A giant leap in the card clothing technology is marked in the 1950s. At that time, Germany´s Black Forest region was a hotspot for producing textiles and attracted companies around the world - one of it was the American textile machinery producer Hollingsworth. After filing for bankruptcy in 1996, it narrowed its portfolio to focus on card clothing. The company also placed a stronger emphasis on modernizing and automating its facilities.
Bold Decision, Big Challenges
The card clothing business in the Black Forest made impressive advances. In 2003, Trützschler took the bold decision to acquire the company and step into the card clothing market. This led to the creation of Trützschler Card Clothing (TCC). It led to some big challenges too.
First, Trützschler needed to optimize the card clothings produced in Neubulach-Oberhaugstett to fit its carding machines – and it needed to do it quickly. That involved detailed evaluations and trouble-shooting exercises. On top of this, each new generation of card clothing brought additional challenges that required the Trützschler team to adjust its products and processes.
Thanks to close cooperation between colleagues from the Spinning, Nonwovens and Card Clothing teams at Trützschler, we now offer a uniquely comprehensive card clothing portfolio with support from our deep expertise in this area. This valuable competitive advantage helped Trützschler take over the American part of Hollingsworth in 2010, which is now integrated into American Trützschler in Charlotte.
Twists, Turns and Technology Leadership
Huge changes have happened since Trützschler entered the card clothing industry 20 years ago. Magnet systems for the flat top of the card are one very special milestone for card clothing technology. These Magnotop (MT) systems enable faster and simpler servicing during production, as well as significant savings in operating costs. The different wire geometries of GX and FGX are further examples of big progress. Our team also developed the self-adjusting flat top, Precisetop (PT), which enables continuous carding gaps that are thinner than a sheet of paper.
Major technological developments like these are the result of close collaboration and interaction between departments at Trützschler Group for two decades. That team spirit and passion for shared success have made our company a global technology leader in the card clothing business today.
Growing and Going Global
From its starting point in the Black Forest, TCC has expanded worldwide at impressive speed. The company now offers production sites, sales teams and service experts close to its customers around the globe. Importantly, the production facility in Neubulach-Oberhaugstett has also experienced remarkable growth. The site is now larger and features a broader range of production processes, with significant efficiency improvements. This growth of TCC and the high demand for its wires has empowered our card clothing business to rapidly increase its production volume in the last 20 years.
Highly engaged and talented people are the key to this success story. More than 150 employees now work at the TCC headquarters in Neubulach-Oberhaugstett, with more than 350 people serving customers as part of its global team. Looking ahead, TCC is still taking steps to carry this expansion into the future. The ongoing construction of a new logistics center is just one flagship project. At all times, TCC teams are continuously improving the production processes at its growing network of sites to maximize efficiency while minimizing the environmental footprint.
A Never-Ending Story…
The development of TCC may only stretch back for two decades, but it’s a tale packed with big moments and exciting plot points. Since it joined Trützschler Group in 2003, TCC has benefitted from its parent company’s distribution channels and OEM equipment. In the same spirit, the Trützschler Group has enjoyed positive progress overall as a direct result of the two-decade success story of TCC.
Today, TCC has a powerful reputation for leading technological advances and setting new standards in the card clothing market with its inspiring R&D activities and truly global market perspective. In just 20 years, the business has developed a comprehensive range of products and services that are trusted around the world. And its global team of passionate people is excited to continue this story for many years into the future.
Z-Wire: Outstanding Web Forming at High Speeds
Speed is exciting – but it can be challenging too. In nonwovens production, for example, hydroentangling lines can hit production speeds of up to 300 m/min at the winder. That creates difficulties for carding and web forming. Now, innovators at Trützschler Card Clothing have created the solution to this high-speed problem. It’s called Z-Wire…
Every company in every industry is constantly pushing for more efficiency and productivity. For nonwoven textile producers, that means high-speed production lines that achieve excellent quality within a faster timeframe. Trützschler’ s Z-Wire clothing for worker, stripper and doffer rollers empowers our customers to move forward with their ambitions for speed, efficiency and quality. It has serrated contours to make sure fibers are continuously held in position, even at high production speeds. The fibers are then released at exactly the right moment to be transferred and orientated. This controlled transfer from roll to roll enables uniform web formation, while fiber fly is minimized, the risk of fiber migration is reduced and the operational reliability of the line increases.
These advantages make the Z-Wire the perfect fit for Trützschler Nonwoven´s NCT. The optimized interaction between machine and clothing enables maximum performance from highspeed cards. As a result, the Z-Wire is now successfully established on the market worldwide.
Feedback from our Customers
Our customer TWE has shared direct feedback about how the Z-Wire performs in real-world production situations. TWE was founded in 1912 and is a proven specialist in innovative nonwovens solutions worldwide. The company processes a wide range of fibers such as viscose, polyester and polypropylene in fineness of 1.7 – 17 dtex. It has an annual fiber throughput of 1.85 million kilograms. TWE uses the Trützschler Z-Wire at its site in Emsdetten, Germany.
“We use the ZDAB2 wire for worker and stripper rollers on several plants – and we are completely satisfied,” says TWE Head of Production Andreas Wolbring. “We achieve higher production speeds compared to the standard wires. The worker rollers, for example, operate at a production speed of 200 m/min. There is also less contamination because there are no grooves on the sides. Since we started using Z-wires, our production has become much more efficient.”
About Trützschler
The Trützschler Group SE is a German textile machinery manufacturer headquartered in Mönchengladbach, Germany. The company is divided into four business units: Spinning, Nonwovens, Man-Made Fibers, and Card Clothing. Trützschler machines, installations and accessories are produced and developed in ten locations worldwide. This includes four factories in Germany (Dülmen, Egelsbach, Mönchengladbach, Neubulach), as well as sites in China (Jiaxing and Shanghai), India (Ahmedabad), the USA (Charlotte), Brazil (Curitiba) and Switzerland (Winterthur). Service companies in Turkey, Mexico, Uzbekistan and Vietnam and service centers in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia provide customer proximity in key regions for the textile processing industry.
The subsidiary Trützschler Card Clothing in Neubulach is the global market leader in the production of high-performance card clothing for cards and roller cards that are used in the international textile machinery industry. Worldwide, more than 350 employees work for the Trützschler Group’s Card Clothing division, including 150 employees in Germany. With this expansion, the number of employees in Neubulach will significantly increase. This opens up new opportunities for young people looking for an apprenticeship. In the coming years, Trützschler Card Clothing will hire apprentices for roles including industrial mechanic specializing in production technology, industrial clerk and warehouse logistics specialist.
