Q. How would you rate your satisfaction from the past ITM exhibition? Would you give us some feedback on exhibitor participation and visitor quality?
A. Oerlikon Vice President Head of Marketing, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Polymer Processing Solutions Division André Wissenberg: The ITM is the melting pot and meeting place for the textile machinery industry, especially for participants from Europe and the Middle East. In addition to our Turkish customers, we also recorded a significant number of visitors from Egypt and Syria, as well as from India and Pakistan. The quality of the discussions was high. This gives us a positive outlook for the future.
Q. Which spesific products and technologies showcased at the fair? What are the distinctive features of these technologies?
A. We presented our machine and system technologies at the trade fair, which offer comprehensive production solutions for the manufacture of polyester, polypropylene and nylon from melt to yarn, fibres and nonwovens. Our customers are particularly interested in factory projects ranging from their own polycondensation plant to texturised yarns with corresponding digital solutions. The unbeatable advantage of our concepts is that we can offer the supply of all process steps from a single source and thus a harmonised technology whose design ensures the high quality of the yarn produced. However, numerous project discussions centred on texturing using our eFK and eAFK technologies as well as specific yarn production processes for smaller batches with our VarioFil Technology from BB Engineering.
Q. What level of progress have been made by Oerlikon to run environmentally friendly technologies which comes with savings in energy and raw material? Would you briefly explain to our readers?
A. 2024 is the 20th anniversary year of our sustainability label e-save! We can say with proud, that we are a pioneer in sustainability back to 2004, when we started with this program. Profitable and sustainable growth for everyone involved is the goal of our company since then and therefore also our contribution to securing a sustainable future. Performance, quality, sustainability and commitment are the factors that enable our us to face the challenges of the future with confidence every day. With the constant expansion of our e-save philosophy, we are continuously creating and increasing value with high-quality and innovative solutions for the entire textile industry. At ITM, we once again focussed on the topics of energy, economics, environment and ergonomics.
Q. Where do you see Oerlikon in benchmarking the industry in Automation, Industrie 4.0 and Digitalization?
A. We at Oerlikon have been successful in the field of digitalisation with our Plant Operation Center (POC) for decades. Over 350 installations in large manmade fiber spinning mills around the world enable the control of complex systems with hundreds, even thousands of mostly WINGS POY or FDY winders. The successful system is now due for an update. That’s why we developed our atmos.io solution. With atmos.io, it will be possible to process even more data in the future. This will give our customers even more benefits and put them in control of the data flow in their business. In combination with all our automation solutions, the production of the future can be realised.
Q. Which markets are closely monitored by Oerlikon? What is the importance of Turkish market and which products serve best for this market in spesifics?
A. Our markets are the world markets. China continues to dominate and exports yarns all over the world at favourable conditions. India continues to grow, not only in terms of consumption by its own population, but also in the further expansion of the manmade fiber industry. Together with Bangladesh and the manufacturing processes there within the textile value chain, the new’ centre for the textile industry that is thus emerging will be further strengthened. In Turkey, with its proximity to the European sales market, textile machinery investments are currently being minimised. Only SASA is continuing to implement its strategic plan. By investing in a new PTA plant, the successful company is further reducing its dependence on raw material imports. This will enable it to further reduce the production costs for polyester in order to better compete on the market with attractive prices compared to cheap imports from China.
Q. Would you inform us on the mid-term vision of Oerlikon in the wider context? Which future-oriented technologies are now being pursued and what are your capabilities and strengths to achieve these in the foreseeable future?
A. With our innovative and sustainable product portfolio, we are well positioned for the future. With a market share of around 50%, we serve all major players in the polyester industry and accompany them on their way into a more sustainable future. Certainly, a lot is happening in manmade fiber yarn production in particular: mechanical and chemical technologies for recycling bottles, but also textiles, biopolymers, the circular economy – all of this is no longer a dream of the future. Together with partners and subsidiaries such as Oerlikon Barmag Huitong Engineering (OBHE) and Barmag Brückner Engineering (BBE), we at Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions are presenting specific concepts here.
Q. Anything you would like to add…
A. Thank you.
