New Project from Brückner to Reduce Chemical Use
Based in Germany, Brückner Textile Technologies GmbH & Co. KG. develops complete lines for textile finishing. Concentrating on R&D activities during the pandemic process, the company is implementing new projects as well as developing many new products. Verena Ruckh, Head of Brückner Advertising and Marketing Department, talked about the new products and projects developed by their company.
First of all, how was 2021 for Brückner? Can you evaluate the year 2021 in figures?
The year 2021 began somewhat uncertainly, as many of our customers were still hesitant beyond the turn of the year and wanted to wait and see how the markets would develop further. However, this changed very quickly, many postponed orders were resumed and new inquiries were received. Looking back, we can say that 2021 was a very good year for our company. However, it was characterized by supply bottlenecks, especially in the area of electronic components, and the extreme price increases for many raw materials. As a result, we were not always able to deliver or assemble our machines on time, and we had to bear the additional costs for the increased prices ourselves. In addition, the pandemic was present throughout the year, making travelling very difficult or even impossible in many places.
The pandemic process has once again proven how important sustainability is. What are the latest innovations coming up by Brückner considering sustainability particularly chemical, water, environment and energy?
Sustainability has played a major role for us for many years and has top priority in our R&D department. For example, we are currently optimizing our minimum application unit and have also started a development project here with a partner from the chemical industry. The ECO-COAT is mainly used for impregnating and for the application of aqueous finishes on one or both sides of the fabric. These are, for example, single-sided functionalizations with a wide variety of finishing chemicals or print pretreatment on woven and knitted fabrics for digital printing. The end products are found in the fashion apparel sector and in technical applications. Thanks to precisely definable application quantities to the textile fabric, significantly less energy is required in the subsequent drying process. Due to the small liquor reservoir, only minimal amounts of wastewater are produced in our further developed unit and hardly any residual chemicals have to be disposed of. And this is just one of many projects we are currently researching and developing.
“We Will a Completely Launch A New Machine This Year”
During the pandemic process, companies focused on R&D and new product development. What are your new products and technologies that you have developed as Brückner in the last two years?
As already mentioned, our focus is currently on developments in the area of sustainability and circular economy. In addition to the project already mentioned, we have also revised our belt dryer for shrinking and relaxing knitted fabrics, among other things, and will be able to launch a completely new machine on the market this year. For our customers, this means even greater productivity, space savings thanks to a compact design, better cleaning options thanks to horizontally arranged lint screens, and the best possible dryer access thanks to large sliding doors. Furthermore, our core product, the stenter frame, has been given a facelift with many new features that bring further benefits to our customers. In addition, a lot has also been done in the area of Industry 4.0. A wide variety of intelligent assistance systems are available to customers for our machines, providing valuable information on process optimization, cleaning, maintenance or, for example, indicating in good time when wear parts need to be reordered.
Can you tell us about your expectations, goals, new products and investment plans for 2022?
Our greatest expectation for 2022 is that we will hopefully be able to return to a certain “normality” by summer at the latest and hopefully leave the pandemic behind us. We all hope that the trade fairs that are so important for our industry can finally take place again with a presence, first and foremost ITM 2022 in Istanbul and Techtextıl in Frankfurt, both of which are on the schedule for June. We would like to be able to look our customers in the eye again, discuss new projects in person and revive the original idea of service – namely helping customers on site. During the pandemic, we talked to customers via video conference and communicated through other digital media, which worked wonderfully. We’ll continue to do a lot of that, because a lot of things can be explained much better and faster using 3D models or interactive data, even if you’re on the other side of the world. The challenge will be to find a happy medium. For us as a family-run company, personal contact with the customer is still essential and the basis for a trusting collaboration.
“ITM 2022 will become much more important this year”
The ITM , which was postponed due to the pandemic, will be held after 4 years. Could you share with us your views on the ITM Exhibition, which will bring the textile machinery industry together after such a long break?
ITM in Istanbul has always been a very good and important trade show for us in recent years. However, we are convinced that this year the fair will become much more important. Due to its geographical location, Turkey is a hub between Europe and Asia, and many surrounding countries have close ties with Turkey. We expect significantly more visitors at the fair in 2022 and more intensive discussions. And this is not only because people finally want to meet in person again after the pandemic, but above all because the Turkish market has developed very positively in our view. Many European textile manufacturers have shifted their sourcing to Turkey. The textile companies there have very well trained personnel who understand our complex equipment and can utilize the quality and productivity accordingly. That´s why we are looking very confidently to the ITM 2022 in June!
Do you have new products or new technologies that you are planning to exhibit at the ITM 2022?
Many of the things I have already mentioned will of course be highlighted at the ITM 2022 in Istanbul. The best thing to do is to see for yourself on site how worthwhile it is to invest in a high-quality textile machine. Looking forward to seeing you all soon in Istanbul!
Interview: Dilek Hayırlı