OERLIKON optimistic about growth in man-made fibre business

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Oerlikon had announced that it plans to divest the Natural Fibers and Textile Components Business Units, a move that represents a realignment of the Segment strategy. That leaves Oerlikon’s Textile business to focus on the man-made fiber segment which is less cyclical and growing market in the global fiber industry.

Oerlikon is the market leader in machinery for the man-made fibers sector, the end usage of which includes not only clothes like apparel, functional or sportswear, but also home textiles (carpets, curtains) as well as more and more technical applications in cars (tyre cord, seat belts, interior), and fibers for geotextiles or new composite materials.

The year 2012 again proved good for the Textile Segment driven by good sales growth, an innovative product mix and the successful execution of operational excellence programs. The Segment boosted 2012 sales by 21.3 per cent to CHF 1 103 million. The market for man-made fiber equipment continued to post strong growth, and there was high order intake for six quarters in succession.

The order book provides substantial visibility into fiscal 2014. The Segment has already received first orders for fiscal 2015. For the period under review, order intake was CHF 1 039 million (FY 2011: CHF 1 014 million) and order backlog was CHF 602 million (FY 2011: CHF 673 million).

The Segment posted the strongest growth for the year in China, its most important market, as sales expanded by 31 per cent. In total, the Asian market represented 76 per cent of Segment sales. Sales in Europe increased by 41 per cent, followed by India with 21 per cent sales growth.

Oerlikon Barmag is the global market leader in spinning line production for man-made fibers such as polyester, polypropylene fibers and nylon as well as in texturizing machines. Oerlikon Barmag also manufactures associated components such as gear metering pumps. Yarn produced on the company machines is used in the production of automobiles, home textiles, sports equipment, artificial turf, roads and, of course, clothing.

Oerlikon Neumag delivers comprehensive solutions for key processes in the production of bulked continuous filament (BCF) carpet yarns, synthetic staple fibers and nonwoven fabrics. The nonwoven portfolio includes turnkey solutions for production of spunlaid and airlaid webs.

The market for man-made fibers is forecast to grow disproportionately at a rate of up to five per cent over the coming years, as new features such as dirt repellence, UV protection, enhanced durability, etc., are embedded into clothing fibers. Customers of the Textile Segment machinery will have to produce more yarn with better features more efficiently to stay competitive. Oerlikon is successfully tackling this challenge with the “e-save” line of faster, more compact machines which consume less energy and fewer raw materials and produce less waste. “e-save” equipment delivers energy savings of up to 30 per cent compared to standard products.

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Innovations

The Segment’s success story continued with the energy efficient products introduced under the “e-save” label. These products allow customers to save up to 50 per cent on energy use and up to 75 per cent in space. The spinning line “Winding Integrated Godet Solution (WINGS)” for partially oriented yarn (POY), for example, continues to set new standards in the spinning process, integrating the godets and winding unit into one system for the first time. WINGS delivers energy savings of up to 30 per cent compared to conventional spinning machines.

The user-friendly design, sophisticated threading guidance system and simplified threading procedures deliver space savings of up to 30 per cent, and a single operator can now thread yarn in just a quarter of the time needed previously. This significant savings in human capital is a critical advantage as labor costs increase worldwide, particularly in markets such as China, India and Turkey.

Oerlikon Neumag is a leading producer of state-of-the-art bulked continuous filament (BCF) carpet yarn systems. The BCF best seller in 2011, the S+ with three-thread grain line, has been available for the promising raw material polyester BCF since 2012. The BCF S+ for polyester is a perfect replacement for polyester spun yarn because of its cost-efficient production.

Oerlikon continued to strengthen prospects for the future through extensive investment in research and development (R&D). R&D expenditures in 2012 remained unchanged at around four per cent of total sales or a total of CHF 106 million (FY 2011: CHF 102 million). The market launch of the WINGS technology for fully drawn yarn (FDY) was a tremendous success for the Textile Segment.

By year-end, Oerlikon had sold more than 10,000 examples of this revolutionary spinning technology and upped its marketshare in the chemical fibers industry to over 45 per cent. The WINGS product line stands out from the competition by providing customers energy savings of up to 30 per cent and footprint reductions of 30 per cent.