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Mission Statement To establish a high quality forum relevant to the needs of global industry and higher education that will provide leadership in the timely dissemination of information dealing with all aspects of textile and apparel, technology and management.

Introduction
A visit to Italy, a country with a “mature textile industry” affords the opportunity to contrast the state of the European industry with that of the US. An obvious difference between Italy and the US is that the former still has a significant textile machinery industry and has a much more diverse manufacturing industry, with a strong tradition in woolen and worsted, as well as cotton spinning. Additionally Italy has a long history of exporting and global textiles (Marco Polo and the silk roads to China), coupled with a well developed philosophy of establishing and culturing niche markets. The short trip taken in March 2003 included visits to machinery makers, trade associations, research organizations and textile manufacturers. What follows are personal recollections of this visit supplemented by literature provided by the different organizations.

Marzoli have several installations of ring spinning in the US, but in common with several other manufacturers they indicated that major sales were no longer a prospect in the US. They have shifted their sales focus with their major markets presently being Iran, Syria, Turkey and China. Additionally Marzoli are now operating a joint venture to manufacture ring frames in China. This results in huge reductions in the manufacturing costs of the machines, with spindles prices of $230 vs. $42 (China) being given as broad cost comparisons for non automated machines.

While Marzoli manufacture a full range of cotton spinning machinery, the major news out of this company is their entry into the “compact” spinning arena. The use of modifications in ring spinning to produce yarns which have a more compact structure has been pioneered by Rieter with their Com4 system (originally introduced as Compact yarns and based on a concept from Fehrer). Others manufacturers have introduced machines with, Zinser and Suessen exhibiting at ITMA 99 and Marzoli showing a static prototype at ATME. The Marzoli Olfil System (Figure 1)

Figure 1 - Marzoli Olfil Spinning System

can be retrofitted to their existing machines and consists of an extra zone after the normal front rollers of the drafting system. Upon leaving the drafting system the strand is supported on a perforated apron before passing through an extra front roller, which is belt driven by the drafting roller. In this additional condensing zone there is suction through the perforated belt which creates tension in the fibers and results in a “tighter” resultant yarn structure.

The benefits that can be achieved are 15-20% reduction in hairiness and 10% increase in tenacity. Marzoli are promoting the Olfil for processing cotton and particularly finer counts (24-80 Ne) for combed fibers. They indicate that there are problems with coarser yarns and short fibers and higher trash levels have a big impact on productivity. Additionally it was reported that the system is sensitive to temperature and humidity and sticky cotton is particularly problematic. The system is being marketed as an approach to improving yarn quality rather than higher productivity but this comes at a price. It was estimated the Olfil equipped machine would be 50% higher than a standard machine and the yarn would be 10% more expensive.

A visit to Giemme Filati was coordinated by Savio and this enabled not only a discussion of Suessen’s developments but also to have input from Giovanni Muratori, President of G. Filati. Filati is a modern spinning plant with 10,000 spindles for cotton yarns plus 3 machines for core spun elastomeric yarns, all machines being equipped with Savio link winding. The company not only spun but also had facilities for twisting, singeing, mercerizing and dyeing (6800 pounds per day for socks and high quality underwear). An additional spinning mill in Paraguay is also owned by the company. A major concern for the company is the competition from imported yarns and it was claimed that the conversion costs for a 30’s Ne yarn was $3.40/kg (including fiber) whereas similar yarn could be imported from India for $2.00/kg. To offset this variation in pricing Filati not only spun 16,000 pounds per day (average 16’s Ne) but also “finished” 20,000 pounds of yarn sourced from India, Russia and Egypt (40s – 80s Ne).

Savio have had recent success in the US with sales of winding machines and also have installations of rotor spinning and Volufil bulking units for acrylic yarns. They indicated that they had decided not to compete for 2/1 twisting machines since this was not viewed as a viable market. The Italian textile industry has seen a major downturn and 90% of Savio machinery is exported, with the largest market presently being Turkey. Three developments were highlighted and these were:

Figure 2 - Savio TwinSplicer

• The various types of splicing unit that could be incorporated into the winder and of particular interest was the Twinsplicer (Figure 2), which is a mechanical system that can not only splice denim yarns but also compact and core-spun elastomeric yarns, The splicing of elastomeric yarns was demonstrated in the spinning rooms at Filati.
  

Sant’ Andrea Novara are, along with Cognetex and Seydel, part of the Finlane group. Sant’ Andrea has been a significant player in the manufacture of machines for long staple processing and in particular for the processing of fine wools. Their major markets are currently China, Turkey, Italy, Mexico and Iran and the group claim to be the biggest manufacturer of long staple processing machinery. While Sant’ Andrea do not manufacture spinning frames their partners Cognetex offer a range of machines and thus the group can provide turnkey operations. The major developments presented by Sant’ Andrea were:

version. The use of a double rubbing field (Figure 3) not increases (double) the amount of rubbing at a particular running speed, and thus the rubbing section can potentially run at a lower oscillation rate to maintain an acceptable compaction of the roving. An additional benefit of this set up is that the second rubbing zone can reinforce the “dead centers” that occur at the reversal of the rubbing aprons, which are present when only one apron set is used.

