On 3rd December, a day prior to BSM, India ITME is organising a Virtual Technical Seminar which is expected to be attended by over 1000 industry from across the world. The topic is Safety and Sustainability – Strategy to drive success in post Covid scenario for the textile industry. The webinar will be moderated by Dr. Christian Schindler, Director General, International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF).
An impressive array of speakers will be deliberating on the topic on the occasion. The speakers in the panel include Mr. Uday Gill, CEO, Fibres, Indorama Ventures, Mr. Manohar Samuel, Advisor – Sustainability, Grasim Industries, Aditya Birla Group, Mr. Karun Tyagi, Vice President, Proklean and Mr. Anuj Bhagwati, Head, A.T.E. Group.
We caught up with Dr. Schindler for an exclusive chat during which he gave an insight into the relevance of the topic in the present scenario, the road ahead for the textile industry and the key takeaways for the participants.
Here are the edited excerpts.
Sharing his views on the importance of safety and sustainability for the textile industry, Dr. Schindler pointed out that safety is indeed an aspect that has become very important since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Elaborating why it is so he says: “While initially this aspect was limited to masks and PPE, health and safety aspects will play a more important role in the future. The pandemic is therefore not only a challenge to textile companies but is also offering new possibilities. This demonstrates that functional aspects of textiles will play a more important role in the future. Textiles that provide additional value and benefits offer new possibilities whether as medical textiles, functional textiles, geotextiles, transportation textiles, home textiles, etc. With the advancement of incorporating functions in textiles through finishes or mechanically, like for example, measuring temperatures, pressures, humidity, etc., textiles will find new applications. This will require textile companies to work together with traditional up- and down-stream partners in the textile value chain but also with new partners from chemical, electronic or IT-companies.”
As the Director General of ITMF, which is an organisation of global textile manufacturers, how is the association and member companies handling the challenge of providing consumers safe and sustainable textiles? Highlighting the steps that have been taken Dr. Schindler reveals: “At the beginning of the pandemic the focus was on providing enough quantity of essential safety and health products like masks and PPE. The suppliers of such products were concentrated heavily in China. Fortunately, these suppliers were able to ramp up production and to meet the enormous demand around the world. The 5th ITMF-Corona Survey revealed that around 35% of textile companies started from scratch producing either input material and / or finished medical textiles. In other words, many companies saw the demand and adapted quickly. Since this demand is going to stay for the foreseeable future, companies will continue to serve this market. Beyond increasing capacities of these essential products in the region, they are also developing products that offer certain functions.”
Way forward for the textile industry
Dr. Schindler feels that sustainability is another aspect that is and will remain an integral part of the discussion going forward, while adding that climate change is a global challenge which the textile industry must face head on.
“Innovation across all segments of the value chain are necessary. Whatever will be produced in the future must also meet sustainable aspects whether this relates to the type of sustainable energy is used, the amount of pollution that is caused, the type of fibre that is used, the way products can be recycled, etc. Consumers and governments across the globe are increasing the pressure on manufacturers to produce sustainably. Adapting today is a necessity. Realizing that meeting these requirements is not a burden but offers cost reduction and new products is key,” he adds.
Dr. Schindler observed that participants in the seminar had a lot to gain, since they will be listening to a very knowledgeable team of speakers in the panel discussion.
“The speakers will shed light on the future of the textile industry post-Covid. From different perspectives, they will be able to highlight on-going development and efforts to meet the demand of the future. Fibre, textile, textile machinery and other producers within the textile value chain are sharing their perspective on how the long-term trends will impact the textile industry and what this means for the future of textile production,” he says in conclusion.