Continuous Dyeing Range

world of textiles

References Worldwide issue twelve www.monforts.com

32 world of textiles | issue twelve

Issued byA. Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH & Co. KGBlumenbergerStrasse 143 145, D-41061

Mnchengladbach,Germanywww.monforts.de

[email protected]: Klaus A Heinrichs, John Hooper, Peter Tolksdorf

Photography: Joem PromotionsLayout & Design: Alan Humphrey

New premisesFeeling at home already 4

Heat recoveryItalian textile producers reap benefits of heat recovery 8

GermanyAll new Montex solution a first for BWF Protecs

special requirements 10

IndiaATEs strength helps Monforts grow in India 13

IndonesiaOn parade in Indonesia 14

SpainMonforts technologists a hidden gem 16

TurkeyTurkish delight 17

GermanyCustom made solutions 18

The Possehl GroupPossehl post record sales 21

IndiaIndias commission dyers meet demand for open-width knits 21

Technical articleNew developments in continuous dyeing of PES/

cellulosic blends 22

IndiaContinuous dyeing range with Econtrol for NSL Textiles 26

IndiaAmongst the worlds best 28

Energy TowersSix Energy Towers for Nishat Mills 31

TeleserviceLinked to the world 32

ChinaHappy in Shenzhen but hold the snake! 33

AustriaNo Massifs in Shenzhen 34

IndonesiaTaking the lead in Indonesia 35

Advert

Monforts provideenergy solutionsThe ever increasing costs of utilities including water,gas and electricity plus the rising price of commodities,such as cotton, are forcing textile producers to seekenergy savings in a bid to maintain margins. Againstthis background of irreversible high costs for primaryenergy, Monforts, as a market leader in manufacturingdyeing and finishing machines for woven and knitfabrics, is committed to reducing energy consumptionby its customers.

We will therefore begiving special emphasis toenergy saving solutionsand environmentalprotection at ITMA2011.

The trend is towardsintelligent dyeing anddrying technology forminimum use of energyand fashionable fabrics.

Special focus will also befor new finishing aspectsof Technical textiles.

On behalf of our Customer Services Department weare also able to offer modernisation and upgradekits for our customers with older Monforts ranges toallow them to remain competitive and achieve thehighest quality standards and reproducible results.

Rolland Hampel,Managing Director

Contents


Leaving the old premises onSchwalmstrae after 127 years wasundoubtedly difficult for everyone,not only the long-serving membersof the workforce.And yet they havebeen very quick to recognize andappreciate the advantages of theirnew surroundings.

Just a few weeks on, everyonehas settled in nicely and the feelingis unanimous: it has all been worth-while. Little wonder, considering themore compact layout and open,brightly designed production and of-

fice spaces.The new, uniform structure has

helped to optimize cooperation andteamwork by enabling a more regu-lar exchange between the depart-ments, making communication easier.

The Schlafhorst Businesspark inMnchengladbach is a location witha long tradition in the textile indus-try. This is where the well-knowntextile machinery builder Schlafhorstonce built its spinning machines.Oerlikon Textile still produces heretoday, although it is planning to re-locate its production next year.

We are pleased that the loca-tions textile tradition, which hasbeen shaped by Schlafhorst for somany years, is to be carried on byanother company with a long tradi-tion, explains Businesspark headJosef Hellenbrand and has activelysupported the Monforts move. We

are very grateful for that support.Without it, everything would havetaken a lot longer, stresses Mon-forts authorized officer, Klaus A.Heinrichs.

Monforts has rented some 2200m of office space and a productionarea of around 3700 m in theSchlafhorst Businesspark. The ad-ministration team has moved intothree floors of the new office build-ing and centralized its structures.Previously the departments weredistributed around the premises;

here they are much closer together.A tour of the new premises high-

lights the many benefits of the move.

Administration building -ground floor

The ground floor of the modern ad-ministration building is the newhome to the service division. This iswhere Wolfgang Poos, about to cel-ebrate 30 years with the companynext year, also works. As projectmanager, Poos is responsible forplant rebuilds, retrofits and modern-izations

When a request for spare partscomes in, the order processing de-partment within the service divisiontakes care of preparing a quote. HereUte Westermeier and several of hercolleagues handle enquiries fromIndia, Turkey, Morocco or the USA in

between the employees has becomeeven more intense, and the parkingsituation is excellent. In short: I feelquite at home.

Teleservice is an important part ofthe service division.One of the peopleconnected to the world is Michael

Sieberichs, who works in after-salesservice offering support and assistancewith problems over the telephone.

I am responsible for Europe,Africa and Central and South Amer-ica, His colleagues, just next doordeal with calls from North America,

Asia andAustralia.First of all we tryto help on the phone. The secondstage is for us to offer our teleservice.

The design engineers have set uptheir new home on the first floor.Theelectrical and mechanical design de-partments can now work hand in

hand within sight of each other. Thedistances between them are short,and the offices are open and inviting.

Electrical technicians and engi-neers like Norbert Sieben, a mechan-ical engineer who knows theMontexstenter like the back of his hand,

fluent French and English.Costing, monitoring cost struc-

ture and solving problems is the re-sponsibility of Konrad Wilms, who isin charge of spare parts sales anddistribution.As a company veteran of40 years he knows the location well.

From Schlafhorst days, we had anumber of meetings with our busi-ness associates here.

He never imagined that he wouldone day have his office here too.ButIve settled in well. Everything iswithin easy reach, communication

New premises

Feeling at home alreadyA new home for the company is proving verysuccessful for everyone with staff settling in veryquickly following its recent move.


Frank Studlarek agrees. Heworks in small parts shipping,shifting loads of up to three tonnes,and has been with the companysince 1966. The next generation isalready following in his footsteps:his daughter works in the com-

panys service division.Norbert Kremers works within

sight of his colleague in the spareparts store, where he is in chargeof the 4000 or more different spareparts. Whatever their size, from anut to a three-tonne radiator, theskilled machine fitter, who beganhis apprenticeship at Monforts in1967, has everything under control.

Jrgen Hein, who is known

simply as Hein and has beenmonforized over the past 42years, keeps an overview as headof the shipping department.

The rear of the production hallis the new domain of the appren-tices and their training managerAlexander Meissner. Here in the ap-prentice workshop, Meissner istraining four electronics techni-cians. Two technical drawing andtwo commercial apprentices arealso employed.These eight traineesare currently learning the ropes atMonforts for their future careers.

Administration building-second floorThe last stop on the tour is the sec-ond floor. From here the companysfortunes are directed and its struc-tures managed. Klaus Penris in Ac-counts has the company financesfirmly under control.

As head of Accounts and Con-trolling, Ulrich Geusen has a specialconnection with the owners of Mon-forts, Possehl. The Possehl Group isheadquartered in Lbeck and holdsquarterly meetings at which Geusendiscusses procedural matters andstrategy.

German plant engineering andmarketing are the responsibility ofKlaus A. Heinrichs, who also makessure that Monforts is recognised lo-cally, regionally and nationally as aninnovative mechanical engineeringfirm. The sales division is the door-way to the company, as this iswhere the customer enquiries arrive.

Along with her other colleagues inSales, Selma Glcelik is responsiblefor project development and dealswith the incoming enquiries.The pre-liminary quotes are also preparedhere. The initial contact is usuallymade via the representatives aroundthe world, who take direct care ofthe customers and are familiar withconditions in the various countries inAmerica,Asia or Africa.

work here.The mechanical design depart-

ment was previously divided be-tween two floors but has now beenbrought together on a single floor.Here too, there has been a signifi-cant improvement in dialogue. Dirk

Esser is working with Pro/ENGI-NEER, parametric 3D-CAD softwarealso known under the name of ProEor Pro/E. All objects are built in 3Dand drawings derived from them, orseveral sections are grouped intoan assembly.

The design department is nextdoor to the electrical lab, where thecircuit diagrams are produced, soft-ware developed and programming

takes place. It is here that the drivetechnology for the Monfortsmachines is developed.

Production hallThe 2700m production hall iswhere all the work leading up to a

delivery comes together. But first toincoming goods: Peter Tengler hasbeen working for Monforts for 48years.The skilled fitter checks goodsreceived and take care of quality as-surance. I never thought I wouldfind myself working in a new hallagain. But he too can see all theadvantages: Its brighter, friendlierand more compact the move hasdefinitely made a difference!

New premises

Significant energy savings, with re-duced gas consumption, have beenmade by three Italian textile produc-ers Giovanni Clerici & Figli SpA,TMR Cederna and Tintea - thanks tothe heat recovery system fitted totheir Montex 6500 stenters.

The integrated heat recovery sys-tem is part of Monforts on-going ef-fort to reduce energy consumptionin the textile industry and is now fit-ted as standard to all its Montex6500 stenters.

Records maintained by GiovanniClerici & Figli SpA over the past 18months have indicated a large re-duction in gas consumption. Itsnon-Monforts 6-chamber stenter,without a heat recovery system, in its

back period of around just 12months.

