Progress today sees companies which are in
the forefront of modern and future trends in areas such as digitalization,
sustainability and energy efficiency, with data handling and interpretation
underpinning practically every aspect of their work.
Ms Cornelia Buchwalder, Secretary General
of Swiss Textile Machinery Association, agreed that the industry faces
ever-changing challenges – not least of which is inexorable globalisation of
the textile business.
Mr Thomas Waldmann, Managing Director, VDMA
Textile Machinery Association, Germany said that the future of the textile
industry is “more and more determined by Industry 4.0”.
Mr Waldmann explained that Industry 4.0 has
many dimensions and possible fields of applications. In three of them (Smart
Services, Operations and Factory), key solutions are provided by the machinery
industry. The other ones from smart textile products, marketing and sales,
employees up to strategy and organization are specific know-how issues for
textile mills.
In some countries, several initiatives have
been launched by the local governments to deal with the challenges and support
the industry’s development. For example, in recent years, the Italian
authorities have implemented ad hoc measures aimed at introducing appropriate
technologies in manufacturers’ production systems to digitalize their
processes, according to ACIMIT (the Association of Italian Textile Machinery
Manufacturers).
“These measures, along with
timely tax breaks, have been adopted immediately by textile machine
manufacturers to update technologies both in their production processes and
products,” explained Mr Alessandro Zucchi, President of ACIMIT.
Market
situation in 2018
To German machinery manufacturers, 2018 was
not a completely bad year but was far from being a good one. “The general
conditions were not ideal for our branch. The market situation in China and
India was cooling down. The same was true for Turkey,” said Mr Waldmann.

However, the situation was opposite for the
French machinery manufacturers as last year was “a near record year” for them.
The French Association of Textile Machinery Manufacturers (UCMTF), which groups
about 30 companies, recorded a total annual consolidated turnover of €1 billion
(about US$1.2 billion).
“We export most of our
machines. Geographically, there have been changes. For example, China, our most
important market has been contracting, but the US market is booming. In Turkey,
after a short-lived slowdown in 2016, orders have picked up in 2017 but slowed
again in 2018. In India, some of our companies are doing extremely well but
other think it is still a little slow,” explained Ms Evelyne Cholet, Secretary
General of UCMTF.
In addition, Ms Cholet observed the changes
in the type of products made with the French machinery. Sales of machines to
produce traditional textiles (apparel) have slowed but sales of machines to
produce technical textiles, carpeting or to recycle textiles have soared.
For the Swiss Textile Machinery
manufacturers, 2018 was a very positive year. Some of the markets developed
very well, namely the US, Italy, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Most of the other
export markets showed a stable sideways movement.
“With regards to the current year, our
member companies are cautiously optimistic. Order intake is expected to remain
stable or decline slightly. However, ITMA in the middle of the year, with many
innovations shown, will most probably trigger an additional stimulation of orders,”
said Ms Buchwalder.
For Italian machinery manufacturers, Asia
is the primary destination for exports in the sector, followed by the European
Union. Over the first eleven months of 2018, roughly 47% of the machines were
exported to Asian markets, and 21% to the European Union.
“China, Turkey, India and Bangladesh are
the first four export destinations for our textile machinery manufacturers. The
Chinese market, in particular, absorbs 18% of Italian textile machinery sold
abroad,” said Mr Zucchi.
From January to November 2018, the value of
exports to China amounted to €323 million, which was a slight decrease of 2%
compare to the previous period. The machinery exports to Turkey reached €199
million, which was an increase of 19% compare to the previous period.
Opportunities
in emerging markets

To ACIMIT, the emerging countries are
“those most recently affected by the delocalization of the global textile and
garments industry”, which is known perennially on the lookout for low
production costs.
The greatest potential is expressed by the
areas of Sub-Saharan Africa (Ethiopia and Kenya) and Southeast Asia (Vietnam,
Cambodia).
“There are numerous
emerging markets in which German companies are already doing good business and
that still offer potential for the future, like Bangladesh, Pakistan,
Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Especially some South-East-Asian countries benefit from
the rising costs in China,” said Mr Waldmann.
In Ms Cholet’s opinion, the textile market
was mainly European 30 years ago, and then it went to North Africa and then
Asia, mainly China.
Now, the other Asian countries, which have
lower labor costs, attract producers. Some African countries like Ethiopia will
also have a strong textile industry within a few years, according to Ms Cholet.
She added that the French manufacturers are
not focusing on the mass product markets but aiming for high quality products
for apparel, home textiles, carpeting and technical textiles.
Unstable
global political situation
Talking about the unstable political
situation in the world, Mr Zucchi said that the trade disputes have weakened
the economies of the countries involved, affecting both businesses, which are
forced to downsize investment plans, and end consumers, who more often than not
passively suffer these tensions.
“As for the textile industry, it is among
the most sensitive to changes in the structure of trade policies, whether in
individual countries or entire geographical areas. As a result, the demand for
textile machinery is also conditioned by these trade dynamics,” said Mr Zucchi.
Ms Cholet agreed that the uncertainties may
have some effects on the investments decisions. There may be some postponements
but the need to modernize the production process is still there to improve the
production costs, to have more flexible processes and offer high quality
products with zero defects.
“There may be macroeconomic turbulences
but, on the ground, realities are much more stable than suggested by the
international headlines,” noted Ms Cholet.
“Many things we took for granted in
international relations have changed or are still changing. The trade disputes
and protectionist tendencies are not for the benefit for a globalised industry
like the textile sector. The policy frameworks have become more uncertain. But
it is free trade that made our business globally successful. So, let’s stand
together for free trade and against protectionist tendencies,” said Mr
Waldmann.