“Türkiye will Continue to Be an Important Country for the Textile Industry Today and in the Future”
Interview: Tuğba KARADEMİR
Vandewiele Vice President Philippe Van de Velde highlights Türkiye’s strategic position in textile production, emphasizing that the Turkish market is at the center of their sustainable and digital transformation vision.
Founded in Belgium in 1880, Vandewiele is one of the leading brands in the global textile industry today, built on a long history of innovation, reliability, and respect in the field of textile machinery. The company is spearheading the sector’s transformation with investments focused on digitalization, artificial intelligence, and energy efficiency. Vandewiele Vice President Philippe Van de Velde shared with Textile Technology magazine the company’s innovative approach shaped by its “Think Forward” vision, Türkiye’s strategic role in this vision, and its goals for the future.
Vandewiele has undergone a remarkable evolution in textile machinery since its founding in 1880. What are the core values and vision that distinguish Vandewiele on a global scale today?
Vandewiele’s core values – Innovation, Reliability, and Respect – are deeply rooted in our identity and global operations. Innovation starts with vision, thinking forward and anticipating future needs in textile manufacturing. As a machine manufacturer we must speak the language of our customers and together make the future better.
In most textile producing countries, we have opened our own service and sales center, to be closer to our customers and to give them the support and expertise that is requested these days. We believe that a satisfied customer is the best ambassador for our brand. Their success is our success.
“We Try To Anticipate The Future As Vandewiele”
The motto “Think Forward” summarizes your approach to innovation. How does this vision guide your product development processes and R&D investments?
The phrase “Think Forward” is not just a slogan; it’s a call to action. It encourages every team, leader and collaborator to:
- Challenge the status quo
- Embrace change proactively
- Lead rather than follow
We try to anticipate the future. Prepare for disruptions, whether technological, economic, or environmentally by investing in innovation and adaptability. It reflects Vandewiele’s ambition to be a trailblazer in textile technology, not merely a participant. R&D focuses on digital weaving systems, AI powered equipment and energy efficient machinery. That is what we show in our latest developments like the HST tufting machinery and the RCF carpet weaving looms.
The role of digital transformation and automation in the textile machinery sector is growing every day. How does Vandewiele support and guide its customers through this transformation?
Vandewiele is actively guiding customers through Industry 4.0 by implementing Manufacturing’s MES (Manufacturing Execution System). Through our Software company BMSvision this system enhances real-time monitoring, planning, and follow-up. Superba offers robotic solutions to improve customer productivity. For instance, the KR1 is an automated robot for handling, packing, and labeling bobbins, designed for 24/7 operation.
Technological Innovation: Advancing weaving, tufting, and extrusion systems with smart features, AI integration, and modular design.
With our various areas of expertise and specialized companies in the group we can guide our customers through this phase and give them all necessary support. It is a game changer for our customers, because as a manufacturer, we can play a role in helping them.
“We Showcased Our 3-Rapier Velvet Weaving Machine for The First Time at The ITMA Asia + CITME”
Vandewiele’s carpet, velvet, and tufting machine solutions are considered benchmarks in terms of quality and efficiency. Could you tell us about the latest technologies in your product portfolio?
The digitalization of our new equipment is unstoppable now. With the new technology we have made a new reliable generation of machinery. For both carpet weaving and tufting, we currently have the fastest machines on the market with the highest output. Tufting up to 2500 rpm and weaving face-to-face carpets at 250 RPM for 5 m width in production. Our fast creel also results in significant savings on personnel costs, less downtime, less yarn waste and higher quality carpets.
At the ITMA Asia + CITME in Singapore, we showcased our 3-rapier velvet machine for the first time. This machine enables exceptional new applications in both velvet weaving and technical textiles. Traditional épingle weaving can now be performed at 8 times higher production speed — a true testament to our R&D strength.
Another highlight at ITMA was the Bonas JiM, which completes our range of jacquard machinery. This generation reduces the power consumption even more, resulting in the lowest on the market.
“Acquiring Savio Has Opened New Opportunities for Us in the Turkish Market”
Your holistic “from yarn to finished product” approach creates a major difference in the industry. What advantages does this integrated system offer to your customers?
