"It has been a difficult year, demand of new machines is low, will see whether ITMA has an impact,” said Dr Norbert Klapper, CEO Rieter, in the first press conference of ITMA 2019 here in Barcelona on June 20. He further added, “The year saw worsening and uncertain business environment in China, elections in India, and though the government is stable now, but remains to be seen, if in the progressive steps, is textile being included. Situation in Turkey remains the same."

“It has been a difficult year, demand of new machines is low, will see whether ITMA has an impact,” said Dr Norbert Klapper, CEO Rieter, in the first press conference of ITMA 2019 here in Barcelona on June 20. He further added, “The year saw worsening and uncertain business environment in China, elections in India, and though the government is stable now, but remains to be seen, if in the progressive steps, is textile being included. Situation in Turkey remains the same. The demand for new machines was low, customers are asking us the reason to invest and we have to see what impact ITMA brings? We expect normalization and not a big boom post ITMA as the fundamentals are not supportive.” Dr Norbert opines.

Developments focused on recycling, shorter staple fibre spinning at Rieter

Rieter showcased innovations based on productivity, cost efficiency and flexibility in technology. The focus of many developments is spinning of low cost, short staple and waste recycling technology.

At ITMA 2019, Rieter showcased innovations for all four spinning processes of fibre preparation, Ring and compact-spinning process and Rotor spinning process .These innovations have been designed to reduce raw material, energy and labor costs, while also increasing productivity during production of the yarn quality required in each case. Solutions also focused on to increase the flexibility of the spinning mill .

Fiber preparation

The blow room VARI Oline with the new UNI Clean B 15 brings significantimprovements in terms of energy consumption and the cleaning result for all spinningprocesses. The same applies to the new high-performance card C 80, which offersan unrivaled level of productivity.

Ring and compact-spinning process

To increase the cost effectiveness of the ring spinning and compact spinning process, Rieter reveals the new comber E90, the new roving frame F 40, the piecing robot ROBO spin and three different compacting units that can easily be installed on and removed from a ring spinning machine: COMPACT drum, COMPAC Tapron and COMPACT easy.

Rotor spinning process

Innovations that bring considerable improvements in efficiency for the rotor spinning process were also presented. The draw frame module RSB-Module 50 can be used in combination with the high-performance card C 80 and can be configured to a highly efficient direct process with the new semi-automated R 37 or the fully automated R 70. The new, cost-effective rotor spinning machines are characterized by low energy consumption, high productivity and high machine availability with low raw material costs.

ESSENTIAL – Rieter Digital Spinning Suite

The new innovations for the four spinning processes are supplemented by two new functionalities of ESSENTIAL: ESSENTIALorder and ESSENTIALconsult, which are available to all Rieter customers free of charge with the purchase of a new machine.

In addition to the existing modules ESSENTIALmonitor, ESSENTIALmaintain andESSENTIALpredict, the next steps are demonstrated: ESSENTIALlab for integrating laboratory data into the spinning mill management system, ESSENTIALoptimize, the intelligent recipe management system, and ESSENTIALautomate for integrating the transport and logistics systems.

Rieter is the world’s leading supplier of systems for short-staple fiber spinning. Based in Winterthur (Switzerland), the company develops and manufactures machinery, systems and components used to convert natural and manmade fibers and their blends into yarns. Rieter is the only supplier worldwide to cover both spinning preparation processes and all four end spinning processes currently established on the market. Furthermore, Rieter is a leader in the field of precision winding machines.With 16 manufacturing locations in ten countries, the company employs a global workforce of some 5150.

Kornit Digital, a leader in digital textile printing technology, has launched a range of industrial digital textile printing solutions at ITMA 2019. These solutions enable unlimited design creativity, faster turnaround times and sustainable production.

The first of these solutions, the Kornit Presto is the world’s only industrial single-step solution for direct-to-fabric printing. The system is perfectly suited for the home décor and fashion markets. It eliminates the need for pre and post treatment of fabric and allows for high-quality printing on an extraordinarily broad variety of fabric types. The Kornit Presto solution uses the 100 per cent water-free patented NeoPigmentTM process, and is the shortest process from file to finished product, making it the most environmentally friendly solution available for direct-to-fabric textile printing today.

Kornit Konnect is a cloud-based software analytics platform that enables businesses to monitor production, analyse insights and manage their fleet, to eliminate blind spots. It includes a fleet management dashboard, data-driven benchmarks, actual production costs, and cost structures per job, making it easy for businesses to learn more, react faster and perform better.

