‘Think quality’ is the way USTER reaches customers, supporting them in the optimization of their manufacturing operations, so that their products reach consistently the requested levels of quality. Still aiming for higher value and greater profitability for customers, USTER presents latest products and solutions at the fairs. Especially this June was an extremely busy month for the company with fairs in Turkey and China: ITM Texpo Eurasia in Istanbul and ShanghaiTex in Shanghai.
USTER® CLASSIMAT 5 and USTER® MN100
Answering the questions of the editors of Textile World Magazine Group during ITM Texpo Eurasia Fair, Regional Sales Director of USTER, Hilmi Can Gülgör, made interesting explanations about some products of the firm. Stating that USTER launched the new yarn classification system USTER® CLASSIMAT 5 at ITMA Asia & CITME 2012 in Shanghai, Gülgör added that the USTER® CLASSIMAT 5 was presented to the public in Turkey for the first time at ITM Texpo Eurasia 2013. “The new USTER® CLASSIMAT 5 is a ground-breaking innovation, expanding the scope of the well-known CLASSIMAT® instrument beyond traditional classification”, explained Gülgör also pointing out that the new classification system identifies both foreign matter and polypropylene defects. As part of an integrated testing and monitoring regime from laboratory to finished package, this system provides the essential framework for the production of consistent quality in spun yarns.
The USTER® MN100 NEP TESTER was not displayed at ITM Texpo Eurasia but introduced to the market at previous fairs. Gülgör said: “The USTER® MN100 which relies on the AFIS® industrial standard provides many similar nep measurement advantages what helps yarn manufacturers to take more clear decisions about quality, maintenance and process settings.” The USTER® MN100 NEP TESTER measures neps and critical nep size and provides therefore the data for optimizing maintenance and machine settings. Stating that the measurement technique which is peculiar to this product is only found in this technology, Gülgör expressed that control systems provided by USTER® MN100 enable obtaining general data about all processes.
Significant advantages arise when using the critical nep size approach in roving stage of spinning preparation. The results enable to predict what will be faced at spinning stage. If the test sample shows a nep size bigger than the defined critical nep size one could expect higher imperfection in the yarn. With the help of USTER® MN100, maintenance cycles are controlled and as a result the profitability of the mill increases. Gülgör said: “This technology is useful for machine settings in all phases from blow room to yarn.”
USTER Turkey is one of five USTER regional service centres in the world. Last year the Turkish organization of USTER moved from Istanbul to Adana. Stating that they will strengthen the relationships with their customers, Gülgör said: “80 percent of our customers are located in the East of Turkey. Thus, our centre is now located in Adana.” In this region which is close to the firms which we work with, we can provide faster service and post-sale support. Another advantage of Adana is the dense road network.” USTER in Turkey looks back on yearly growing business and it became a relevant part of the company’s success. “We can offer excellent products therefore we are sure that we will continue to increase our sales in a growing market as Turkey is. We even hope that the higher demand for yarn of companies sourcing earlier in Syria or Egypt will also have a positive impact on USTER for example because spinning mills invest additional budget on yarn testing and monitoring systems”, said Gülgör.
Explaining his expectations about cotton and yarn investments and prices in the global arena, Gülgör emphasized that cotton prices would be more stagnant in 2013. Reporting that cotton prices and yarn prices are always parallel in the global arena, Gülgör concluded by saying: “I believe that yarn manufacturers and firms supplying technology will have a good and successful year in 2013.”
USTER® STATISTICS at ShanghaiTex
Playing also a significant role in the Chinese market USTER was present at ShanghaiTex 2013, an important exhibition for Chinese clientele. Answering the questions of Textile World Magazine Group at the event, Yarn Product Manager and responsible person for the USTER® STATISTICS, Gabriela Peters shared interesting information about USTER’s worldwide established benchmarks for the textile industry. She explains how much work stands behind these unique Statistics. Several thousand samples from fiber to yarn have been tested in the USTER laboratories in Switzerland and China. After testing, the measured results are transmitted to a database and a unique data analysis software calculates the percentile curves. The evaluation of the graphs is conducted by experienced textile technologists. “The origin of the samples truly reflects the situation of textile production in the world market”, said Peters. The majority of samples, 71% come from Asia. This correlates to the amount of installed ring spindles worldwide. Compared to the previous USTER® STATISTICS (2007 release), the amount of samples from Asia increased by 20%.
The USTER® STATISTICS is an important pillar of USTER’s ‘Think quality’ concept. Emphasizing that all new features of the USTER® STATISTICS 2013 as well as the old features aim for the one goal to support the users to reach the ideal price performance ratio – especially for spinning mills. It is essential to compare objectively in-house performance versus global best practice. Peters reported that the data obtained through USTER® test equipment is compared through USTER® STATISTICS and provides a great advantage as it helps the company to reach maximum level to be successful in the competitive environment. Implementing this comparison in the process, spinning mills can identify performance gaps – and the parameters can easily be used as key performance indicators for spinning process optimization.
Another benefit for the spinning mill is an increase in its competitive position, since USTER® STATISTICS enable mills to declare objectively what they are producing and selling. Spinning mills can prove yarn quality levels when tested on USTER® equipment, because of direct comparison with the USTER® STATISTICS.
Also for yarn users the USTER® STATISTICS are useful to optimize the costs. Changes in the industry through globalization have been dramatic. Fashion is changing fast. Quick deliveries are needed. Quality costs at all levels of the textile supply chain have increased. Higher quality costs may be caused not only by wrong selection of the yarn for a certain article but also by poor performance of the yarn. USTER® STATISTICS are traditionally used to predict the quality of the fabric at an early stage, to avoid expensive additional costs due to second quality. “The quality of the produced yarn is critical to the textile supply chain as many following steps, such as weaving, knitting and dying, rely on certain values of quality parameters to be executed efficiently and with the requested quality,” explained Peters. The USTER® STATISTICS are widely used in Turkey and gain continuously more and more importance for spinning mills in China where the USTER® STATISTICS played a major role at ShanghaiTex 2013.