Featuring large diameter verticaltubes, the heat exchanger requiresvery little maintenance with ex-tended service every one twomonths depending on productioncycles. Downtime on the system canbe reduced using optional automaticdry cleaning device which eliminatesthe need for water or chemicals toensure that the system is always op-erating at maximum efficiency.

The integrated system in a space-saving rectangular design eliminatesthe need for heavy support and ac-cess structures above the stenter,and reduces the amount of duct-work required.

Gallarate facility, has been consum-ing 83m/h. If evaluated as an 8-chamber unit it equates as 111m/h.

In comparison, Clericis 8-cham-ber Montex 6500 with heat recoveryis consuming just 55m /h; providinga significant reduction of 56 m/h.

The second company, lining fash-ion wear producer, TMR CedernaFodere SpA has twoMontex stentersin its finishing operation, one aMon-tex 5000 without heat recovery andthe second, a Montex 6500 fittedwith heat recovery.

The 5-chamber Montex 5000consumes 37m/h which, if calcu-lated as an 8-chamber stenter,equates at 59m/h. Gas consump-

tion in the 8-chamber Montex 6500is just 28m/h.

Dye house specialist Tintea rantwo identical 2000 m long batchesthrough its 8-chamber Montex 6500stenter one batch with heat recov-ery, one without. It found a 20% gassavings for the batch produced usingthe heat recovery system.

The heat recovery system com-prises a compact, air-to-air heat ex-changer, which is installed within theroof structure of the stenter.The heatexchanger uses energy from the ex-haust gas to preheat up to 60% ofthe incoming fresh air entering thestenter. Depending on productionconditions, this provides energy sav-ings of 10 35% and a typical pay-


Heat recovery

Italian textile producers reap benefits ofheat recovery systemFigures recently released by three Italian textile producers identify significant energy savings with reducedgas consumption, directly attributed to the heat recovery system; now fitted as standard on the companysMontex 6500 stenters.

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portation sectors to aluminium, glassand steel plants and on to the furni-ture, protective clothing, medicalequipment and grinding and polish-ing markets.

BWF Protec nonwovens aremanufactured in thicknesses of 1mmto 25mm, in widths of 50cm to260cm and in fabric weights of100gsm up to 5,500gsm.

The staple fibres which areprocessed include all natural andconventional synthetics, in additionto high value performance fibressuch as Conex, Twaron, Pyron, Ker-mel, Basofil, P84, Kynol, PTFE andZylon.

The company even manufacturescertain products with Bekinox stain-less steel fibres.

This is in addition to many spe-cial blends, all of which are cardedpre-needled and then finish needledprior to reaching the stenter.

Due to this extremely widerange, an off-the-shelf system wasnot enough, Mr Huber explains.We required an all-singing and

Based in Hof, Germany, BWF Protecis involved in so many industrialniche markets that its range ofneedlepunched materials is perhapsthe widest available from any singlesource.

As a consequence, a very versa-tile and unique Montex stenter solu-tion was needed to meet allrequirements.

We are not making commodi-ties of thousands of square metres,explained BWF Protec ManagingDirector, Dieter A. Huber, Our busi-ness is small quantities of usuallyvery high performance materials forspecial niches.

He continued, We have fiveproduct managers who are all spe-cialised textile engineers and followindustrial developments around theworld to identify areas where a cus-tomised needlefelt solution wouldbe appropriate. Where it is, we canprovide it.

Industries supplied with materi-als by the company range from theaerospace, automotive and trans-

Germany | Technical Textiles

All new Montex solution a first for BWF Protecs special requirementsAll the stops were pulled out for the engineering and commissioning of a special Montex stenter line forGermanys BWF Protec.


Indias growing economic prosperityis resulting in a growth in the do-mestic textiles and garments sectors,and as consumers become wealthierthey are demanding better quality.

At the same time, the shape ofIndias textiles sector is changing.Whereas a few years ago cotton andcotton blends had the greater shareof the domestic market, with syn-thetics and other fabrics trailing, thatposition has now been reversed.

These changes represent greatopportunities for entrepreneurs,given the enormous size of the In-dian population, but this also re-quires heavy investment in the besttechnology and, in turn, a keen eyeon the part of equipment manufac-turers and suppliers to recognisetrends and supply solutions to meetthem.

This is all happening veryquickly, and the changes are pro-found ones, says Gurudas Aras, di-rector of the Textile EngineeringGroup at ATE Enterprises Pvt Ltd.But there is no doubt the develop-ments are all very positive ones, andwe ourselves are very confident thatwith our brand names and the qual-ity of the technology and servicethey and we can supply, the futureis a very promising one for us.

TheATE Group, headquartered inMumbai, is today a formidable forcein Indias textile and garments in-dustry, yet it started off as a modestoperation. Founded as AssociatedTextile Engineers in 1939 by S HBhagwati, its initial function was tosell textile machinery in India.

In 1954 the founders son, AtulBhagwati, joined the company andthey began to import European tex-tile technology to India, representingleading manufacturers.

ATE had begun representation ofA. Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbHin 1975. In 1997 it had entered intoa manufacturing agreement to as-semble Monforts stenters under theMotex brand name at a factory inAhmedabad.

By 2007 with a complete re-structuring of the ATE Group, ATEEnterprises was appointed the

all-dancing solution, and Monfortsdidnt disappoint with the speciallycustomised machine model theydelivered.

The Montex 6500 8F Twin Airsystem has eight 3m chambercompartments and a total length of53m.

The gas-powered unit can oper-ate at a maximum temperature of230C and the company is runningit at speeds of from 1m/min up to50m/min. It is also equipped with aheat recovery unit for added effi-ciency.

With the stenter we can do oneof two things, adding chemical treat-ments or heat setting,Mr Huber ex-plained. In some applications lowmelt fibres are introduced and onceactivated can make the nonwovenrock-hard like wood. Such materialsobviously have to be cut into sheetsimmediately because they cant berolled.

A special requirement was thereinforced horizontal chain.

The horizontal chain is very im-portant because when you are pro-ducing materials with thicknesses of25mm, think about the strength thatis required to keep them in place.

The applications for such ex-tremely heavyweight and often in-flexible materials can be surprising.One is on the very tips of chair-legs

sales,marketing and after salesrepresentation for Monforts and theMotex machines nowmade by Insp-iron Engineering..

Although we face competitionin the stenter sector with other man-ufacturers, from Europe, the Far Eastand locally, there is no one who canoffer the same level of quality andtechnical support, says Mr Aras.

ATE has over the course ofmany years built up a servicestrength that is dedicated to sup-

porting Indian manufacturers, andwith Monforts we also have thegreat advantage that we have threesources we can draw on, namelyMonforts in Germany, which pro-duces the Montex 6500, Inspironhere in India, and the Monforts jointventure in China, Monfongs, whichproduces its own version of theMontex 6500.

So in this way we offer the bestand the fastest options possible.Monforts has created its own com-petition. There is no other competitorlike this in the market, and Monforts

has the largest stenter population inIndia.This is backed up by 10ATE of-fices throughout the country, for wemaintain a presence in all the im-portant textile centres.

MrAras says that the strength ofthe Monforts brand in India is nowleading the way to producers invest-ing in the companys continuousdyeing technology.

Three or four years ago, he says,Indias textile sector was undergoingvery fast expansion and producers

began looking for complete end-to-end solutions.

Monforts used the strength ofits stenter brand to enter the contin-uous dyeing sector, and supplied uswith complete support.

One of the most significantmoves came when Monforts organ-ised a conference in Germany dedi-cated to continuous dyeing, andinvited a very large group of poten-tial customers from India so theycould see the machinery at work andtalk to the people there.

It was enormously effective and

has helped to open the Indianmarketfor the Thermex continuous dyeingrange. Monforts is now the largestsupplier of continuous dyeing ma-chines in India.

These machines come fromGermany, and as with the stenterswe enter into an after-sales serviceagreement with our customers inwhich we undertake to keep the ma-chines in good health, with preven-tive maintenance and fast deliveryand installation of spare parts.

This all helps of course to main-tain Monforts good reputation inthe market.

Until recently, Indias fabrics sec-tor was divided between cotton at a65 % share while 35% was syn-thetics and other fabrics. Three orfour years ago this began to change,and the shares are now 47% cotton,and 53% synthetics and other fab-rics. This is closer in line with theworld situation of 63% syntheticsand 37% cotton.

For ATE, this presents more op-portunities. Mr Aras says that thecompany is closely following thenew trend towards technical textiles,spreading its wings beyond its tradi-tional strong area of short staple andcotton textiles. And after extendingto technical textiles a few years ago,ATE has now set up a new syntheticmachinery division.

This is all part of growth andshifting tastes and patterns, saysMr Aras. Indias economy is grow-ing at the rate of 8% per year. Do-mestic consumption is growing, andin fact the textile and garment in-dustry was not really hit by theglobal financial crisis of a couple ofyears ago, because the domestic in-dustry is so strong.

70% of our population lives inthe rural areas. The government hasincreased the base price of cottongrain by up to 40% and this moneyhas gone to the farmers and thevillages, and the rural people nowhave a lot more cash in hand.

This is driving consumption.Consumption drives quality. Qualitydrives technology. We see a verybright market ahead.

to ensure there is no scratching towooden or marble floors.