Also on show in the booth are the Kornit Atlas and the Avalanche Poly Pro systems that were introduced earlier this year. Following dozens of installations worldwide and successful ramp-up at multiple customer sites, hundreds of thousands of garments have already been produced. Kornit will perform live printing of Adidas products on these two systems at ITMA. The Adidas mission is to be the best sports company in the world and one of their three key strategic choices is an Open Source strategy. Adidas is collaborating with Kornit to support their direct-to-garment innovation strategy, with Kornit as a key partner in digital embellishment. Adidas has recently invested in the Kornit Atlas and Avalanche Poly Pro solutions and is looking to expand its digital embellishment capabilities further.

Archroma, a global leader in color and specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, has decided to join the ZDHC Foundation (ZDHC) as a contributor.

Archroma will upload its key products onto the ZDHC Gateway Chemical Module and support the ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substance List (MRSL) and the related “pyramid” conformity system designed to eliminate duplicative approaches.

The company will actively engage in various task forces focused on supporting the continuous improvement programs of ZDHC. As such Archroma together with the GCIRT Initiative look forward to a close and open cooperation with all stakeholders of ZDHC.

Archroma’s decision to join ZDHC will bring the world’s most reliable chemical producers at the forefront of driving the change. This intensified collaboration between all stakeholders in the supply chain will strongly accelerate the adoption of dye and chemical manufacturing innovations and processes to help minimize risk to the consumer and the environment.

Textile mills in Bangladesh want the five per cent advance tax proposed on import of textile machinery and spare parts to be withdrawn.

They say the proposed taxes would discourage investment in the sector and halt expansion of textile mills in the country. The five per cent tax is also proposed on some raw materials used in textile mills such as polyester, tencel fiber and viscose. As of now import of textile machinery is subject to only one per cent customs duty.

Besides, another five per cent value added tax is contemplated on manufacturing of yarn. Yarn manufacturers say this will deter fabric manufacturers from buying local yarn since the proposed five per cent VAT on yarn will force a manufacturer to pay an additional amount for each kilogram of yarn. Bangladesh’s yarn manufacturers are facing trouble due to illegal imports of yarn. They want yarn to be kept out of the VAT net.

There are 430 yarn manufacturing mills, 802 fabric manufacturing mills, and 244 dyeing-printing finishing mills in Bangladesh. Proposals the industry has welcomed are those relating to keep the corporation tax rate at 15 per cent for the textile sector for the next three years and a one per cent cash incentive against exports of apparel goods to traditional markets.

Experts at the recently held conference in the Ho Chi Minh City noted that denim production is attracting more investors in Vietnam, but eco-friendly production is essential to protect the environment. Denim products account for around 10-20 per cent of Vietnam’s textile and garment product exports now.

The conference was part of Denims and Jeans Vietnam, an international exhibition on textiles, garment sand machinery organised by the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, Denimsandjeans.com and other organisations on June 12-13.

Both domestic and foreign companies in the denim production sector in Vietnam are investing in advanced manufacturing chains and technologies. However, the number of domestic businesses in this sector supplying materials for garments is still limited.

Nguyen Dinh Truong, Deputy Standing Chairman of the association noted that considering the trend toward sustainable development, consumers were keen for green production and environment-friendly products.

Fashion for Good is expanding to South Asia with the launch of a dedicated regional innovation program.

This global initiative is already active in Asia, having partnered with Hong Kong-based tech incubator Mills Fabrica and is continuously expanding its activities with manufacturers such as textile manufacturer Arvind.

Selected innovators will have the opportunity to showcase their solutions as part of Fashion for Good’s Innovation Day to be held at the Sri Lanka Fashion Week on November 24, 2019. These innovators will also gain priority access to the Fashion for Good program, which enables access to a network of global partners such as founding partner C&A Foundation, and corporate partners C&A, Adidas, Kering and PVH Corp. to name a few, as well as to funding, mentoring and bespoke coaching, providing innovators with the tools needed to grow.

Fashion for Good is actively working on scaling innovations in the region and by catalysing collaborative pilots, which address areas such as making organic cotton traceable and solutions for the treatment of waste water from the apparel manufacturing process. A physical and local presence facilitates a deeper focus on innovators and allows for swifter implementation of pilot programs with partner brands and manufacturers, including targeted connections to corporate partners and investor ecosystems.

