Texcare Trade Fair, which is organized every four years by Messe Frankfurt and in which modern textile care products are exhibited, was held on May 5-9 in Frankfurt. Throughout the 5 days, the visitors received important information about health care and safety at work. At the fair that hosted 264 participants from 26 countries, the issues of dry-cleaning and sustainabiliry were focused on and studies were carried out on energy efficiency and resource-supplying. The fair, which hosted 264 participants from 26 countries, was visited by 16,000 people, which corresponds to an increase of 3 percent compared to the fair held in 2008. The manufacturers at the fair were mainly from Germany, Italy, USA, Belgium, Netherlands and England. 52 percent of the visitors were from outside of Germany. Looking at the visitors coming from more than 100 countries on the basis of countries, Italy, Belgium, France, Netherlands and Switzerland were the top five participant countries after Germany.
Various activities were carried out throughout Texcare. Information about dry-cleaning, textile service providers and high-tech solutions was given during the organisation. RFID, real-time management, energy and resource-friendly technology and production process optimization were the focal points of the event, during which various presentations were made.
Activity Days were Separated into Themes
The meeting and lectures held in order to inform the participants attracted great interest and unlike the previous organizations, this time, the activity days were deparated into exclusive themes. The theme of the first day of the fair was ‘Future Day’, on which effective and innovative business concepts were discussed and presentations were made on facing tomorrow’s challenges. The second day of the fair was called ‘the innovation day’, on which presentations, chaired by Elgar Straub of VDMA, were made. Along the events, the issues of garment and leather technologies and focus on technology and practice, antimicrobial textiles and control mechanism were discussed. The theme of the third day of the fair was ‘Sustainable Day’. Dr. Volker Schmid of the DTV and Klaus Jahn of Intex chaired the event, during which presentations were made on how to increase energy efficiency and sustainability in the textile care sector. And ‘the market day’ was organized on the fourth day, during which the global demands were evaluated. The event was chaired by Robert Long of the European Textile Services Association (ETSA).
Messe Frankfurt, DTV and Intex were the organization partners at Texcare. In the evaluations they made, the partners emphsized that the fair was successful in gereral terms. The participants and important buyer groups also made evaluations about the fair. In his statements about the fair, Wolfgang Marzin, President and CEO of Messe Frankfurt, emphasized that all the visitors were satisfied with the fair. Marzin remarked that the event gave positive results. “In particulat, there were large increases in the number of visitors from countries such as Japan, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Lebanon and Brazil. 75 percent of the visitors consisted of international decison-makers and with the surveys conducted at the fair, 85 percent of the participants received a high level of orders and were engaged in new international contacts,” said Marzin.
In the statement he made, Elgar Straub, Director of VDMA Garment and Leather Technology, said; “A positive mood prevailed the fair” Straub remarked that a high level of participation was recorded by the members of VDMA. “The focus on the customer side was on increasing the efficiency and conserving resources. 89 percent of the participants rated the economic situation in the sector as being very good. In the fair held in 2008, only 84 percent of the participants shared the same opinion. On the other hand, 95 percent of the visitors stated that they were pleased with the range of products exhibited at the fair,” said Straub.
Texcare Forum Attracted Great Interest
Friedrich Eberhard, President of the German Dry Cleaning Association (DTV), who played an active role in organizing the fair, stated that this year’s evet was much more effective the one held in 2008. Eberhard also emphasized that the number of the visitors increased and the meetings held were very successful. Eberhard added that the fair was really effective on the global level. “Texcare Forum and the fashion show were given a very good reception. Texcare, which has a perfect spirit, has proved its international importance. Visitors from all over the world attended the fair in order to observe the latest trends and they were given the unique chance to see the latest machinery technologies and equipments,” said Eberhard.
Texcare Forum, which divided the event into days of 4 exclusive themes, gave detailed information to the companies and to 1,180 visitors about sustainability, innovation, future and global market. On the other hand, trends on industrial workwear, professional apparel and protective garments, innovations in the health-care and tourism sectors and tomorrow’s workwear were introduced at the fair.
Activities will Continue
Texcare will continue its studies in the next organizations and Texcare Forum Russia will be held in Moscow from 26 to 27 September 2012. The next organization Texprocess International Trade Fair for Processing Textile and Flexible Materials will be organized in Frankfurt from 10 to 13 June 2013. Texcare Asia Shanghai will be organized in November 2013 and Texcare International is going to be held in Frankfurt from 11 to 15 June 2016.
Bluecompetence Initiative was Met with Interest
Bluecompetence, which is one of the themes VDMA, a partner of the organization, has recently focused on, attracted interest at the fair. The initiative, which dwells on energy efficiency and sustainability, is supported by many global companies. According to the statement made by Hohenstein Institute, energy consumption in Germany has fallen by 50 percent over the last 20 years. In this sense it has been also stated that Bluecompetence initiative will be supported. The officials remarked that within the frame of the initiative, studies on resource conservation are carried out and the organization is a great platform to expand the influence of Bluecompetence. Since the main themes of the fair that are sustainability, ecology and economy were in line with this initiative, the subject was understood by the people better.
A Close Look at DTV
The German Dry Cleaning Association (DTV), which played an active role in the organization, is one of the effective organizations of Germany. According to the Federal Statistical Office Germany, the textile care sector recorded a turnover of EUR 3,5 billion in 2011. While most of the German dry cleaning and laundry companies are located in NRW region, the sector is said to employ 55,000 people. The sector consists mostly of women and the ratio of women to men is stated to be around 75 percent.
DTV is known as a foundation that aims to increase the quality of the facilities with a certificate program. 30 companies make use of the certificates that are provided by the foundation to document the quality and are valid for 4 years.
The German Dry Cleaning Association has been operating as a strong association of the textile care companies since 1975. With a sector-oriented tarif policy, it helps to provide both the small and big companies with equal opportunities and it plays a role in shaping the future. The objective of the association is stated to strengthen the dry-cleaning trade.
Messe Frankfurt; Global Exhibition Organiser
With its 1,769 employees over the world and EUR 457 million worth of sales it performs, Messe Frankfurt is one of Germany’s leading fair organisers. The foundation organizes events in more than 30 regions over the world and it has 5 branch offices, 52 international sales partners and 28 subsidiaries in more than 150 countries. In 2011, it organized 101 exhibitions, the half of which were held outside of Germany.
