• Virtual Interviews
  • Virtual Panel Discussions
  • Virtual Textile Machinery Workshops
  • Webinars
  • Webinar Series

Interviews

In addition to the traditional ways to inform our members, ITMF has started the series “ITMF's Virtual Interviews”. In this new virtual series industry experts from the entire textile value chain from around the world talk and discuss the state of the textile industry.




A view from an integrated Indian textile company (parts 1-6)

Interview with Mr. Updeep Singh, President & CEO of Sutlej Textiles and Industries Ltd. (India), March 2022


Part 1 – Reasons for quick recovery 2021 & sustainable recovery?

Part 2 – Domestic versus export markets

Part 3 – Passing on of higher raw material and input costs

Part 4 – Demand for home textiles and apparel

Part 5 – Sustainable production & circularity

Part 6 – Impact of war in Ukraine for the global textile industry

Full interview

An Egyptian sourcing company’s perspective on the global textile value chain (parts 1-4)

Interview with Mr. Mohamed Kassem, CEO of World Trading Company (WTC), Egypt, September 2021


Part 1 – Good business situation and better business expectations

Part 2 – Disrupted textile supply chain remains a headache

Part 3 – Challenges for a strong and lasting recovery (free to view)

Part 4 – More weather extremes = higher demand for sustainable products?

Full interview

A view from a US-textile company with subsidiaries in South Asia (parts 1-6)

Interview with Mr. Rob Sayre, CEO of 1888 Mills (USA), June 2021


Part 1 – 1888 Mills’ geographical business set up

Part 2 – Good economic situation and promising outlook

Part 3a – Logistical problems in the global textile supply chain

Part 3b – Duration of the supply chain problems

Part 3c – Key reasons for the supply chain problems

Part 4 – Possible risks for a lasting recovery beyond 2021

Part 5 – Textile companies investing amid a crisis

Part 6a – Climate change and circular business models

Part 6b – Pilot for a circular business model

Full interview

A European perspective on the impact of the pandemic (parts 1-4)

Interview with Mr. Juan Parés, Chairman and CEO of Textil Santanderina (Spain), April 2021


Part 1 – What is the outlook, what are the risks?

Part 2a – How will work habits and business relations between suppliers and customers change?

Part 2b – Will physical exhibitions have the same importance as before the pandemic? (free to view)

Part 3 – What are the lessons learned during the pandemic?

Part 4 – What does climate change mean for the textile industry and for your business?

Full interview

One year Corona-pandemic – a view from an integrated Sub-Saharan textile and apparel group
(parts 1-7)

Interview with Mr. Jas Bedi, CEO of Bedi EPZ and Bedi Fabrics (Kenya) & Fine Spinners (Uganda), February 2021


Part 1 - Corona-pandemic: turning a challenge into an opportunity

Part 2 - Africa’s young population could resist the virus well

Part 3 - Orders up since November 2020 driven by knits (free to view)

Part 4 - Africa expects strong growth in 2021 driven by diversification

Part 5 - Embracing digital technology

Part 6 - Data is key for sustainability, transparency and accountability

Part 7 - Cancellations/delays were the exception

Full interview

Adapting fast to the new digital normal – a view from an integrated company from Indonesia (parts 1-7)

Interview with Ms. Michelle Tjokrosaputro; CEO of Dan Liris (Indonesia), December 2020


Part 1 - COVID-19 in Indonesia

Part 2 - Recovery expectations

Part 3 - Sustainability requirements

Part 4 - Push toward agile solutions

Part 5 - Speed to market (free to view)

Part 6 - Digital opportunities and challenges

Part 7 - E-commerce: higher complexity for textile producers

Full interview

Corona Update – Navigating the second wave (parts 1-5)

Interview with Mr. Mustafa Denizer; CEO of Diktas Group (Turkey), November 2020


Part 1 - Introduction & expectations for 2020-21

Part 2 - Lessons learned

Part 3 - Order situation

Part 4 - Pressure on digitalisation

Part 5 - Major trends (free to view)

