170 Years of Innovation and Sustainability Shaping the Industry
Interview: Tuğba Karademir
Groz-Beckert, with over 170 years of history, continues to maintain its leadership in the textile industry as one of the most established and successful companies. The company’s deep expertise in the development of textile tools and its customer-oriented solution approach have positioned Groz-Beckert not only as a supplier but also as a solution provider. This leadership has been reinforced not only by traditional product quality but also by innovative technologies and sustainable solutions tailored to the industry. The company continues to maintain a strong distributor network worldwide and adapt to market demands through constant customer relations.
Eric Schöller, a member of the Groz-Beckert Member of the Executive Board, explained how technological developments have shaped competition in the industry and how Groz-Beckert continues to maintain its leadership in this field.”
How has Groz-Beckert’s history shaped the foundations of its success in the industry? What do you consider to be the most important factors that have allowed the company to maintain its leadership position in the sector for many years?
Groz-Beckert’s success is based on numerous factors that have been formed over the course of the company’s more than 170-year history. It starts with our long tradition and experience. Over many decades, we have built up extensive expertise in the development and manufacture of textile tools. We always demand absolute quality and precision from our products.
Innovation has always played a central role as well: We have continuously adapted and expanded the company and our product range to keep pace with technological and market changes. The needs of our customers have always been and continue to be our primary focus. Close partnerships that are mutually beneficial to both parties are an important part of our success. We see ourselves not only as a tool supplier, but also as a solution provider. We share our knowledge and offer services and digital products that simplify our customers’ processes and make them more secure and compliant.
For Groz-Beckert, it has always been important to be close to its customers, which is why the company began to internationalize at an early stage. Today, we have production and sales facilities all over the world. Together with our close-knit dealer network, we offer our customers direct points of contact in more than 150 countries.
In short, it is a combination of tradition and knowledge, innovation and product quality, global presence and customer focus. Added to this is the will and ability to continuously adapt to market requirements and technological changes.
“We are also aware that sustainable solutions and technological innovations are essential to meet growing environmental demands.”
How do the demands for innovation and sustainability in the textile industry guide Groz-Beckert’s R&D efforts? Which sustainable technologies are you prioritizing in future product developments?
Sustainability has always been one of our core topics because sustainable products are not only good for the environment but also for our customers as they offer cost and competitive advantages for them. As the leading manufacturer of precision tools for textile production, we are also aware that sustainable solutions and technological innovations are essential to meet growing environmental demands.
Materials optimization, technologies that reduce energy consumption, durable and recyclable products and packaging, and environmentally friendly production processes play a traditional role in this. In the future, however, it will also be a matter of developing new business models that meet our customers’ needs even better. The world has become more complex in this respect because it has become more individual and short-lived. Possible solutions can be, for example, pay per use models. Surely not relevant for every customer and every segment but for some of them. To this end, we will continue to work closely with our customers and would like to further intensify this, particularly in the area of R&D topics.
The Secret to Groz-Beckert’s Success in Textile Product Areas: Independence and Collaboration
You offer a broad product range across different textile areas such as sewing, knitting, and weaving. How do you manage such diversity, and what approach do you take when developing solutions tailored to each specific sector?
Groz-Beckert’s textile product areas – Knitting, Weaving, Nonwovens, Tufting, Sewing and Spinning – are organized independently, but also work closely together. This means that each area is staffed by absolute specialists who develop products and services independently and with a clear focus on their own customers.
On the other hand, the individual areas also draw on central resources – such as the Technology and Development Center (TEZ) or the laboratory. In addition, they work together across departments where it makes sense. They also benefit from each other’s experience and knowledge. Mistakes do not have to be made twice, and some of the successes of another area provide important inspiration, etc.
Overall we make the best use of both – independence and collaboration.
As Groz-Beckert, how do you collaborate with machinery manufacturers on joint development projects? Specifically, how do you manage the collaborative innovation processes in projects with strong partners like Santoni?
Development partnerships with machine builders have always played an important role at Groz-Beckert in driving innovation and developing customized solutions for the textile industry. We offer machine builders a wide range of cooperation opportunities to jointly develop new products or improve existing ones. Groz-Beckert’s Technology and Development Center (TEZ) provides the appropriate framework for our co-development projects. One example of a successful cooperation is the development of a new, energy-efficient knitting system with Santoni. The collaboration resulted in joint patents that benefit both companies.
