UCMTF:The fascinating world of textiles

by+Flora+Zhao

UCMTF groups 30 specialty textile machinery manufacturers， often world leaders on their specific markets. Their total annual consolidated turnover of 1 billion Euros （1.1 billion US dollars） makes France the sixth textile machinery exporter. They are particularly strong in long fibre spinning， yarn twisting， heat setting， Jacquard and dobbies， carpet systems， dyeing and finishing， felts and belts for finishing processes， nonwovens， air and recycling processes.

Interview of Bruno AMELINE， the President and Evelyne CHOLET， the Secretary General.

Q： How are the French textile machinery manufacturers doing？

AMELINE： In 2015， in most application sectors we are back to the best levels achieved before the 2008-2010 crisis， many of our companies have achieved record sales and order intakes but there is a lack of visibility in some major markets.

The economic uncertainty and financial turmoil which we are currently observing in China may lead to a real slowdown. It is hard to tell whether the slowdown will accelerate， if it will be a soft landing or whether growth and investments will rebound.

I am more positive about India， the modernization of the textile industry is crucial for its future but investments decisions are slower than we did imagine.

Other Asian markets stay active and the investment mood is still positive in many markets like Indonesia， Thailand， or South Korea. However， the competitive devaluation of the Yuan， if amplified， may create a big challenge to these economies.

The Turkish market has been very active so far thanks to the long term managerial strategies of our Turkish customers but the 2015 economic slowdown， the current political uncertainty with the upcoming elections in November and the sharp decrease of the Turkish currency create some clear signs of attentism.

Iran is the real short term opportunity for the European textile equipment. Modernization is urgent， the entrepreneurs are in the starting blocks， and the projects are well advanced， since the Geneva agreement on the upcoming raising of international sanctions. But financial circuits will take time to regularize. Soon， we will probably have more visibility on this promising market.

The US economy is clearly growing， the shale gas and oil resources have created a real gain on American production costs， financing is abundant hence USA should be a positive market for our machines. It is actually the case for some of our members active in specific applications like technical textiles， carpet manufacturing or recycling but， as I already said， I do not think relocation will be a major trend in apparel textiles.

Key markets in South America like Brazil or Argentina are globally severely hurt by their lingering economies and political instability. We are particularly disappointed by the Brazilian market.

Markets like Western Europe， Eastern Europe or Central Asia are doing quite well but are not large enough to compensate for a sluggish China， should the market there decline significantly.

All together， I am positive for 2015 as we currently enjoy buoyant order backlogs， but I feel concerned about a possibly stagnant 2016.

Q： What do you expect from ITMA in Milano？

AMELINE： ITMA 2015 is clearly a mustattend event， particularly in the context of slowing markets. Technical innovation – a genetic attribute of ITMAs in Europe – is a strong lever to activate sales.

Up to now， nearly 104 000 square meters of exhibiting space have been booked； this is already 20% more than for the last ITMA in Barcelona. During the last 4 years， the number of equipment manufacturers may have shrunk because of consolidation， but they are all stronger and willing to exhibit their knowhow with increasing presence and larger booths... There will certainly be many innovations unveiled and an emphasis on energy， water and raw materials savings. ITMAs 2015 motto is “master the art of sustainable innovation”， sustainability is certainly a major decision parameter for investing. The French machinery manufacturers have already made inventive inroads into sustainability and we include this ingredient into all our new projects and R&D programs.

In Milano， a record number of visitors are expected from all over the world， they will represent an astonishing number of companies with investments projects.

I believe that the choice of the city where ITMA takes place is of essence for the success of the show. The venue is chosen among European cities which offer the best expo center， travelling and hosting facilities and， it is very important， the greatest attraction power. Milano certainly meets all these qualifications.

Q： Why should ITMA visitors come to the French manufacturers booths？

AMELINE： Primarily to discover each individual companys innovations. Innovation is in our DNA. Remember Joseph Marie Jacquard， the most well-known textile machinery inventor， he was French！ Frenchmen also invented the steampowered automobile， vaccines， the high-speed train， the supersonic commercial airplane， computer chips on payment cards and much more！ France sometimes has a reputation of great new ideas， poorly marketed. This has largely changed， as our textile equipment companies are SMEs run by entrepreneurs not by engineers. Innovation is now derived mainly from down-toearth partnerships with our clients.

Even if SMEs， the French equipment manufacturers have set up very effective networks to offer the best service to most remote customerslocations. We support our clients wherever they operate. We do it through our own local service teams， warehouses， agents or distributors.

For the spare parts， our members have been pro-active in opening local warehouses in impor-tant markets to deliver the much awaited parts without transportation or customs delays， hence offering a high level of service.

We work with our clients to help them to introduce new products on their markets， to have reliable and cost efficient production processes. This gives us a real competitive advantage.

Q； Copycats are a danger to European manufacturers， how do you deal with this issue？

AMELINE： We absolutely need to protect our intellectual property； it may be our most important asset. Within our association， we have established an active working group on this strategic topic. We will sue the counterfeiters very aggressively. We have strong arguments： our patents， our brands. Most of our customers understand that the “real machine” and original parts is in their long term best interest. We have become very strict concerning the use of counterfeited parts as we cannot guarantee a machine which uses counterfeited parts.

Each company， national associations， the CEMATEX and the machinery show organizers have to work together on this sensitive issue. In this war against copycats we receive more and more support from the governments， the international bodies and the judiciary systems.

Q： How does your association help its company members？

AMELINE： We meet very regularly and speak very openly about our strategies， projects and concerns. As we offer equipment for complementary processes， we can team up to offer complete lines when our customers want to have one company responsible for its project.

UCMTF Promotion Committee under the chairmanship of our Vice-President International， Christian GUINET， is very active to promote our offer worldwide. Every year UCMTF organizes customer seminars in two countries.

In April 2015， we were invited by Mr. Ilk- hoom KHAYDAROV， the Uzbek Minister in charge of the textile industry and Chairman of the Board of the state joint-stock company for the light industry， to organize conferences in Tashkent and Bukhara. These were very well attended by the Uzbek textile companies.

In June 2015， we organized 4 conferences in Iran， in Tehran， Kashan， Ispahan and Yazd. In order to describe and present more precisely our offer， and for us to understand better the Iranian customers needs and， to really have direct contacts with them， we decided not to make a big event in one place but four regional ones.

Our Promotion Committee also initiated in 2014， during one of such seminars， cooperation with the Russian textile industry. M. Serguei RASBRODIN， President of Soyuzlegprom， M. Christian GUINET and Mrs. Evelyne CHOLET， Vice-President International and Secretary General of UCMTF， signed a Memorandum Of Understanding on April 21， 2015 in Moscow.

Q： How would you wish to conclude？

AMELINE： Worldwide， textiles manufacturers face an array of challenges： open new markets， design new products， produce them in a reliable， cost effective and sustainable way. In order to sail in todays fast changing environment， they need reliable partners such as providers of innovative industrial solutions and cutting-edge technologies.

The French equipment manufacturers are well positioned to be such partners， they have a recognized expertise in finding solutions for critical projects， whatever their scope， whatever their geographic localization. The quality of our client relationships stems also from the high stability of our teams， allowing them to go well beyond the purely technical.

We will welcome all interested parties on our booths at ITMA in Milano. In the meantime they can find us through our website www.ucmtf.com.