Full interview

The Corona-crisis: an opportunity to adapt and improve the business model (parts 1-5)

Interview with Mr. Anees Khawaja; Director of the Mahmood Group (Pakistan), August 2020


Part 1 - On the supply and demand shock

Part 2 - On the buyer-supplier relationship (free to view)

Part 3 - On changes induced by the crisis

Part 4 - Additional lessons learned

Part 5 - Perspectives for recovery

The Corona-crisis: an accelerator for innovation

Interview with Mr. Uday Gill; CEO of the Fibers Business of Indorama Ventures (Thailand), August 2020

China’s textile and apparel companies six months into the Corona-pandemic (Transcript PDF)

Interview with Mr. Ruizhe Sun; Vice President of ITMF and President, CNTAC (China), July 2020


The Corona-pandemic - a special perspective from the Americas (part 1-7)

Interview with Mr. David Ha; CEO of Texops (El Salvador), July 2020


Part 1 - On the supply and demand shock

Part 2 - On the supply of raw materials during the crisis

Part 3 - Perspectives on order and turnover

Part 4 - On the buyer-supplier relationship

Part 5 - On the speed of recovery

Part 6 - On the birth of regional clusters (free to view)

Part 7 - Lessons learned

An Indian view on the Corona-pandemic and the consequences for the textile industry

Interview with Dr. K. V. Srinivasan; Vice president of ITMF (India), July 2020

The Corona-pandemic – from crisis management to a new normal

Interview with Mr. Muharrem Kayhan; Board Member, ITMF (Turkey), June 2020

Lessons learned from the Corona-pandemic and the way forward

Interview with Mr. Kihak Sung, President, ITMF (Korea), June 2020


Interview Transcript (PDF)

Discussions

In addition to the traditional ways to inform our members, ITMF has started the series “Virtual Panel Discussions”. In this new virtual series industry experts from the entire textile value chain from around the world talk and discuss the state of the textile industry.




ITMF Virtual Panel Discussion – December 9, 2021

The State and Future of Cotton Spinning

ITMF Virtual Panel Discussion – October 26, 2021 (during WTiN Innovate 2021)

Impact of Covid-19 – accelerating digitalisation and sustainable production in textile manufacturing

Textile Machinery Workshop 2021 (November 2021)


Introduction

Mr. Christian Schindler, Director General, ITMF

Welcome Address

Mr. Ruizhe Sun, President, ITMF

Welcome Speech (PDF)

Statement: State of & Outlook for China’s Textile and Apparel Industry

Mr. Ruizhe Sun, President, CNTAC, China

Presentation (PDF)

Statements by Textile Producers

Brazil
0:00:00 – 0:05:13
Mr. Rafael Cervone, Abit
Presentation (PDF)
Bangladesh
0:05:14 – 0:10:39
Mr. Salman Ispahani, Pahartali
Presentation (PDF)
India
0:10:14 – 0:14:50
Mr. K.V. Srinivasan, Premier Mills
Pakistan
0:14:51 – 0:18:32
Mr. Bashir Ali Mohamed, Gul Ahmed
Indonesia
0:18:33 – 0:22:53
Ms. Michelle Tjokrosaputro, Dan Liris
Presentation (PDF)
Korea, Vietnam
0:22:54 – 0:29:11
Mr. Kihak Sung, Youngone
Presentation (PDF)
Turkey
0:29:12 – 0:34:28
Mr. Mustafa Denizer, Diktas
Sub-Sahara Africa
0:34:29 – 0:39:09
Mr. Jas Bedi, Bedi Investments
Morocco
0:39:10 – 0:44:05
Mr. Mohamed Boubouh, Amith

