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T.E. brings the latest hygiene textile technologies from W+D BICMA, Germany to India
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought renewed focus on the importance of medical and hygiene products. To help Indian industry meet the rising demand for textile medical and hygiene products, A.T.E. has tied-up with W+D BICMA Hygiene Technologie GmbH, Germany – one of the world’s leading hygiene textile machine manufacturers.
W+D BICMA supplies machines for manufacturing baby diapers, feminine care products, adult diapers, bladder control pads for incontinence, bed underpads, meatpads, pet pads and other specialised products such as surgical face masks and FFP2/N95 masks. Its portfolio comprises of a full range of compact high-speed multi-functional machines for high-capacity production and economical, medium-speed machines for start-up businesses.
According to Marc Wolpers, Vice President (Sales & Market Development Hygiene Solutions), W+D BICMA, the market changed in 2020 towards a more diversified offering resulting in smaller jobs.
“You can clearly see that on the retail shelves as well as on e-commerce platforms,” he says. “With this in mind, we need to make sure that our machines work with minimised format change parts and low change times. With our patented Size to Size ‘S2S’ modules and our rapid forming drum change W+D BICMA is certainly well positioned in the market”, Mr. Wolpers added.
W+D BICMA finds that the baby pants segment is gaining more and more market share in regions like India. The reason for this shift is certainly the ease of use; ease of putting on a pant, instead of an open diaper.
This is also the case in the adult diaper segment. Here as well the company sees a strong growth rate for pants since they are similar to underwear, easier to put on and give more comfort in wearing. Of course, the modern incontinence pants also have to be much more discreet than they used to be, in order to meet customers’ demands. “Our machines at W+D BICMA have the best prerequisites to fulfil all those demands provided that the appropriate materials are used for production” says Wolpers.
Sustainability is another ongoing trend. W+D BICMA is keeping a close watch on the use of natural raw materials like cotton, bamboo, etc., as well as developments in bio-based spunbond materials to make sure it offers the right equipment to convert sustainable materials into hygiene products.
During the pandemic, W+D BICMA had designed a new high-speed machine in a short span of time which has the capability to produce 1 million face masks per day, called the Auxilium FM. BICMA also offers a high-speed machine that produces FFP2/N95 face masks.
“The Auxilium FM is a very successful new offering in our product portfolio which we realized in five months from the first sketch to the first running machine in our workshop,” recalls Wolpers, and adds, “It was certainly a type of machine nobody had thought of in Europe before COVID-19. Now we evaluate those experiences to reduce time to market for our future developments.”
The company has already installed several Auxilium FM machines in Europe and is currently working on many more new installations
Besides complete machines, W+D BICMA offers upgrades for existing machines of any brand. These upgrades equip existing machines with new features to enhance machine efficiency and product design.
Some examples are:
W+D BICMA’s preassembled S2S module: This upgrade enables a changeover time of just 2 hours from machine stop to full speed with a good product.
HDC (High Density Core): Saves costs by replacing the airlaid core of an absorbent product and increasing its efficiency to absorb more liquid.
To-go ministack: Enables wrapping of 4-5 products together in a re-closable flow wrap which saves >80% packing material as compared to single plastic wrapping.
W+D BICMA has many successful installations globally at some of the well-known brands, both for standalone machines as well as upgrades.
BICMA Hygiene Technologies Gmbh
Since its foundation in 1995, BICMA has established itself as an internationally recognised engineering company for the hygiene industry. In 2018, BICMA was taken over by Winkler+Dünnebier GmbH (W+D), which is also active in the hygiene solutions area. Both companies belong to the American Barry-Wehmiller Group, a leading global supplier of production technologies and solutions.
Make quality a habit with the Mahlo QUALISCAN Quality Control System
With Indian textile manufacturers taking centre stage in the global textile industry, it has become essential for them to ensure top-notch end product quality over large volume production. Rising raw material costs make it even more necessary to ensure consistent quality of the end product, as rejections affect the economy of manufacturing and can quickly turn a textile processor’s operations un-remunerative. Therefore, rather than the sample-based statistical quality control processes followed in the past, continuous monitoring for quality and other control functions has now become the norm in the industry.
