North-Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), where strong German machiney manufacturers are located, includes nearly 260 companies in the textile and apparel sector. Employing 24 thousand people in the sector, NRW reaches a turnover of 5 billion Euros every year. With its geographical location and infrastructure, the region meets 30 percent of the turnover and 40 percent of the exports of the German textile sector. Mönchengladbach, Krefeld, Neuss, Niederrhein (Lower-Rhine) ve Dusseldorf are considered to be the important industrial provinces of NRW.
Including 1700 businesses and more than 200 thousand employees, mechanical engineering is the largest industrial employer in NRW. Having achieved a turnover of EUR 37 billion in 2010, the enterprises in NRW have an important power in employment. NRW is one of the regions to make the most exports in the field of mechanical engineering. 75 percent of the machines produced and the facilities established here, are exported. Europe is the leading region among the other export markets. It is followed by Asia with 29 percent and America with 13 percent. China, America, France and Russia are the countires with the strongest markets.
The companies, which establish their production, sales and marketing networks in the region, exhibited their innovative products at ITMA Barcelona, held in September 2011, in Spain. teXellence, created with the cooperation between the universities and the companies that produce machinery and technology in NRW, stands out as an umbrella orgnization. teXellence, which may be described as ‘Textile Innovation Network’, develops research projects for the textile industry in Niederrhein region.
The Partnership Established Between the Sector, University and the Local Authorities for teXcellence
The project named ‘Innovation Networks in the Textile and Clothing Industries’ took partfor the first time in the Objective 2 in 2007. teXellence, shaped within ZİTEX- Zukunftsinitiative Textil NRW (Future Initiative Textile NRW), was officially founded at ITMA 2007, in Munich. The network was coordinated by Mönchengladbach’s Municipal Business Development Department. The application announced under the slogan “teXellence – Textile Innovation Network”, and with the cooperation of the companies from Mönchengladbach and Krefeld in the Niederrhein (Lower-Rhine) Region, the Research Institute for Textile and Clothing of the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences and the Business Development Corporation Mönchengladbach, aims to carry out studies on the new textile developments.
teXellence, which follows a path as a ‘think thank’ foundation in the sector and the academic circles, intents to provide future oriented solutions and relatedly to establish a cooperation between the economic and scientific processes. Enterprise representatives , researches and experts from the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences came together for this project, which the industrial applications are directly dealt in.
The 5 innovative research fields of teXellence are as follows; Textile Surfaces, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), Energy, Colour and Globalisation. Alberto, AUNDE Group, Dahmen, Gardeur, imat-uve, ITRS, Junkers&Müllers, Monforts Textilmaschinen, Oerlikon, Peter Hintzen, Stöhr, TAG Composites & Carpets, Tuckfabrik Willy Schmitz, Trützschler, Van Laack ve Wumag Texroll are the important companies included in the Innovation Network. Hochschule Niederhein Forschungsinstitut für Textil und Bekleidung, IHK Mittlerer Niederrhein, Rhein Kreis Neuss, Standort Niderrhein GmbH, Wirtschafsvereinigung Bekleidungsindustrie Nordrhein, Verband der Rheinischen Textilindustrie e.V., WFG Krefeld GmbH ve WFMG GmbH are the other foundations that support teXellence.
Took Part for the First Time at ITMA Barcelona
This new structure focused on the launching of the German machines in NRW, was introduced for the first time at ITMA 2011 Barcelona. Especially the companies within the teXellence Innovation Network such as Oerlikon Textile, Trützschler, A.Monforts, Dahmen and Wumag from Mönchengladbach and Krefeld, exhibited their innovations at the fair. The companies that support teXellence offered solutions in the fields from yarn to knitting and to finishing, to enhance sustainable production and efficiency.
For these brands are well known in the Asian market, teXellence conducts studies to promote the German machines in the Asian market as it does in all other regions. The great interest shown by the Asian students to the the events organized by the Faculty of Textile and Clothing Technology of Lower Rhine University of Applied Sciences, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2011, are attributed to these promotional studies.
The University’s Research Institute for Textile and Clothing (FTB) has recently focused on the self cleaning and dirt-repellent functional finishing applications for textiles. Consequently, the textiles can be given water-repellent, oil-repellent, flame-retardant, anti-bacterial and anti-static dinishes with the help of nanotechnology. The other projects of the institute include 3D weaving which eliminates seams and weak spots. FTB, established in 2005, supports the projects to help the sector’s development via innovative products.
