“ITM 2024 is the Largest and Most Important Exhibition in the Region”
Koki Matsumoto, Sales Manager of Muratec Textile Machinery Division; “Many visitors came from different countries such as Turkey, Egypt, Uzbekistan, India, Iran and received information about our products. It is very easy to come to Istanbul from Europe, Africa and the Middle East. So we can say that ITM is the biggest and most important exhibition in the region.”
ITM 2024 Exhibition, which brings together textile technology leaders in Istanbul, was flooded by visitors on its third day. The booth of Muratec, known for its innovative weaving solutions and cutting-edge technologies in the textile industry, was a popular spot for visitors. Muratec Textile Machinery Division Sales Manager Koki Matsumoto answered our questions and made evaluations about ITM 2024.
Can you briefly inform us about the products you highlighted at the exhibition?
We are exhibiting our latest model machines, which are automatic winding machine and Vortex air jet machine, at ITM 2024. Together with our customers, we produce many samples on the fly and introduce Muratec Smart Support, an IoT integrated management system that supports stable machine utilization and efficient production.
The motto of ITM 2024 Exhibition this year is ‘Discover the Future’. What are your predictions for the future of the textile industry?
Labor and energy costs are rising steeply. So we want to minimize such costs by using our machines and IoT systems.
How is the ITM 2024 exhibition coming along for you and is the organization meeting your expectations?
ITM 2024 is crowded and the interest of visitors is increasing day by day. We see the most visitors today. Many visitors from different countries such as Turkey, Egypt, Uzbekistan, India, Iran are coming and talking to us about our products. It is very easy to come to Istanbul from Europe, Africa and the Middle East. So we can say that ITM is the largest and most important exhibition in the region.
The textile machinery sector is going through an economically turbulent period. With this in mind, what opportunities does your company expect from ITM 2024?
The important point is that the textile industry in Turkey has been developing significantly after the end of the Covid pandemic. We have a remarkable delivery record in this period. Recently, the demand for ready-to-wear in the European market has been decreasing. But we would like to say that we are optimistic and we need to prepare for the next phase by further developing our technology.
Digitalization, automation, sustainability are important parameters in the future of textiles. What kind of preparations does your company have?
In terms of machines, we are focusing on automation systems and with our latest model we are integrating improvements in automation systems compared to the previous models QPro EX and FPro EX. With the IoT system we have developed, we can monitor data directly, minimizing the workload in the plant and making it easier to manage production processes.