“We Received Major Orders in the First Two Days of the Exhibition”
Thomas Oetterli, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Rieter, said: “Turkey’s leading role in the textile industry makes ITM Exhibition an international innovation centre. In search of high productivity, our Turkish customers flock to the exhibition to discover the latest technology. This interest also attracts potential customers from all over the world.”
Headquartered in Winterthur, Switzerland, with more than 225 years of experience, Rieter is one of the world’s leading system suppliers for the production of yarns from staple fibers. Here are the highlights of our interview with Thomas Oetterli, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Rieter, who welcomed the visitors at ITM 2024:
Can you tell us about the products you highlighted at ITM 2024 and the advantages these products provide to their users?
I think the world is changing more and more. Everybody is talking about labor shortage, labor costs are increasing. So our focus is firstly on the digitalization and secondly on the optimization of spinning mills. We are also developing these products to create technology leadership. Currently, our most well-known unit is our RoboSpin device, which can produce at very high capacity.
The motto of ITM 2024 Exhibition is ‘Discover the Future’. What are your predictions for the future of the textile industry?
In my opinion, besides digitalization and automation, the main topic of the future is sustainability. When we talk about yarn plants or production, we see that the main issue is about recycling. Because we should strive for a better world by recycling the waste that is generated both during production and after consumption.
Why is ITM 2024 so important for the industry in this turbulent period that the machinery industry is going through? What are your company’s expectations from ITM 2024?
Although the textile sector has been experiencing ups and downs, the last two years have been dominated by decline. This means we have hit the bottom and now there can only be an upturn. We are excited about ITM 2024 because Turkey is an important market for textiles. There is a huge local demand as well as being close to important markets such as Europe, which makes Turkey an ideal location for this event.
How does it affect your company that the show is organized in Istanbul and that there are visitors from 74 different countries even though yesterday was the first day of the event?
Turkey’s leading role in the textile industry makes ITM an international innovation center. In search of high productivity, Turkish customers flock to the exhibition to discover the latest technology. This interest also attracts potential customers from all over the world. Turkey acts as a beacon in this field and we are very happy to have customers from many different countries visiting us here.
Did you sign any new collaborations at the exhibition? Has ITM 2024 met your expectations so far?
I can personally say that Istanbul is a really great city. I can say that we have made a good start from a professional perspective. The second day was much more motivating and we have already received our first big orders in these two days. This makes us very, very happy and proud.
