Pellets are cut plastic strands about 3 mm in diameter. They derive either from the virgin process (polymerisation, etc.) or the recycling process (compounding). The pellets are melted in the extruder and spun through fine holes in the spin beam, forming thousands of endless strands. These strands are laid down on a conveyor, forming a web, which is loaded through heated cylinders and wound on rolls. These rolls are the basis for the subsequent processes.

Rieter Textile Systems is the leading supplier of integrated systems for manufacturing yarns from natural and man-made fibres for all applications. Rieter Textile Systems is the world's only supplier with comprehensive know-how covering the entire spinning process and can therefore develop, optimal solutions for customers. Rieter not only covers the machines and systems but also the management processes such as pre-sale activities and after sales service.

The Rieter Group comprises two divisions - Rieter Textile Systems and Rieter Automotive Systems. Within the Textile Systems Division we are organised in Business Groups covering the different business segments, such as staple fibre machinery, filament yarn technologies, non-wovens and plastics machinery, and technology components.

There is always a trade-off between labour and automation, driven by the cost factor. We are also seeing a trend to automation in the developing countries due to quality improvements. Normally the first textile operations to be shifted to low-cost countries are cut & sew, which is the most labour-intensive and least capital-intensive. The less labour-intensive operations such as finishing, weaving, knitting and spinning follow at a later stage, also depending on the availability of raw material and government subsidies