Itema, the Italian leading rapier, airjet and projectile weaving machine manufacturer, participated in ITMA Barcelona 2019, where the company set new benchmarks on speed, quality and productivity for the textile industry. Exhibiting a total of 7 machines in its booth, Itema’s most curious and fascinating product was undoubtedly the conceptual Itema Discovery. On the other hand, Itematech – the recently established Itema technical textiles division born from the merger of Itema technical weaving machines and PTMT (formerly Panter) expertise and know-how – exhibited its solutions in a separate booth at the exhibition. ITEMA CEO Carlo Rogora and Itema Sales and Marketing Director Christian Straubhaar gave information about both companies’ line-up and the recent market studies at the press conference held at the exhibition.
In his special interview with Textilegence, Carlo Rogora said that ITMA is an historical exhibition for them. Rogora; “I can say that we have left behind an increasingly successful ITMA for Itema, either with new technology presentations and visitors’ interest and business meetings. During the exhibition, visitors flocked to our machine demos. We were already expecting this but experiencing it live has been extremely rewarding. I would like to thank all our visitors once again”.
Rogora for ITEMA Discovery; “Itema loves to surprise the industry”
“This is a development that no one has ever seen before, Itema loves to surprise the industry,” said Carlo Rogora, who we asked for details about the concept model Itema Discovery at the centre of the Itema booth. Underlining that Discovery is not a final product, Rogora shared that the development of this weaving machine called ‘Loom of the Future’ was carried out by Itemalab™, the Itema advanced innovation hub.
Emphasizing that Discovery is a concept model, Rogora stated that they have accomplished fabric quality and reliability targets and that speed targets can be still further improved. “Our production speed target is 400 pick per minute,” said Rogora and continued as follows; “Discovery, based on a groundbreaking mechatronic platform, combines the versatility of the rapier, quality and durability of the projectile, and easy handling of the airjet. With a completely new weft insertion system, this machine also features a fully integrated IoT and intelligent telemetry for Industry 4.0 principles and online control”.
Sustainability gains importance in weaving
Christian Straubhaar said that Itema focuses on high quality and fast weaving features as well as less environmental footprint and sustainability. Straubhaar referred to airjet improvements as an example; “We launched two new airjet models at our ITMA booth. The A9500-2 and A9500-2bedsheeting both provide higher production speeds as well as significant improvements for less air consumption. We worked on a new machine structure that improves speed and efficiency by providing a faster weft yarn insertion. So, we developed more sustainable airjet models”.
Straubhaar said that the second important point in this area was achieved in working with lower quality yarns. Straubhaar stated that in order to work with yarns that are not of the best quality; the yarns need to be transported more smoothly, thus increasing the volume of air even further; “You give more air and less pressure, which means less electricity consumption. I can say that everything we develop is focused on greater productivity and more sustainability”.
Airjet and rapier innovations add strength to weaving
Itema exhibited their airjet A9500-2bedsheeting for the first time at ITMA, which successfully handles demanding bed sheeting weaving requirements. To weave a specific fabric; this weaving machine was designed according to the wishes of the textile manufacturers; and was redesigned with all pneumatic elements and main machine parts; such as main and tandem nozzles to provide superior fabric quality and textile efficiency. Equipped with Itema’s new proprietary heald frames SKYFRAME; the machine guarantees safe and quality production even at the highest speeds. The second airjet weaving machine at the company booth was the A9500-2. Combining the best features of the A9500 and A9500p, this weaving machine offers further improved speed and machine performances.
Itema’s R9500-2denim, developed according to the specific needs of the denim industry, attracted the attention of professionals. One of the fastest machines in its segment; the R9500-2denim combines maximum speed and reliability with an optimized weft transfer system. Equipped with the unique iSAVER™; the unique real sustainable tool in the weaving industry capable to completely eliminate the waste selvedge on the left-hand side of the fabric; and a more advanced weft transfer system featuring future oriented preventive maintenance and IoT devices such as iBOOSTER and iCARE; this denim weaving machine is really constantly injected with brand-new innovations.
The second generation of the R9500-2 rapier weaving machine exhibited at ITMA; focuses on reducing energy consumption; whilst providing further enhanced performances and the best user-experience in the market. In this new version with increased functionality, the reduced maintenance times and energy saving are remarkable (up to -15% compared to previous model). Another model seen at the Itema booth was the R9500terry; which attracted the attention of towel fabric manufacturers for the complex style woven with outstanding quality results.