A second is as a manufacturingcomponent in the pressing of steel.

While such applications may in-volve very small amounts of materialindividually, their use throughout in-dustries worldwide is substantial andhighly valued the secret to successin niche market manufacturing.

BWF Protec is part of the BWFGroup, which has a turnover of

160 million and 1,300 employeesworldwide. The group has threeother divisions Envirotec, special-ising in environmental solutions, Fel-tec, which makes wool felts, andProfiles, a thermoplastics materialsbusiness. Having pursued a policy ofglobal expansion, the company nowhas plants in Italy, Turkey, the USA,China and India, in addition to Ger-many.

BWF Protec at Hof in Northern

Bavaria has 60 employees, with65% of its output exported outsideGermany to 53 different countries.

This is the first Monforts stenterin the whole group,Mr Huber con-cludes. So far we have used com-peting technology, but I have to saythat in deciding to go with Monforts,as the company with the engineer-ing and technology know-how tomeet our specific needs, we did theright thing.

Germany | Technical Textiles India

ATEs strength helps Monforts grow in India

Gurudas Aras, director,Textile Engineering Group, ATE

Finishing Process

Each Montex stenter receives atleast two passes and frequentlythree, confirmed Iwan.

The first for setting, and the sec-ond for finishing, however with somany special treatments, a thirdpass is frequently necessary.

These treatments can includewater repellent, insect repellent,flame retardant, stain defender, antiinfra-red and breathable finishes forthe uniform fabrics.

The fabrics pass through thestenter at speeds dependant on theweight. Typically for example, a140 gm/m fabric will run at70m/min. Fabric weights of be-tween 100 gm/m - 400 gm/m areprocessed.

For the camouflage fabrics botha dye and print process can beused printing up to twelve colours.


Recognised as South East Asiaslargest integrated vertical textile-gar-ment manufacturing company andone of the worlds leading producersof military uniforms, P.T. Sri Rejekilsman, Sritex now has eight Montex

stenters; all ordered through localrepresentative P.T. Primatek Tech-nologies.

Originally founded by Mr. Luk-minto in 1966 as a market trader inSolo city textile market, he sold fabricsfrom a 3m x 3m stall.

From these humble beginnings,Mr. Lukminto started a dyeing processfor hand piece dye fabrics from home.By 1970 he had moved into a newfactory introducing more advanceddyeing and printing techniques beforemoving to larger premises in 1978.

During the 70s the company in-troduced finishing using a mix ofJapanese andTaiwanese stenters andintroducing its first Europeanmarque.

Recognising the quality attainedwith the superior Europeanmanufac-tured stenters, Mr. Lukminto intro-duced the companys first MonfortsMontex stenter in the early 1990s.

Today, in addition to the Montexstenters, the company also has aThermex and Sanforiser in its produc-tion process.

According to the founders sonand Company President, Iwan S. Luk-minto, we have grown to recognise

the superior quality, robust strengthand after-service back-up providedby Monforts and their representativePrimatek.

On parade - military uniforms

Today, the company is recognised asa leading producer of military uni-forms, supplyingmilitary uniforms forno fewer then 26 countries world-wide. The company is an authorisedlicensed printer for the GermanArmyand regularly supplies to severalarmed forces in Europe.

It was my father who first recog-nised the potential for military uni-forms said Iwan He saw that theIndonesian army neededmore qualityuniforms to a higher requirement which at the timewe could notmeet.

We therefore learnt aboutquality. This led to an enquiry fromGermany.

It was a totally different marketto fashion wear with the military de-manding a higher performance anddurability with, for example, an anti- mosquito finish and infra-red re-flectance.

Another factor was stability of

colour particularly with camouflageuniforms.

Iwan went on to say, Today therequirements from the military aregetting even higher with narrowertolerance and colour fastness.

Germany is today still a key cus-tomer, with the Bundeswehr Author-ity bi-annually inspecting quality andsystems, environmental issues,compliance with human rights andcompany social responsibilities.

Indonesia | Special finishing

On parade in IndonesiaSouth East Asias largest integrated vertical textile-garment manufacturing company and one of theworlds leading producers of military uniforms, P.T.Sri Rejeki lsman, has commissioned its two latestMontex stenters; making a total of eight Montexstenters at the Indonesian producers facility.

Iwan S. Lukminto,President, P.T Sri Rejeki Isman

this to be difficult.Almost immediately we started

to see the influx of textiles fromChina and the decline in the Spanishmarket with the transfer to Asia.

Despite a slight recovery in 2007 when Spanish textile companieshad recognised that to survive itneeded to increase its productionand quality, offering more valueadded products, smaller batches andfaster deliveries for the fashion in-dustry, it proved short-lived.

New merger

During 2007 we further recognisedthat with the downturn, we needed

to re-establish ourselves with a newdimension and added strength. Wetherefore created a new company,together with another establishedfamily trading company, Eduardo dePineda SL; proving to be extremelypositive.

Whilst we have not achievedthe old budgets of the glory days,we have been lucky to have the op-portunity to achieve and adjust forthe new trends. Alone we wouldhave found it more difficult to sur-vive.

Today the new company is con-sidered to be the largest textileequipment agency in Spain; withAguilar specialising in dyeing andfinishing equipment and Pineda,spinning and weaving. Meeting thecyclical nature of the textile business,the new company has also soughtagencies in other areas such as

17

According to company director,Baran Arin, the intention of addingthe latest machine was to be able tooffer faster and more flexible pro-duction times to its customers.

Some work is done on a com-mission dyeing and finishing basis,some is for our own elastic warpknitted fabrics. The products are ei-ther destined for the domestic mar-ket or exported, said Mr Arin. Thismeans that we have to supply opti-mum quality, to tight deadlines, andin greatly varying quantities. Conse-quently, the latest Montex is an im-portant investment for us.

The stenter design allows thecompany to provide any finishing ef-fect that is needed, and that smallproduction runs are easy to cater forbecause of the simplicity of the com-

puterised operation, he said.We specialise in the treatment

of synthetic warp knit fabrics rangingfrom 20 gm/m2 to 350 gm/m2, andalso circular knit fabrics of polyester,polyamide or elasthane blends.

As with the earlier models, theMontex 6500 has been supplied byMonforts Turkish representative,Masters Tekstil, which also providestraining and maintenance services.

The future of the industry herein Turkey lies in quality, confirmedMr Arin. Other producing countriescan manufacture in bulk, but Turkeyhas the reputation for quality andfastness of service. Consequently,companies like ours have to not onlymaintain their quality, but also con-tinually strive towards improve-ment.


ample, only have workloads assuredfor the next three or four weeks.Many of our commission dyers havegone.

A number of our bigger weav-ing companies have opted to be-come more vertical in a bid to gaincontrol of quality and deadlines.Several of our leading fashionhouses have also recognised theneed for some production to bemade in Spain to meet deadlines; re-versing trends five years ago to moveto Asia.

Key to survival

Today the Spanish textile industrycannot be defined as Spain but partof the European community, dyeing,for example, for German and Frenchtextile producers in Germany andFrance.

With 4 million unemployed inSpain there can be no real growth inthe local market. Survival thereforemeans exporting into the Europeanmarkets.

Local representation

Since its appointment as the localrepresentative in 1971. Aguilar hasenjoyed considerable success. Todayenergy costs undoubtedly play animportant role. But, according toCarlos, perhaps even more para-mount is the efficiency and reliabilityof the stenter with speed, quality andproductivity key factors together withlow maintenance.

For Monforts, one of thestrongest advantages, not offered byits competitors, is the assistance pro-vided to customers by its technolo-gists, led by Thomas Pffgen, KurtvanWersch and Peter Tolksdorf.They

provide a vital role in securing newbusiness and have proved to be areal gem.

For sales to the larger verticaloperations with long productionlines and reduced workforce, themarket is still seeking new equip-ment. But for the smaller dyeing andfinishing operations, seeking moreflexibility and smaller machines withadd ons to produce different fabricswith the same unit, a new trend isfor Monforts modification/upgradekits.

For example, we have recentlyinstalled a new Hotflue to an existingline to increase productivity. Othersare adding elements of control tomodify and upgrade systems.

New chains with improvedgreasing are being installed as amore cost effective solution to in-crease a machine performance.

ITMA 2011

Whilst 2005 saw the demise of theSpanish textile industry as we knewit, we will see a return but it will besmaller. ITMA will help to provide arealisation for survival.

Where so many of the formertextile barons closed their mills andsold the land for redevelopment,

Carlos is optimistic that ITMA willconvince the remaining operations tocontinue.

He is also hopeful that it will ed-ucate young people that the industrynot only has a future but is a worth-while career after so many years asbeing a dirty job.

In closing, Carlos sees a future forthe sixth generation of his family toremain a successful operation but isrealistic to recognise that it will needcontinued internalisation to succeedand survive.

As the former industrial base forSpain, Barcelona has been forced toreinvent itself such that, today itboasts the best training hospitals,universities and many of the coun-trys leading IT companies; followingthe closure of so many of its old fac-tories.

