Representing German cutting-edge technologies all over the world, The German Textile Machinery Association (VDMA) is continuing to make their mark with various practices so as to announce the activities of German textile machinery manufacturers, to the world. Mr. Thomas Waldmann, Managing Director of VDMA Textile Machinery, Germany, answered the questions of our Publication Group; Tekstil Dunyasi, regarding the practices carried out by the association as well as the developments taking place within the industry.
As VDMA, which exhibitions did you take part in and what kind of practices or activities did you carry out in 2016, so as to enhance the international recognition of machines especially for the textile industry?
2016’s most important fair and the biggest exhibition for the Asian markets was of course ITMA ASIA, which was held at the end of October in Shanghai. In addition to this, there had also been a strong participation from VDMA member companies to some of the local fairs in Turkey and India.
In July, the VDMA textile machine manufacturers recommended themselves to the Vietnamese textile industry. 24 member companies took part in two VDMA textile machinery conferences themed “German Technology meets Vietnamese Textile”, held in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on July 5-7, 2016. In total, 600 decision makers and industry experts had participated. Furthermore, on July 8, the VDMA Textile Machinery organised for the first time a training seminar to approximately 200 students and lecturers at HCM City University of Technology, thereby making a contribution to practice-oriented education.
VDMA, how would you evaluate 2016? Did you reach your sales objectives for this year in the area of textile machinery?
2016 was not bad for the German textile machinery builders but one cannot speak of a good year. In the first months of 2016, the order income was weak but clearly had improved during the year. In the second half of the year there was a considerable recovery of the market. The outlook is more positive than it was this time last year.
What is the position of the Turkish textile market for the German Machinery Manufacturers? What is the degree of interest of the Turkish companies for German technologies?
Turkey is a big volume market and always among the top 5 markets of the German Textile Machinery companies. Frankly speaking: the market is right beside us. Many VDMA member companies can proudly look back not just to years but to decades of close cooperation with Turkish companies and universities. Turkey is more or less on the doorstep of Germany. This also means that the cultural difference is much smaller compared to countries in the Far East.
What will be your activities regarding the global markets market in 2017? As VDMA, what kind of sales portfolio objectives do you intend to reach for 2017?
As VDMA, we are planning a business delegation trip for member companies to Columbia in July and an official German participation at Irantex and Techtextil India in September. Moreover, in November 2017, we are planning to organize VDMA symposia’s, themed as ‘German Technology meets American / Mexican Textiles’ in Charlotte, USA and Mexico-City.
Another important topic is intelligent manufacturing: Industrie 4.0! Customers at the cutting edge are interested in condition monitoring and predictive maintenance, including remote services. Virtual machines, traceability, remote control data exchange, self-optimising, intelligent user interfaces or individualisation are other hot topics. Let us, for example, simply look at German technology for textile dyeing and finishing: Most common Industrie 4.0 features are RFID readers that register in the dye house or in the finishing section the contents of radio tags or robotic dispensing systems that supply the precisely constituted dye mix just in time. Up to now, excessive shrinkage of the textile goods has been considered an unexpected critical event. Or, if delivery deadlines are not met, downstream production processes are adjusted immediately in an Industrie 4.0 smart factory. Without discussing the potential of new business models, immediate advantages of Industrie 4.0 are improved plant efficiency, more economical production processes, energy savings, more flexible production, just to name a few.