Statements by Textile Machinery Producers

Spinning
0:00:00 – 0:02:55
Ms. Pia Terasa, Saurer
Texturing
0:02:56 – 0:08:18
Mr. André Wissenberg, Oerlikon
Weaving
0:08:19 – 0:12:12
Mr. Johan Verstraete, Picanol
Finishing
0:12:13 – 0:14:36
Ms. Natascha Meier, Santex Rimar Group
Printing
0:14:37 – 0:20:02
Ms. Adele Genoni, Efi Reggiani
China
0:20:03 – 0:31:52
Mr. Pin Gu, China Textile Machinery Assoc.
Presentation (PDF)

Presentation of 11th ITMF Corona-Survey

Mr. Christian Schindler, Director General, ITMF & Mr. Olivier Zieschank, Director, ITMF

Presentation (PDF)

Concluding Remarks

Mr. Ruizhe Sun, President, ITMF

Concluding Remarks (PDF)

Virtual ITMF Textile Machinery Workshop 2021 (full video)

Textile Machinery Workshop 2021 (May 2021)

Industry statements



Rieter, Mr. Klapper

Oerlikon, Mr. Wissenberg

Mayer & Cie. GmbH & Co., Mr. Mayer

ITEMA S.p.A., Mr. De Micheli

Brückner, Ms. Brückner

EFI Reggiani, Ms. Genoni

Textile Machinery Workshop 2020

Industry statements



Saurer, Mr. Saur

Oerlikon, Mr. Wissenberg

Picanol, Mr. Verstraete

Groz-Beckert, Mr. Schoeller

Benninger, Mr. Meienberger

Mouvent, Mr. Riva


Additional documents


International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics 2019 – Overview (PDF)

Annual survey on the current state and future outlook of the textile machinery market (PDF)

Webinar “Consumer market trends” ( December 5th, 2024 )

Mr. Yinbin Li, Economics Associate Director, S&P Market Intelligence, Canada

  • AI in the Textile Value Chain
  • Digital Workflow
  • Circular Textile Economy

Webinar Series «AI in the Textile Value Chain»

  1. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence ( July 29th, 2024 )

    2. View Webinar



  2. Regulation of AI - New Framework ( August 27th, 2024 )
    • EU AI-Act – Background, Outlook, and International Relevance
      Mr. Kai Zenner, Head of Office and Digital Policy Adviser for MEP Axel Voss (European People's Party Group) in the European Parliament:
      Presentation (PDF)
    • What Does the AI-Act Mean for the Industry
      Mr. Dominik Rohrmus, Siemens AG and CTO at Labs Network Industrie 4.0 e. V.:
      Presentation (PPSX)

    View Webinar



  3. AI Applications in the Textile Industry – part 1 ( November 19th, 2024 )
    • Increased user experience through AI tools – chances and challenges in practice
      Mr. Marco Huber-Rochau, Product Manager Fabric Inspection, Uster Technologies, Switzerland:
      Presentation (PDF)
    • Unlocking business opportunities with AI agents: Data-driven strategies for textile supply chains
      Mr. Wayne Fan, Co-Founder & CEO, Frontier.cool Inc., Chinese Taipei:
      Presentation (PDF)

    View Webinar



  4. AI Applications in the Textile Industry – part 2 ( February 27th, 2025 )

    5. View Webinar



  5. AI Applications in the Textile Industry – part 3 ( April 2nd, 2025 )
    • Collapsing time and space. Re-imaging value chains in the age of instant personal clothing for the masses.
      Mr. Maximilian Bock, Eekual, Belgium:
      Presentation (PDF)
    • AI-powered market risk factor identification and forecasting for textiles to minimize waste and limit losses
      Mr. Jonas Falkner & Mr. Friedrich Weninger, MIR Insight, Norway:
      Presentation (PDF)
    • An academic perspective of AI in the textile value chain through the eyes of AI
      Mr. Jelle Demeulemeester, MYND, Belgium:
      Presentation (PDF)

    View Webinar



  6. AI Applications in the Textile Industry – part 4 ( July 11th, 2025 )

    7. View Webinar





Webinar Series «Digital Workflow»

