Oerlikon is a globally leading company in the field of thin film, vacuum and precision technology. Based on these core competencies, Oerlikon develops production systems, components, and services for high-technology products. The company's commercial activities center on protective coatings for precision tools and components, production equipment and coating processes for solar modules, as well as production systems for data storage devices (Oerlikon Coating), systems for producing vacuums and conveying process gases (Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum), optical components, aerospace technology and outsourcing (Oerlikon Components), textile production (Oerlikon Textile) and propulsion technology (Oerlikon Graziano Drive Systems). Oerlikon also applies its core competencies as a major provider of semiconductor technology (Oerlikon Esec). Oerlikon Textile is a total solution provider in the areas of textile machines and textile plant engineering and thus covers the entire textile value added chain. With its five Business Units: Oerlikon Barmag; Nuemag; Schlafhorst; Saurer; and Textile Components, the Company offers innovative and economical solutions for the chemical fiber plant designing, nonwovens production or systems for ring spinning, rotor spinning, winding, twisting or embroidery. These Units are the market leaders in almost all technological fields, allowing the setting of new standards for the global textile production on a regular basis. German citizen, 1963 born, Dr Carsten Voigtlander is the CEO of Oerlikon Textile. Since January 2007 he has been handling the entire textile division of the Saurer Group - now Oerlikon Textile. As CEO of Neumag Saurer, Neumonster, Germany, Dr Voigtlander has been primarily responsible for the transformation of a classic machinery manufacturer to an engineering company with turn-key competence and consistent establishment of the nonwoven sector - an area of strategic growth in the textile chain. Dr Voigtlander studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University Braunschweig, specialising in production engineering, and gained his doctorate in thermodynamics. He began his working career in 1994 in the development sector of Neumag, then leading the project management of the company and has been a member of the board of directors of Neumag since 1998-since 2004 the sole Managing Director. To serve its readers the expert’s comments, Face2Face team approached Dr Carsten Voigtlander who paints
Where does Oerlikon see the new benchmarks for an efficient textile production?
We have presented the new benchmarks from our point of view at the International Exhibition of Textile Machinery (ITMA) 2007 in Munich in September. With the new automatic package winding machine Autoconer 5 from Oerlikon Schlafhorst, we will clearly raise the bar concerning productivity, quality, efficiency, and availability. With our new Oerlikon Neumag product ‘Sytec One’, we were able to achieve a productivity increase of 40% compared with before as regards the BCF production of carpet yarns. Our new production technique for synthetic staple fibres also beats the records and now allows producing 400 instead of 250 tons per day – which is a top performance on the market. And our new concept of Oerlikon Barmag POY spinning reduces investments as well as operating costs.
However, these isolated cases are only excerpts. We believe the actual progress of efficient textile production to be in the overall contemplation of a solution along its value added chain, in a project, if possible starting with the feasibility study and ending with the implementation of the machines and their guarantee. This is how the greatest advantages can be generated. We call this ‘total solutions’.
Could you explain to us in general the various sectors of the textile industry in which your company operates?
Oerlikon Textile stands for high grade overall solutions in textile engineering and in manufacturing and processing natural and synthetic fibres, yarns as well as nonwovens. The segment of the Oerlikon Group operates in all market segments of staple fibre processing, filament and nonwovens production and is, in each case, either the number one or the number two on the market.
How do you judge the rapid increase in demand from the Asian textile machinery markets?
Currently, more than 60 per cent of all textiles worldwide are produced in China and in India. These two Asian regions alone are currently responsible for a global growth of more than 3 per cent as regards production of all kinds of fibres. This trend which has been constant for about 5 years will still increase – not least because demand for textiles and end-consumers’ requirements are also on the increase in Asia’s populous threshold countries. The state support programmes too, in particular in China, India, Vietnam and Turkey encourage the import of high grade production technology which mainly comes from Europe. We will continue to benefit doubly from this.
Which specific categories of machinery are normally mainly imported from this region?
Let us only take a look at the staple fibre market in this region: In India, as a classic ring-spinning country, demand mainly focuses on our high-end automatic winding machines Autoconer 338 and now, newly, Autoconer 5. They guarantee the customer optimum yarn and package quality following the ring spinning. In China, there is an increase in particular in the mid-range quality sector for the reasons mentioned above. Also in this case, we have precisely the right products with our Oerlikon Schlafhorst business unit to be able to participate to a considerable extent in the continuing boom in the natural fibre markets.
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