This also epitomises a mirrorimage of one of Monforts oldest rep-resentatives appointed in 1971 -Aguilar & Pineda and the countrystextile industry. Not so many yearsago Spain was todays China of theworld, supplying Europe with cheaptextiles, as a direct result of its lowsalaries. However this has now beenreversed with Asian markets sup-plying both Spain and the rest ofEurope with cheaper textiles.

According to Carlos AguilarPeyra, Managing Director of localrepresentative, Aguilar & Pineda,membership to the European Com-munity in 1986 was initially greatlybeneficial for Spain.

However, he adds,As with allclub membership we had to followall the rules and accept its opendoor policy. As a very closed doorand protectionist country, we found

chemical and environmental andbeing active with another companyin the group involved in food andpackaging.

Aguilar was founded in 1876 byCarloss great grandfather, Snr BlasAquilar, handling all aspects of textileproduction. Working in retail, sellingyarns in Barcelona, he soon recog-nised the potential demand for tex-tile machinery. Being a Frenchspeaker unusual in those days proved a decisive factor in seekinginformation on equipment outsideSpain.

Control then passed onto hisson, Luciano Aquilar, who l attributehis greatest success to maintainingthe company through a very tumul-tuous period, which included twoWorld Wars and the Spanish civilwar.

My grandfather died in 1951with Spain totally isolated with itsborders closed. My father and uncle,Carlos and Emilio, were thereforevery instrumental in trying to sourceSpanish produced textile equipment.

Carlos joined the family businessin 1971 and together with his cousinwas at the forefront of Spain open-ing its borders and minds to buyingEuropean equipment: includingMonforts.

World recession

The small recovery of 2007 was soonto be halted in 2008/9 and the worldrecession. Despite 2010 showingsigns of a new recovery, Spain stillhas problems with no investment innew equipment and banks are still

not lending money.Spain is suffering badly from the

crash of its construction industry withmassive debts.

A symposium is shortly plannedto look at the state of the textile in-dustry and the role for Spain and Eu-rope in the next five years.

But a stenter is for 10 yearsminimum and companies do nothave the confidence to invest at thismoment in time. Some dyers, for ex-

Spain

Monforts technologists a hidden gem Turkish delightBarcelona, the venue for ITMA 2011, is also the home of one of the longest appointed representatives,Aguilar & Pineda, which, founded in 1876, already has its sixth generation of the family owned businesswaiting in the wings. World of Textiles recently met Carlos Aguilar Peyra for an overview of Spains textileindustry and its hopes for the future.

Turkish dyeing and finishing of synthetic knittedfabrics specialist Yalcin Tekstil has installed a thirdMontex.

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cooperation between the supplier ofthe raw materials, the manufacturerof the parts and the end-user is keywhen it comes to developing them,says Managing Director Jan-FredericBierbaum.

Product design is based on thecorrect combination of the materialselection, the functional propertiesrequired and the finishing processesfor the final product. Our success isalso based on the continuous opti-mization of our plants, so that wecan continuously offer higher-qual-ity products at lower prices.

This strategy resulted in the

As a result of advances in moderntextile technology including the in-stallation of the first China-madeMontex 6500 in Germany theBorken-based Bierbaum Group isnot only still producing in its homecountry.

With an extensive range of pro-cessingmachinery for knitting,weav-ing and the production of nonwovenfabrics, the companys products arehighly successful in many areas oftechnical textiles and home textiles.

Technical textiles are alwayscustom-made solutions intended fora specific application and a tight-knit


Germany | Technical Textiles

Custom madesolutions

Jan Frederic Bierbaum, MD.

In order to meet demand for open-width knits, Indias commissiondyers in the countrys mainknitwear centre of Tirupur whichprovides up to 20% of the Nationstextiles export earnings are see-ing the introduction of a new fin-ishing concept with Montexstenters.

Two commission dyers, SelvamProcess and Sri Gayathri Colours,have both taken deliveries of Mon-tex 6500 Indias first Chinesebuilt Monforts stenters to provideheat settings treatment and finish-ing in response to exporters de-mands for open-width knitwear.

Compared with traditional tu-bular knits, open-width offers re-duced wastage and a significantimprovement in quality.

The Pretema GmbH acquisitioncomplemented our Electronics divi-sion. Going forward this firm is tobe the management company forthis division.

Four important acquisitions werealso made in the German SME sec-tor in the fall of 2009 for the newlyestablished SME Investments divi-sion: Hirtler Seifen GmbH, Karl Otto

Knauf (GmbH + Co.KG), Kleine Wolke Tex-tilgesellschaftmbh&Co.KG. and DMA Maschi-nen- und AnlagenbauGmbH&Co.KG.According to Uwe

Lders, ExecutiveBoard Chairman of L.Possehl & Co. mbH,the company had asuccessful year in2010 and today theGroup is in a strongerposition than ever be-fore, with all divisionscontributing to theoverall success of theGroup without any de-pendencies or disap-pointment.We also took ad-

vantage of acquisitionopportunities to ex-pand our portfolio ofbusinesses. The Pos-sehl Group is noweven more broadlybased and uncon-

strained by trends in particular in-dustries, regions or corporatedivisions.

We therefore have every reasonfor optimism looking ahead to 2011.

Our excellent capitalisation andliquidity also afford us opportunitiesfor sustained growth in the yearsahead including further acquisi-tions.

Preliminary figures for2010 fiscal year Operating profit almost

quadruples further Sales up to Euros1.72 billion Positive net cash position

improves Major acquisition activity Favourable outlook for 2011

Possehl closed its 2010 fiscal yearwith the best operating result in its163 year history as a company; leav-ing the crisis wracked 2009 defini-tively behind it. The preliminaryearnings before taxes (EBT) isapproximately 81 million. The EBTalmost quadrupled year-on-year toexceed the record set in 2007 by al-most 8%. All of the corporatedivisions realised profits, havingemerged from the crisis strongerthan before.

Possehl benefited from the re-covery of the global economy butthis outcome was also attributableto the Companys having respondedin decisive fashion to economicslowing early on and to its pursuinga corporate strategy oriented aroundsustainability and stability.

Consolidated net sales alsoreached a new high at1.72 billion.The Possehl Group is therefore backon track for long-term growth, afteronly one year of decline. Sales rosethe strongest in the domestic mar-ket, which now accounts for wellover 50% of total sales.

Excluding acquisitions, saleswere up almost 33%, exhibitingmuch faster growth than most in-dustries in Germany. In addition torising orders across nearly all the di-visions, the higher prices for com-modities and precious metals, forgold in particular, boosted sales.

In fiscal year, six acquisition proj-ects were successfully concluded.Acquisitions were made in all of thethree categories of new divisions,complementary acquisitions andSME acquisitions.

The purchase of the BWE SYS-TEC group, a leading provider ofmailroom systems worldwide, cre-ated an entirely new division.

group investing more than 2 mil-lion at its plant in Borken in 2010,including the new Montex 6500.

With a working width of 2.8mand a length of 30m, the sevenchamber unit is operated in threeshifts around the clock and process-ing up to 80,000 m of fabrics daily.

It is the first in Germany to havebeen manufactured at Monfongs,the Monforts Chinese joint venturewhich now employs 650 workersand is headed by a professionalmanagement team of German andChinese managers

To further increase versatility, themachine at Borken has been sup-plied with a stand coating device, al-lowing specialist materials such asthe dot-coated cleaning towels forindustrial kitchens which are a Bier-baum Group speciality to be pro-duced in-line.

The line is also equipped with anintegrated heat recovery unit viawhich waste heat produced in thethermal process, and contained inthe exhaust, air is discharged via ex-haust air ducts directly into a heatexchanger.

Given current energy costs, pro-ducing as efficiently as possible is adecisive factor, says Mr Bierbaum.The energy consumption of all ourmachines is closely monitored andwe

are also exploring methods of devel-opingmore cost-effective solutions. Ifa machine pays off within two to fouryears, then we will buy it.

The installation of the latestMonforts stenter and complemen-tary technology made a positive con-tribution to Bierbaum Groups

greatly improved 2010 turnover of118 million a figure the com-pany believes will be considerablyexceeded in 2011, as a result of itsvery healthy order book.

We have always used Monfortsstenters and are very satisfied withthem, says Mr Bierbaum.The new

machine is running well and withoutany hitches. The automation of suchmachinery along with the dedicationand motivation of our staff here inGermany, has resulted in our pro-duction costs becoming lower, whileat the same time, reliability has in-creased.

21

Possehl post record sales

20

The Possehl Group

world of textiles | issue twelve

The Possehl GroupToday, the Possehl Group comprises 130 companies spread

over nine highly diversified divisions, including Special Pur-

pose Construction, Precious Metals Processing, Electronics

and Textile Finishing Systems.

It employs more than 8600 staff globally with almost half

of them in Germany. The company was founded more than

160 years ago and is headquartered in Lbeck, Germany.

Companies within the Group enjoy a great deal of inde-

pendence in the way they operate with the holding company

focussing its activities on strategic and core functions neces-

sary to manage the Group.

