by+Flora+Zhao

“Although we had extra personnel on our exhibition stand， visitors still had to queue on occasions. For us， the fair was fantastic”， said Dr. Jan Zimmermann of Techtextil exhibitor Forster Rohner from Switzerland. Many of the 1，789 exhibitors of Techtextil and Texprocess had similar experiences. Over 47，500 visitors （an increase of around 14 percent， 2015： 41，826） from 114 countries and regions made their way to Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Centre from 9 to 12 May， to discover the most innovative products in the field of technical textiles and the latest processing technologies.

Entering the exhibition halls of the two leading trade fairs left no doubt： “Industry 4.0， smart and functional textiles and digitalization are no longer tomorrows trends. Today， the textile in- dustry is in the thick of it. If any industry is fit for the future， its the textile industry. Nevertheless， even in this age of digitalization， a personal exchange of ideas and opinions is essential. Accordingly， we are delighted that so many visitors came to Techtextil and Texprocess”， explained Detlef Braun， Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt. “Anyone who was not here in Frankfurt over the last four days has missed experiencing the dynamic nature of the textile industry for themselves”， added Braun.

“We expected numerous visitors before the doors opened. But that there would be so many was a great surprise. On occasions， we even had trouble in answering all inquiries”， said Sebastian Feges of Texprocess exhibitor Efka confirming the record number of visitors. From scanning body dimensions of tomorrows apparel customer， via IT-aided fashion design， automatic cutting， ever faster sewing and joining， as well as embroidering innumerable parts simultaneously， to delivering the garments： at Texprocess， the degree of interaction between man and machine reached a new level. “The garment manufacturing and textile industries set course for the future at an early stage and， during the two fairs， once again demonstrated that they rank among the most viable and progressive of sectors”， said Elgar Straub， Managing Director， VDMA Textile Care， Fabric and Leather Technologies， conceptual partner of Texprocess， rounding off the overall impression.

On all four days， the situation was similar at Techtextil where international trade visitors jammed the exhibition halls looking for high tech textiles for use in applications such as folding textile headlights， smart knee bandages， warming or cooling fashions， not to mention garments with integrated LEDs， fire-resistant fibers， bicycle frames made of carbon and textile membranes for stadium roofs.

After Germany， the three main visitor nations at Techtextil were Italy， France and Turkey. At Texprocess， they were Italy， Romania and Portu- gal. Particularly striking this year： very many young professionals attended the fairs – another indication of the positive and dynamic mood in the textile sector， which is clearly on course for growth. “Techtextil and Texprocess provide the setting for a lively exchange of ideas and opinions， as well as networking between the players， especially from the industry and start-ups， as well as the research and scientific fields”， said Parliamentary Undersecretary of State Dirk Wiese of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy （Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie – BMWi） during his visit to the two fairs.

The very good mood at the fair was underscored by the visitor poll on the economic climate in the sector. According to 33 percent of Texprocess visitors（2015： 26 percent）， the current economic situation can be described as good. In the case of Techtextil visitors， the figure was even higher with 42 percent holding this opinion （2015： 32 percent）. To these figures must be added the outstanding ratings given to the two events. Thus， 96 percent of Techtextil visitors said they were very pleased with the results of their visit to the fair. In the case of Texprocess visitors， the figure was even higher： 97 percent.

Also very well received were the numerous special exhibitions and events， which offered insights into the whole textile value chain and highlighted the synergistic effects between the two fairs. Opened by ESA astronaut Dr. Reinhold Ewald， the space-travel oriented exhibition， “Living in Space”attracted numerous visitors with features such as a virtual-reality journey to Mars， materials for use in space and a “Space Habitat” designed by star architect Ben van Berkel. There was thunderous applause for the ‘Innovative Apparel Show， which drew packed crowds to the foyer of Halls 5.1 / 6.1 with a display of high-tech textiles live on the catwalk several times throughout the fair. Showing a complete textile production line in operation， the “Digital Textile Micro Factory” was praised as having been a complete success.

Eight smart products chosen for the Techtextil Innovation Award 2017

The Techtextil Innovation Award 2017 is given in four categories. In the“new application” category， the winners are the Centexbel non-profit organisation （Belgium） and Peterseim Strickwaren from Mühlhausen. The intelligent knee brace from Centexbel supports patients during the rehabilitation phase after knee operations. A textile sensor identifies the angle of the knee in realtime and informs the patient of this accordingly. It also offers personalised exercises via an app. With SEAL， Peterseim Strickwaren presents a basalt knitted fabric that protects maritime systems， such as buoys， from environmental influences and cuts maintenance costs by up to 40 percent.

In the “new technology” category， the Upper Franconian company of V. Fraas Solutions in Textile convinced the jury with its SITnet， a load-securing net distinguished by joining points for the belts， which are warp-knitted in- stead of sewn. Thus， the net is completely flat， even and capable of bearing higher loads than conventional products. Vetex NV （Belgium）， a company specialising in coating and laminating technology， also ranked among the winners in this category. Its OC2PUS technology permits a polyurethane coating to be applied to flexible substrates， i.e.， to functionalise textiles， without the use of solvents， such as the controversial dimethyl formamide （DMF）. To this end， specially developed polyurethane resins， which harden chemically during the coating process， are used.

In the “new product” category， the Leipzigbased start-up Texlock was chosen for its innovative， textile-based bicycle lock， which is light， flexible and does not scratch the bicycles paintwork thanks to its soft surface. Penn Textile Solutions specialises in the production of elastic textiles and was also selected for an Innovation Award in this category for Ombra-DLS， a shading net for use in facade construction and window installation. By expanding the net to a greater or lesser extent， the light admitted to a room or building can be modified according to requirements， regardless of how much light energy is available at the time.

Two products were also singled out in the“new material” category. The Institute of Textile Chemistry and Chemical Fibers （ITCF） Denkendorf received the award for PURCELL， a sustainable composite made of pure cellulose， which is used not only as a high strength reinforcement fiber but also as a matrix component. Durafiber Technologies （France）， one of the worlds leading manufacturers of polyester fibers， fabrics and materials， was chosen for an alkaline-resistant polyester HT yarn. Tests have shown that the yarn retains its original technical properties almost unchanged even after being in contact with alkaline products at high temperatures for several days.

Texprocess Innovation Award 2017 goes to four outstanding textile processing products

The Texprocess Innovation Award 2017 is given in two categories. In the“new technology” category， two companies convinced the judges with their developments： Coloreel from Sweden wins with a technology that enables the white basic thread to be dyed during the embroidery process， which results in unique and colorful patterns. The Japanese company Juki is launching the DDL-9000C， the worlds first sewing machine for which， inter alia， thread tension and stitch length can be adjusted and stored via a touchscreen on the machine or via a special app. Also in this category， industrial-sewing machine specialist Xian Typical Europe was honored for Vetron Trace， a new technology that permits pedal-less sewing. Sensors on the machine track hand movements and pass on the information to the machine in real-time.

In the “new process” category， the Bielefeld-based Dürkopp Adler company won with an online monitoring system for industrial production. The parameters checked by the system include productivity and the status of up to 1，500 sewing machines in a network. The data is then supplied in real-time.