Everybody is tired of all the bad news around the world, presumably provoked by the global finance
industry. The textile industry is affected too – at least, most of the sectors are. However, one
sector is still earning some money and bringing work to the textile machinery industry. It’s the
nonwovens and technical textiles sector.
How Are You?
At the moment, it’s not easy to visit the people in the industry. The question “How are you?”
sounds sometimes like mockery. In most of the cases, the answer is the same: “Business is going
down. The money is there, but nobody’s investing at the moment. Everybody is waiting for good
news.”
We Are Okay
On a recent trip to France and Belgium, it was rather different. When
Textile World
visited France-based nonwovens machinery producer NSC nonwoven, the answer to “How are
you?” was, “We are okay; we have delivery times up to seven months.”
TW
was positively stunned and wanted to know the reasons for this good news in more or less bad
times.
But Why?
NSC nonwoven Sales & Marketing Director Jean-Philippe Dumon said a difficult economic
time also means time for opportunity. In a very lively discussion, he pointed out some reasons for
this success. He said his customers have identified new market opportunities in the ever-so-growing
nonwovens business. And in difficult times, innovative equipment is important more than ever. He
also mentioned one of the Rupp Reports from last year, ”
Can
You Afford To Buy Copies?” (August 19, 2008). The answer to this question, he mentioned, is
clear: No, everybody must have first-class equipment to be successful today.
With Cost And Material Savings
As mentioned before, and published in various
TW
articles over the last year, energy and cost savings are the key words – also for Dumon’s
customers. He reckoned that cost savings are of major concern to all nonwovens producers, this
includes for raw material, energy, maintenance and time. And, he mentioned, “We address this
concern by generating fiber savings with our equipment.”
But not only is fiber saving important, Dumon said. “We also supply control equipment to
ensure a consistent quality production with energy-saving solutions. And, last but not least, the
design of low-maintenance equipment allows more production time and, eventually, a better yield on
the production line.”
Matching Machinery
In the computer business, compatibility is the key word. This also is valid for the
production of nonwovens. Dumon again: “We have a global overview of the nonwoven processes. Most of
our sales are to supply complete lines since such an approach minimizes bottlenecks in production.”
Yes,
TW
argued, but not everybody can spend the money for a complete new line today. No problem, the
answer came promptly. “We are concerned about improving our customer end product performances –
that’s why we also provide solutions to improve the performance of existing lines. This issue will
be the subject of news in a few weeks time. Wait and see.”
Wait and see? All the digging deeper to get more news was useless. However, in most cases, I
would ask more questions to get the news out. But this time was different.
TW
was pleased to hear some good news. So let’s hope for the next message. If you or your
company have some good news, let
TW
know. Send a note to
jrupp@textileworld.com.
TW
would be happy to share it.
March 3, 2009
