What Monforts Makes of the Denim Industry in 2019
The denim industry would be little without the machinery that makes it.
And Monforts, the global manufacturer and export of textile machines, knows a thing or two about advanced fabric finishing technology, has some unique insight into what the sector will see in 2019.
Carved in Blue caught up with Hans Gerhard Wroblowski, head of denim at Monforts to find out more about the textile machinery maker.
Carved in Blue: Could you tell us a little bit about what Monforts does and what sets you apart?
Hans: We specialise in advanced technology for fabric finishing based on successive industry developments since our foundation in Mönchengladbach in Germany (where we are still headquartered) back in 1884. Monforts Montex stenters (stretching, drying, heat setting and coating systems) are the industry standard for the denim fabric finishing industry, providing a number of advantages in terms of production throughput and especially in energy efficiency and savings.
We have recently been enjoying success with our Eco Line concept for denim, which is based on two key technology advances–the Eco Applicator and the Thermo Stretch.
In many denim mills globally, the cost of energy for running integrated manufacturing lines–especially those for denim fabric finishing that can involve numerous sequences of heating and subsequent drying–is now eclipsing the cost of paying people to operate them and the ability of the Eco Applicator to significantly reduce overall manufacturing costs has seen it rapidly accepted on the market.
As an alternative to conventional padding, where the denim fabrics are immersed in a bath of the required finishing chemicals, the Eco Applicator can significantly reduce the energy and water required for achieving perfect finished denim via a precise direct application system.
Finishes can be applied on just one side of the fabric, or both, and even separately on each side, or to specific areas of a fabric, and sealed in place via different heating zones in the stenter. This allows endless differentiation possibilities.
The ThermoStretch unit can then handle the skewing (the weft-direction straightening necessary to ensure jeans don’t twist out of shape when you put them on), the bow correction and the stretching (to ensure they don’t shrink after washing), and the drying or light heat setting, in a continuous one-step process.
Arvind, for example, has recently installed India’s first integrated Monforts Eco Line which is operating alongside four of our Montex stenters.
Carved in Blue: How has automation impacted what you’re doing?
Hans: Our evolution in textile engineering and machine building has progressed through mechanical, steam and water-powered technologies to the first mass production lines, electronic drives and highly modular machines. The move towards the current state of the art initially involved data transfer and storage via internet/intranet, along with teleservice solutions, and has been followed by full automation concepts which assure an overall quality control.
Now we are truly in the digital age, and we are committed to investing in the digitization of our technology.
Carved in Blue: What are some innovations you’re working on for the denim market in 2019?
Hans: We are already embracing many Industry 4.0 principles in our approach to new machine concepts and our Qualitex 800 control system, for example, has all the intuitive features operators will be familiar with from touchscreen devices, making navigation extremely easy, cutting down the time required for becoming familiar with a new system and allowing complete control of all machine parameters. This has a significant impact on productivity, availability and, in general, machine and production efficiency.
Carved in Blue: Which mills are you working with?
Hans: We work with the majority of the mills in Bangladesh, India, Mexico, Pakistan and Vietnam, as well as with close partners in Europe and the Americas. Many of them are TENCEL™ Denim and REFIBRA™ technology by TENCEL™ partners. Among our customers at the recent Denim PV in London, for example, were:
- Artistic Denim Mills, Artistic Fabric Mills & Garment Industries, Artistic Milliners, Azgard 9, Crescent Bahuman, Naveena and Soorty, all of Pakistan,
- Bossa, Calik, Kassim, Kilim, Kipas and Orta of Turkey
- Arvind (India)
- Advance Denim (China), Cone Denim (Mexico), DNM (Egypt) and Kurabo (Japan).
- Albiate and Berto in Italy,
- Black Peony in Hong Kong, Iskur, and W Denim if Turkey, India’s Raymond Uco, Freedom and Prosperity from China, Rajby of Pakistan and Vicuhna, over from Brazil.
Carved in Blue: What’s next for Monforts?
Hans: A completely automated stentering range requiring no human operation at all–or only via a remote link–is within our sights, but there will be other announcements in the first few months of 2019.
Carved in Blue: What are your plans for ITMA?
Hans: It’s too early for us to announce our plans for ITMA in Barcelona next June, but suffice to say, Industry 4.0 is driving much of our R&D, in addition to mechanical and engineering refinements. We will have a considerable presence at ITMA 2019, because it’s the crucial show for us.
Carved in Blue: A little about you now—what’s your first denim memory?
Hans: As a kid back in the 1970s, I remember seeing a picture of a young woman in the bath in her first pair of coveted Levi’s jeans, in order to shrink them properly. That really was a trend, before compressive shrinkage technology became established. Jeans from the USA really were iconic back then too. And I also remember stories of people bringing back branded jeans from America to Germany and selling them for small fortunes. A little later, the same was happening from Western Europe into Eastern Europe and Russia. That was obviously before globalization made everything available–for the right price–just about everywhere.
Carved in Blue: What’s one denim trend you’d like to see go away?
Hans: I can understand how the mills, and the brands like to differentiate as much as possible, but you don’t really need to elaborate on denim jeans too much for them to strike a chord. Classic styles and good fits are the key. And perfect finishing. With the modern technology that’s now available, it’s possible to achieve just about any surface effect with a minimal impact on the environment, of course, which has to be a good thing, without all the mistakes in the past, such as acid dyeing or stone washing.
At the same time, I was struck by this amazing design from one of our customers, Rajby Industries of Pakistan, at the latest Denim PV in London. In one way, you could say they’re over the top and there’s not much denim there at all, but at the same time, they look absolutely fabulous. On the right model of course–I won’t be wearing them any time soon!
And another of our customers in Pakistan, Artistic Milliners, proposes turn-ups of up to 30 centimetres, which again sounds preposterous, but makes perfect sense when mixed and matched with other articles in a complete look. The aim of our technology is to play a part in allowing designers to be as free as possible in realizing their ideas, however outlandish they might seem. The more innovation the better, from everywhere.
Carved in Blue: When does a jean stop being a jean?
Hans: It doesn’t have to really, does it? If a pair of denim jeans is engineered for jogging, say, in the so-called ‘athleisure’ trend, then it’s still a pair of jeans at the end of the day, if they can meet the performance requirement. Denim fabric doesn’t have to stop being denim, with all of the variation in texture and drape that’s possible. I think Lenzing has perfectly demonstrated that with its latest fashion collections, which are as far removed from the concept of ‘classic denim jeans’ as you can get. This is no longer the 1950s.
Carved in Blue: What does Carved in Blue mean to you?
Hans: I love the idea of a pair of engineered denim jeans being compared to sculptures–carved out of blocks of fabric into remarkable silhouettes. That’s what they can be. As for the Carved in Blue website, I always check it out for the latest news on what our customers–the key denim mills mentioned above–are working on. Thank you!