Messe Frankfurt’s Techtextil and Texprocess shows will highlight sustainability with economy and ecology in mind.
TW Special Report
After altering its schedule because of pandemic-created delays to an even-year schedule from its previous odd-year schedule, Germany-based Messe Frankfurt GmbH’s flagship Techtextil and Texprocess trade fairs return to the Messe Frankfurt Fairgrounds in Frankfurt, Germany, this year.
Scheduled April 23-26, 2024, the biennial shows will gather approximately 1,600 exhibitors from around 50 countries. Visitors will see first-hand the latest solutions and products for technical textiles, as well as machinery and services for making garments, among other offerings.
“The sectors are undergoing a rapid process of change,” said Olaf Schmidt, vice president, Textiles and Technologies, Messe Frankfurt. “Participants at Techtextil and Texprocess will have the opportunity to stay in tune with the times, to present innovations to an audience of experts from all over the world and to find new solutions and business partners.”
Techtextil 2024
Techtextil will organize exhibits into 11 different product groups: research, development, education, consulting; technology and processes; fibers and yarns; woven fabrics, laid webs, braidings, knitted fabrics; nonwovens; coated textiles; composites; Bondtec (surface and bonding techniques); functional apparel textiles; associations; and media.
As always, Techtextil offers a classification system for exhibits, which are organized according to 12 application areas:
- Agrotech — horticulture and landscape, gardening, agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry;
- Buildtech — membrane construction, lightweight and solid structures, civil engineering, industrial construction, temporary constructions, interior construction, earthworks, hydraulic engineering and road construction, and agriculture construction;
- Clothtech — functional apparel, clothing and shoes;
- Geotech — road construction, civil engineering, and dam and waste site construction;
- Hometech — furniture upholstery, interior design, carpets, rugs and floor coverings;
- Indutech — filtration, cleaning, mechanical engineering, chemicals industry, and electrical engineering industry;
- Medtech — hygiene and medicine;
- Mobiltech — cars, ships, aircraft, railway and space travel;
- Oekotech — environmental protection, recycling and waste disposal;
- Packtech — packaging, protective covering systems, sacks, big bags and container systems;
- Protech — personal safety and property protections; and
- Sporttech — sport and leisure, activewear, outdoor equipment, sports equipment and outfits, and sports footwear.
The application areas are illustrated by graphic icons displayed on exhibitor booths to organizers help visitors find the suppliers they need in an efficient manner.
Techtextil exhibitors will be located in halls 9.1, 11.0, 11.1, 12.0 and 12.1.
“Techtextil, and especially the event in Frankfurt, as the leading trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens, has shown in recent decades that it brings business partners together in one central location— not only from Europe, but from all over the world,” said Oliver Spöcker, director, Workwear & Protective Wear, Global Commercial director, FR Fibers at Lenzing AG, Austria. “We are looking forward to meeting the entire textile world again in Frankfurt at Techtextil 2024 and to holding personal meetings with business friends and partners. The Lenzing Group will continue to bring the idea of sustainability in the fiber industry to the world of technical textiles. Techtextil offers us an ideal platform for this.”
Texprocess 2024
Texprocess, the International Trade Show for Processing Textile and Flexible Materials, will showcase the latest machines, plants, processes and services for the production of garments, and textile and flexible materials.
This year, Texprocess covers 16 product groups that encompass the entire value creation chain including CAD/CAM (2D/3D/4D); CMT (Cutting, Making, Trimming); Knitting Technology; Embroidery Technology; Sewing Technologies and Materials; Joining and Fastening Technologies and Materials; Textile Treatment; Printing Technologies; Finishing; Digitalisation and Automatisation; Sustainable Technologies; Quality Control and Certification; Intralogistics; Packaging and Transport Logistics; Information Technology; Research, Development, Education, Consulting; Media; and Associations.
Texprocess exhibits will be housed in Halls 8.0, 9.0 and Gallery 0.
Sustainability Emphasis
Sustainability continues to be a focus for the collocated events, as well as Messe Frankfurt as an organization. Last year, in order to more strongly emphasize sustainability at its events, the group introduced the term “econogy,” which combines the ideas of economy and ecology into one word. This umbrella concept will inform and direct information, discussion, education and networking at all of the more than 50 global textile trade fairs in Messe Frankfurt’s “Texpertise Network” creating synergies among events and activities.
“The complexity with regard to social, economic and ecological change in the entire textile value chain continues to increase, which makes it all the more important today to offer orientation for our textile trade fairs, to make innovative approaches by the exhibiting companies visible and to promote the exchange of knowledge among all stakeholders along the textile value chain,” Schmidt emphasized when Messe Frankfurt introduced the econogy concept.
The idea will be used at Techtextil and Texprocess in various ways. The Econogy Finder — a directory of certified suppliers of sustainable products— will be available to visitors; Econogy Talks will provide a platform to exchange ideas and information related to sustainable solutions; and Econogy Tours at Techtextil will introduce visitors to exhibitors of sustainable products. In addition, special exhibit areas and curated displays will spotlight natural and biomaterials, reusable materials and recycling technologies, among other products.
Education, Awards And Other Attractions
Techtextil and Texprocess offer a myriad of interesting learning and networking opportunities during the show.
Visitors may register for the Techtextil Forum and/or Texprocess Forum to learn from experts in the industry on a variety of topics. Check the event websites for a full program schedule with featured speakers and topics as the events draw closer. The Techtextil Forum will take place in Hall 9.1, and the Texprocess Forum will take place in Hall 9.0.
“Textile Production” and “Functional Materials” start-up areas at Techtextil and the “Textile Processing Technologies” start-up area at Texprocess will offer young entrepreneurs the opportunity to share their business concepts, network, and attract business partners and investors.
Techtextil will host the “Performance Apparels on Stage” show to highlight the multifunctionality of textiles used in the garment industry; while Texprocess will shine a light on sustainable denim production in the Denim Hub and Denim Talks.
For the first time in 2024, Texprocess also will feature an Emerging Markets area and Emerging Markets lounge. Organizations from countries with development potential in textile processing will be invited to participate and the lounge will function as a meeting spot for visitors and exhibitors to chat and develop business ideas.
During the show, awards also will be presented to outstanding inventions and products at the Techtextil Innovation Awards and Texprocess Innovation Awards. Winners are selected from all entries by two panels of experts and represent the “future at a glance,” according to Messe Frankfurt.
“We are proud to once again present the very latest innovations — the result of unrivaled research, products and technologies of the textile manufacturing and processing industry — at the coming Techtextil and Texprocess trade fairs,” said Sabine Scharrer, director Techtextil and Texprocess. “For our visitors, the Techtextil and Texprocess Innovation Awards are genuine highlights. Every two years, these innovations give a perfect demonstration of the future-oriented direction being taken by the industries in fields of development, such as efficiency, ultra-new materials, coatings and sustainable production, which incentivizes the market and illustrates the innovative power and spirit of the industries.”
Open Hours, Ticket Sales
Both shows are open from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. April 23-25, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 26. A ticket grants visitors access to both Techtextil and Texprocess. Single-day tickets and four-day passes are available with advanced purchases qualifying for a discount.
For more information about Techtextil and Texprocess and to register,
visit techtextil.messefrankfurt.com and texprocess.messefrankfurt.com.
January/February 2024
