Technical textile and nonwoven industry professionals will gather in Frankfurt for biennial expo featuring exhibits, symposiums and awards as well as colocated shows.
TW Special Report
techtextil 2011 - the 14th edition of Messe Frankfurt GmbH's flagship trade fair for the technical textile and nonwoven industries - will return to the Messe Frankfurt fairground in Frankfurt May 24-26 to provide a forum for discovering new materials and innovative concepts. The show's previous edition had a record 1,195 companies from 45 countries exhibiting their products and services to 23,902 visitors from 85 countries. Approximately two-thirds of those exhibitors and 50 percent of visitors were from abroad. The International Natural Fibres Congress and the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress were held alongside Techtextil in 2009.
"Precisely because these are times of economic uncertainty, companies have been setting themselves new targets with innovative products and areas of application - and have in part already managed to achieve them at Techtextil," said Detlef Braun, member of Messe Frankfurt's Board of Management, recapping Techtextil 2009. "Some eight percent more exhibitors and two percent more trade visitors represent a double plus for Techtextil - a fantastic outcome. The interest among trade and professional visitors was enormous."
Messe Frankfurt will welcome Techtextil and colocated shows to its fairground in Frankfurt.
Messe Frankfurt anticipates comparable numbers at this year's show. "The technical textiles sector is one of the fastest growing economic areas worldwide," said Michael Jaenecke, brand manager, Techtextil. "No other sector produces so many innovations and new developments in such a short time. And this is reflected by the rate of growth at Techtextil -our exhibitor and visitor numbers [have risen] consistently. For 2011 we expect another successful fair." As of Textile World 's press time, 96 percent of the floor space rented in 2009 has been committed for the 2011 show, he added.
The motto of this year's Techtextil is "Pure Innovative Energy." According to a 2010 report from Allianz Faserbasierte Werkstoffe Baden Wurttemberg, technical textiles have been successful in large part because of woven, knitted and nonwoven fabric innovations - and particularly those fabrics in combination with one another - as approximately 70 percent of all technical textiles are based on the material qualities. The diversified research being conducted also is a driving force for technical textiles innovations, as it promotes their discovery and implementation.
In addition to being one of the most innovative industries in the world, the technical textiles sector ranks among the five high-tech sectors with the greatest development potential, according to industry analysts. The global technical textiles market has a current value of approximately $127 billion, with Asia ranking first in textile consumption, accounting for 8.5 million metric tons, followed by the United States with 5.8 million metric tons and Europe with 4.8 million metric tons. Twenty-two percent of technical textiles are manufactured for Mobiltech applications; 18 percent for Indutech; 10 percent for Buildtech; and 10 percent for Protech.
According to Messe Frankfurt, the trend in the technical textiles industry is toward cost and weight reduction, energy conservation and sustainability.
Organization
Techtextil exhibits will be set up in Halls 3.0, 3.1 and 4.1 at Messe Frankfurt. To aid attendees in finding providers of the products, services and technologies relevant to their needs and interests, Techtextil exhibitors will be classified according to 12 application areas:
- Agrotech , including agriculture, forestry, horticulture and landscape gardening;
- Buildtech , including membrane construction, lightweight and solid structures, earthworks, hydraulic engineering and road construction;
- Clothtech , including shoe and clothing manufacturing;
- Geotech , including road construction, civil engineering, and dam and waste site construction;
- Hometech , including furniture, upholstery, floor covering and carpet manufacturing;
- Indutech , including mechanical engineering and the chemical and electrical industries;
- Medtech , including medical and hygiene products; • Mobiltech, including ship and aircraft construction, and automotive, railway and space travel;
- Oekotech , including environmental protection, waste disposal and recycling;
- Packtech , including packaging, covering and goods transportation;
- Protech , including personal and property protection; and
- Sporttech , including sports and leisure.
Product groups and services offered include: research, development, planning and consultation; technology, machinery and accessories; fibers and yarns; wovens, scrims, braids and knitted fabrics; nonwovens; coated textiles; composites; bondtec; Avantex innovative apparel textiles; associations; and publishers.
The fair also will feature eleven national pavilions from countries including Belgium, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan and the United States. In addition, there will be a joint stand, called "Avantex Supported by smarttextiles.net," for innovative clothing textiles exhibitors.
