Magazine December 2017

The textile world at a glance: From art to history

Just an image

We are always coming across textiles in areas we did not expect to find them. They are assuming roles that we never thought they would. What's more, they provide true added value – be it through the reusability of former disposable products or by reducing weight in the area of life science engineering. At the same time, textiles do not belong among the discoveries of the 21st century compared to other innovative materials, they look back to a long history. Textile production during the Industrial Revolution was even said to be a key industry because it facilitated the creation and development of additional industrial sectors. Nevertheless, the actual technology used to produce textiles has changed very little since then. This means that we have machines today that create loops and pierce webs at tremendous speed. However, the technology behind this is primarily based on the same principles, like processes that were once done manually. There is likely a bit of the fascination here that is still produced in people by the process of loop creation and fabric production, even in this digital age, so it should not come as a surprise that textiles keep establishing themselves in new fields of application.

Discover the world of Groz-Beckert – there's no better time to do so!

State of the Art

Knitted fabric – it has long been impossible to imagine our closets and living rooms without it. Its role in the outer shell of architecture is, however, new. The arguments for it are all the better: Accuracy to detail and flexibility in the end product make it the perfect material for ambitious "soft architecture". A project from the Young Architects Program of the Museum of Modern Art New York (MoMa) understands what it means to make use of these benefits. You will learn how in this newsletter.

While knitted fabric has yet to establish itself on the exteriors of buildings, weaving mills are already at home producing canopy materials for this market. Moreover, woven materials have made a name for themselves in the area of home textiles. The second part of the series "A textile fabric with countless possible applications" broaches the topic of the special requirements within these areas of application and provides information on suitable products.

Innovation to product and service

New areas of application, however, do not create new requirements on the textile alone, but the production process of such as well. This is why Groz-Beckert is constantly working to further develop its products. The newest example of this is the new HyTec® P jet strip, which was folded into the product portfolio of the Felting segment this year. According to studies, the sanitary wipe market will grow by 6.1% annually until 2021. Potential that customers of Groz-Beckert could take full advantage of – learn about the benefits of the HyTec® P to you.

Groz-Beckert sets the highest standards for its service as well as its products. This means recognizing and utilizing synergy effects: With the acquisition of storage and sales administration by the Albstadt location in the Carding segment, distribution shall occur via the broadly diversified logistical network of Groz-Beckert KG in the future. We will provide information on all additional benefits and what will change for you as a customer.

Textiles writing history

In order to provide Groz-Beckert customers with a high degree of innovation in terms of decisive competitive advantage, we always keep a watchful eye on market developments and technologies. For this reason, we are obligated to not only look to the future, but to the past as well: Techniques like stitching or tufting have hardly changed since their invention, but the tools used for production have experienced a transformation from simple aids to highly-precise tools. We will reveal how exactly this transformation looked, what influence it had on Groz-Beckert products, and what conclusions can be drawn, primarily with regard to the future of textiles.
We hope you enjoy reading.