Indiascommissiondyers meetdemand foropen-widthknits

Open width knits

R.Loganathan, Sri Gayathri Colours

Selvam Process

Rising cost pressure remains a majorissue in the textile industry and es-pecially textile finishing due to thesteadily rising cost of energy, waterand effluent treatment.

Dyeing of polyester/cellulosic wo-vens and knitgoods is typical ofwhere the problems are encoun-tered. Established methods of dye-ing these blends are extremely timeand cost-intensive.They require largeamounts of water and chemicals

and use a considerable amount ofenergy.

This paper focuses on continuousdyeing of PES/cellulosic blends withreactive and disperse dyes. As wellas outlining the problem, it presentsan alternative method which is of in-

bulk transfer and between batches.It is easy to see that each step inthe process contains the potentialfor errors both in the lab and inproduction.

The large number of differentprocess steps also makes high de-mands on logistics and planning. Re-ductive clearing is a good example.Unless this step is carried out in aseparate steamer/washer, carefulcleaning of the machine is necessaryto prevent problems in subsequentprocess steps which are sensitive toreduction.

The high chemical requirementsmainly relate to the use of elec-trolytes, generally common salt orGlaubers salt. These chemicals areneeded to minimise bleeding of theunfixed reactive dye into the alkalinebath, which would result in inade-quate build-up. However, the use ofcommon salt or Glaubers salt has anumber of disadvantages:

Common salt is frequently usedto minimise costs, but the qualityavailable on the market varies con-siderably. Poor quality salt often con-tains large amounts of calcium andmagnesium salts causing hardwater.

The quality of Glaubers salttends to be more constant but theamounts required corrode concrete.Dissolving the required concentra-tion of 250-300 g/l is time-consum-ing and labour-intensive.

Production costs are a core as-pect of production planning. How-ever, these aspects make the costsvery difficult to calculate. The ab-solute amount of water, chemicalsand energy can be measured or cal-culated. In particular, an objectivecomparison of different processes ispossible.

Basic dataArticle: PES/COWeight: 315 g/mLiquor pick-up 60% in dye

bath and 70%in chemical bath

Machinery utilisation: 70-90%depending on

type of machineBatch size: 1,200 mOutput per day: 20,000 m

The calculation assumes optimumplanning, i.e. production of pale thendark shades, without additional ex-change of liquor in the washing unitor intensive intermediate cleaning ofthe padder or steamer.

Under these conditions, dailyoutput in the PDTPS process requiresaround 1.5 tonnes chemicals and280 m3 water, plus the cost of en-ergy, i.e. electricity, gas and steam,which evidently depends on the en-ergy concept used in the mill.

It is already clear that this an ex-pensive method,which is also proneto human error because of the largenumber of process steps involved.

The following factors explain whythis process is nevertheless verywidely used around the world:

Separate process steps permit theuse of a wide range of reactive anddisperse dyesEconomic recipe costsReductive clearing means that verybrilliant shades can be dyed

However, there is also a long list ofpotential drawbacks:

Time-consumingVery expensive process in totalLabour-intensiveVery high water consumptionVery high energy requirementsVery high chemical requirementsVery high investment costsProne to errorsHigh environmental impact

On both ecological and economic

grounds, it is therefore advisable tolook for alternative processes.

So what alternatives are available?

Alternative 1:The PDTPS process with vat and dis-perse dyes (Fig. 4)

As the vat dyes are reduced totheir leuco form, reductive clearingis not necessary. This saves time,water and energy. Since fastness isextremely high, this is the standardprocess for high-quality workwear.

The disadvantage is the largequantity of hydrosulphite and caus-tic soda required. The reduction inwater and energy consumption nor-mally has to be set against possiblyhigher recipe costs compared to dye-ings with reactive/disperse dyes.

Alternative 2:This process uses selected pigmentdyes followed by drying and curing.Washing off is not usually necessary.

Because washing is not requiredmakes the process very economical.However, build-up is restricted. ThePES fibre is often hardly shaded andthe handle is limited. The idle timewill also increase because of precip-itations on the guiding rollers.

One-bath processApart from the methods outlinedabove, there is not yet any real al-ternative on the market. However, itis clear that the optimum method

terest on both ecological and eco-nomic grounds.

Fibre and dye-specificpropertiesTo understand why so much effort isspent on dyeing PES/cellullosicblends despite the problematic costsituation, it is worthwhile looking atsome fibre and dye-specific aspects.

pH

Reactive dyeings have to be fixed inan alkaline medium usually soda ashalone or in combination with causticsoda are used to set the pH at 10.8-13.5. This greatly reduces the yieldof common disperse dyes (Fig. 1)

Sensitivity to reductionSome reactive dyes are extremelysensitive to reducing agents. Thissensitivity is found at all steps in theprocess, especially after applicationof the dyes.Although some dispersedyes are sensitive to reduction dur-ing the dyeing phase, reductiveclearing is normally carried out after

dyeing as it improves the fastnessproperties of the dyed substrate.

Fixation conditionsReactive dyes are water-soluble andare therefore fixed to the cellulosicfibre in a moist medium. In conven-tional continuous dyeing methods,that means fixation in saturatedsteam.

However, the disperse dyes usedfor PES are fixed by thermosoling, i.e.at temperatures of around 210-220C. Cellulosic fibres have a tendencyto discolour in such conditions (Fig.2)

As a result of these completelydifferent dyeing requirements,multi-step processes using several liquorshave been developed for continuousdyeing of PES/cellulosic blends inorder to ensure that the optimumconditions are achieved for eachfibre. Worldwide, the pad-dry-thermosol-pad-steam process(PDTPS) has become established.

This method is used to dye thecellulosic fibres with either vat or re-

active dyes.Vat dyes are popular forall shades in Europe, e.g. for high-quality workwear.

However, globally the PDTPSprocess with reactive and dispersedyes is the most common (Fig.3).

Chemicals required for thePDTPS process (guide recipes):

1st bath (disperse dyes)2 g/l dispersing agent2 g/l wetting agent10-20 g/l antimigrant

2nd bath (reduction clearing)30 g/l hydrosulphite50 ml/l NaOH 50%

3rd bath (reactive dyes)2 g/l wetting agent10-20 g/l antimigrant

4th bath (alkali)20 g/l soda ash3-10ml/l NaOH 50%250-300 g/l salt

5th bath2 g/l soaping auxiliary

The complexity and unusually highchemical requirements are striking.Both aspects are problematic for tex-tile mills.

1. The complexity of the process re-duces reproducibility both in lab-to-

2322

Technical Article


New developments in continuousdyeing of PES/cellulosic blendsA paper prepared by Peter Tolksdorf, Head of Product Management for Dyeingand Application, A. Monforts Textilmaschinen.

Fig.1

Fig.4

Fig.2

Fig.3

Reactive dyes, cotton Disperse dyes, PESAlkali required to fix the dye Sensitive to alkalipH 10.8-13.5 pH 4-6Sensitive to reduction Reductive clearing is

necessary to optimisefastness properties

Fixation of damp goods Fixation of dry goods Cotton yellows at elevatedtemperatures at 200 -220 C

Peter Tolksdorf

words, there is no reduction in yieldcompared with conventionalprocesses.

Selected disperse dyes are usedfor the PES component in theblend. These products ensure opti-mum build-up in the specific Econ-trol T-CA conditions.

Other additives are fixing auxil-iary and process conditioner to en-sure optimum fixation conditionsfor both reactive and disperse dyes.This guaranties reproducible resultsin both the lab and production.

After application of the dyes, thegoods are dried and thermosoled inspecial Econtrol conditions.

After thermosoling, the goodsare fed directly into the washingunit. No further fixation steps arerequired.

Special dispersing auxiliarieshave to be added to the wash-offliquor to make sure the dyeingmeets the required fastness specifi-cations.

After washing off, the goods aredried and processed as usual. Thereminder here is that any type ofadditional thermal treatment canresult in thermomigration and af-fect the fastness of the dispersedyes.

Economic and ecologicalaspects

Economy and ecology are often re-garded as mutually exclusive in tex-tile finishing. There is a tendency tobelieve that solutions that are eco-logically acceptable entail highercosts.

The Econtrol T-CA process showsthat precisely the opposite is true.

Obviously, reducing the amountof chemicals, water and energy re-quired reduces their impact on boththe environment and operating

costs.The consumption data for the

Econtrol T-CA process clearlydemonstrate its benefits: because itdoes not use separate baths and re-duction clearing is not necessary,the process saves large amounts ofchemicals, water and energy. Theexample given above shows a re-duction of 86% in chemical con-sumption based on daily productionof 20,000 m. The process also uses63% less water and 49% less en-ergy (Fig. 6).

These data are reflected in pro-duction costs. On this basis, the

Econtrol T-CA process providesnearly 50% lower cost than stan-dard production processes (Fig. 7).

Colour fastness

The objective for Econtrol T-CA wasto develop an ecologically and eco-nomically acceptable process with-out any concessions in respect ofwet fastness. However, the colour

fastness requirements for PES/cellu-losic vary greatly, depending on theiruse.

