The Swiss Textile Machinery Association (SWISSMEM) has been doing pioneering work in the evolution and development of the global textile industry with its members taking the lead in innovation alongside ensuring that the machinery is optimised to deliver the best in terms of cost-efficiency and quality. Providing more information about the role played by the association, Cornelia Buchwalder, Secretary General of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association, also touches upon the topic of how the pandemic has changed the rules of the game
It certainly has been a long and fruitful journey, 80 years in fact, for the Swiss Textile Machinery Association. It was set up in 1940 when leaders of the textile machinery industry were increasingly concerned about their operations, especially the need for nonferrous metals and high-quality steel. The situation became serious and some companies in the industry wanted to request the Swiss government to secure the required raw material needed to maintain production. The established principle of ‘united we are strong’ led representatives from 22 companies to join forces in forming the first textile machinery group.
This was the origin of what today has grown into the Swiss Textile Machinery Association (SWISSMEM). The members of the new Swiss Association of Textile Machinery Manufacturers included well-known brands such as Rüti, Sulzer, Rieter and Saurer. Over the years, there were numerous periods of great difficulty for the industry: global economic slumps and other crises of varying degrees of seriousness followed one after another. The profile of the world textile industry also changed. Mass production has long since migrated to the East and South East. Despite this, or perhaps precisely because of this, Swiss textile machinery today holds a leading position in the high-quality segment of special machines and top-quality materials.
Providing information about the number of members and the activities of the association related to supporting the efforts and business of its member companies, Cornelia Buchwalder, Secretary General, SWISSMEM, says, “Currently 44 companies are affiliated with our association. Our role is to promote the importance of the Swiss textile machinery industry. Interestingly, this industry is much better known abroad than in Switzerland. Our events are a first step to present the diversity of the Swiss textile machinery industry. Especially for SMEs this is an important platform, as they have a much more difficult time building up a global presence.”
“Our activities always focus on both goals – on the one hand the short-term initiation of business, but also the long-term customer relationship and the establishment of the brands of our members and of the Swiss textile machinery industry. This is certainly a great challenge as trade exhibition and symposia are a good way to get in contact with many customers and companies in a short time. In these times of travel restrictions and social distancing, new, innovative forms of cooperation must be deployed. Even in our industry, where direct contact with customers is so important, various virtual formats must be used. But this experience of the past few months will certainly teach us to find a more balanced mix between face-to-face meetings and discussions via virtual tools in the future,” she states.
Given that textile machines are manufactured across Europe, Asia and other parts of the world, what is it that makes Swiss textile machinery companies leaders in segments which they operate in? Replying to this query, Buchwalder states, “Tradition and innovation are the two keywords that provide a first answer. Our member companies together have an impressive 4,060 years of experience. And with that they have constantly managed to anticipate changes, developed their business strategy and have continuously evolved. This naturally also means that they have expanded their production, service and sales organisations in the customer countries. This enables them to respond more closely, better and faster to customer requirements. Within our membership we cover the entire textile value chain, from spinning and winding to weaving, knitting, dyeing, finishing, embroidery and quality control.”
Meanwhile, at a time when sustainability has become the most important word in textile manufacturing, it is no longer just about dyes and chemicals. From spinning to garmenting, machinery manufacturers are finding various ways to reduce consumption of power, water and chemicals in their bid to making every process sustainable. Here too, the Swiss textile machinery manufacturers are playing a vital role in ensuring that their machines are sustainable. Buchwalder agrees: “That is right. Sustainability is now an integral part of any development process. The optimised utilisation of resources is again one of the major topics. Raw materials are scarce and energy is expensive; therefore making our machines more efficient in both aspects is the key.”
“When it comes to rethinking a whole process, I could mention our member company Sedo Engineering. They developed a new technology for the denim industry. Their technology uses electricity instead of chemicals to reduce and make indigo able to dye,” she adds. In the meantime, the corona virus-triggered pandemic has added a new dimension of safe and protective textiles. Consumers are demanding special finishes as a protection against infections. So how are the association member companies working on this aspect? Have there been any specific initiatives by Swiss companies to combat future crisis?
“At the beginning of the pandemic, more than half a year ago, it became apparent that Switzerland had hardly any production capacity for face masks and protective clothing. By then it was dependent on imports, which proved to be difficult because these products were in short supply globally and supply chains were also interrupted. Several of our member companies have contributed to the fact that the supply of protective masks in Switzerland is now assured, as for example, the company Autefa Solutions Switzerland. It has enabled the import of two machines with a production capacity of 40,000 FFP 2 masks per day. Two further examples are our member companies, Jakob Müller and Steiger Participations. These companies reacted quickly in the supply crisis and launched production of certified community masks,” Buchwalder informs.
Alongside, automation and digitisation have equally become important in textile machines and Swiss companies are certainly not lagging behind in this respect. “The last few months have shown us how important digitisation is in everyone’s life. But they have also shown by way of example how important remote maintenance, for example, is. As far as our member companies are concerned, digitisation has been an integral part of every innovation for some time now. Digitisation offers a wide range of opportunities, whether in product or process optimisation or in the development of completely new business models. Our member companies use these opportunities to generate maximum customer benefit,” Buchwalder states.
And how does SWISSMEM engage with member companies in all the above aspects like sustainability, safety, automation and digitisation? What are the initiatives taken as an association? Replies Buchwalder: “Switzerland is known for its innovative power. But especially for SMEs it is not easy to provide the necessary resources for innovating in these fields. And here we see our task as an association. We do this by connecting companies with universities for the joint processing of projects or through individual workshops on changing topics such as additive manufacturing, innovation approach or digitisation solutions.” Given the fact that SWISSMEM has been around for eight decades, its members certainly have witnessed all kinds of scenarios, including facing major challenges such as recessionary cycles and pandemics. So what have been the crucial lessons learned over the years? “Apart from recessions and pandemics, Switzerland faces various other challenges. There is, for example, hardly any domestic market and almost 100% of the machines are exported. Secondly, Switzerland has high living costs and a very strong national currency. But often it is precisely these difficult conditions that force companies to optimise their products and processes. Switzerland, and therefore also our member companies, has the best conditions for this with internationally recognised universities, a dual education system and a liberal labour market. Therefore I am very confident that our members will continue to play a vital role in the future development of the textile sector,” Buchwalder states.