The Mahlo Qualiscan QMS-12
The Qualiscan QMS-12 is a modular system for the measurement, logging, and control of critical process parameters over the entire width and length of a running web.
The QMS-12 can be used virtually in every area of industry in which products are produced or finished (including coated products) as a web. The versatile sensors and measuring devices of the QMS-12 can sense, log, and continuously control (in-process) parameters as weight per m2, coating weight, moisture, or thickness of web-type products. The sensors of the Qualiscan product family can scan the following parameters:· Basis weight· Air permeability· Humidity· Ash content· Thickness· Product temperature· Layer thickness· Gap temperature control
Principle of operation
Different sensors (also called modules) – either stationary or traversing – measure the desired parameters across the entire working width. The sensors are installed in measuring frames or traversing frames. Depending on the frame version, up to five sensors can be installed simultaneously. The measured values are generated directly in the real-time processors of the sensors and measuring frames. These data are transmitted to the central PC in the base station via network lines. The PC handles the control of the measuring frames, visualization via touchscreen, logging of the data, recipes, and communication with host systems.
Highlights
Modern construction with intelligent sensors and traversing frames
Based on industry standard hardened computers running Windows embedded operating system
Components communicate through digital interfaces
Benefits
Savings in raw materials and/or energy at the manufacturing stage
Improvement in product quality, especially in conjunction with control functionality
Uninterrupted monitoring and logging of actual product quality
Mahlo offers a range of quality control systems for technical textiles and non-woven manufacturing. To learn more about Mahlo’s product range, contact us at processing@ategoup.com
T-SUPREMA – Needle-punching made as easy as never before
Trützschler Nonwovens has tied up with Italian textile machinery manufacturer Texnology S.r.l. – a well-known specialist in the field of needle-punching. With this tie-up, these companies together will offer complete and fully integrated production lines for needle-punched nonwovens under the brand T-SUPREMA.
Needle-punched felts are the oldest nonwovens in the world. Early machine-made needle-punched fabrics were padding and wadding materials for mattresses, bedding and carpet underlay. As of today, driven by continuous innovation, needle-punched nonwovens are still the largest and most diverse segments of drylaid nonwovens. Trützschler Nonwovens presented the modern, easy-to-operate T-SUPREMA needle-punching lines at Techtextil in June 2022.
Opportunities in technical nonwovens
A technical textile is a fast-growing and future-oriented business. Needle-punched nonwovens are used in a variety of applications, such as automotive carpeting, insulation and interior fabrics, media for air and liquid filtration, geotextiles, coating substrates, shoe inlays, furnishings and bedding, construction materials and roofing. These markets make up the majority of all needle-punched nonwovens.
Needle punching technology is an efficient and cost-effective way to form nonwovens from a wide variety of fibres, each with its own unique physical properties. Thousands of steel needles in a needle loom entangle virgin and recycled man-made, high performance, natural and even glass or metal fibres.
T-SUPREMA needle-punching line
T-SUPREMA implements a comprehensive quality-driven approach. Trützschler Nonwovens’ and Texnology’s philosophy is clean machinery, clean operation, and clean products. Line concepts include tailor-made solutions for geo and automotive textiles, filter media, and other technical end products. All T-SUPREMA components are designed for minimal downtime and high product quality. Furthermore, the line is easy to maintain and handle, thus making life easy for both the operators and the plant managers.
Machinery for fibre preparation and web forming will be supplied by Trützschler Nonwovens. The proven, modular T-BLEND tuft blending system ensures a continuous and uniform material flow from the bale opener to the T-WEB roller cards. Crosslapping and web drafting, the two important process steps to establish the final web weight, working width, and fibre orientation, will be provided by both Truetzschler and Texnology on a case-to-case basis.
Texnology’s needle-punching equipment minimises stress on components and thus reduces or even prevents vibrations, noise, leakage, and wear and tear. The modular build allows for easy accessibility and effortless maintenance. Texnology’s wealth of experience in nonwovens production guarantees careful attention to product quality, operability, availability, and maintainability.
T-ONE for aligning production processes and people
T-SUPREMA line features T-ONE, Trützschler Nonwovens’ new digital working environment. T-ONE supports routine tasks such as quality control, delivers transparency over the entire production and guides towards better product quality and/or line performance.
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