Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota Industries Corporation, devoted his passion to the invention of automatic looms. Inheriting such dedication, Toyota Industries’ air-jet looms have evolved into a product that incorporates a number of advanced technologies and continue to claim the No.1 global market share.
On the back of economic expansion in such emerging countries as China, India and ASEAN nations, the growth rate of the textile industry is expected to surpass the global population growth rate. As such, Toyota anticipates that its air-jet looms will provide vital support to the development of the textile industry.
Toyota Industries’ air-jet looms are capable of weaving a vast range of products, including standard fabrics for shirts and sheets, comfortable denim with extensive design possibilities, soft and exceptionally absorbent high-end towels, and light and highly functional sportswear featuring excellent breathability and quick drying.
Based on the philosophy of the founder Sakichi Toyoda, which reflects his strong commitment to manufacturing, Toyota Industries responds to a broad range of needs with its extensive product line-up, from air-jet looms, for which the company enjoys the world-leading market share in unit sales, to spinning frames and roving frames.
The textile machinery market remained on its path to recovery with an upswing in capital investment in China and India backed by an increase in demand in these countries. Reflecting such circumstances, Toyota posted increases in sales of both spinning and weaving machines, its mainstay products. Unit sales of air-jet looms increased 4,700 units, or 101 per cent year-on-year, to 9,300 units. Net sales were up ¥33.2 billion, or 83 per cent, over the previous fiscal year, to ¥73.1 billion.
Mr. Akira Onishi, President, Toyota Industries Corporation, says: “The Textile Machinery Business generated a marked increase in sales owing to a positive performance in the important China market as well as to the introduction of a new air-jet loom that offers superb environmental performance. In the Textile Machinery Business, we rolled out anew air-jet loom that further advances energy-saving performance, one of our strengths. By digitizing our extensive accumulated know-how, we equipped the latest loom with a system that automatically sets the optimal weaving conditions. This feature offers the kind of added value that only a master crafts person can elicit by maximizing the performance of a weaving machine. As for spinning machinery, we will expand the production capacity of our base in India and carry out production close to our customers to provide more timely services suited to local needs. What’s more, our air-jet looms can be used to manufacture such industrial products as materials for electronic components. These expansive capabilities are highly acclaimed by numerous customers worldwide”.
In the field of weaving machinery, Toyota implemented a model change for its widely used JAT710 air-jet loom, which boasts the world-leading market share in unit sales and is highly recognized by customers for its outstanding performance and reliability. The company commenced production of a new model, the JAT810, in August 2013. To meet the growing need for higher energy efficiency, the JAT810 is equipped with the newly-developed weft yarn inserting system that reduces the amount of air required to carry the weft yarn by 20 per cent compared with the preceding model, thereby offering unparalelled energy-saving performance. Its productivity has also been improved with the introduction of a higher-speed electronic shedding device that enables weaving of fabrics with complex patterns.
In the field of spinning machinery, Toyota Industries and Truetzschler co-developed the TCO12 comber, which has been on the market since January last. Combining Toyota Industries’ weaving machinery technology and know-how accumulated over the years and Truetzschler’s spinning machinery technology and expertise which have earned high acclaim among customers worldwide, the new comber provides improved yarn quality as well as excellent stability during high-speed operation.
As one initiative to create innovative products, Toyota has been accelerating its R&D activities to integrate the world-class sensor and information processing technologies owned by the Swiss-based Uster Technologies AG, which became a Toyota Industries subsidiary in 2012, into its weaving and spinning machinery. By commercializing these technologies in the future, the company intends to achieve higher energy savings and improved spinning and weaving quality in order to provide products that are even more satisfying to its customers.
Energy saving
The most prominent feature of air-jet looms is to insert the weft yarn at a high speed by injecting compressed air to weave fabrics. This is done using a large compressor, a process that requires the largest amount of energy. Consequently, the key to energy savings is how to minimize waste and efficiently insert weft yarn with little air. In other words, using less air equals consuming less power.
The company’s JAT series of air-jet looms has consistently featured better air saving performance that surpasses competitor products. For the JAT810, innovations were made to such devices as the sub-nozzle, which injects air and the air path. All these innovations and more led to a yet another reduction of approximately 20 per cent in air consumption compared with the previous JAT710, also a highly energy-saving model.