At ITMA-Asia + CITME fair, Picanol will present a wide variety of weaving machines, both airjet and rapier. Besides the OMNIplusSummum, the OMNIplus-X will also be on display. This machine is engineered and produced in Picanol’s Suzhou plant in China but using the proven OMNIplus 800 technology.
The OMNIplus-X responds to the requirements of the Asian mid-end segment. A novelty of this machine is that it is now also available in 280 and 340 cm widths, in addition to the existing weaving widths of 190 cm and 220 cm. Here special attention has been given to improved quality output, user-friendliness and lower energy costs.
As for the rapier machines, the highlight is an OptiMax weaving a coating fabric on a 540 cm machine equipped with batching motion. On another OptiMax a fancy denim fabric will be woven.
For the first time the new GTMax-i rapier machine will be shown. This new weaving machine is a further development of the existing GT-Max. The main highlights of the GTMax-i are the reinforced gripper system and heavier machine drive, which allow higher production speeds. Also the dobby and undermotion have been completely redesigned.
A total of seven Picanol machines will be on display at the show. As a technological market leader, Picanol constantly invests in R&D to ensure the highest performance of its weaving machines. For each new product development launched on new machines, the Picanol aftermarket team investigates how the new feature can offer a solution or benefit to get the most out of the weaving machine. Also the after market upgrade possibilities will be presented on the Picanol booth.
Innovation is a constant at Picanol. An R&D team of over 150 researchers are working day in and day out on performance, efficiency, user-friendliness and versatility of the weaving machines, so that the weaving industry can get the most out of its energy, time, material, market and talent. This makes the Picanol machines the most innovative in the world.
Teaming up with Picanol is the best guarantee for weavers for being competitive and profitable – now and in the long term.
As one of the world’s leading weaving machine manufacturers, Picanol has always had a very close relationship with the Chinese textile industry. This relationship is not a matter of chance or coincidental developments. On the contrary, it is the result of long-term, strategic 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. Picanol took part in one of the first international exhibitions held in Beijing. This was when Picanol 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 China, as well as the increasing demand for a higher level of service & support resulted in the establishment of the Picanol Service Centre in Shanghai in 1987. A network of local service engineers was also established to serve the other South-Asian countries.
The next step in the history of Picanol in China was the setting up of Picanol Suzhou Textile Machinery Works (PST), thus starting its career as a Chinese textile machinery manufacturer. Set up in 1994, PST was Picanol’s first major production line outside Belgium and the technology and organization 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 (GT-Max, GTMax-i and GTXplus with rapier technology and the OMNIplus-X with airjet insertion technology), 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.
Machines produced at PST aim at the top layer of the mid segment. They are also quite successful in the new emerging textile regions outside China.