Picanol, a globally known weaving machinery producer and developer, came together with Turkish and worldwide textile professionals at ITM 2024. The latest weaving technologies attracted the great attention of visitors, especially the all-new Ultimax rapier weaving machine at the company’s booth. Kurt Lamkowski, Worldwide Sales Manager at Picanol Group commented on ITM 2024; “We look back at a successful participation at ITM 2024. It is always a pleasure for us to meet and connect with our customers in person. Although we experienced fewer visitors compared with the previous edition, the visitors we met had a real interest and concrete projects to discuss.”
Lamkowski stated that their customers and visitors from the domestic Turkish market were the significant majority at the exhibition, but they have enjoyed a lot of interest from Iranian customers as well. “Other countries like Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Egypt were also present. Regarding the segments, we experienced a similar attention from home textile and apparel weavers. Although the denim segment is currently calm, potential customers were really interested in what we can offer to weave denim in a more sustainable way. Also, the fully digital insertion on Ultimax caught a lot of attention. The home textile weavers we welcomed at our booth were mainly attracted by the great flexibility offered by our machines,” he continued.
Picanol Ultimax; lower energy consumption, wider fabric range
Kurt Lamkowski reported that there has been a great interest in the new Ultimax rapier weaving machine, which is presented in Türkiye for the first time at this exhibition, from the visitors at their booth. “The higher industrial speeds of the Ultimax rapier weaving machine offer a valuable alternative for many airjet weavers, who will not only benefit from the lower energy consumption of a rapier machine but also from the versatility to weave a wider fabric range – which in turn increases their chances of diversification,” he said. In addition, pointing out that the importance of sustainable weaving and further digitalization is gaining growing importance in Türkiye, he noted: “Not to mention the fact that the Ultimax really is the answer to all their weaving needs. We are also seeing a growing interest from our customers in terms of supporting tools to further optimize their weaving sheds. The use of digital tools will help them to become more sustainable and more efficient and our PicConnect digital platform responds seamlessly to these demands!”
He disclosed that they also presented an OmniPlus-i Connect airjet weaving machine with SmartShed, weaving double-face and that the visitors could experience the speed increase that Picanol recently launched on their airjet platform. “Furthermore, we highlighted all the benefits and latest features of PicConnect to leverage the full extent of the possibilities offered by Picanol weaving machines. Integrated machine manuals and tutorial videos, a central weaving styles management system, and enhanced machine stop insights are just a few of the new PicConnect features that we recently released,” he continued.
He underlined that all innovations they displayed are driven by their four design principles: Smart Performance, Sustainability Inside, Driven by Data, and Intuitive Control and said these design principles enable the customers to follow their weaving instincts and get the best possible results on all Picanol platforms.
“There is a change in the mindset of many customers in investment decisions”
Kurt Lamkowski commented on the market outlook, saying that they still feel some hesitation and uncertainty in the market. He stated that the period of inflation is still present and the high interest rates are also limiting the appetite for investments and disclosed: “But we learned that many weaving mills are facing problems finding skilled workers. Also, under the current circumstances, it becomes more important to work in the most efficient way. This opens a lot of opportunities for companies investing in more sustainable machinery, helping them to reduce waste, energy and increase productivity. To conclude, tools to support our customers to manage their weaving mills better have become more important. We really feel a change in the mindset of many customers when making investment decisions. And we are looking forward to helping our customers to grow further in the future.”