Techtextil and Texprocess 2022 set benchmarks for future-oriented textile trade fairs

With a degree of internationality of 66 percent, a total of 48,000 visitors from 105 countries attended the first edition of Techtextil and Texprocess since the Corona pandemic and used the opportunity to visit both trade fairs. The excellent figures of around 44,000 visitors at Techtextil and 22,000 visitors at Texprocess (each including visitors transferring from Texprocess and Techtextil respectively) confirm the relevance of these trade fairs for the textile and textile technology industries.

1,141 exhibitors at Techtextil from 47 countries and 182 exhibitors at Texprocess from 29 countries, including twelve international country pavilions and numerous joint stand participants, presented their products, technologies and new developments. In addition to German exhibitors, companies from Italy, France, Turkey and Switzerland were most frequently represented. The extensive and attractive accompanying program, such as the Techtextil and Texprocess Forums, the Techtextil and Texprocess Innovation Awards, the Techtextil Special Show "Performance Textiles in Fashion" or the Texprocess Special Show "Denim Future Lab" with integrated Speakers Corner, enabled discussions and showed exceptional textile and textile technology solutions, also with regard to sustainability.

This shows: Visitors and exhibitors rely on personal encounters on the exhibition grounds. In addition, the digital offerings were also used, such as the apps and the Digital Extension offered for the first time, which made the trade fairs an online experience.

"The first edition of Techtextil and Texprocess since the Corona pandemic fulfilled the industry's strong desire to finally come together again in person. We are pleased that the re-start was excellently received by exhibitors and visitors worldwide. At the Frankfurt exhibition center, we were able to create a place for industry representatives to exchange ideas on the future topics of the textile and apparel industry," reports Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles & Textile Technologies, Messe Frankfurt.

"With the focus on sustainability and innovations, we have created real added value for visitors. Never before has there been so much interest in innovative and sustainable solutions. Techtextil and Texprocess offer an optimal platform for the presentation of progressive products and support the future-oriented further development of the industry," explains Michael Jänecke, Director Brand Management Technical Textiles & Textile Processing, Messe Frankfurt.

Elgar Straub, Managing Director of VDMA Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies (TFL), draws an optimistic conclusion from this year's Texprocess: "Thanks in particular to the many high-level and international visitors, the mood was positive all around - despite current uncertainties and the resulting cautious expectations of Texprocess exhibitors prior to the fair. At the fair, in personal exchanges, it nevertheless became clear once again that, precisely because the textile world is currently changing rapidly, there is an immense need for investment in technology. Automation, sustainability and flexibility are just the most important keywords here."

Exhibitor statements on Techtextil and Texprocess 2022

New products and further developments were of particular importance at this year's Techtextil and Texprocess. In a time characterized by social and economic challenges, labor shortages, supply bottlenecks or shortages of raw materials, progressive approaches to solutions are essential. At the leading trade fairs, it became clear that the companies have used the time since the last Techtextil and Texprocess intensively for research and development and were able to present numerous promising products.

"After the Corona break, it was of great importance to finally reconnect with the international industry at Techtextil and to meet our many business partners in person that we have not been able to meet in person for a long time. We also made some interesting new business contacts," said George Papagiannis, Sales & Marketing Manager at Thrace Nonwovens & Geosynthetcs S.A., Greece.

"For us, Texprocess was a great success. We are very satisfied with the quality and the results of the conversations with the visitors. It was a great pleasure for us to meet so many partners and customers again in person after a long time of major travel restrictions. Digital communication is a must nowadays and certainly makes many things easier, but it cannot completely replace face-to-face communication and knowledge transfer. We welcomed many new business partners at Texprocess, but also long-time friends and familiar faces," says Henry Diekmann, Head of Marketing at Dürkopp Adler, Germany.

"At this year's Techtextil, our Portuguese companies achieved very good results. Our conclusion is that the success of the trade fair in 2022 continued on seamlessly from 2019 - and we are very pleased with this finding. Most of our companies were also very pleased with the number of new customers looking for new European suppliers," said Manuel Serrão, CEO at Selective Moda.

"This year's trade fair contained an element of new beginnings. In an ad hoc survey, over 70 percent of our members said that Techtextil was the most important or only trade fair for their product portfolio. Over 90 percent rated the number of visitor contacts as good or very good. The quality of contacts was rated as good by 75 percent and very good by 17 percent. All those we surveyed expressed their intention to exhibit in Frankfurt again in 2024," says Stefan Schmidt, Head of Divisions Yarns - Fabrics - Technical Textiles at IVGT e.V..

"From the point of view of Swissmem / Swiss Textile Machinery, this year's edition of Techtextil presented itself as extraordinarily successful. The long overdue refreshment of existing customer relationships and the establishment of new contacts were very valuable. Particularly worth mentioning is the high quality of the visitors and the meetings that took place were at equal level between decision-makers. We will certainly be returning again in 2024," sums up Ernesto Maurer, President of the Swissmem Swiss Textile Machinery Association.

"It was a good trade show. We had more than 400 visitors from 51 countries and were able to establish many successful business relationships from Europe. Texprocess was also the ideal platform for the launch of our new software product 2DCAD and our new Vison system. This was important because visitors to Texprocess come primarily to see innovations or new products," says Fabrizio Giachetti, Managing Director of Morgan Tecnica SpA, Italy.

From Innovation Awards to Sustainability: an accompanying program with real added value

But nowhere was the future of the textile industry as close as at the Techtextil and Texprocess Innovation Awards. Thirteen winners from seven categories were selected by two international juries of experts, honored at a public awards ceremony and exhibited on all four days of the fair. In addition to the first woven heart valve, production processes using sustainable materials, such as pineapple peels or a novel cold glue robot, all received a Techtextil or Texprocess Innovation Award.

The textile industry is exploring news paths. This is also the case with regard to sustainability. The interest in sustainable and resource-saving materials and processing methods or recycling solutions has never been so great. This has also long since entered the consciousness of manufacturers. This year, 66 exhibitors were marked with Sustainability@Techtextil or Sustainability@Texprocess and could thus be specifically visited by visitors. Exhibitors with sustainable offerings were able to submit their products for review by an international group of experts and were highlighted after successful review.

Sustainability was also a topic at the Techtextil and Texprocess forums. "Circular economy in the textile industry. A Positioning", "Virtual Fabrics: Structure and Multispectral Color Prediction" or the keynote "After the Crisis is Before the Crisis" provided high-quality information opportunities and unique insights into current industry topics on all four days of the fair. The patron of the Techtextil Forum was EURATEX - The European Apparel and Textile Confederation. The Texprocess Forum program was organized by DTB - Dialog Textil-Bekleidung e.V. and VDMA TFL.

A special highlight was the Techtextil special show "Performance Textiles in Fashion". Here, visitors experienced first-hand how functional textiles are used in the apparel industry. Smart textiles with electrodes and stretchable cables for electro-muscle stimulation, heatable clothing or bags made of particularly resistant material provided inspiration and amazed the audience.

The Denim Future Lab took visitors into the world of the denim industry. The Texprocess special show focused on sustainable materials and processing as well as luxury denim. The Speakers Corner, which was co-organized by the Transformer Foundation, invited visitors to exchange ideas and engage in discussions and was very well attended.

The next Techtextil and Texprocess will take place from April 23 to 26, 2024.