While the excitement and innovative wind of the upcoming ITMA 2023 started to surround the textile industry, ACIMIT, the umbrella organisation of Italian machinery manufacturers, hosted the leading representatives of the global textile media at Villa Fua in Stresa on March 15 and held a press conference. The meeting highlighted the strong expectations of the Italian machinery manufacturers, who completed 2022 with successful results, for 2023 and the ITMA Milan exhibition. It was discussed that Italy, which will host the exhibition to be held in Fiera Milano Rho on June 8-14, will highlight the competencies of its technologies at ITMA, as well as seize opportunities to encourage new investments in the textile industry. The meeting, which we followed on-site as Textilegence, turned into an important pre-meeting for the sector.
Delivering the opening speech, ACIMIT President Alessandro Zucchi announced that 2022 was a successful period for the Italian textile machinery sector. Zucchi said that both Italian production and exports of textile machinery increased by more than 10% compared to the previous year, and gave the following details on this subject: “The production value exceeded 2.6 billion euro. Of this value, 87%, or around 2.3 billion euro, was realised abroad. Italian exports went mainly to Asia and Europe. Overall, the two areas absorbed 79% of foreign sales. China, Turkey, India and the United States of America were the main destinations of Italian sales abroad in 2022.”
Zucchi stated that the positive results do not, however, cancel out the obstacles that companies still face in this period., and argued that the critical issues following the Covid-19 pandemic have been amplified by the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Saying: “Even in this early 2023, unfavourable conditions to business still exist, such as high inflation, constraints on the functioning of value chains, and energy commodity prices above the average of recent years,” Zucchi noted, however, forecasts prepared by their Economic Office show an improvement in the second half of the year and in the 2024-26 period, which gives them hope.
ITMA 2023 will encourage the textile industry for investments
Alessandro Zucchi stated that with these forecasts, ITMA 2023, the leading fair for the textile machinery industry, to be held in June in Milan, could be the driving force able to stimulate investment in the textile sector, not only the Italian one. Expressing that their manufacturers are very confident about next June’s event, Zucchi emphasised that the Italian presence in the exhibition will be great. Zucchi disclosed: “As shown by the figures on the Italian presence at the event: almost 400 Italian exhibitors, about 36,000 square metres, with an increase in the occupied surface area of over 20% compared to the previous edition held in Barcelona. 30% of the total exhibition area at ITMA 2023 will be taken up by Italian machinery manufacturers“.
ACIMIT and ITA are undertaking new projects for the sector
The meeting, which was followed with great interest by the media, also announced the various initiatives that ACIMIT, with the support of the Italian Trade Agency ITA, has put in place to encourage Italian companies to participate in the exhibition. ITA General Manager Roberto Luongo said that the Italian textile machinery industry represents one of the leading production sectors for their country due to its strong projection on international markets. Luongo disclosed: “Our textile technologies are considered to be of a high quality level, and for us at ITA this represents an element of great pride and satisfaction, which pushes us to support Italian companies in an increasingly convinced and decisive manner, through an effective collaboration, now consolidated and tested, with ACIMIT. ITMA is a unique opportunity for the Italian textile machinery industry, due to the high number of exhibitors and the tens of thousands of visitors it usually attracts. As ITA we have therefore prepared, in accordance with ACIMIT, an extensive project aimed at promoting the Italian textile machinery sector through the enhancement of the three drivers that distinguish it: technology, digitalization and sustainability.”
Luongo, announcing that 140 top foreign buyers from 25 different countries will come to the exhibition, also said that they will carry out an intensive and widespread communication campaign abroad. Noting that they will have a special focus on sustainable technologies and digitalisation processes, Luongo informed that there will be various training events focusing on the innovations offered by Italian companies at ITMA 2023. Luongo stated that Italian Textile Technologies Awards organised by ITA and ACIMIT will also be awarded and 18 deserving students from textile universities in Bangladesh, India, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru and Vietnam, where Italian Technology Education Centres are located, will be awarded.
Main theme; SHAPING THE FUTURE
ACIMIT’s promotional campaign titled ‘SHAPING THE FUTURE’, which is carried out on social media and traditional channels, was an important title. Alessandro Zucchi explained the campaign details as follows: “Shaping the future is a concept that aims to show how Italian manufacturers are key players in the development of the entire textile supply chain, able to outline virtuous paths that testify to the proactive nature of the entire sector and that enable the future of the sector to be shaped through the three pillars, technology, digitalization, and sustainability, which are also the key themes of ITMA 2023. The textile supply chain is moving towards increasingly competitive production processes, where the reduction of production costs, through lower consumption of water, energy and raw materials, is combined with attention to the environment. Equally important is the ongoing digital transformation of companies, a process that will enable technology suppliers and their customers to operate more and more constructively and efficiently.”
Zucchi concluded his words as follows: “We believe that the future of textiles that we want to shape lies in a sustainable and digitised technological supply.”
ACIMIT members’ experiences in sustainability and digitalisation provide inspiration
In the press conference hosted by ACIMIT, five member companies shared their experiences in sustainability and digitalisation with the press members. Representatives of Flainox (Andrea Bozzo), Itema (Valentina Brignoli), Marzoli (Cristian Locatelli), Salvadè (Marco Salvade) and Sperotto Rimar (Federico Businaro) provided information about their work and innovative products.
The company representatives mainly emphasised the contribution of ACIMIT’s Green Label Sustainable Technologies Project and ACIMIT Digital Ready digital certification. Both projects demonstrate the commitment of Italian machinery manufacturers to consolidate their leadership in textile technologies in the future. Member companies certify the environmental and economic performance of their textile machines and commit to reduce the CO2 emissions of their machines through continuous improvement with Green Label. With Digital Ready, the aim is to standardise the production and management data of Italian textile machinery and their ability to be digitally integrated into the customer’s factory.