The outlook for global growth in 2019 has dimmed. The US-China trade war and tightening financial conditions are expected to trigger a downturn. While the US is booming, most of the rest of the world is slowing or even stagnating. Financial conditions are tightening and trade tensions are intensifying.

The top two triggers for the next global downturn are a further escalation of US-Sino trade tensions, and tightening in financial conditions driven by a deep sell-off in global equities or a rapid rise in government bond yields. Even if aggregate costs are modest and skewed towards more open economies, all countries would ultimately be worse off compared to the status quo.

Only a slim majority expect US wage growth to pick up meaningfully before the next recession. The risk of a self-inflicted wound in the US is rising. The dominant downside risk to the global outlook remains America’s attempt to rebalance trade with China through tariff policy. With no let-up in the US-China trade war, growth forecasts point to more pain ahead - not just for developed but also emerging market economies.

The consequences of escalating trade actions are higher prices in China and the US, less purchasing power for consumers in these countries, higher input costs, heightened financial market volatility, and possibly higher interest rates.

Roica yarn has been used by Candiani to develop a new eco-smart denim range called ReLAST. Candiani, based in Italy, is a denim mill. Sustainability and innovation are values deeply woven into each fabric made by Candiani conferring inimitable quality and uniqueness. Roica is a yarn developed by Asahi Kasei.

Roica is a specially produced GRS certified yarn. This is a premium stretch fiber with an innovative range of smart functions to suit every modern wardrobe need. It shapes comfort with quality, performance and fit, adding value to everyday living for sport, intimates, fashion and business wear.

ReLAST is a range of market fresh responsible denim products, designed by Candiani that ticks every smart box: from new ways in coloration, to better, more sustainable raw materials, new finishing and fade-tech that minimises water waste, and now with a key responsible stretch ingredient in Roica. This yarn perfectly completes this range, making it better, more sustainable, sharp fashions for customers looking to live and wear better with better values. All ranges in the ReLAST collection have customized Roica advanced sustainable stretch yarns. Candiani and Asahi Kasei have rewritten the rules for responsible denim stretch manufacture, designing fashion forward denims that are now guaranteed completely 100 per cent sustainable.

As per the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC), exports of garments and footwear products in the country will remain strong for the rest of this year owing to the pre-orders from international buyers. The garment manufacturers will continue to see strong export growth from October till December as the orders for this period were already placed in August and September.As a result, the export volume in the second half of this year will be as strong as the one in the first six months.

However, the possible loss of preferential Everything But Arms (EBA) trade scheme for exports to EU countries could pose a psychological impact on international buyers, which could be seen next year. According to a National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) semi-annual report released in July, garment and footwear exports represented $4 billion in the first half of this year, an increase of 11 per cent compared to the same period last year,

Cambodia’s factories supply to global brands such as Gap Inc, Swedish fashion brand H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB, and sportswear brands Nike, Puma and Adidas, and others. The Kingdom’s main markets for garment and footwear products are the US and the EU.

Exhibitors from 25 countries, including Arc‘terix, Maloja, Mountain Hardware, Jack Wolfskin, Ortlieb, Petzl, Scott, Sining Rock, Tatonka and Vaude, as well as the Oberalp Group, with its brands Dynafit, Salewa, Pomoca and Wild Country, have already registered for International trade fair OutDoor by ISPO. The trade fair will be held at the Messe München Exhibition Center in Munich from June 30 to July 3, 2019.

OutDoor by ISPO offers market players the opportunity to present themselves to the world 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. With it, the annual leading trade fair for the outdoor industry is supplemented with a far-reaching platform, which is available to the entire outdoor community, from brands and manufacturers right through to retailers and consumers all around the world.

PADDLEexpo will be partner at the trade fair and represent booming water sports. The professional trade show for kayaking, canoeing and stand-up paddling (SUP) in Nuremberg has been an ISPO partner for ten years. It has now installed the Paddlesport Village at the fair, which will be exclusively dedicated to paddlesport products and will be an important meeting place for kayaking, canoeing and SUP experts.

Bangladesh sees great opportunities for exporting apparels to Japan. Bangladesh is the third largest garment exporter to Japan. Knitwear is currently Bangladesh’s number one export item to Japan. Overall, Bangladesh 5.9 per cent share of Japan’s apparel imports. Until August, the growth in Bangladesh’s apparel export to Japan was over 128 per cent – an all-time high.

Japan is one of the most promising emerging apparel markets for Bangladesh. Last fiscal, Bangladesh’s apparel exports to Japan grew 13.7 per cent. The most upbeat prospect is Japan offers a big break to apparel manufacturers with its demand for high-end apparel items.

Bangladesh pins high hopes on Japan as has good market demand and can afford high-quality apparels. Bangladeshi apparel manufacturers are taking part in Fashion World Tokyo, October 22 to 24, in the hope gaining penetration into the country’s high-end garment market. Eight apparel and leather enterprises from Bangladesh are showcasing their modern and new design products at the fair.

