“Ultimax Rapier Weaving Machine is an Important Innovation for Our Turkish Customers”
Interview: Dilek Hayırlı
Kurt Lamkowski, Worldwide Sales Manager at Picanol, said: “The importance of sustainable weaving and further digitization is gaining growing importance in Turkey. Therefore; the new Ultimax rapier weaving machine is an important innovation for many of our Turkish customers.”
Picanol, one of the world’s leading weaving machine manufacturers, continues its work to develop high-performance weaving machines that are the most sustainable in every aspect and easy to use thanks to the maximum level of digitalisation. On the one hand, the company, which had to struggle with problems such as the energy crisis and cost increases affecting the whole world, prepared its own action plan. Picanol has invested in solar energy and green vehicle fleet with more than 3,000 solar panels. We conducted an interview with Picanol Worldwide Sales Manager Kurt Lamkowski for the ‘Belgium Special Issue’ in our Tekstil Teknoloji magazine. ” At Picanol, we keep challenging ourselves to do better and keep innovating thanks to a highly experienced team of experts.” said Lamkowski, speaking about sustainable production and efforts to reduce energy consumption.
“As Picanol, We Remain Confident in the Future “
How was the year 2023 for your company? Can you evaluate it in terms of your production volume, orders, and export markets?
After 2 strong years, at least in volume, we see a downward trend – which is felt worldwide. The main reason is the uncertain and fairly “flat” retail market, combined with large intermediate stocks. We have been confronted with increased costs for energy, wages and raw materials. But we remain confident in the future. Our customers can be confident that no matter what the future brings, they’ll be ready for it thanks to our technology, our machines, our service, and our training.
“We Invested in Solar Energy with More Than 3,000 Solar Panels”
The energy crisis and inflation are drastically impacting the business world. What is Picanol doing to tackle these challenges?
These are big challenges, not only for us but also for our customers. We have done a thorough analysis of the energy consumption of our production plants and have made an action plan to further downsize our energy consumption. We’ve also invested in solar energy with more than 3.000 solar panels and we are investing in a green vehicle fleet. The new office we are currently building at our production plant in Ieper (Belgium) will be as good as energy neutral, as it will be climatized with a heat pump, fed by a Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES) system and powered by solar panels.
Of course, inflation is a big challenge: although prices have to some extent come down over the last months, they have not yet reached the pre-COVID levels. And salary increases resulting from the inflation could only partially be compensated by productivity gains. So, we still have some challenges ahead.
In our weaving machines, we have optimized the SUMO direct drive system, which is already the most power friendly solution in the market: the main motor of the Connect machine generation is now even consuming 100 up to 200 W per hour less than the previous generation.
“With Picconnect We’re Going into An Even Higher Gear”
Digitalization is a great step to creat a common language to achieve more productivity and simplcity. What are the main features of PicConnect that offer the maximum level of digitalization to the user?
First of all, on the machine level, Picanol is integrating a large number of sensors. All the data from these sensors are available for the customer in a dashboard on the display. This will help them to understand, optimize, and find settings to increase efficiency, reduce waste, and detect energy losses, among other things. But with PicConnect we’re going into an even higher gear. With PicConnect, we are centralizing all digital tools and services in one fully digital platform for our customers, which includes among others ordering spare parts as well as real-time production and energy monitoring. With PicConnect, we collect all the data from the entire weaving mill and customers can easily store, set, and finetune their machine settings. We offer many “smart” features to help the customer to compare, detect, and intervene in time. This will help to detect issues earlier and to be able to react faster. Once again, this reduces losses, waste, and helps our customers to become even more efficient and sustainable by means of digital tools. PicConnect brings optimization to the next level: from the weaving machine to the complete weaving room.
Reducing production cost is a priority for all textile factories, how Picanol machineries can help manufacturers in this field?
We offer weaving machines with the lowest energy consumption, the lowest waste, the highest level of weaving first quality, and a long lifetime. At Picanol, we keep challenging ourselves to do better and keep innovating thanks to a highly experienced team of experts. Our brand-new Ultimax rapier machine is a great example and focuses on three main levels: ultimate performance and high-quality output, readiness for the sustainability requirements of tomorrow, and the greatest ease of use thanks to a maximum level of digitization.
“Our Main Principle When Designing Machines; Sustainability”
What measures is the company taking towards ensuring a more sustainable future? How would you rate Ultimax and other Picanol machines in terms of energy and air consumption ?
Sustainability is a key factor in our processes, products, and in our innovations. Sustainability Inside is one of our main design principles when developing a machine. When it comes to preventing waste and reducing energy consumption, Picanol has long faced up to its responsibility. We have demonstrated this with our pioneering SUMO Drive. Introduced back in 1996, it is still the most energy-efficient main drive available. It ensures the lowest possible energy consumption while simultaneously offering many other advantages such as full-range speed control, slow motion, pick finding, and even automatic crossing setting. Sustainability is also about waste management. We not only reduce waste (with Ecofil, for example) but also try to avoid it completely.
Our new Ultimax rapier weaving machine is a great example of how we keep innovating towards more sustainable weaving. The machine has been developed for the increasing use of recycled yarns in weaving.
Which are Picanol’s most demanded products in the Turkish market? What are your predictions about the Turkish market in the near future?
As Türkiye is a very significant textile-producing market and all segments are important, it is not possible to generalize with regard to which machines are preferred over others. But of course, the new Ultimax rapier weaving machine is an important innovation for many Turkish customers. They understand the benefits of improved efficiency and quality. The higher industrial speeds from the Ultimax rapier machine create a valuable alternative for a lot of airjet weavers, which will not only benefit from the lower energy consumption from a rapier machine, but also from the versatility to weave a wider fabric range – which increases their chances of diversification. Also, the importance of sustainable weaving and further digitization is gaining growing importance in Turkey. Not to mention the fact that Ultimax is the answer to their needs. We are also seeing a growing interest from our Turkish customers in supporting tools to further optimize their weaving sheds. This makes them more sustainable and more efficient through the use of digital tools. Our PicConnect digital platform is definitely the answer!
“We Want to Continue to Grow with Our Customers”
What are your goals for 2024? Will you have new machinery and investment projects for the near future?
We have a very strong product portfolio to tackle our goals in 2024 and want to keep on growing together with our customers. We will continue developing and producing the best weaving machines in the world – highest performance, most sustainable in all their aspects and as easy to use as your smartphone – supported by a highly qualified service team present in the vicinity of our customers. And grow together with our customers towards an even more efficient, versatile and sustainable way of weaving. We are at the service of our customers – also in the more challenging times ahead of us this will not change. With Picanol at your side, you can be confident you will be able to handle these challenges!