The objective of the Econtrol T-CA process was not to develop asolution for these highly specialisedareas of workwear and sportswear.For these articles, it is more effec-tive to use specialities developedspecifically for such applications, i.e.vat dyes for cellulosic fibres and se-lected disperse dyes for polyester.

The following ISO 105 fastnesstests were tested on a variety ofmaterials and shades (multifibreadjacent fabric), with concentra-tions of up to 30 g/l dye.

Light fastness B02Wash fastness C01 (40 C)Wash fastness C02 (50C)Wash fastness C03 (60C)Wash fastness C06 C2S (60 Cwith perborate)Water fastness, severe, E01Perspiration fastness alkaline +acid E04

Different blend ratios of Polyesterand Cotton were used.

Fastness propertiesThe benchmark for the quality ofthis process is comparison with atwo-bath dyeing with reductionclearing.

No difference was observed inlight fastness compared with the

standard process. Similarly, washfastness tested in accordance withISO 105 C01/C02/C03(40C/50C/60C) complies fullywith the requirements for apparel(Fig. 8).

In the C06 C2S wash fastnesstest, the specimen dyed using thisprocess showed significant stainingof polyamide in the multifibre adja-cent. However, there was virtuallyno difference compared with thereference sample (with reductionclearing) (Fig. 9).

Water fastness, severe, and per-spiration fastness (acid and alka-line) are equal or slightly below thereference dyeing (max. grade).

ConclusionEcontrol T-CA is a new, one-bathdyeing process for continuous col-oration of PES/CO blends.

A combination of dyes, newlyselected reactive and disperse dyesand process auxiliaries, combined

with the Econtrol Thermex hotflue,can be used to dye a wide range ofshades whilst making enormoussavings in process costs, with suffi-cient fastness properties.

Simple process regulation andcarefully matched components en-sure highly reliable recipes and thusgood reproducibility.

Thermex, Econtrol, Levafix, Re-mazol, are registered trademarks.

from the ecological and economicviewpoint is most likely to compriseone-bath application of reactive anddisperse dyes.

Since this is so obvious, therehave been many attempts in thepast to find a suitable one-bathprocess.

Back in 1967 Kuth/Hildebrand(Bayer AG) described a one-baththermosol-thermofixation process(TT process) using disperse and re-active dyes.

In 1977 ICI (later Zeneca) pub-lished the NT (neutral thermofixa-tion) process based on speciallydeveloped Procion T reactive dyesthat could be fixed in neutral condi-tions. This was followed by processrecommendations based ondichlorotriazine reactive dyes.

Due to their very high reactivity,these dyes (Procion MX) could befixed with extremely small amountsof alkali. ICI also published the RTNprocess, which used sodium bicar-bonate and urea to apply Dispersoland Procion CX dyes (monochloro-triazine reactive groups).

Again, this was essentially a con-ventional thermosol-thermofixationprocess.

Finally a patent (P 28 09 675.5)submitted by Bayer AG in 1978 de-scribed a process for one-bath dye-ing of PES/cellulosic fibres in neutralconditions.

The idea behind all theseprocesses was that the thermosolphase could be used to bond the re-active dyes to the cellulosic fibre.However, interaction with auxiliariessuch as urea and dispersing agentsand the disperse dyes could not beentirely excluded. Besides, they allrequired the use of dicyandiamide,

which is not always available andalso has very limited solubility.

In the end, none of theseprocesses became widely estab-lished on the market. This may havebeen partly because water and en-ergy tended to play a less significantrole in the overall cost calculationthan they do today. However, themain reasons probably related todisadvantages at the productionstage, for example, inferior repro-ducibility, tailing, etc. and limitedfastness properties.

As outlined at the start of thispaper, the development of a newprocess and new products thereforeneeds to focus on the very differentrequirements of cellulosic and poly-ester fibres. The objectives are:

Application of all necessary productsfrom one bathNo reduction in the degree of fixa-tion of the reactive dye comparedwith the standard processNo reduction in the yield of dispersedyesNo yellowing of cellulosic fibresFastness properties that meet mar-ket requirementswithout reductiveclearing

A wide range of shadesThis development was assisted byvery positive experience with theMonforts Econtrol process, whichis widely used very successfully withcotton and Viscose dyes.

The process for one-bath dyeing ofPES/cellulosic blends outlined here isa further development of the Econ-trol process.

The underlying principle is verysimple (Fig. 5).

Single bath liquor applicationDrying + thermosolingWashing-off/drying

The dye liquor contains all the dyesand the chemicals required for fixa-tion. The process uses high tomedium reactive dyes, for example,Levafix or selected Remazol dyes,which achieve an optimum dye yieldunder these conditions. In other

2524

Technical Article


Fig.6

Fig.7

Fig.8Fig.5

Fig.9

cal step for us, says Mr Paturi, whohas more than 30 years experiencein textile manufacturing.

We selected Monforts whenwe first progressed into fabrics,dyeing and garment production be-cause it is the best. We decided ona complete Monforts finishing anddyeing line because we believe inhaving just one manufacturer sup-ply all the main equipment. "Thisline gives us the capacity and thefast dyeing times that we require."

Continuous dyeing

Monforts equipment is designedfor maximum conservation meas-ures, which is another reason forour using this technology.

Both Montex 6500 eight cham-ber stenters feature a number ofenergy saving benefits includingroof-mounted, heat recovery sys-tems and are for narrow-width fab-rics of up to 180 cm. They are bothused for finishing and coating thefabrics.

The range also features a 2chamber Thermex 6500 Econtrolwhich reduces to a matter of min-utes the process that, if carried outto conventional cold batch dyeingmethods, would normally take atleast 16 hours.

Econtrol

The Econtrol process was devel-oped for reactive dyestuffs to meetthe trend of smaller batch sizes percolour in continuous dyeing and tosimplify procedures. The process isa simple, quick and economicalone-pass, pad-dry-wash with dry-ing in the Thermex hot flue at 120-130C and controlled humidity toobtain fixation in 2-3 minutes.

Benefits make it an ideal choicefor short or long batch dyeing of-fering a full colour range with ex-cellent reproducibility.

Top 3 target

Mr Paturi says the target is to beamongst the top three fabric pro-ducers in India and to market atleast 50% of the fabric capacity asgarment packages.

The initial intention is to use thenew plant for 100% woven cottonfabrics, later progressing to poly-ester-cotton blends. Fabric weightshandled will vary from 100 to 350g/m2.

The plant has a capacity of120,000 m of fabric per day, and,working for at least 300 days peryear, has the capacity to produce6,000 shirts a day.

Environmental considerationsare amongst our priorities, saysMr Paturi, adding, We have a pol-icy of zero effluent discharge. Gun-tur is prime agricultural land withabundant water supply, and wehave built an effluent treatmentplant that is 100% effective in pre-venting any kind of pollution to thevery valuable resources here.

NSL Textiles Ltd has installed a newcontinuous dyeing range at itsnewly opened plant that has beenconstructed on a greenfield site atChandolu, near Guntur in AndhraPradesh.

The range comprises a Thermex6500, two Monfortex 8000 san-forisers and two Montex stentersequipped with coating heads, plusan Econtrol system for further dye-ing options.

All the Monforts equipment atNSL has been supplied and in-stalled by the representative forIndia, ATE Enterprises Private Lim-ited (ATEEPL).

The Chandolu mill was inaugu-rated in the second half of last year,when all the equipment was in-stalled with the exception of theEcontrol, which was commissionedearlier this year.

This is the sixth textiles plant op-erated by NSL, but the other five areall spinning mills, and the Chandolumill is the first to process and dyefabrics and consequently the first toemploy a production range of Mon-forts equipment.

NSL Group

NSL Textiles is part of the Hyder-abad-based NSL Group, founded in1973 as Nuzeevidu Seeds Ltd andwhich is now the largest cottonseed company in India. NSL is aproducer of high-quality hybridseeds that supply some 45% of themarket and which produce some ofthe best quality cotton in India.

No textile company can claimto be as vertically integrated as weare, says NSL Textiles director AjayKumar Paturi. We describe our-selves as being from cotton toclothing, and our production coverseverything from the extraction of

cotton lint to garment manufactur-ing.

Investing in the highest qualitytechnology for textiles and gar-ments production is simply a logi-

. This line

gives us the

capacity and fast

dyeing times that

we require.

2726

India | Continuous dyeing range


Continuous dyeing range with Econtrolfor NSL TextilesAn Indian company that has grown from its origins in the cotton seeds business to become the countrysmost vertically integrated textiles and garments manufacturer is using Monforts technology with a purpose-ordered continuous dyeing range and Econtrol system - to achieve its aim of becoming oneof the top producers in India and to launch its own apparel brand for the retail sector.

Ajay Kumar Paturi, Director,NSL Textiles


added, continuing, We never wa-vered from these three principlesthroughout the planning and im-plementation and had no hesitationin ordering the Monforts equipmentfor the new process and finishingdepartment.

The Groups first experiencewith Monforts was in 1996 withCentury Denim taking delivery of adenim finishing range. Followingtheir experience with smooth work-ing and quality finishing we optedfor Monforts for the new Bharuchfacility.

