“A Positive Signal and A Light of Hope Can Be Found in the Turkish Market”
Itema Group, one of the leading manufacturers of weaving technologies, exports approximately 85-90 percent of its production. Itema Group CEO’s Ugo Ghilardi says that the current market situation is still heavily influenced by the coronavirus pandemic. Ghilardi added, ” But a positive signal and a light of hope can be found in the Turkish market.”
We interviewed with Ugo Ghilardi, the new CEO of Itema Group, who took office last March, for the “Weaving Special Issue” in our Tekstil Teknoloji magazine. Itema Group CEO Ugo Ghilardi said that, “Our customers, indeed, not only confirmed the large majority of their pre-Covid-19 orders, but also came to us with new inquiries for Itema looms despite this difficult situation.”
What are the latest technological innovations taking place in the weaving machinery industry?
Sustainability and digitization are two trends that are deeply influencing and shaping weaving industry worldwide over the last 2 years.
Textile industry is of the most polluting industries on the planet and traditionally the main efforts to reduce the impact of its activities are focused on other stages. As a result, we decided that it was time to give our own contribution to make weaving world greener, by investing in making not only our operations but also our products more sustainable.
An example of this vision can be found in the launch of iSAVER™ by ItemaLab™ , the first green tool introduced in weaving industry. iSAVER™ is the only device in the sector able to eliminate the false selvedge on the left side of the fabric, leading to a significant saving of energy and raw material and defining a new benchmark in the field of sustainable weaving.
Covid-19 pandemic forced the world to quickly adapt to the new situation, obligating companies to implement digital solutions. The pandemic made it clear that today we must be ready to provide our customers worldwide with real-time support by transcending any kind of physical barrier.
At Itema, we kept constant contact with our Customers through digital and online assistance, in order to strictly cooperate, help and support each other, thus leading to further reinforce our relationship.
Moreover, we developed dedicated solutions to support our customers during this difficult moment, through dedicated spare parts and assistance packages. Care&Protect initiatives – from Spare Parts special promotions to help customers managing cash flow to our practical guidelines to help customers with looms maintenance procedures- gathered worldwide success.
Itema Group has recently acquired PTMT. How will this acquisition contribute to the sector? Does Itema Group plan to make any other investments?
The finalization of the agreement with Panter (ex PTMT) allows Itema to expand its product portfolio by adding PTMT technology, with the aim of consolidating and establishing a new leadership in the field of technical fabrics.
The launch of Itematech, the new division dedicated to technical textiles,in the first quarter of 2019, gathered growing interest from weavers all over the world. Itematech, indeed, offers today the most complete technological portfolio available on the market to weave these special fabrics.
How do you see the current market situation in Asia, China, Europe and Turkey?
The current market situation is still heavily influenced by the outbreak of the pandemic and it not easy to make forecasts, but a positive signal and a light of hope can be found in the Turkish market. Our customers, indeed, not only confirmed the large majority of their pre-Covid-19 orders, but also came to us with new inquiries for Itema looms despite this difficult situation.
What industrial and economic challenges are impacting your industry and company, and how are you responding to them?
The main challenges affecting our markets from the economic point of view are, for example, the depreciation of the Turkish lira, being Turkey one of the most relevant markets for our company. Moreover, weaving sector is characterised ever since by instability and volatility. Itema Group is today made up of several companies from complementary businesses: the foresight diversification strategy carried out over the last ten years allow us to face the typical instability of weaving sector whilst guaranteeing stability to the whole group and enhancing constant growth.
What percent of your machines do you export annually? Which are the top markets geographically?
We export around the 85%-90% of our production. From the geographical point of view, some of our strategic and most important markets are represented by Turkey, India and China.
What are your plans for the next couple of years?
As Itema, our mission is to be close to our customers providing them not only with advanced weaving machines but also with a complete range of services to guarantee comprehensive and attentive support.
With Itema’s constant attention and care in building up solid relations with customers and with the intention of acting as real partners in this unprecedented global scenario, we are currently updating our traditional Customer Care and Spare Parts services with Itema Care & Protect initiatives.
Itema Care & Protect aims at broadening the range of services traditionally offered by our Customer Service, to help our customers maximizing their return on investment, boosting machine performances to better satisfy new market needs and to further extend the lifecycle of their looms by choosing strictly original spare parts.
Moreover, we are currently investing in making our looms smarter and smarter, in order to make our customer life easier, by providing them support no matter where they are and by trascending any physical barrier.
Interview: Dilek HAYIRLI
