2024 Will Be the Beginning of a Rebound for the Textile Industry
Ağteks General Manager Servet Balcı said, “Especially in recent years, due to the visa problem in Europe, we cannot see very serious participants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Turkic Republics in the fairs organised in Europe. I think ITM is a very important bridge in this respect. We can say that ITM is the biggest world fair with visa liberalisation.”
Founded in 1992 in Istanbul as a textile machinery manufacturer, Ağteks continues to produce versatile twisting and coating machines and quality control solutions. We conducted an interview with Servet Balcı, General Manager of Ağteks İleri Teknolojiler for Tekstil Teknoloji Magazine.
Can you briefly inform us about the products you highlighted at ITM 2024?
Our company has been serving in the textile machinery sector since 1992. On one side, we produce yarn twisting machines. On the other side, we have products that we produce under the brand name A80SIK and follow all the steps from yarn production to the garment process using image processing systems. At ITM 2024, we introduced our latest small machines, yarn sensors called Quality Eye, tension sensors, color control products and fabric control products.
What kind of benefits do the products you exhibited at the exhibition provide to their users?
Yet again, one of the biggest challenges of the textile sector is that the product variety is very high and the production processes depend on the use of machine operators. When only their inspections determine the quality of a fabric or a yarn, you cannot meet the standard. We can control all these processes online with the sensors and cameras we have developed. Therefore, without any comments or intervention from the operator, we provide feedback with visual data and physical locations of where, what kind and how many defects are in the yarn or fabric.
“ITM is the Largest Visa-Free Exhibition in the World”
Why is ITM 2024 so important for the industry this year? What kind of opportunities does your company expect from ITM 2024?
In fact, there has been a contraction since 2020, which started with the pandemic. When we follow the trend since 2018, there is a trend that is constantly coming back. The textile industry is prepared for such turbulence. Because we experience such things from time to time. I think 2024 will be the beginning of the leap again. We can observe this more clearly at ITM 2024 Exhibition.
Does the fact that the exhibition is organized in Istanbul, which connects Asia and Europe, satisfy you in terms of visitor diversity?
Especially in recent years, due to the visa problem in Europe, we do not see very many participants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Turkic Republics to the current European organizations. I think ITM is a very important bridge in this respect. We can say that ITM is the largest visa free organization in the world. Exhibition started very well and the number of visitors increased every hour. ITM 2024 Exhibition met our expectations.