At the ITMA Asia+ CITME fair Picanol presents a wide variety of weaving machines, both airjet and rapier. The highlight is the OptiMax-i , for the first time on display in the Asian continent. Two other rapiers on display: one GTMax-i 190 cm and one in wider width version of 340 cm. As for the airjet machines 2 OMNIplus Summum and one OMNIplus-X are shown. In total 9 Picanol machines are on display, of which six on its own booth (Hall H3, booth C20). One Picanol OMNIplus Summum with jacquard is on display at the Bonas booth and one OptiMax-i on the Stäubli booth.
Relationship with Chinese textile industry
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, already in the early 1950s. Picanol took part in one of the first international exhibitions held in Beijing. This was the period 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 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.
The next step in the history of Picanol in China was the set-up of PST, Picanol Suzhou Textile Machinery Works, thus starting its career as a Chinese textile machinery manufacturer. This setup took place in 1994 and we celebrate this year the 22 years existence of Picanol Suzhou Textile Machinery Works.
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 3 assembly lines for 3 product types (GT-Max, GTMax-i with rapier technology and the OMNIplus-X with airjet technology), a mechatronics division, a sales, service and spare parts organization. The majority of the Chinese management, engineers and technicians have been trained in Belgium.
Machines produced in PST aim at the top layer of the mid segment and are besides in China, also quite succesful in the new emerging textile regions outside China. The Belgium produced machines are built for the top segment.
Headquarters in Belgium
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 200 engineers and strong R&D teams headquartered in Belgium, Picanol invests heavily in R&D activities every year. Picanol’s 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 eight types of weaving machines: the OptiMax-i, TerryMax-i, GT-Max and GTMax-i with rapier technology, the OMNIplus Summum, TERRYplus Summum, OMNIplus 800 TC and the OMNIplus-X with airjet 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 its 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.
As a technological market leader, Picanol constantly invests in R&D to assure the highest performance of its weaving machines, both for new machines and for those already installed in the field. For each new product development launched on new machines, the Picanol aftermarket team investigates how the new feature can bring a solution or benefit to get the most out of the weaving machine. The aftermarket upgrade possibilities are also presented on the Picanol booth.