Picanol presented a wide variety of weaving machines, both airjet and rapier at ITMA Asia. For the first time on the Asian continent the new OMNIplus Summum was shown. This weaving machine will be the new platform for further developments in the airjet segment. The main features of the machine are the innovative insertion system and the Picanol BlueBox system, the new electronic platform for Picanol machines.
Besides the OMNIplus Summum, the OMNIplus-X was also on display. This machine is developed and produced at Picanol’s Suzhou plant in China, but by using the proven OMNIplus 800 technology. The OMNIplus-X responds to the requirements of the Asian mid-end segment and comes in weaving widths of 190 cm and 220 cm.
As for the rapier machines, the highlight is an OptiMax weaving a technical fabric. At ITMA Barcelona Picanol presented the OptiMax in a guided positive gripper execution. Although available in all widths (up to 540 cm), this especially opens new perspectives in technical segments such as coating fabrics, primary and secondary carpet backing, geogrids, etc.
The other rapier machines on display were the GT-Max with jacquard and GTXplus, both machines produced in Suzhou.
As one of the world’s leading weaving machine manufacturers, Picanol has always had a very close relationship with the Asian textile industry. This relationship is not a matter of chance or coincidental development. On the contrary, it is the result of long-term strate gic planning by the Picanol management.
In this firm belief, Picanol sent its first pioneers to explore the possibilities in the Far East in the early 1950s. It took part in one of the first international exhibitions held in Beijing. This was the period when the company sales managers, still based in Ieper, criss-crossed the Orient to promote its weaving machines at exhibitions and technical seminars.
The growing installed base of Picanol machines in Asia, as well as the increasing demand for a higher leve
l of service and support resulted in the establishment of the Picanol Service Centre, which was set up in Shanghai in 1987. A network of local service engineers was also established to serve the other South-Asian countries. As the installed base was steadily growing, a local training centre was established in Bandung, Indonesia. This served also as a servicing and spare parts facility.
The next step in the history of Picanol in China was the setting up of PST, Picanol Suzhou Textile Machinery Works, in 1994, thus starting its career as a Chinese textile machinery manufacturer.
PST was Picanol’s first production line outside Belgium, and the technology and organisation were based entirely on the assembly concept employed at the company’s headquarters in Ieper. Today PST houses a complete production unit with three assembly lines for four product types, a mechatronics division, and a sales, service and spare parts organization. The majority of the Chinese management, engineers and technicians have been trained in Belgium.
Another bridgehead in the Picanol organization is India. With headoffice in Delhi and branch offices in textile hubs like Mumbai and Coimbatore, the company has spread itself closer to the customer.
Picanol already had a good presence in the Indian market since 1956 and its machines were seen at almost all major textile and apparel companies. For Picanol, India is one of the top markets, next only to China, and out of all its networks, the Asian region particularly has helped the group in sustaining during the downturn of the global crises.
One of the big assets of this cross-border entrepreneurship is the mixture of drawing upon the know-how and quality standards from the Picanol Group, combined with good understanding of its local customers.
With more than 150 engineers and strong R&D teams headquartered in Belgium, Picanol invests heavily in R&D activities every year. Its R&D aims not just at development and production of the most advanced weaving machines, but also achieving the most profitable weaving process in the world.
Picanol offers seven types of weaving machines: the OptiMax, GT-Max and GTXplus with rapier technology, the OMNI plus Summum, TERRY plus 800, OMNI plus 800 TC and the OMNI plus-X with airjet insertion technology. Together, these machines cover the full spectrum of textiles, including apparel, household and technical fabrics. The high degree of digitization of all these machines, together with their Sumo main drive, ensures a lower weaving cost, higher quality of the fabrics produced, greater flexibility and exceptional ease of operation in comparison with other weaving machines.
Picanol to recruit 50 additional workers for Ypres plant
The Picanol Group has announced that it is soon recruiting 50 additional temporary workers at its Ypres plant. As of now, the global market for new weaving machines is still characterized by volatility, forcing the Picanol Group to focus heavily on flexibility in order to handle production peaks.
To successfully meet global customer demand in a timely manner, Picanol is planning to adjust the production capacity in Ypres in the short term. The increase in demand for its weaving machines is supported by the success of the new weaving machines and the competitive euro exchange rate.
To handle the current production peak, the Picanol Group is looking to strengthen the workforce in Ypres with 50 temporary workers. The profiles that the group is looking for include technicians, production workers, CNC operators and deburrers. In addition, it has approximately 25 other vacancies, such as for R&D engineers, field technicians and international trainees.
The vacancies are published on the corporate website www.picanolgroup.com. Currently, the Picanol Group employs 1,230 people in Ypres.
The Picanol Group expects growing demand for its weaving machines to continue in the coming months, and is confident about the second half of 2012. It will announce its results for the first half of 2012 on August 28. The group predicts a fall in turnover for the first half of the year, in line with that of the first quarter.