Itema is a leading global provider of advanced weaving solutions, including best-in-class weaving machines, spare parts and integrated services. The Company is the only manufacturer in the world to provide the top three weft insertion technologies: rapier, airjet and projectile, with an ample product portfolio and a commitment to continuous innovation and technological advancement of its weaving machines. Having manufacturing facility in Italy, Switzerland and China, Itema has the right weaving machine for any type of woven fabric: from commodity to high-end fashion or industrial fabric, Itema has the right weaving machine for any application. Itema has a tradition of almost 200 years with an installed base of over 300,000 weaving machines in operation. A global presence in more than 100 countries ensures a fast and reliable service.TBD is in conversation with Sameer Kulkarni, Managing Director, itema Weaving (India) Pvt Ltd.
 
What solutions do you provide for terry towel manufacturing to your customers, including weaving, knitting, dyeing, and finishing machines?
Itema is a leading global provider of advanced weaving machines offering three weft insertion technologies: rapier, air-jet, projectile.

Which weaving machines do you have for terry towel customers? What are their production capacity, benefits and limitations?
Itema is the first rapier terry loom producer and carries on the excellence of historical terry loom brands: Sulzer and Vamatex. When it comes to terry fabrics weaving,rapier technology is the best choice to guarantee excellent fabric quality and versatility. The Itema rapier terry weaving machines ensure the best combination of productivity with fabric quality and endless design
options to meet even the most sophisticated market requests.

Among Jacquard, Rapier, and Air Jet machines, which models are the globally most sought-after and widely used for terry towel manufacturing?
The terry fabric market can be divided mainly into two categories: simpler, light weight fabrics, with plain colors, without designs or patterns which are most commonly woven on air-jet weaving machines; and highend fabrics, characterized by superior absorbency,extreme softness and which can be aesthetically very sophisticated, with patterned designs and mixes of colors and different pile heights that are produced on rapier weaving machines.

What unique selling points do your loom machines have as compared to the competition?
Itema is the market leader in rapier terry segment, with rapier terry weaving machines installed in 40 countries in the world. The success of the Itema rapier terry machines is mainly due to a combination of three devices.
The Itema positive pile back rest roller, unique in the market, guarantees a significant optimization of the pile warp tension, drastically reducing the friction during cloth displacement. Driven by a single motor, the new pile formation unit ensures an easy pile height setting directly from the user interface, guaranteeing superiorfabric quality due to the pick-per-pick loop adjustment and cloth displacement up to 28mm (the most advanced in the market), leading to endless creative possibilities. The new ground back-rest roller, equipped with light weight cylinders and a load cell to control the tension,perfectly drives the yarn movement facilitating the shed formation. This innovative winning trio of advanceddevices featured on the R9500EVOterry and previous models since 2015 provides unparalleled textile quality and utmost versatility.

Can you customize your machines to meet specific requirements or production capacities?
Itema develops tailor-made solutions for its customers and supports weavers with accurate textile consultancy to reach their textile and production targets.

Based on your experience, which types of looms are currently in the highest demand in the Indian textile industry for terry towels?
Air-jet looms are popular option for plain and simple terry towels. Rapier looms are popular for high end, soft, with multiple colors & patters. Major players opt for both, Rapier and Air-jet looms to produce the widest range of terry fabrics and meet every market demands.

Considering factors like initial investment, operating costs, and production capabilities, which loom would you recommend for a new textile manufacturing facility?
It depends on customer targets, both in terms of product and markets. We can study the best solution for each customer based on each customer’s needs.

What are some of the latest technological advancements or innovations in your looms that are being introduced to the Indian market?
The R9500EVOterry launched at ITMA 2023 further improves textile mastery, performances, and ease of use.Endless creative possibilities are guaranteed thanks to dedicated tools and functions. Different warp tensions during border weaving are easy to set directly through the latest generation EVOConsole. The Itema Pile and Ground Back-Rest Rollers provide optimal loop formation thanks to reduced tension on pile warp and optimized ground tension. The SK EVO rapiers bring the renowned Itema textile mastery to a next level, thanks to their lightness that provides enhanced versatility even when weaving at the highest speeds. Besides the well-known machine stability to vibrations typical of the Itema loom structure, key improvements—such as the main motor with oil cooling and the optimization of the machine lubrication system— ensure reduced energy consumption and improved heat management.The EVO Electronic Platform brings Itema’s already reliable electronics to a new level of power and efficiency. It includes the EVOConsole, which features a 15.6” wide touch, full glass, capacitive display and offers wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Moreover, the R9500EVOterry has been optimized to ensure an ideal user experience. Just to mention a few novelties, the optimized Pile Formation Unit features a reduced number of cylinders compared to the previous machine version thus leading to increased operational weaving space, user-friendliness, and reduced style change time. Moreover, the front cover has been completely redesigned to enhance ergonomics for weavers. Pushbuttons panels are now integrated into the cover and are easy to reach from different parts of the machine’s front frame, thus ensuring total control of the machine functioning in all weaving widths.

Are you launching any new models of Jacquard, Rapier, or Air Jet machines specifically designed for terry towel production?
We introduced the new machine version during ITMA 2023 in Milan, the Itema R9500EVOterry.

How can your machine help in reducing labor costs by increasing automation? How does it help in increasing productivity?
The Pile Formation Unit has been completely redesigned to ensure significant improvements in terms of enhanced ergonomics and ease of use. In fact, it features a reduced number of cylinders—in both versions, standard or with pile consumption roll—leading to minimized settings and ensuring time saving and increased productivity. The new Pile Formation System consists of only three cylinders thanks to the pile consumption system that is now configured with a dedicated encoder directly on the main deviating cylinder torsion bar. Moreover, the rotating bar supports have been redesigned and moved into a lower position on a square bar. With this new configuration, the working space between the compensating roll and the rotating bar significantly increases. Furthermore, less cylinders enable quicker style change operations. Finally, when the pile consumption control is configured, time saving is guaranteed by the elimination of the external encoder with connection belt foreseen in the previous machine version and the related maintenance and set-up operations.

Does your machine help minimize material waste, such as fabric scraps or yarn loss helping the company to achieve its sustainability goals?
The Itema rapier SK EVO Weft Transfer has been optimized to achieve a lower level of waste without compromising on fabric quality. Moreover, as is well known on all the Itema weaving machines, the reduced consumption of spare parts increases the value of the investment by reducing the operational costs.

How can your machine optimize the use of materials, ensuring efficient utilization without compromising quality?
The complete electronic control of the pile formation guarantees to achieve the desired quality even when weaving complex styles, thus ensuring elimination of second choice fabric. The pile height can be adjusted and controlled directly by the EVOConsole leading to maximum precision in terry formation.