Figure 3 - Sant’ Andrea Rubbing Finisher

Cognetex is a sister company of Sant’ Andrea, that currently has about 45% of the world market for long staple ring frames, with Turkey accounting for about 50% of sales. Their major focus has recently been the development of a compact spinning system for worsted spinning. The so called Com4Wool system is the result of significant development based around Rieter’s Com4 system (for cotton fibers). The major changes made are to accommodate much longer fibers and this is achieved by utilizing angled balloon rollers

Figure 4 - Cognetex Com4Wool

as the front rollers in the compacting zone (Figure 4). The “usual” benefits for compact yarn are made for this system - improved hairiness, regularity, strength, elongation, abrasion resistance, however the claimed advantages are associated with the impact of these in subsequent processing. One particular claim is that it may be possible to replace a normal folded wrap yarns with a single Com4Wool yarns. The system is incorporated into a machine using suppressed spinning balloons (termed BC – ballon controllato) and these are claimed to work well in conjunction with the compact drafting unit. An additional “cover” termed the “air conveyor” may be used for certain fiber types and this was recommended for use when processing cashmere but claimed to be unnecessary for wool.
Data is available for yarn comparisons and it is claimed to be possible to spin at higher speeds and achieve good yarn quality (Table 1).

Table 1 – Yarn Properties for Com4Wool (Nm64 – 680 turns/m; 18.8 micron wool)

This system seems to have much to favor its adoption however there are some concerns that need to be addressed. The advantages claimed for winding, weaving and finishing still need to be substantiated. The cost structure of compact spinning presents a challenge and, like the Olfil system above, the Com4Wool machine is significantly more expensive than the non-compact equivalent. Because of the high development costs the Com4Wool will be 100% more expensive than non-compact and this will translate into yarn prices being 15-20% more expensive. An additional feature is that when processing wool maintenance may be higher and it was explained that the inserts in the sieve rollers need to be removed and cleaned every two weeks. Apart from the arguable costing and claimed yarn benefits there is still the fundamental question “do customers want more compact wool yarns?”. Past systems such as SiroSpun also produced stronger, less hairy and leaner yarns, which were weavable as “singles”, but these result in different fabric characteristics in a market that is extremely conservative. There thus may be difficulty marketing this system unless the customers can be persuaded of the advantages, or if niche markets can be established.

U.T.I.T. Wagner Automation is a company that was exclusively linked to Marzoli until 1998. They presently work either directly with the customer or through a machinery maker. They offer many forms of material handling for different areas of the textile industry and are particularly well known in staple spinning. The systems they offer include:

• Figure 5 – UTIT Roving Transport

UTIT operate as a design and assembly company, since they source parts and components then apply minor modifications to ensure a unified system. They have several installations operating in the USA, particularly can and roving transport, and yarn package handling systems. In the latter systems output from up to 23 machines can be accommodated and the set-up includes automatic package assessment for diameter, weight, conicity and yarn tail. It is possible to handle different yarns from the different spinning machines, which are feeding the system, and research is underway to track the spinning position that is producing any defect detected by the package inspection system.
Gualchierani has two main areas of focus namely bale presses (including presses for making bump tops) and automation and it is the latter aspect that will be briefly discussed below. Gualchierani has currently interests in the following areas of material handling:
· Robotized plants for POY, FDY, BCF, etc. from spinning through inspection to palletizing and storage. This includes package inspection and labeling (Figure 6).

Figure 6 – Gualchierani package labeling

• Staple processing automation from spinning and winding through boxing and palletizing.
• Handling of packages in dyehouse.
• Warehouse automation and associated logistics.

The company is proud to explain that the project planning, research, construction and installation are all carried out in house. It was indicated that the major sale for the company are Czech Republic, Turkey, China, India and South America. The prospect of sales into the Italian industry was viewed as “bad” and the US as “very bad”.

Conclusions

It was interesting that the visit included companies representing different aspects of staple spinning including but that there were also similarities. UTIT and Gualchierani are both engaged in automation and must be viewed as competitors. Their approach to the business id however different with Gualchierani carrying out most functions within the company, whereas UTIT sources most of the components and assemble these into a designed system. Both Marzoli and Cognetex pin a lot of hopes on the success of Compact spinning and while they are competing in different markets they accept that the whole arena of ring spinning is somewhat in turmoil with low priced machinery being made in China. The ultimate acceptance of new fabrics, and higher cost yarns, could play a significant role in the future of these companies. While there are many differences in the companies there was a generally agreed impression that the textile industry in Western Europe and the USA was not likely to be making significant investment in new machinery. Sales were being made to Eastern Europe, Turkey and the Middle East, and China was the focus of sales and collaborative agreements.

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