Symposium Lineup
The 16th International Techtextil Symposium - to be held May 24-26 - and the 6th International Avantex Symposium �C to be held May 24-25 - together will offer 10 sessions and 60 lectures by speakers who will present recent product, material and technology developments; and discuss international trends and developments. The symposiums are supported by the Brussels-based European Apparel and Textile Federation (EURATEX) and will take place in the Congress Center.
"Fully in keeping with the motto of the leading international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens, 'Pure innovation energy,' the two symposiums take an in-depth look at issues of importance to the sector and where the trends are headed," Jaenecke said. "The symposiums offer orientation and information in the expanding sector of innovative textiles and their applications."
Organizers have revised the symposium schedules this year, with lectures split into morning and afternoon blocks and fewer lectures held in parallel in order to give attendees the opportunity to participate in as many events as possible. The schedule on Tuesday, May 24, and Wednesday, May 25, will include two concurrent morning blocks with six lectures per block, followed by a lunch break and two concurrent afternoon blocks with six lectures per block. On Thursday, May 26, there will be two concurrent morning blocks with six lectures per block. Each block will be dedicated to a specific subject and will be headed by a chairperson. All lectures and discussions will be interpreted simultaneously in German and English.
The Techtextil Symposium will present developments in the technical textiles/nonwovens sector. One of the most innovative fields of research currently is in textile-reinforced composites - particularly using carbon and ceramic fibers - which have become an important component in lightweight structures and coatings because of their rigidity, tensile strength and light weight. Duroplastic and thermoplastic bonded layers are used to reinforce automobile bodies and airplane parts; the rotor blades of wind turbines; sports equipment; and sheathing for bridges. The first lecture block, Fiber-based Composites, will cover these applications, among others.
Subsequent lecture blocks include New Materials; Nanotechnology-based High-performance Textiles; Smart Materials & Flexible Electronics; Surface Modification for New and Adaptive Functions; New Fibers & Fibers Formation; and Technology: New Developments/New Processes.
The Avantex Symposium will present developments in the entire textile and clothing industry. Lecture blocks include Personal Protection and Barrier Textiles; Clothing and Electronics; and Smart Textiles - from Research to New Products.
Awards
The Techtextil and Avantex Innovation Prizes, which recognize outstanding achievements in research, materials, products, technologies, and applications, will be presented at a special ceremony on Monday, May 23. The Techtextil Innovation Prize is awarded to developments related to the manufacturing or use of technical textiles, nonwovens, or textile-reinforced materials. The Avantex Innovation Prize is awarded to developments related to the value-added chain in the apparel industry. Innovation awards will be presented to works in various fields and categories. Prize-winning entries will be exhibited in special shows during the fair.
Also on May 23, the Brussels-based TensiNet Association and Techtextil will present awards for the 11th student competition, "Textile Structures For New Building 2011," with an additional theme of "Suitability for Re-Use and Recycling." Open to current students studying architecture, building engineering, product design and other related fields �C including students in those fields who completed their studies after Jan. 1, 2010 �C the competition recognizes innovative approaches and solutions appropriate for textile or textile-reinforced construction applications. Prizes will be awarded in the macro-architecture, micro-architecture, environment and ecology, and composites and hybrid structures categories. Award-winning projects will be exhibited in a special show during Techtextil.
Colocated Fairs
Messe Frankfurt has partnered with the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) Garment and Leather Technology Association to produce Texprocess, the International Trade Fair for Processing Textile and Flexible Materials, which will debut alongside Techtextil in Frankfurt from May 24 to 27. The new biennial exhibition will feature the latest machinery, plants, processing technology, information technology and services for the making-up of textile and other flexible materials. Organizers are expecting 500 exhibitors to participate in the inaugural show.
The 2011 edition of Material Vision - Materials for Product Development, Design and Architecture International Trade Fair and Conference - also will colocate with Techtextil from May 24 to 26. Material Vision first aligned with Techtextil in 2009, and covers materials including polymers, glass and ceramics, renewable raw materials, smart materials with variable properties, and other materials used by product developers, industrial designers and architects.
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