Orders from Turkish Customers for Picanol Have Been During 1st Half of 2018 on Record Level

Picanol, a manufacturer of high-tech weaving machines and accessories, has a worldwide sales network and the fastest air-jet and rapier weaving machines. Turkey, especially Denizli, is located in an important market position for Picanol’s rapier towel machine. Picanol’s which which sells record levels weaving machine to the market in 2017, Turkey orders reached record levels in the first half of 2018.

Celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2016, Picanol broke the record for highest turnover and most machinery production in 2017, and invested 60 million euros between 2010 and 2017. We made an interview with Picanol CRT Manager Kurt Lamkowski for our ‘Weaving Special Section‘ in Tekstil Teknoloji Magazine. Lamkowski who evaluate 2018, told the importance of Picanol for Turkey.

If you assess in terms of export markets what is the importance of Turkey market for your company?

Turkey is traditionally one of Picanol’s top 5-countries, and this has not been different in 2018.

How was the year 2018 in Turkey’s market for your company?

During the 1st half of 2018 Turkey has still been driven by big demand, and supported by a stable currency, a lucrative incentive-environment and banks/leasing companies giving facilities to investors in textile machines. Consequently orders from Turkish customers for Picanol have been during 1st half of 2018 on an all-time record level. As a result Picanol has supplied in 2018 more machines than ever to Turkey. But the Turkish economical and political situation (with devaluation, less liquidities in banks, high interest rates, etc …) has also resulted to a big fall-down in investments from 2nd half 2018.

What are your most demanded products in Turkey market?

Turkey is still traditionally a rapier-market, because Turkish weavers prefer flexibility, have more and more shorter runs, want to follow market-trends (new articles, new yarns, …). Only a few articles are suitable to run in big volumes and to remain competitive towards Far East competition.

Another reason why Turkish companies prefer rapier weaving machines is due to differences in fabric and customer portfolio. In the Far-east air-jet machines are prefer- red because the easiest fabrics are used in there. Producers in Turkey exporting to the United States and Europe in general, and this means more difficult customers. Turkish producers need to prefer more flexible machines so mostly rapier machines are preferred in Turkey.

What is the reason to prefer the company Picanol in Turkey?

Reason of Turkish companies prefer the Picanol machines are; flexibility, lower energy consumption, more production possibilities and a larger service network. Picanol provides a team of successful sales and after-sales services in Turkey and establishes relationship with the customer. Kurt Lamkowski said, “We can say that our machines are designed for a market like Turkey. The most important thing while we produce our machines is flexibility and quality. Because if the quality of a machine is not good, your fabrics will not be of good quality.

What are your predictions and your expectations for 2019 in terms of the market of Turkey? Everything depends on the availability of luiquidity in banks, of interest rates and availability of credits to make investments. To make a budget plan over several years Turkish companies have need of a stable currency as well. We do not see all this parameters happening in the first months. Consequently 2019 will be a very slow year for investments in Turkey.

Do you have any new technologies you will introduce in 2019?

In 2019 we will have the 4-yearly ITMA-exhibition. This is also traditionally an event or platform where machine builders want to show what they are doing for the future. The results of continuous development and market trends will be exposed during these exhibitions.

PICANOL PARTICIPATED IGATEX AND TECHTEXTIL WITH WEAVING MACHINES

IGATEX Pakistan 2019 took place from February 26– 28, 2019, in Karachi. It is the largest event of its kind in Pakistan and it represents a great opportunity to meet many customers over just a few days. Picanol presented at the booth of Madhani Associates, which has represented Picanol in the Karachi region for the last five years. Meanwhile, for the Lahore region, Picanol is represented by Ghauri Enterprises. Picanol machines enable production in the four main Pakistani weaving segments: denim, sheeting, bottom weight and terry towel. Both the OMNIplus Summum airjet and OptiMax-i rapier have proven to be the most productive weaving machines.

PICANOL INTRODUCED COMPREHENSIVE SERVICE AND SUPPORT SERVICE

Techtextil 2019 took place from February 26 – 28, 2019, in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Picanol presented with an information booth. Picanol not only promoted its rapier and airjet weaving machines at Techtextil 2019, but also the extensive range of services and support that it provides to its many customers from its 18,000 sq. ft facility: training, electronic repairs, new machines installation & start-up, textile technical support, spare parts, and weave-up upgrades are among the most critical services that the Picanol team discussed with visitors.

Interview: Dilek Hayırlı