The new installation includestwo Thermex continuous dyeingranges one each for narrow andwide width fabrics, two Montexstenters, a Monfortex sanforiser; all

fore entering the Thermex Hotflue.Depending on the operating speed,two further VTG gas-heated dyersfurther reduce the moisture con-tent.

Monforts continuous dyeingranges offer a quick dyeing andheat setting time in continuousmode of just three minutes, com-pared with up to 16 hours withconventional cold batch dyeing indiscontinuous mode.

The fabric is then washed and ifwrinkle-free treatment is specified,the fabric is fed into the 3-chamber

If there was a prize for the worldsbest textile facility, Indias Birla Cen-tury would be a contender for itsnew purpose-built production facil-ity in Gujarat State.

The concept, the brainchild ofR.K. Dalmia, Senior President ofCentury Textiles and Industries Ltd,was that the vertical textile facilitywould be world class throughoutconstruction and in the selection ofequipment, said U.C. Garg, Execu-tive President (Purchasing and Proj-ects); responsible for managing theproject from concept to completion.

Further, the textiles producedmust also rank with the best. Wealso wanted to incorporate the lat-est technology and techniques of-fering maximum automation, he

ordered through local representa-tive ATE Enterprises.

Installed as two lines to processand finish up to 300 cm width fab-ric for bed sheets and 91-150 cmnarrow width for shirts andtrousers.

Greige fabrics are initiallysinged, scoured and bleached, if re-quired, before passing through therespective Montex stenter line forfinishing as white cotton at speedsof between 40 100 m/min.

Otherwise fabric is passed ontothe 4-chamber Thermex continuousdyeing range, incorporating twinpadders one wide width and onenarrow width.

Two elevated VTG infrared dryersreduce initial moisture content be-

India | continuous dyeing range

Amongst the worlds bestIn making the decision to move from Mumbai to its new spectacular purpose-built production facility in Gujarat State, Indias vertical textile producer, BirlaCentury had no hesitation in ordering continuous dyeing ranges and Montexstenters for its process and finishing department.


The company is also able to meetISO, ASTM or AATCC internationalstandards as specified.

Century Textiles and IndustriesLtd is a BK Birla Group of Compa-nies and was first incorporated in1897 as a textile mill, later diversify-ing in various activities includingrayon, cement, paper and pulp.

60; ensuring considerable energysavings.

According to Nishat, it is savingRs0.5 million/month (5000 Euros)

Calculations and figures havepredicted a payback period of lessthan three years.

Each stenters production is ap-proximately 96,000m/day. Overthree shifts this makes a total pro-duction of 288,000m/day. Thedaily finished fabric for packing is160,000m/day.

The stenters are used basicallyfor finishing, stretching and heatsettings.

TextilesNishat Mills Limited is the flagshipcompany of the Nishat Group which

Thermex featuring the MxL process.The moist cross linking (MxL)

process is eminently suited for shirtand bed sheet fabrics offering non-iron, wrinkle-free properties. It isideal for continuous use on a hot-flue.

A 10-chamber Montex stenter isused for finishing the narrow widthsand an 8-chamber Montex for the

wide widths. Both stenters feature apadder for softeners or other finish-ing treatments as specified.

The finished fabric is then passedthrough the sanforiser for shrinkagetreatment if required.

A fully vertical operation includ-ing spinning, weaving, dyeing andfinishing, Birla Century produce awide range of 100% cottons and

linens plus blends with natural fibresand cellular fibres, such as Tensil pluscotton/linen blends.

The company is also just startingto produce lycra products.

Operating 24/7, the company isproducing 65,000 70,000 m/dayfor both the domestic and exportmarkets; including fabrics for theirown garment making operation.

India | continuous dyeing range

Amongst the worlds bestU.C.Garg,Executive President (Purchasing&Projects),CenturyTextilesand Industries, has been instrumental in managing the new facilityproject in Bharuch from concept to fruition.

The decision to move from its established mill in Mumbai to thenew production facility was taken in mid-2000, at a time whenlabour costs were increasing together with water and power rates,large quantities of water were also becoming scarce for dyeing op-erations.

Joining Century 41 years ago as a Management Trainee, U.C.Garg has witnessed tremendous changes during this period.

Probably the biggest being the advances in technology and thereduction in manpower.

A few years ago we employed 7000 workers but today, withautomation,we are able to achieve the same production with 1250workers.

Over the next 10 years I am certain that there will be evenmoreautomation and technology advances.

dyed shirtingand workwear.

The advantage achieved by thecustomized design of its machines isthe result of an extensive researchwork with the help of worldrenowned machine manufacturers.The standards are higher than ever,dedicated by fashion, efficient pro-ductivity and further automation isengineered in the plant.

Nishat Dyeing and Finishing isconsidered to be one of the best andlargest dyeing plants in south EastAsia with a strong customer base. Itenjoys good relationships with allmajor retailers of the world.Their ex-traordinary R&D work and highlytrained marketing and technical per-sonnel are key to sustaining longterm business relationships.

Three lines of Thermosol continu-ous dyeing machines, with the ca-pacity for dyeing with Vat, Reactive,Sulphur and Pigment dyestuffs main-tain the highest quality standards.

NDF installed two Thermosolunits in 2000, each with five cham-bers and a working width of 180cm.A third Thermex was installed in2006.

Two 10 chamber Montex stenterswere also installed in 2000, eachwith a working width 200cm, fol-lowed by a third Montex 6000 in2006.

All three stenters are oil heatedwith the average production at 85 -100m/min and an average of270gsm fabric weight.

To combat ever increasing energycosts, Pakistans vertically integratedfabric producer, Nishat Mills hastaken delivery of six Energy Towersand installed them on three existingMontex stenters at its Lahore fin-ishing facility.With the heat recoverysystem capitalising on the high tem-peratures of the exhaust air, savingsof up to 30% on energy costs can beachieved.

Fresh air passing through thetowers heat recovery system isheated by the exhaust air of thestenter, before re-entering the sten-ters chambers.

According to Mr. Adil Ghani,Nishat Mills General Manager Plant, the company is very pleasedwith the performance of the units.He explained further, As everyoneknows, the energy position in Pak-istan is very critical and also gettingexpensive day by day. We need totake all possible steps to save en-ergy.

In order to meet these issues,and because of the confidence inMonforts technology and machines,it was decided to purchase the En-ergy Towers for running alongsidethe three existing stenters.

Ordered through the local Pak-istan representativeAlAmeen, all sixTowers were installed earlier thisyear and, built as stand alone unitswere installed alongside the sten-ters, two per stenter.

The Towers are each housedwithin a 1.3 m x 1.7m x 2.9m highenclosure. They have been designedfor retrofitting to existing stenters orhot flues where access is restrictedabove the units.

The exhaust air from the stentersis 160 - 185C.

The Normal RoomTemperature is35. Before the Energy towers wereinstalled it was necessary to raise thetemperature from 35 to 160. Fol-lowing the installation of the energytowers, the new direct temperatureincreased to 120, so requiring anenergy rise of just a further 40

was established in 1951. Its annualturnover is Rs 48 Billion (US$ 550Million). The Nishat Mills with theproduction facility of 270,000 spin-dles, 740 looms, dyeing and printingcapacity of 7 million metres makesNishat the largest composite textilesetup in Pakistan.

Nishat Dyeing and Finishing(NDF) is a purpose designed fabricdyeing project with the capacity of4.2 million m/ month and an annualturnover of over US$120 million. Itis specially designed to handle heavyweight fabrics such as twills, drills,canvases, poplins, fabrics with mini-mum tension, such as stretch fabricsand all high density weaves.

The fabric is mostly used for bot-tom wear, skirts, trousers, jackets,

Energy | Towers

Six Energy Towers for Nishat MillsNishat Mills has taken delivery of six Energy Towers the first in Pakistan -ensuring significant energy savings.

Adil Ghani,General

Manager-Plant,Nishat Mills

33

For Jens Paul, a move to Chinaeight years ago has resulted ingreat happiness both at home andat work.

Firstly, the textile machine engi-neer found employment with Mon-fongs, the Monforts Chinese jointventure partner, and then he fell inlove at first sight with Min Zhou,who is now his wife.

Today, the happily married cou-ple have a young son and live inShenzhen, where Monfongs alsohas its headquarters.

The joint venture employs 650workers and is headed by a profes-sional management team of Ger-man and Chinese managers untilrecently it has manufactured specif-ically for the Chinese market, rely-ing on proven Monforts technology,and Jens is responsible for qualityassurance.

China and Germany are worldsapart in some ways, he says. Atwork there is a strictly hierarchicalway of thinking and doing thingsthat often takes some getting used

to for Europeans. People are usedto doing as they are told andbosses deciding on the strategy.That is the way things have beendone in China for generations, andas a result it is sometimes difficultto encourage people to do thingson their own initiative.

At the same time, he notes,many young Chinese engineers optto do their training in Germany andthis is reflected in the successful de-velopment of Monfongs.

Made in Germany has a globalreputation for excellence in ma-chine engineering, says Jens, butGermany also has two other big ad-vantages for Chinese engineersdoing their training in the country

good cars and good beer!Monfongs has built more than

1200 stenters over the past tenyears and developed a new versionat the plant which was introducedworldwide two years ago.

