MUNICH, Germany — November 4, 2014 — German garment and leather technology manufacturers are enjoying continued success, increasing year-on-year sales by 22.5 per cent in real terms in the period January to September 2014. In real terms, orders received in the first nine months of 2014 were 13.1 per cent up on the previous year, with domestic business recording a 4.7 per cent year-on-year increase in real terms and foreign business a 15.4 per cent increase in real terms. “In the current turbulent international climate, these excellent results confirm the global success achieved by the German garment and leather technology industry”, explained Elgar Straub, Managing Director of the Garment and Leather Technology Association within the VDMA at the General Assembly of the VDMA Garment and Leather Technology Association in Düsseldorf on 15 October.
Within the VDMA, the Garment and Leather Technology Association encompasses sewing and garment machinery, shoe and leather technology, laundry and textile cleaning machinery and machinery for processing technical textiles. Exports by the German garment and leather technology industry rose 5.8 per cent in 2013, from Euro 839 million in 2012 to Euro 888 million in 2013. Of particular note are exports in the sewing and garment technology sector, which grew by 14.7 per cent from Euro 406 million in 2012 to Euro 466 million in 2013.
The main buyers of German garment and leather technology in 2013 were the USA, India and Turkey.
Industry 4.0
In the garment industry and also other textile-processing sectors, factors such as flexibility in production and optimising costs and speed play a key role. These are just some of the factors that drive Industry 4.0. For example, IT solutions are already being increasingly used throughout the entire garment production value chain. They are an important driver of innovation as they continuously optimise the value creation process.
Texprocess 2015
The extremely favourable trends within the sector are creating high expectations for the third Texprocess in 2015. The leading international trade fair for the processing of textile and other flexible materials will be held in Frankfurt from 4 to 7 May 2015. A key focus at Texprocess will be IT and its significance for the garment industry. Topics such as Industry 4.0, 3D virtualization and RFID are of interest to the entire value chain and are assuming great significance, not least because of the flexibility and speed within this industry.
Posted November 11, 2014
Source: VDMA