During the ITMF Annual Conference 2022 in Davos, Switzerland a few Start-ups were selected to present their innovation and business models. The feedback ITMF received was very positive and conference participants asked for more information, but also for more guidance to better understand how to navigate and to operate digital platforms. Against this backdrop, ITMF invited some of these Start-ups to share in more depth during a series of interactive webinars their digital platforms/tools and what the digital workflows looks like. These Start-ups are:

  1. ColorDigital - https://www.dmix.info/
  2. Frontier.Cool - https://www.frontier.cool/
  3. Designovel - https://designovel.com/index_en.html

The webinars are moderated by Mr. Loek de Vries, ITMF Board Member and Chairman of the ITMF Fibres & Applications Committee.


1st Webinar with ColorDigital: Wednesday, February 8th, 2023

“An interactive digital platform to connect suppliers and brands in an efficient and sustainable way”
Mr. Gerd Willschütz, COO, ColorDigital, Germany


Technical basics

  • the standardized digital exchange of dyed and finished fabrics between brands and supply chain partners and
  • the digital workflows for scalability and maximum effectivity (time, resources, financials).

Navigation on the DMIx platform

  • DMIx solutions to digitize products and product development workflows
    • Color technology
    • 3D Technology
    • Master Data Technology


View Webinar

Presentation (PDF)

2nd Webinar with Frontier.Cool: Wednesday, March 15th, 2023

“How to digitize the textile business to become more efficient”
Ms. Amal Jomaa, Frontier.Cool, Chinese Taipei


Technical basics

  • Macro trends driving digitalization and innovation in the fashion industry.
  • The textile sector can leverage and capitalize on digital technologies.
  • Opportunities for sustainability management, workflow efficiency, and operational optimization through Frontier's innovative platform.

Navigation

  • Effortless digitalization, management, and collaborative sharing of textile libraries
  • Automated 3D material creation
  • Environmental impact data visualization


View Webinar

Presentation (PDF)

3rd Webinar with Designovel: Tuesday, May 16th, 2023

“How to use AI technology for textile design and production”
Mr. Kiyoung Shin, Designovel, Korea


Technical basics

  • Designovel uses AI technology to provide data and market trends for the fashion industry.
  • The AI technology guarantees efficient production of designs, reducing lead times, and avoiding waste.
  • The AI solution also provides features such as competitor comparison and tailor-made sales forecasting.

Navigation

  • Textile manufacturers can navigate on our platform to collect and predict trends and propose competitive designs.

Benefits

  • The solution has helped multiple manufacturers expand their business and launch their own fashion brand.
  • Multinational FMCG companies have also experienced faster product planning and regional market entry through real-time trend monitoring and collection.


View Webinar

Presentation (PDF)



Webinar Series «Circular Textile Economy»

During the ITMF Annual Conference 2022 in Davos, Switzerland a lot presentations touched the topics recycling and circularity. The feedback ITMF received was very positive. Nevertheless, many participants asked for more information, but also for more guidance to better understand these topics. Against this backdrop, ITMF has teamed up with the Institute for Textile Technology (ITA) at the University of Aachen, Germany to develop a series of webinars on the topic “Circular Textile Economy”. In the next few months there will be six webinars on this topic.

  1. Introduction (March 14th, 2023)

    2. View Webinar



  2. Political Background (March 28th, 2023)

    3. View Webinar



  3. Complete Value Chain - from used textile to new products (April 18th, 2023)

    View Webinar



  4. Recycling Strategies and Concepts 1 (May 9th, 2023)

    5. View Webinar Q&A in Chat Box (PDF)



  5. Recycling Strategies and Concepts 2 (May 23rd, 2023)

    6. View Webinar



  6. Strategies for Transforming to a Circular Economy (September 12th, 2023)

    7. View Webinar



  7. Final book presentation on ITMF Annual Conference (November 4-6th, 2023 in Keqiao, Shaoxing, China)