In co-development projects such as the one with Santoni, we take an integrative approach based on the mutual exchange of expertise, transparent and open communication, the sharing of data and design specifications, and a clear project structure. In this way, we ensure that our products harmonize seamlessly with our partners’ machines and meet the specific requirements of textile production.
The project with Santoni was open and collaborative, making it a complete success from the start.
In addition, we maintain successful development partnerships with machine builders and textile manufacturers in all textile applications. We have exhibited the latest developments from such partnerships at recent exhibitions and you can find some success stories on our website.
“Our products not only lowers labor costs , but also improves product quality by minimizing production errors”
How do Groz-Beckert’s technological solutions enhance efficiency in production processes while optimizing labor costs? How do these improvements affect the competitiveness of companies in the industry? In your opinion, how do Groz-Beckert’s solutions make a difference, particularly for small and medium-sized textile manufacturers? What role do your products play in the growth process of smaller businesses?
Our solutions directly contribute to optimizing labor costs by promoting automation and precision in production processes. For example, our needles and system parts enable more precise and faster workflows, reducing the need for manual intervention. This not only lowers labor costs, but also improves product quality by minimizing production errors. They also reduce energy consumption through more efficient machine performance and contribute to the sustainable use of resources.
Textile tools have a direct influence on the efficiency in all textile manufacturing processes and therefore on the costs. Choosing the right tool has a positive impact, for example, on the usable machine speed and the durability of the needle. Our products and solutions are designed to make our customers’ production processes more efficient and economical. The needs and requirements of individual customers can vary. That’s why there is no such thing as the perfect needle for everyone, but rather the best one for each customer and their application. It is also about making the right choice, and we support our customers in this – both in person and through digital tools and our online customer portals.
By combining increased efficiency and reduced labor costs, companies in the textile industry can significantly reduce their production costs while achieving higher quality. This leads to greater competitiveness in the market. Companies can respond more quickly to new market demands, expand their production capacities and respond more flexibly to individual customer requirements.
Our technological solutions and services – personal and digital – help companies to reduce their operating costs and increase productivity while improving quality. This strengthens their position in the global market and enables them to remain competitive. This can be an important and decisive competitive factor, especially also for smaller, emerging companies. Equally important is the fact that we support our customers as partners and find the right solution for everyone, large or small.
“Sewing machine needles from Groz-Beckert set the highest standards in terms of precision and quality with the best availability.”
How do you believe Groz-Beckert’s sewing machine needles and other products set industry standards? What are the biggest challenges you face when developing new products?
Sewing machine needles from Groz-Beckert set the highest standards in terms of precision and quality with the best availability. But the example of the sewing product area also clearly illustrates that we define our technological leadership beyond that: as a provider of solutions.
Groz-Beckert is not only an indispensable partner with a comprehensive and high-quality product range, but also provides support with a wide range of services before, during and after the sewing process. We develop solutions for sewing problems and provide customer-specific needle recommendations.
In addition our Ideal Needle Handling (INH) Quality Management System helps to ensure compliance in sewing companies and increased efficiency in the sewing process. INH enables to establish an individual process that takes into account both the existing process in the factory and the buyers’ compliance regulations. It offers different hardware and software components for the digital documentation of all needle changes, needle breakages and the stock management as well as important analysis of the data.
The Customer Portal provides rich product information and training content related to sewing machine needles. What is the significance of this digital platform for sewing companies, and what kind of feedback have you received?
Our customer portals play a central role for all textile technologies. In addition to comprehensive product information and catalogs, technical data, needle recommendations and training content, our portals offer a web shop, personal customer accounts with various evaluation and ordering options, and direct contact points. The portals are available in dozens of languages and are optimized for mobile use. This means the portals are available around the clock.
This gives our customers a number of advantages in their day-to-day production: they can quickly find the right products for their applications or tips for handling. Orders can be placed quickly and easily and even automated. This saves valuable time and optimizes the production process. Thanks to the extensive information and training material, our customers also stay up to date and new employees can be trained and taught without much effort. This not only helps to increase efficiency, but also improves the quality of the end products. Access to technical support information and troubleshooting tips also maximizes machine availability and minimizes downtime. In the dynamic sewing industry, where downtime is expensive, the customer portal can be an important tool for making your own production efficient.
Feedback from our customers confirms the added value of this digital platform. We also receive positive feedback on the continuous expansion of the portal. Our customers are pleased with the regular updates and new training content that keep them up to date. As a result, the Groz-Beckert digital platform has become an indispensable tool for many sewing companies and plays an important role in helping our customers increase their competitiveness.
