The major headline of the talk presented as ‘Where Innovation Happens.’ At the beginning of the event, the extended delays due pandemic and global conflict was outlined which led to postponements of the major event between 2016 to 2024. Then, key figures about the industry in past year and outlook for the current year revealed. The inputs of exhibitor and visitor surveys on the specific schedule of the event presented along with the key exhibitor participation figures. A survey of exhibitors and visitors in 2023 resulted in a clear vote in favour of a different order of days and a date in autumn. Messe Frankfurt is expecting over 300 exhibitors, including the market leaders.
The driving industry highlighted as Textile Care business and major obstacles outlined as labour shortage, unstable energy costs and supply chain bottlenecks. In specifics, a clause was made on leading German technologies which are not currently available in some other markets which limits the entire servicing for this specific industry segment. Also, the unstable financial environment due to rising wages and external factors such as Covid and Global Conflict were outlined which resulted in increase of prices in textiles.
A Higher Quality of Work and Development
Apart from challenges, prospects for the following years discussed under the headlines such as energy savings, mobility of people and potential of hygiene industry. The clause was made on automation which makes it possible for the integration of RFID chips for laundry business which primarily used in textile care industry. Although there are alternatives, RFID technology is an important tool for textile-care companies when it comes to laundry management. Tags, i.e., transponders or chips embedded in textiles, contain all relevant information about each individual item. These tags are identified by readers, i.e., detection devices, and 'translated' into the next processing stage via interfaces, thus eliminating the need to manually read in a barcode. Bulk goods can in turn be localised using UHF technology, which leads to more operational transparency. RFID systems, robotics and artificial intelligence are introducing greater transparency into the flow of goods, carrying out high-risk, heavy or monotonous work and improving quality control processes. In this way, these clever mechanisms are alleviating one of the most acute problems in the industry: staff shortage. Further, importance of Automation and Robotics highlighted. Thanks to the rapid development of sensors, artificial intelligence and robotics, textile care 4.0 is taking on ever more tangible forms. These clever systems give companies the chance to automate similar tasks and thereby improve their performance, laundry quality and hygiene. Shortages of skilled and unskilled labour can be better covered, while employees benefit from a higher quality of work and new opportunities for development.
Europe Textile Strategy
During the talk, under the headlines of ecological, social, economic responsibility, eco-friendly future industry, steps were outlined for acting Sustainably. The future targets for Climate Neutrality in 2030 were specified with the importance of Carbon Footprint to identify possibilities for the future.
Finally, during the last part of the press talk, the implementation of EU Textile Strategy by achieving circularity, reuse of textiles and recycling highlighted with the opportunities and challenges which may arise for the future. The cleaning and reuse of textiles is a perfect example of functioning cycles: the continued use of high-quality textiles makes both economic and ecological sense. The industry can also benefit from a circular approach in other respects. In the production facilities, water and energy are largely recirculated. With the help of state-of-the-art technology, they are used sparingly, recycled and recovered. And even at the end of the useful life of textiles, there is a new beginning: developments in textile recycling are another hot topic at Texcare International 2024.
At the end of press talk, Messe Frankfurt Exhibition Vice President, Technology Shows, Kerstin Horaczek responded our questions for our readers.
Question: Would you share the number of exhibitors to the fair from Turkey? Also, would you share exhibitor figures both from domestic and abroad?
Kerstin Horaczek: For the fair, eight company registered from Turkey. We expect possibly one or two more participation. We have 6 months in calendar to the event. In total, 260 exhibitors completed their registration for the event. Also, online application is in progress. Germany and Italy carries the highest exhibitor figures. We expect to reach around 300 exhibitors for the event.
Q. Which markets are targeted besides customer-driven key markets which supported by trade shows?
A. Turkey is important market for us. We are making major investments and allocating most of our marketing budget to Turkey. Besides, we hold press conferences. Also, Albania and Moldova are other target markets for us. Tourism and Health industries are the leading ones. We sometimes face challenges to reach new clients in distant markets. Local legislations and regulations might differ from country to country. This difference can be seen around the countries even inside Europe.