The biggest advantage here is M2M, machine to machine communication, seamless integration across spinning, extrusion, weaving, tufting and finishing. When all machines speak the same language, there is higher productivity, easier communication, less waste and less downtime.
The whole process is managed and executed under one umbrella eliminating fragmentation. The integrated approach enables affordable mass customization, allowing customers to produce highly personalized tailor-made products.
Since the acquisition of Savio, our expertise in yarns and weaving possibilities has been further expanded. This has given us more opportunities in the Turkish market where both manufacturers are present, for Savio the Lybra air jet spinning give us also new possibilities.
Energy efficiency and resource management have become increasingly important in the textile sector. What are Vandewiele’s approaches and solutions for sustainable production?
Vandewiele addresses the need for energy efficiency and resource management through sustainable machine design, smart energy management, and the use of recycled materials. A core aspect of our strategy is developing machines that reduce waste, lower energy consumption, and integrate with Industry 4.0 technology to optimize the entire production process.
For example, all machines are equipped with an energy bus system using the lowest energy on the market at highest efficiency. The “smart drive” is another example of minimizing power consumption. Smart drives are used on most of our equipment: shedding on our RCE2+ carpet machines, jacquard drives and HST tufting. Our commitment to circular economic principles and eco-friendly production is another trademark.
“Sustainability is Really an Important Factor For The Future, If Not The Most Important One”
Looking ahead, what sustainability-driven technological transformations do you foresee in the textile industry?
That is an interesting and challenging question! Sustainability is really an important factor for the future, if not the most important one. Many of our machine innovations are designed to minimize waste. The “Fast Creel” technology RCF carpet weaving machine, for instance, significantly reduces yarn waste.
On the other hand, as mentioned earlier, with the use of new technology like Energy Bus and AI powered efficiency, we get low energy consumption. We are really approaching a new phase in that technology, and we are trying to be a leader in it, giving a lower total production cost to our customers. Our Bonas Jacquards already have the lowest power consumption you can find on the market.
“We Built A Long-Term Relationship With Türkiye, and We Are Committed to Continuing This for Many More Years”
Vandewiele operates in many countries worldwide. How do you view the Turkish market in this global landscape?
Glocalization is the key word here. We are a globalized company but are focusing on the local needs and demands. That is our customer-centric approach: customer first. Türkiye is a key market for all our products: carpet weaving, tufting, jacquard as well as winding and air jet spinning.
Türkiye is and will remain an important country for the textile industry. We have had a service hub in Istanbul for 20 years, in Bursa for a few years and now 2 hubs in Gaziantep with an important warehouse for parts focused on all our products. We recently opened our new showroom and technical support office there as well as a training center. We built a long-term relationship with Türkiye, and we are committed to continuing this for many more years.
Concepts like artificial intelligence, data analytics, and Industry 4.0 are creating a revolution in textile machinery. How is Vandewiele preparing for this transformation?
Industry 4.0 is something that we have followed already for years. The next step is transformation by integrating artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and automated, connected machine systems across our textile machinery portfolio. Our focus is on developing “Autonomous, Connected, Electrical, and Smart” (ACES) machinery to boost efficiency, enhance sustainability, and provide more comprehensive services to our customers.
We must develop equipment that also offers the future to our customers. When I talk to them, especially for carpet production in Türkiye, our customers are faced with higher costs for both materials and labor. That’s why we now have machines that are more efficient in yarn consumption and have lower personnel costs. Moreover, they can produce 60% more carpets per shift. AI, machine learning and intelligent machinery will help them to achieve this. Not only on carpet weaving as mentioned but also with the automated knotter KR1 of Superba and with Savio’s air jet spinning Lybra, important cost savings are made.
What innovations and goals await Vandewiele in 2025 and beyond?
As costs are always increasing and experienced staff is hard to find we are working on the digital and intelligent machine, less depending on weavers. Our target is to continue developing like we have done for the last 50 years. With the knowledge within the group of electronics, AI applications, yarns and textiles as well as our in house electronic production we will do so.
The first impressions of our efforts were seen at the ITMA Asia in Singapore. Here, we showcased our new VSi velvet machine with 3 rapiers, the HST high-speed tufting machine for cut and loop pile production, the Superba KR1 knotting system, the new Bonas JiM jacquard machine, the Savio Lybra, and many other innovations.