India has imposed anti-dumping duty of $125.21 per tonne on jute sacking cloth from 15 Bangladeshi exporters and $138.97 on others. This duty was triggered by a spike in jute import following the imposition of similar duty on sacks and products in 2017. The tariff comes as the value-addition in converting jute cloth into sacks is insufficient.

However, around11 exporters escaped the fine as the Indian finance ministry’s investigations found their shipment quantities of jute cloth to not be excessive.

The development is a big blow to jute goods exporters, who are progressively seeing their export market shrink for a host of reasons including competition from the lower priced polypropylene and synthetic goods and falling demand from traditional markets.

India was one of the largest export destinations for Bangladesh’s jute and jute goods but after the imposition of the anti-dumping duty in 2017 shipments shrank. The latest round of levy would exacerbate matters.

According to data from the Export Promotion Bureau; the exports of jute and jute goods dipped by 20 percent year-on-year to $773 million in the first 11 months of FY 2018-19. The shipment of jute sacks and bags also suffered a 33 percent slump.

Jack & Jones has scooped up awards in three countries.

It was named best menswear retailer in a survey of Germany’s best traders. Germany is the brand’s largest market. The brand’s retail staff mobile app JJ2GO was named best app at the Drapers Digital Awards in the UK. JJ2GO’s success at the Drapers Digital Awards was recognition of almost three years’ work for Jack & Jones, with the mobile app having transformed how the brand communicates, trains and inspires its retail staff. Finally Jack & Jones collected another trophy in Denmark at the Creative Circle 2019 Award Show.

Jack & Jones, incepted in 1990, is one of the strongest jeans brands in the market and is aimed at men 18 to 24 years. Apart from jeans, the brand has diversified into other product categories such as accessories, shirts, T-shirts, pants, shorts, winter wear, trousers and inner wear. The brand is one of Europe’s leading producers of menswear. Over the past few years, Jack & Jones through its marketing activities has built a perception of being a disruptive, rebellious and edgy brand. With its latest marketing campaign, the brand communicates a call to action toward shunning all inhibitions and following one’s gut irrespective of what the world says or its obvious consequences.

UK-based luxury brand Mulberry, which also offers western wear for women, plans to invest further in its new Asian entities during this development phase besides enhancing its global digital platform and optimising the UK network. The brand will focus on international markets besides leveraging its digital and omnichannel network and the recently established digital partnerships.

The brand reported mix results for its 53 week period ending March 2019. Its international revenue rose by 7 per cent to £48.1million, but its UK revenue declined by 6 per cent to £121.6m. Its Adjusted pre-tax profit declined from £8 million to just £1million. This adjusted figure contained £6m worth of costs such as South Korea launch expenses, a profit write-back on the conversion of John Lewis from a wholesale to concession business model (more of that later), House of Fraser administration write-offs, etc.

Mulberry also managed to increase its digital sales by an impressive 27 per cent, helped by the introduction of “important partnerships” in China such as Secoo and Tmall, as well as by its presence on John Lewis’s webstore. Its digital revenue now accounts for 22 per cent of total turnover.

YKK will showcase its latest collection of sustainable trims at the 2019 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, to be held June 18 – 20, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. The collection includes NATULON® zipper made from recycled plastic bottles.

These NATULON® zippers are resource-conserving, recycling-oriented products made from PET bottles, old fiber and other polyester remnants. 10,000 NATULON® zippers of 60 cm length recycle approximately 3,600 plastic bottles (29 g/bottle). The materially recycled zippers are bluesign® certified The collection also includes the GreenRise™ zipper, made from plant-based plastic, which contributes to the prevention of global warming by reducing fossil resource consumption.

Also included in the collection are environmentally friendly snaps and buttons using a new finishing process that reduces thermal energy, water usage, and toxic chemicals and waste.

YKK continues to reduce carbon emissions in its manufacturing processes, including those that are directly due to manufacturing (Scope 1), indirectly from factory energy consumption (Scope 2), and from material procurement and transportation (Scope 3).

At YKK Bangladesh Pte. Ltd., a hybrid power generation system that combines solar power and diesel power generation was introduced in 2016, which has reduced fuel use by 90,000 liters and carbon emissions by 265 tons per year.

As a result of such initiatives, globally YKK has reduced carbon emissions by 8.9 per cent (estimated) in FY2018 compared to FY2013.