The global textile and garment manufacturing industry converged at ITMA 2015 in Milan to source innovative solutions to enhance their business sustainability. Their commitment to sustainability is evident from the strong industry turnout. At the end of eight days, the 17th edition of the world’s most established textile and garment
technology exhibition attracted visitorship of almost 123,000 from 147 economies. CEMATEX, the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers, and owner of ITMA and ITMA ASIA, is pleased with the overwhelming response from the industry, both from exhibitors and visitors. Mr Charles Beauduin, President of CEMATEX enthused, “We registered a 20 per cent jump in visitor numbers compared with ITMA 2011. More importantly, from participants’ feedback, we can confidently say that this is one of the best ITMA exhibitions! Our message on sustainability has resonated greatly with buyers.” He praised the industry’s resilience and forward-looking agenda, adding that global industry players have understood the importance of investing in innovations that are planet-friendly and which can also help improve their business bottomline. “Our exhibitors have discovered that the visitors – whether they are seasoned ITMA visitors or attending the exhibition for the first time – are serious about checking out new innovative solutions to improve their competitive edge.” Concurring with him, Ms Regina Brückner, CEO of Brückner Trockentechnik GmbH & Co KG, Germany, said: “We felt for the first time there’s a real understanding and interest in energy efficiency and green technology. There’s a trend among our customers to want to upgrade their very old equipment because they understand the necessity of a highly productive and efficient production over the entire textile production process.”
Turkish wind in ITMA 2015 Milan
The bilboards and posters which are located with the slogan of ‘The Mechanics from Turkey’ and with a new logo which is organized by Exporter’s Association of Machinery and Machinery Introduction Group is the first thing that draws the attentin before enter into the fair area in ITMA Milan. The advertisements which are located around the fair area drew the attentipn of all participants and visitors. The works made are committed to memories as the significant activity due to show the power of Turkish machine industry. Turkey which contributes to the fair with 132 firms became the 3rd countries that has the biggest area in accordance with m2. Adnan Dalgakıran who is the Manager of Exporter’s Association of Machinery and Machinery Introduction Group (MTG), Zeynep Erkunt Armağan who is the member of MTG Board, Kutlu Karavelioğlu who is the vice chairman of MTG, Ferdi Murat Gül, Necmettin Öztürk who are the members of the Board, Semine Uygun ve Burak Yılmaz who are the commercial attache of Milan are the visitors of ITMA 2015 which is the textile machinery fair (Italy). Adnan Dalgakıran who is the manager of Exporter’s Association of Machinery and Machinery Introduction Group (MTG), expressed that the industry they represented in our country reached to 40 milliard dollars and they exported 14.7 milliard dollars in 2014. Dalgakıran who states that they put a target to reacg 100 milliard dollars export for 2023, said ‘Countries which do not produce means of production can not get out of middle income trap. We have the key that can get out our country from the middle income trap. However, the Middle East defeats us when it comes to labor cost and the West defeats us when it comes to technology. Stages such as brand support, appropriate finance take us to the 100 milliard dollars export. We export to 200 countries. We are 6th and 29th of the world when it comes to the European export industry.’ We can drwa this conclusion. The machine industry should be supported to continue its way by speeding up to develop the technology and by creating more added-value.
TEMSAD took its place in ITMA with its 135 members
Adil Nalbant who is the manager of Textile Machine Accessories Industry Association (TEMSAD) and expresses that they are the 3rd biggest participant after Italy and Germany at the fair, said ‘Turkish textile and outfitters still import machines for 2 milliard dollars for year. Our import is 400 million dollars. Now our industrialists wait that the machines which are produced in our country will not be imported.’ Overall, exhibitors felt that the quality of visitors was high and there was strong buyer interest. Visitors from Italy form the biggest contingent. They accounted for 18 per cent of the visitors. Outside Italy, the top visiting countries were India (9 per cent), Turkey (8 per cent) and Germany (7 per cent). Other countries which made it to the top 10 list were France, United States, Iran, Brazil, Pakistan and Spain. The lifting of sanctions on Iran in the near future has buoyed the country’s textile and garment sector, resulting in more visitors. ITMA 2015 welcomed many groups from the Indian sub-continent. There were also delegations from Central Asia – a region where the textile and clothing industry is slated for development as the sector has the potential to create jobs. A 140-strong Uzbekistan textile and garment industry delegation spent three days at the exhibition. It was coordinated by the Textile and Garment Ministry of Uzbekistan. “ITMA 2015 is really the world’s largest textile and garment manufacturing technologies platform which also introduces innovative and eco-friendly machinery. The Ministry aims to modernise the industry with innovative technologies which can create additional value and eco-friendly solutions which will help our manufacturers to compete in the textile world market. Our government programme for 2015-2019 is to renew and modernise the industry and we have set aside a budget of around US$2 billion to implement it. We have signed contracts with a number of ITMA exhibitors in the weaving, printing, dyeing and finishing sectors and we will start installation from early 2016 up to 2019,” said Mr Khaydarov Ilkhom Utkirovich, Minister of textile and garment industry “UZBEKYENGILSANOAT”. In addition, there was a
delegation of 48 representatives from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the textile and clothing sectors in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The group was coordinated by Geneva-based International Trade Centre (ITC), a joint agency of konuthe World Trade Organisation and the United Nations. A Russian delegation of 60 members was led by Mr Evgeny Ryzhov, Deputy Director of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade. “ITMA 2015 allowed our domestic companies to learn about the latest technologies for the light and textile industry, enabling them to consider implementing them in their own production, purchase production equipment and to exchange experience
with foreign colleagues,” he pointed out. 
Printing a new chapter
Launched as a dedicated sector at ITMA 2015, the printing chapter featured many established and new exhibitors. First-timer Fujifilm showcased its capabilities as a complete solution provider in digital textile printing. Mr Terry O’Keeffe, Strategic Customer Support Manager of Fujifilm, said: “ITMA has been an excellent platform for us to feature many exciting new developments in the digital sphere to a targeted audience. Our technology was very well received with good customer feedback that our technologies significantly contribute to the current and future digital textile market needs.” “ITMA continues to be the world’s showcase for textile printing, and provides the ideal platform for presenting our latest technologies,” says Dick Joustra, CEO, SPGPrints. “The show’s organisers have kept the ITMA fresh with new programmes so that visitors can see the latest in textile printing equipment while also learning about the urgency of issues like sustainability. The volume and quality of those coming to ITMA make it a dynamic and exciting marketplace.” Exhibitors from other sectors were also impressed with the quality of the visitors. One happy exhibitor is Mr Etienne Leroi, General Manager of NSC Fibre to Yarn. He said, “This year’s ITMA has entirely met our expectations. We have received numerous customers from all over the world, who have shown great interest in our latest developments. This confirms once more the importance of such an international event.” At the close of the exhibition on 19 November, Mr. Carlo Rogora, CEO of ITEMA Group, concluded: “Considering the current situation in the textile industry in some markets, we are pleasantly surprised with these results. ITMA 2015 has been especially satisfactory, both in terms of the organisation and logistics of the show and the significant level of attendance of customers. The contacts and orders we established, above all from India and Turkey markets, largely exceeded our expectations.” Themed ‘Master the Art of Sustainable Innovation’, ITMA 2015 featured exhibits from the entire textile and garment making value-chain spread over 108,268 square metres of net exhibition space at
Fiera Milano Rho. Organised by MP Expositions, it also featured several conferences with the sustainable agenda, as well as the first ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award. ITMA 2019 will be held from 20 to 26 June at Fira de Barcelona Gran Via fairground.
