ITMA 2015 has achieved a new milestone, attracting the biggest number of exhibitors since the show's launch way back in 1951. The 17th edition of ITMA has 1,691 exhibitors from 46 countries showcasing their innovations at the event. The previous record was set by ITMA 2007 when 1,451 exhibitors from 38 countries took part in the exhibition.

ITMA, the world’s foremost trade fair dedicated to textile machinery is also once again marked by a significant presence of Italian companies, both in their numbers and in the quality of their technology.

Italian exhibitors occupy 30 per cent space

For eight days,visitors at ITMA , the world’s foremost textile machinery event will have an opportunity to appreciate the high level of technology being displayed by the 454 Italian machinery manufacturers exhibiting at the fair. The overall exhibition space occupied by Italian machinery manufacturers is nearly 32,000 sq. mt. (30 per cent of the total available surface area), confirming Italy’s leadership position among exhibiting countries.

“We’re just proud to have brought back to Milan the world’s major textile machinery fair after twenty years,” said Raffaella Carabelli, President of ACIMIT (the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers), adding, “These numbers not only rank Italy first among exhibiting countries, but are a true testament to the vitality of our sector, and confirm the good state of health of the Italian textile industry.”

ITMA 2015 also features a larger exhibition, with net exhibit space of over 108,000m2, occupying 11 halls of the Fiera Milano Rho fairgrounds. It is about 20 per cent larger than the 2011 exhibition. As in previous years, exhibitors from CEMATEX countries occupy the largest space. They booked 69 per cent of the total net exhibit space - an 18 per cent increase over the 2011 figure.

Followed by Italy, exhibitors from Germany, Switzerland, and Spain are present in large numbers. From non-CEMATEX countries, the four largest groups of participants are from Turkey, China, India, and Japan. The countries fielding the largest contingent of exhibitors at ITMA 2015 are Italy (453 exhibitors), Germany (238 exhibitors), China (184 exhibitors) and India (158 exhibitors).

Sustainability in focus

The Milan edition of ITMA is a litmus test for assessing the commitment of the global textile machinery sector to a truly sustainable textile and garments industry, as the event’s slogan states: ‘Master the Art of Sustainable Innovation’. For some time now, Italian machinery manufacturers have been focusing on the issue of sustainability for their products, in order to satisfy the demand for efficient technology solutions that effectively cut back on consumption, and consequently on production costs.

The World Textile Summit gave more than 150 textile industry leaders a range of expert insights into the business issues that feed into decisions on sustainability in the textile supply chain. Co-located with ITMA 2015, the Summit had a program designed to examine how investment in ‘clean’ manufacturing or the use of sustainably sourced materials can help add value to companies at all levels of the supply chain. The subject of sustainability aligned with the overarching theme of ITMA 2015, which continues at the Fiera Milano Rho, in Milan, Italy, until November 19, 2015.

Among the efforts is the launch of the ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award, the rebranding of the ‘Research and Education’ pavilion to ‘Research and Innovation’ pavilion, and many knowledge-sharing platforms to drive home the sustainability message. CEMATEX continues to support research and educational institutes with a grant for the participation in the ‘Research and Innovation’ pavilion. The pavilion has 40 participating institutions. Taking centre-stage at the pavilion is the ‘Speakers Platform’ which will be held till November 17, 2015. A total of 43 papers on the theme of sustainable innovations, achievements in innovation and technical textiles applications, will be presented at the platform.

The ‘ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award’ is a new initiative by CEMATEX to honour those who have made pioneering efforts to promote industry sustainability. Three of the finalists were vying for the ‘ITMA Industry Excellence Award’ while another three for the ‘ITMA Research and Innovation (R&I) Excellence Award’, which were announced at the ITMA gala dinner. Tonello and Levi Strauss were declared winners of the first ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award for NoStone denim finishing technology.

Innovative machineries under 19 chapters

The event is featuring exhibits clustered into 19 chapters such as spinning, web formation, winding and texturing, weaving, knitting and hosiery, embroidery and braiding, finishing, dyestuffs and chemicals, software, logistics, plant operations, recycling and education to garment making and textile processing, printing, and fibre and yarn.

The top five sectors include dyeing and finishing occupying 23 per cent of the space, with 303 exhibitors, spinning, 14 per cent of the space with 290 exhibitors, weaving, 12 per cent of the space and 179 exhibitors, knitting and hosiery with 13 per cent of the space and 128 exhibitors and printing segment occupying 10 per cent of the space with 113 exhibitors.

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