Although affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, ITMA ASIA + CITME 2020, which takes place mid-June in Shanghai, will see a convincing participation of VDMA member companies. 56 exhibitors from Germany will exhibit at this year’s edition of Asia’s major fair for textile machinery. Due to the pandemic and travel restrictions, this is much less than in 2018, when 99 exhibitors from Germany were present. The booked space of German companies has almost halved compared to 2018. Nevertheless, Germany is still the second largest exhibitor nation after China.

At a virtual VDMA press conference early June, renowned VDMA member companies presented their highlights for the Asian market.

André Wissenberg, Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions Division explained: "Oerlikon accompanies its customers and all visitors to the show with attractive offers in the field of manmade fibers production. One of the highlights will be the next generation of the DTY eAFK Evo with up to 25 % energy saving and up to 30 % higher production speed, easy maintenance and best yarn quality”.

“The Truetzschler Group will present a selection of exciting innovations from its business units Spinning, Card Clothing, Man-Made Fibers and Nonwovens. The newly launched products will establish new benchmarks in terms of productivity, quality and efficiency”, said Harald Schoepp, Trützschler.

A focus of the company Neuenhauser at ITMA ASIA + CITME 2020 will be on Industry 4.0, as Jorg Neyer said: “Referring to the higher quality standards and the increasing personnel costs in the spinning and weaving mills, the Neuenhauser Textile Division is moving forward to Industry 4.0. At ITMA ASIA + CITME 2020 we present our famous products such as travelling cleaners, warp beams, batch winders, transport vehicles, transport automation and grinding machines as well as the latest generation of automotive guided vehicles (AGV) for round cans, square cans and batch transport.”

More and more Asian customers are interested in automation solutions. Saurer is addressing this trend in Shanghai: “Automation innovations within single machines and extending across entire textile mills: Saurer is meeting the growing demand for cost-effective automation both in spinning and twisting/cabling mills. The well-known E3 attributes of the Saurer design philosophy – energy, economy and ergonomics – are enhanced with intelligent technologies, which address pressing issues related to labour and ergonomics. From intelligent speed regulation in spinning machinery, to automated doffing, can or package transport and finally palletising, the company offers customised solutions for intelligent automation”, stated Pia Terasa from Saurer.

Christine Wolters explained what visitors to ITMA ASIA + CITME 2020 can expect from Karl Mayer: “With its three strong brands, KARL MAYER, STOLL and KM.ON, the international KARL MAYER Group will be presenting innovative solutions from the fields of warp knitting, flat knitting, weaving, warp preparation and digital offerings.

It once again presents itself as a pioneer in the development of digital solutions for all its machine segments and services, including a dashboard for remote access to data from networked machines and a product for highly flexible, simple patterning through data transfer directly from the cloud.

And under the motto "Innovating the world of textiles", textile solutions with important product attributes of our time – smart, casual and environmentally friendly – are offered.”

Groz-Beckert stated: "During ITMA ASIA + CITME 2020, Groz-Beckert will present new products from all six product areas both physically as exhibits and in extended form via augmented reality. This year the company will not only welcome the guests on-site at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Hall 4, Booth C 31. In addition to the face-to-face event, Groz-Beckert will invite its customers to a virtual booth – for all visitors who cannot travel to the trade fair.”

Regarding the current challenges, Sebastian Stolle, Herzog said: “Even in these difficult times with travel restrictions and other economic challenges, HERZOG is there for you to provide you with the latest developments in the field of braiding technologies. For us, the focus is on medical technology, climbing and safety ropes as well as marine and offshore ropes. Our local sales team in China is online supported by our experienced colleagues from Germany.”

According to the company Lenze, digital engineering is the means by which machine builders in the textile industry can realize productive, flexible, customer-specific machines with high modularity and short time-to-market. Falk Vespermann explained: "Digitalization offers great potential for higher efficiency and new business models. Those who fully rely on a digital engineering process can profitably use data over the entire life cycle of a machine. We support machine builders from idea generation to concrete implementation. In doing so, we offer standardized software, open interfaces and connectivity to ensure a continuous flow of data." At ITMA ASIA + CITME 2020, automation specialist Lenze will be presenting integrated engineering tools and software modules, automation systems and digital services that use the digital twin to significantly accelerate development processes and, for example, support condition monitoring or asset management and thus improving OEE by reducing unplanned downtime.

Measurement and control technology solutions for the textile, coating, extrusion, film and paper industry is the product range of Mahlo. Stephan Kehry pointed out: “Equipped with the best scanner range in the market and with the experience of more than 75 years, Mahlo – the inventor of weft straightening – is also leading the way in terms of data management. Making relevant data available wherever it is needed is the overall task of the industry all around the globe. For many years, this approach has also been defining the pace of the German family business in the 3^rd generation.”

Digitization and sustainability are in the focus of textile finishing companies. Andreas Hannes, Sedo Treepoint emphasized: “The textile finishing industry requires advanced technology to digitalize the manufacturing process. There is also a growing need and awareness for more sustainable textiles. Sedo Treepoint presents integrated systems, which will further contribute to a more sustainable production and help to improve production management and efficiency.”

Philipp Hinkerohe summarized what customers can expect from the company Thies: “The family owned, German machine manufacturer Thies GmbH & Co. KG is providing the right machinery and auxiliary supply systems for each individual application purpose. Even more, the company serves as a consultant in terms of layout, engineering and automation in order to fulfil the customer needs with regards to Industry 4.0 solutions. In the environment of modern dye houses Thies is the holistic system supplier.”

Virtual trip to Asia by VDMA

Instead of visiting the show personally, the VDMA offers a virtual trip to Asia. The established "Textile Machinery Webtalk" series via the newsroom IndustryArena (https://en.industryarena.com/vdma-textile-machinery) will focus on ITMA ASIA in the run-up to the fair: VDMA Webtalks meet ITMA ASIA + CITME 2020.

The next three webtalks in this series will be:

9 June, 9:00 am - 9:50 am CEST, Erema

"Innovation solutions on Polymer Fiber & Composites Recycling“

10 June, 9:00 am - 9:50 am CEST, Thies

"IoT-Solutions for fully automatic weighing, provision, dispensing and dosing

in modern finishing plants?

11 June, 9:00 am - 10:00 am CEST, Lenze

"Digital Engineering with acceleration of process in Textile Machinery"

Participation is free of charge.