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The Textile Magazine
August 2012
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59
to lose sight of long-term goals in
the pursuit for immediate profit.
Through its exhibits, Shima Seiki
reminds its customers about the
value of investing in a progressive
company with the true potential
to revitalize and sustain knitting
industries in China and Asia, and
beyond.
Description of main
exhibits
There is something distinctly dif-
ferent about Shima Seiki’s exhibits
at ITMA Asia. The familiar work-
horse models that currently make
up the backbone of many of the
world’s knit manufacturing bases,
including China – NSSG, NSIG
and SIR – were not present. Shima
Seiki instead returned to the origi-
nal ITMA tradition of launching
brand-new technology. Six of the
eight knitting machine models are
first-time introduction in China. Six
are also capable of WHOLEGAR-
MENT knitting. More significantly,
seven models featured Shima
Seiki’s original SlideNeedle.
Also shown for the first time were
a compact version of the popular
SIP-160F2 textile printing ma-
chine as well as the latest version
of its all-in-one 3D design system
SDS-ONE APEX3 with brand new
functions. True to the company
tradition, these products represented
technology that is unavailable
elsewhere.
Pioneered by Shima Seiki,
WHOLEGARMENT knitting is
the world’s first “complete gar-
ment” production method. Whereas
knitwear is normally produced by
knitting body panels and sleeves
separately and sewing them togeth-
er, WHOLEGARMENT knitwear
can be produced entirely on the
knitting machine without the need
for linking or sewing.
SlideNeedle is a new type of
knitting needle developed by
the company to replace the con-
ventional latch needle in certain
applications. A slider mechanism
replaces the conventional latch,
expanding possibilities in knit and
transfer, with increased number of
knitting techniques, wider gauge
range, higher quality fabrics, better
efficiency and the ability to support
a variety of production methods,
including shaping, integral knitting
and WHOLEGARMENT produc-
tion.
w
technology