signed memorandum of understanding with the Iranian government following the seminars and conferences held in Teheran, Kashan, Esfahan and Yezd in June as well as with the Russian Textile Industrialists’ Association in Russia.
In 2014, Chinese Market Shrunk
Expressing that French machinery manufacturers kept their turnover stable at record levels, Evelyne Cholet stated that there were different developments in different markets. Although Chinese market shrunk, they experienced an explosion in the American market. Cholet also emphasized that Turkey always stands out as a leading market. Cholet added that: “We obtained really good results in the Turkish market in 2014. However, the fact that orders decreased in the first months of 2015 disappointed us.”
Stating that there have been major changes in terms of the ordered product groups, Cholet said that machinery sales for traditional textiles such as clothes and home textiles slowed down while machinery sales for technical textiles or recyclable textiles increased. Expressing that French machinery manufacturers, most of them are medium-scaled family enterprises, pay importance to R&D investments, Cholet said that they have a wide product range in the fields of fibre, yarn, woven, knitting, finishing and technical textiles.
Turkey is Important for the French
Emphasizing that Turkey is very important for France as the 2nd biggest receiver of its exports, Cholet added that: “Our members frequently visit Turkey. We, as UCMTF, allocated a special budget for Turkey. As in the rest of the world, textile manufacturers encounter various problems in Turkey, as well. Textile sector has to design new products, open to new markets and produce them in a cost-effective and sustainable manner. They need innovative industrial solutions and technologies in order to keep up with the fast changing conditions of today. Since their structure resembles to that of the French textile machinery manufacturers, we perceive the needs of the Turkish textile machinery manufacturers immediately and respond to them in a rapid manner. This is one of the factors making the French machinery manufacturers stand out in the Turkish market.”
The Focus of the Innovations is Sustainability
Stating that the motto of ITMA 2015 to be held in Milan is “Mastering Sustainable Innovation”, Evelyne Cholet said that: “Innovation is an inherent characteristic of us. We want to be the successors of the French Joseph Marie Jacquard, the great master of innovations.” Stating that innovations should certainly include sustainability, Cholet explained that member firms focus on raw materials, energy and water savings.
Cholet continued by saying: “Our member firms make highly detailed analyses on costs, raw materials and energy and water savings before making new machine or new process investments and after the machines are installed, actual results turn out to be consistent with the previous estimates. In some cases, energy saving may be 40 % and new machinery investment can be financed only for two years. Stating that UCMTF pay great importance to ITMA fairs, Cholet expressed that ITMA transformed into the biggest textile factory of the world during the event. Cholet concluded by saying: “ITMA 2015 will reach a great success. It will break records in terms of both number of participants and size of exhibition area. We think that the number and quality of the visitors will be high.”
