#Associations

2022-01-27

Increased dialogue between the automation and textile industries

In December TMAS was invited to a meeting in Västerås by the project Micro Factories and Automation Region in Västerås. The aim of the visit was to start the conversation between the automation and textile industry in Sweden

The day began with a visit to ABB Robotics for an introduction of ABB’s operations and the development of robots and collaborative robots, ie robots that work together with humans. Interesting discussions on how robots could be used in the textile industry to a greater extent followed.

The meeting went on through conversations between the automation and textile industry in the format of a studio recording. Erik Valvring from Science Park Borås and Catarina Berglund from Automation Region hosted the event. Jonas Larsson, from the School of Textiles in Borås, moderated the panel discussion, which offered many interesting opinions and ideas for how the textile industry can be automated.

The pandemic has accelerated the demand for local and flexible production to create a sustainable and competitive textile production in Sweden. TMAS concludes that automation and digitization will be the enabler of that!

Rieter reports stable order backlog and strategic progress – outlook for 2025 adjusted

In its Investor Update 2025, Rieter announced an order intake of CHF 203.9 million in the third quarter and CHF 559.3 million after nine months, reflecting a continued cautious investment climate in the textile machinery sector. Sales totaled CHF 121.5 million in the third quarter and CHF 457.7 million for the first nine months of the year, while the order backlog stood at around CHF 590 million as of September 30, 2025.

The Address of innovation and investment in textile technologies: ITM 2026

Sales for ITM 2026, one of the world’s most comprehensive and prestigious exhibitions in textile technologies, are continuing at full steam. The record number of exhibitors and visitors achieved at ITM 2024 once again proved the industry’s confidence and the commercial success of the exhibition; meanwhile, the strong interest shown in ITM 2026, to be held on 9-13 June 2026, has far exceeded expectations.

STOLL in focus:

At the beginning of this year, KARL MAYER announced that it would be shifting its focus back to its core areas of warp knitting, warp preparation and technical textiles. As part of this strategic realignment, the flat knitting machine business under the STOLL brand will be discontinued. The Reutlingen plant will close down on 31 October 2025. Production in China will end in December 2025. This was an extremely difficult decision for KARL MAYER.