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TOAI highlights importance of textiles in auto industry

22 Feb '20
2 min read
Pic: Shutterstock
Pic: Shutterstock

The first edition of the conference `Textile Opportunities in a Changing Automotive Industry’, attracted speakers and delegates from world over. The conference highlighted that textiles and nonwovens will contribute to the new mobility era by providing textile interiors with high levels of comfort and reducing the impact of manufacturing on environment.

The conference was held during February 5-6 in Birmingham, UK. Keynote speaker Amy Frascella of Land Rover Design emphasised the increased consideration of the provenance of the materials used and the whole life-cycle impact. With natural fibres and new materials come new benefits such as higher tensile strength, inherent heating/cooling, moisture wicking properties and anti-soiling solutions. In addition, the perception of luxury is changing and sustainability is becoming an ever-more important factor in consumer-purchasing decisions.

The presentations given over the two-day conference confirmed that textiles and nonwovens can and will contribute to the new mobility era by providing, for example, textile interiors with high levels of comfort while reducing the impact of manufacturing on the environment, and new processes that offer waste-free recycled lightweight materials for interiors. New concepts and techniques were described. The forum provided ample networking opportunities for participants.

“An inspiring and informative conference, which showcased the best innovations and collaborative action from automotive brand leaders and their supply chain to dramatically reduce material, production energy and process water waste,” said Christine Modla-Thomas of UK precision digital materials application company Alchemie Technology.

Another highlight of the event was a manufacturing tour of the Castle Bromwich plant.

The conference was organised by publisher International Newsletters, and the conference chair was industry specialist and writer Adrian Wilson.

“I think the conference programme successfully illustrated the sheer diversity of end-use applications for textiles in the automotive industry that already exist, and the potential for further growth, both through car manufacturers seeking to lower weight to reduce CO2 emissions and the push to develop alternatives to the internal combustion engine,” Wilson said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SV)

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