After the opening ceremony, a seminar was held highlighting the prospects of Bangladesh’s apparel industry. Participants highlighted Bangladesh’s apparel business prospects and elaborated on the favorable investment climate in the country.

Picanol launched its newest rapier, the GTMax-i 3.0 at ITMA Asia +CITME 2018. The GTMax-i 3.0 builds further on the success of GT-Max and GTMax-i. The combination of a redesigned gripper drive and extra reinforced sley drive as well as the integration of the future oriented BlueBox electronic platform allow for even higher production speeds. Moreover, the look of the machine was reworked completely, with a special focus on ergonomy and user friendliness.

In total 4 machines of this type were displayed at the show. On the Picanol booth, a GTMax-i 3.0 weaved a denim fabric, another one weaved a zebra style curtain fabric. On the Bonas booth a decoration fabric was weaved on a GTMax-i 3.0 with jacquard, whereas on the Tongxiang booth a GTMax-i 3.0 weaved a label.

Product portfolio at ITMA-CITME

Next to the all-new GTMax-i 3.0, four more machines were displayed completing the Picanol weaving machine range on display. The Picanol booth presented two OptiMax-i 190 cm para-aramide and shirting machines and two OMNIplus Summum. The Stäubli booth presented a TERRYplus Summum with jacquard is weaving a high quality terry fabric. In total 9 Picanol machines were displayed, of which six on its own booth (Hall H3, booth F01). One Picanol TERRYplus Summum with jacquard was displayed at the Stäubli booth and one GTMax-i 3.0 on the Bonas booth.

Chinese adventurs

One of the world’s leading weaving machine manufacturers, Picanol has always been closely related to the Chinese textile industry. The growing installed base of Picanol machines in China, as well as the increasing demand for a higher level of service and support resulted in the establishment of the Picanol Service Centre, which was set up in Shanghai in 1987.

Today PST houses a complete production unit with assembly lines, a mechatronics division, and a sales, service and spare parts organisation. The Chinese management, engineers and technicians have been trained in Belgium.

Investments in Belgium

With more than 100 engineers headquartered in Belgium, Picanol invests heavily in R&D activities every year, resulting in the most advanced and performing weaving machines program available in the market. The company’s airjet and rapier technology covers the full spectrum of textiles including apparel, household and technical fabrics. The high degree of digitisation of all these machines, together with its Sumo main drive, ensures a lower weaving cost, higher quality of the fabrics produced, greater flexibility and exceptional ease of operation in comparison with other weaving machines.

The Picanol Service Team offers on-site technical support in every corner of the world. Its local service teams are being trained on a permanent basis in the training centers in Ieper (Belgium) and Suzhou (China). Original Picanol parts ensure a high performance throughout the whole lifetime of the machines. The Picanol Aftermarket Sales Team advises its customers on how to optimise the preventive maintenance of your machines, proposing spare parts packages tailored to your specific needs.

Rieter is further upgrading its end spinning product range by launching new ring spinning machines G 37 and G 38, as well as the new compact-spinning machines K 47 and K 48.

Unrestricted spinning for all applications

The machines G 38 and K 48 are particularly suitable for markets having limited personnel availability and requiring particularly high levels of flexibility and yarn quality. They are equipped with the electronic drafting system drive FLEXIdraft as standard. This reduces downtime when changing to a different yarn count and maximizes production time. The premium version of the individual spindle monitoring ISM is integrated into both models whereby customers can save personnel costs of about 5 percent compared to the G 32 and K 42.

The machine concept for the G 38 and K 48, which features double-sided suction, allows unrestricted spinning for all applications at full machine length. The VARIOspin system for slub yarns allows customers to change between standard and slub yarns simply at the touch of a button.

Unrestricted application range provides high flexibility

The models G 37 and K 47 were developed for markets where there is not a shortage of available personnel and the requirements for flexibility and yarn quality are high. They provide customers with a high level of flexibility thanks to their unrestricted application range at full machine length, also for special yarns.

Machines in the 7 series are also equipped the electronic drafting system drive FLEXIdraft, maximising production time. They are available with the integrated basic version of the individual spindle monitoring ISM as standard, meaning customers can about three percent on personnel costs compared to the G 32 and K 42.

Other advantages

The K –models, K 47 and the K 48 are fitted with a new sieve drum, which now allows customers to spin blends containing polyester and 100 per cent viscose alongside cotton. They require unbeatably low energy requirements for compacting: less than one watt per spindle, just 20 per cent of that of other solutions.

All four new models can be upgraded with the new LENA spindle and the highly efficient 110-kW motor, enabling customers to make further significant energy savings. The “EliTe compact spinning system” for producing high-quality compact yarns is available as an option on the three conventional ring spinning machines G 32, G 37 and G 38.

Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW) launched four new products at ITMA Asia 2018 in Shanghai. These include the Card machines, DrawFrame machines, Speedframe LF 4280 SpinConnect platform. LMW’s range of machines comes with the right blend of automation at every step, tailored to reduce the stress of operators and increase overall efficiencies for businesses.

Use of 10 per cent less power

LMW’s Carding machines are workhorses that use up to 10 per cent less power compared to other alternatives. LMW’s latest DrawFrame machines come fit with Servo Draft, a combination of drafting and duo digital autolevelling systems that ensures top productivity and precision. LMW’s DrawFrame LDF3 has smart auto piecing system and quality settings that maximise efficiency.

World’s longest speed frame

With the right amount of automation and simplicity of construction, the Speedframe LF 4280, arguably the world’s longest speed frame with 280 spindles, has set new benchmarks in productivity, quality and efficiency. Automation in lap transportation and roving transportation have helped save precious manual labour and make the best use of space.

Web-based monitoring and control application

LMW’s SpinConnect platform is a web-based monitoring and control application that can control a multitude of parameters for smart manufacturing. The platform is a veritable solution that is entirely built in-house, banking on the company’s decades-long experience in the field. The result is a fluid, digital native platform that is empowered to track and control key parameters of LMW’s range of machines.

Rieter is further upgrading its end spinning product range by launching new ring spinning machines G 37 and G 38, as well as the new compact-spinning machines K 47 and K 48.

Unrestricted spinning for all applications

The machines G 38 and K 48 are particularly suitable for markets having limited personnel availability and requiring particularly high levels of flexibility and yarn quality. They are equipped with the electronic drafting system drive FLEXIdraft as standard. This reduces downtime when changing to a different yarn count and maximizes production time. The premium version of the individual spindle monitoring ISM is integrated into both models whereby customers can save personnel costs of about 5 percent compared to the G 32 and K 42.

The machine concept for the G 38 and K 48, which features double-sided suction, allows unrestricted spinning for all applications at full machine length. The VARIOspin system for slub yarns allows customers to change between standard and slub yarns simply at the touch of a button.

Unrestricted application range provides high flexibility

The models G 37 and K 47 were developed for markets where there is not a shortage of available personnel and the requirements for flexibility and yarn quality are high. They provide customers with a high level of flexibility thanks to their unrestricted application range at full machine length, also for special yarns.

Machines in the 7 series are also equipped the electronic drafting system drive FLEXIdraft, maximising production time. They are available with the integrated basic version of the individual spindle monitoring ISM as standard, meaning customers can about three percent on personnel costs compared to the G 32 and K 42.

Other advantages

The K –models, K 47 and the K 48 are fitted with a new sieve drum, which now allows customers to spin blends containing polyester and 100 per cent viscose alongside cotton. They require unbeatably low energy requirements for compacting: less than one watt per spindle, just 20 per cent of that of other solutions.

All four new models can be upgraded with the new LENA spindle and the highly efficient 110-kW motor, enabling customers to make further significant energy savings. The “EliTe compact spinning system” for producing high-quality compact yarns is available as an option on the three conventional ring spinning machines G 32, G 37 and G 38.

Innovation in Swiss textile technology is founded on over 3,000 years of experience of its companies. The country’s innovative spirit has been demonstrated many times through inventions spanning various fields of human experience. Their impact on the global textile industry has been among the most notable, with continuous and significant developments. Swiss textile machinery companies have been at the core of this naturally-evolving tradition of inventiveness. Today, the producers of machines and components and service providers in Swiss textile machinery sustain that heritage by a commitment to ongoing innovation that will influence the textile industry worldwide in future.

Tradition of innovation evolves

Years ago, most Swiss enterprises were family businesses, often built on the founders’ invention of a technology or machine which was then further developed and improved over generations. Many companies have a history dating back more than a century – and some are still family-owned. The tradition of innovation evolved naturally over decades for the Swiss textile machinery manufacturers, component producers and service providers.

The list of some of these innovations includes Caspar Honegger’s weaving loom, Georges Audemars’s rayon artificial silk, Isaak Groebli’s shuttle embroidery machine, Karl Friedrich Gegauf’s hemstitch sewing machine and later inventions such as Othmar Winterhalter’s zip (1923) and George de Mestral’s Velcro fastener.

Inventing is still a way of life in Switzerland, and the fruits of this philosophy were demonstrated at ITMA Asia + CITME 2018, where 30 members exhibited their latest offerings.

Prioritising customer needs through innovative solutions

Across the generations of Swiss textile machinery firms, expertise has been handed down – along with the ‘inventor gene’. Driving it all, however, has been a recognition that customer requirements are the priority. Meeting those needs through innovative solutions is the real goal.

Some of the standards set by the Swiss textile machinery companies have been established for decades – as readers might know from textbooks during their studies. With the progress of Industry 4.0’, new technologies and standards are expected to be launched.