#Dyeing, Drying, Finishing

2025-04-09

Generation change at Pleva: Kathrin and Stephan Pleva join the Management Team

PLEVA GmbH, a leading manufacturer of sensors, measurement and control technology for various industries, announces that Kathrin Pleva and Stephan Pleva have been appointed as Managing Directors of the family-owned company. Together with their father, Dr. Ralf Pleva, they will shape the future of the company.

The Pleva family: Mother Regine, father Dr. Ralf, Kathrin and Stephan Pleva © 2025 Pleva

PLEVA, founded in 1969, has been developing and producing high-quality sensors and systems for process control in sectors such as the textile, paper, nonwovens, film, automotive and wood industries for over five decades. The company's products have proven themselves in tough continuous operation worldwide and are successfully used by end customers and machine suppliers.

With the strengthening and succession of the management team, PLEVA is focusing on continuity and innovation. Kathrin and Stephan Pleva will bring fresh impetus and new perspectives to the company, while Dr. Ralf Pleva will continue to contribute his many years of experience and expertise. His strong technical know-how, recognition in the industry, deep understanding of customer needs, and values-driven leadership have shaped the company over decades and played a key role in its international success.

Together, the three managing directors will drive forward the strategic direction of the company to meet the challenges of the global market and further strengthen PLEVA’s position as a technology leader.

“We are delighted to continue the tradition of our family business and to shape the future of PLEVA together with our father,” explain Kathrin and Stephan Pleva. “Our aim is to strengthen the company's innovative power and continue to offer our customers tailor-made solutions for efficient and sustainable production.”

With the reinforcement and succession, the company is ideally equipped to continue to operate successfully on the market in the future and meet the needs of its customers worldwide.

Further information can be found on the website www.pleva.org.

Smart automation to fix gaps of skilled staff

Advanced technology for high quality and efficiency at textile finishing - ITMA Asia 2025, Singapore As customer expectations rise and skilled labor becomes increasingly scarce, smart sensor technology and automated control systems have become essential in modern textile finishing. PLEVA meets these challenges with its renowned, robust and reliable sensors, specifically designed for the demanding conditions of textile production.

SL Smart Weft-Straightener success at Harris Tweed Hebrides, UK

High quality fabric is essential for any finisher who wants to ensure consistent quality and resource efficiency. A particularly important quality criterion is straight weft and straight course fabric. The Scottish tweed manufacturer Harris Tweed Hebrides finishes 100% woolen, handwoven cloth and stands as a world class leader in British luxury cloth with an extensive, high quality product range. The company was looking for a weft-straightening system which, in contrast to the previously used pinwheel system, could not damage the wool.

Pleva will showcase advanced technology for energy-efficiency and sophisticated processes at Techtextil 2024

Making processes more cost-effective, sustainable, transparent, and above all more efficient, is exactly the aim of using sensors and controls at textile processes. By this, textile producers are enabled to save large amounts of energy, improve product quality and make even complex processes more traceable and reproducible. Pleva is looking forward to discuss those important aspects is the Techtextil 2024 in Frankfurt.

AATCC announces 2025 Herman & Myrtle Goldstein Graduate Student Paper Competition winners

The American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) recognized the winners of the 2025 Herman & Myrtle Goldstein Graduate Student Paper Competition. Founded in 1982 to give student members the chance to conduct and present original research, the competition was renamed in 1994 in honor of Herman and Myrtle Goldstein, following their US$60,000 endowment. Their gift is a lasting remembrance of their dedication to young people in the textile industry.

Stefan Moll becomes new CEO of the machinery manufacturer

Starting January 1, 2026, Stefan Moll will take over the management of Mahlo GmbH + Co. KG, the world’s leading provider of measurement and control technology for web-shaped materials. With this move, Mahlo is focusing on the long-term safeguarding of its market position and technological leadership. The current CEO, Rainer Mestermann, will leave the company after 14 years as part of a planned succession arrangement.

MUNICH FABRIC START: Between Attitude and Sensuality

The future begins where we reimagine it. After seasons of restraint, Spring.Summer 27 marks a conscious counter-trend: optimism, sensuality, and creative freedom are replacing pragmatism and neutrality. Physical presence and individuality are regaining importance – as a response to uncertainty, exhaustion, and algorithmic predictability. The overarching theme of PLEASURE stands for fashion as an emotional space, as an expression of attitude and cultural reflection. Colours, surfaces, and materials become vehicles for self-confidence and joie de vivre.

organIQ seek: smart alternative to potassium permanganate

CHT Group announces new technical findings within its organIQ seek platform that significantly advance the transition toward permanganate-free denim bleaching. Through extensive industrial testing and application research, CHT confirms that organIQ seek can now be used with remarkable effectiveness as a substitute for potassium permanganate in spray bleach, while remaining aligned with sustainability expectations and cost realities in the European market. At the COLOMBIATEX in Medellín as well as at the Exintex in Puebla and the Kingpins Show in Amsterdam the CHT Group will present organIQ seek as an alternative to potassium permanganate.

PERFORMANCE DAYS: Focus topic shifts to the beginning of the value chain

Following the last Focus Topic in October 2025, which placed Textile-to-Textile Recycling at its core, PERFORMANCE DAYS continues to drive the conversation around circularity – this time with an expanded and more upstream perspective. The upcoming Focus Topic, “Textile to Textile: The Role of Collectors and Sorters,” presented during the spring edition on March 18–19, will spotlight one of the most essential yet often overlooked components of a functioning circular textile system: the efficient collection and sorting of post-consumer textiles.

Proven performance, optimised costs – the new RE 6 EL

Nowadays textile companies increasingly need to produce small production runs and respond to market changes with instantaneous pattern changes in order to operate profitably – meaning they require machines that offer maximum flexibility, reliability and cost efficiency. KARL MAYER understands the challenges of the market and is launching its new RE 6 EL. The Raschel machine offers the core strengths of the classic RSE 6 EL and essentially the same performance parameters, but has been further cost-optimised largely due to local production advantages. This makes the newcomer an efficiency champion in production, especially when it comes to frequent pattern changes.