Industrial Textiles – successfully following new trends

by Jutta Stehr and Jürgen Vogel, Oerlikon Textile GmbH & Co. KG

Remscheid - Industrial textiles are the great white hope of the classical textile nations following China’s ascent to the position as the world’s largest apparel manufacturer. They are the innovation drivers for many small and medium-sized companies throughout the world.

Industrial textiles fill those areas of application that nobody had even considered 10 or even just 5 years ago. All in all, they are therefore an important reason that the ancient craft of textiles is still very much alive and active.

The field of industrial textiles comprises such diverse products as fishing nets and sacks, protective clothing and sails, vehicle tarpaulins and artificial skin or more commodity products like tarpaulins, safety-belts, conveyor / transmission belts, hoses, ropes, nets and tire-cord.

One area enjoying increasing popularity of late is geotextiles. One reason for this is advancing global industrialization, which would be inconceivable without the expansion of local infrastructures, and in particular roads. Large countries such as India, Russia and China are already carrying out, or plan to do so, major projects for improving their infrastructures, with the consequence that the geotextiles sector can look forward to a promising future.

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