Exhibitors from Europe, America and Asia are gearing up for the global trade fair, Texcare International, to be held from 6th to 9th November 2024 in Frankfurt am Main. In addition to the large, established manufacturers of machinery, chemicals, textiles and equipment, there will be new exhibitors from the fields of robotics and IT. The industry is facing major challenges, including climate-unfriendly processes, rising energy and material prices and labour shortage, all of which will be the focus of discussions at the trade fair.
The top themes of automation, energy and resources, cycles and textile hygiene will characterise the range of products and services on the stands and the specialist event programme. In a tête-à-tête with Clean India Journal, Johannes Schmid-Wiedersheim, Director Texcare International, shared his views on the offerings in store at the fair.
What will be the focus at the upcoming show?
One focus will certainly be on automated textile care, not least due to the acute shortage of skilled labour within the industry. Although already at a high level, the degree of automation will continue to increase. Identification systems, robotics and AI will play a central role in this context — from sorting and the flow of goods to taking over heavy or monotonous tasks. The second will be on energy. Soaring energy prices are the driving force behind numerous technical innovations aimed at reducing consumption and therefore emissions and costs. The integration of renewables and new energy sources often goes hand in hand with considerable investments by companies.
How can Texcare help shape the future of the textile care market?
As a global gathering of the laundry, cleaning and textile service industry, it is the place where tech innovations are introduced to the professional audience for the first time. The deals made here, the transfer of knowledge and the exchange of expertise can influence the future of textile care. Completely new solutions and business models are being offered by the start-ups and the many new exhibitors, including providers of automation solutions, software companies and machine manufacturers.
Can large number of innovations be expected at the fair?
We might see improved processes for inspecting and sorting dirty laundry and for folding and stacking dry laundry. Machine technology will also be further optimised in order to achieve higher throughput figures while maintaining quality levels. In the area of resource efficiency, the focus will be on economical consumption and solutions for water and energy recovery.
Will the numbers of international exhibitors and visitors increase in 2024?
Over 300 companies from 31 countries have already registered, including market leaders and 80 companies that are taking part for the first time. After Germany, the top exhibiting countries include Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Spain, Switzerland, the USA and Turkey. The new ‘Texcare_Contactor’ on the website provides a compact overview of the participating companies and their products. I expect an equally high level of internationality in visitors based on the response so far.
What will be the focus of the supporting programme?
With our partners VDMA and EFIT, we will be highlighting both the laundry and dry-cleaning side of the ‘Automation’ topic. Current hygiene trends in laundries will be addressed by Hohenstein Laboratories and innovative solutions relating to sustainability will be the focus of the VDMA-hosted topic Energy and resources. As part of the ‘Circularity’ theme, ETSA will focus on textile recycling, while DTV will shed light on new business models in the circular economy. We are also offering ‘Guided Tours’ of the trade fair for the first time which are designed to help visitors discover and categorise new products.