Building on this success and theskill of its German-trained engi-neers, Monfongs is also now build-ing high quality Montex 6500machines. This means that cus-tomers can order a machine withstandard componentry featuringstate-of-the-art German engineer-ing, but manufactured in China onhigh-tech machine tools at an at-tractive and competitive price.

These machines are built to thesame guaranteed high standards asthe European-built models andoffer the same key features, includ-ing sliding doors and integratedheat recovery.

The Montex 6500 stenter canalso be ordered through the Aus-trian Montex manufacturing facilityif preferred. Wide width stenters,coating ranges and special versionscontinue to be built exclusively inAustria.

Another cultural difference be-tween Europe and China, of course,is food.

The food in China is very dif-ferent to that in Europe, says Man-darin-speaking Jens. Ive triedturtle and snake, but cant say theywere to my taste. Generally, a greatdeal of meat and steamed vegeta-bles are eaten and meat is avail-able in any number of variations. Ina huge city like Shenzhen there arealso fast food chains such as Mc-Donalds, of course, where the dif-ferences arent so large, although Iprefer the lighter Chinese food.What has most surprised Jens dur-ing his eight years in China, how-ever, is the pace of structuralchange.

This is happening not only incities like Shenzhen, but also in themore rural provinces too. We re-cently visited the in-laws who livequite traditionally in the country,and I would never have thoughtmodernisation would start to creepin in such places, but it is, China isinvesting enormously in its infra-structure everywhere.

Happy in Shenzhen but hold the snake!08.00am

European Central TimeBom dia Michael...Its three in the morning in So Paoloand the night shift foreman of aleading Brazilian textile manufac-turer phones the Monforts Teleser-vice Department to request a servicecheck for one of his stenters.

08.05amEuropean Central TimeHello Christoph...

As lunch time approaches inNew Delhi, a dyehouse manager isworried that his machine may over-heat as the temperature in Indiaclimbs. Hes guided through the pro-cedures to prevent a breakdown.

08.10amEuropean Central TimeGood afternoonWolfgang..

Its past two in the afternoon inShanghai and this customer needs arange of settings to be virtuallychecked.

08.15amEuropean Central TimeMerhaba, goodmorning, could I speakto Michael please? ItsAhmet in Ankara.Weve been runningthe morning shift for acouple of hours nowand I need him to justlook at something forme.

There are 40 land timezonesacross the world and in an averageday, Michael Sierberichs and histeam at the Monforts Teleservice De-partment cross all of them manytimes and in any number of lan-guages and their combinations.

The department in Germany isavailable for customers from sevenin the morning to seven in theevening, with a satellite office in In-donesia handling enquiries through-out Germanys night. Services rangefrom checking a range of settingsand troubleshooting sensors and ac-tuators to solving drive problems

and evaluating trend diagrams. Inaddition, software updates for ma-chine control, visualisation and drivesystems can be updated directlyfrom the office in Mnchengladbachand programme errors eliminated.

The team of highly-trained spe-cialists provides a vital lifeline to op-erators and its a service thatsappreciated by many customers, ex-plains Michael Sieberichs.An energyelectronics technician, he has beenwith the department for approach-ing two years, having previouslyworked in the Monforts workshop.

Im responsible for Europe,Africa and Central and South Amer-ica and my colleague Christoph Rt-ten deals with enquiries from NorthAmerica, Asia and Australia, hesays. We receive a wide range oftechnical queries and initially try tohelp over the phone. Our teleserviceis the second step and generally en-ables problems to be solved quickly.If a problem cannot be solved, ofcourse, Monforts sends out a fitterbecause here is where all the stringscome together for the fitters. Wemeticulously plan for our field servicearound the world and of course sup-port the teams from here.

Over 50 calls are received everyday, and an even greater number of

emails are responded to.There are days when the tele-

phone never stops ringing, saysMichael, but I wouldnt changejobs again.

The demands of his role havecertainly become a little easier withthe introduction by Monforts of im-proved remote visualisation for thecompanys machines, with a betterscreen view and much easier opera-tion.

As a result mill managers nolonger need to be in front of their

machines, but can carry out thechecks and measures on handhelddevices such as iPads or mobiles.Alarms also now alert them to thecondition of their machines.

None of this, however, stops thephone from ringing for MichaelSieberichs and his colleagues inMnchengladbach for long.As if oncue, another call comes through...

08.25amEuropean Central TimeBom dia!

Linked to the world


TeleserviceMonfongs | China

Michael Sieberichs

Jens Paul

35

Although an established familyowned business, the next generationof Asia Citra Pratama brothersHendra and Henky Tedjawisastra are taking the Indonesian textilescompany into a new direction, pro-ducing wide-width, quality hometextiles.

The companys origins date backto 1986 when the brothers parentsMr and Mde Aries Tedjawisastratook over an established companydating back to the 1970s. Based inBandung, the original company pro-vided printing for narrow width cot-ton linen and shirts for the domesticmarket.

From these small beginnings, thecompany has diversified into dyeingand finishing to produce 1.5 millionm a month for ladies fashion wear.

But, Asia Citra, as an inner citytextile mill, found the same expan-sion problems experienced by otherfabric producers extra space andcompliance with environmental is-sues.

Surrounded by residential andcommercial properties meant no ad-ditional land was available for ex-pansion.

The company has therefore lo-cated to a 2ha green field site inKarawang, some 80km north ofBandung and 55km south ofJakarta.

Complying with the latest envi-ronmental green regulations, thenew factory has its own water recy-cling facility, filtering water beforepassing it through to the industrialcomplexs own recycling operationto ensure totally clean water.

Wide width demand

In setting up the new facility, thebrothers recognised the potential inIndonesia for producing wide-widthbed linen fabrics.

So with new equipment incor-porating the latest technology, weshould quickly become one of thebest, to lead the way. We will ini-tially concentrate on the domesticmarket, perfecting the quality andthen actively seek internationalmarkets wherever it is, focusingon bed linen.

The company had originally con-sidered purchasing second handequipment as a reduced invest-ment.

We then considered Chinese

equipment which although lessexpensive than European manufac-ture, we questioned if it wouldmeet environmental issues and per-haps lacked the latest energy sav-ing technology and robust-build.

In the end we opted principallyfor European equipment for thepartnership and support back-up.

Start of production

Back in 1990, the company in-stalled its first Montex stenter inBandung.

Today confirmed Hendra, Itis, after 20 years, still providing fan-tastic service.

When we looked at equipmentfor the new mill, we chose anotherMontex with confidence and, witha 3.2 m width, it was a real bonus.

Hendra accepts that there is atough job ahead but with such ahighly populated market, demandwill be high and increase.

All wide width and special purposeMonforts stenters including the lat-est Montex 8000 to be introducedat ITMA 2011, in addition to san-forising and continuous dyeingranges, are manufactured at Mon-tex, the groups subsidiary locatedin St. Stefan, in the Lavanttal Valleyin the central southern AustrianAlps.

And right now, business isbooming to such an extent thatfor Karl Charly Krammer there hasbeen little time to pursue his loveof outdoor sports.

We are snowed under with or-ders at the moment, he reports,and we are working non-stop andat full capacity.Almost one hundredper cent of our production is ex-ported, with the bulk of the ma-chines going to the Far East,Pakistan and Turkey.

The machines made by the em-ployees at Montex are manufac-tured in easily transportablecomponents, he explains, andshipped via Bremen or Hamburg tobe assembled at the plant of thecustomer.

As a trained machine fitter,Charly began his apprenticeship atMonforts in 1978 and moved intofield service in 1987. He is now co-ordination manager of productionand also responsible for providingtechnical support to the Monfortsjoint venture in China.

In this role he flies to Shenzhenevery couple of months and whenin China is generally busy aroundthe clock. But even when he doeshave free time, theres anotherproblem.

Shenzhen, located in the PearlRiver Delta, bordering Hong Kongto the south, was originally a hillyarea, but after becoming a specialeconomic zone in 1979, underwenta tremendous change in landscape.The once hilly fishing village is nowreplaced by mostly flat ground withvery few area of elevation.

At home, the Massifs are virtually

on my doorstep, but there are nomountains there, so where can I goclimbing? Charly asks.

Free climbing without the activeuse of hooks or other aids is realmountaineering, he adds, and suchis his commitment to the sport thateven a recent ski-ing accident inwhich he broke his shin and tore hiscruciate ligament wont stop himfrom returning to it, once vital mus-cles have been rebuilt.

And the injury fortunately has-nt stopped him performing his vitalduties for Montex, despite usuallyrequiring weeks of rest.

I got around on crutches forten weeks without a plaster castand now I can get around on mebike, he says, but climbing is stillout of the question. For the timebeing, at least, and not in Shen-zhen.

34

Austria | Montex Wide-width textiles


No Massifs inShenzhen

Karl Charly Krammer

Hendra Tedjawisastra

Indonesias Asia Citra Pratamas new purpose-built, wide-width textiles mill hasthe countrys first Monforts 3.2 m wide Montex Stenter

Taking the lead in Indonesia

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