A whole new world of testing

USTER® TESTER 6 makes its Asian debut at DTG 2016.

A whole new world of quality testing has opened up with the launch of the USTER® TESTER 6 at ITMA in 2015. Unparalleled test speeds, extended capabilities and the pathway to Total Testing—with mill-wide quality and profitability benefits—are already appreciated by users, including one of the biggest spinners in Bangladesh. Now, the USTER® TESTER 6 made its public debut in Asia at Dhaka International Textile & Garment Machinery Exhibition (DTG).

Pahartali Textile & Hosiery Mills Ltd (PTHM) supported USTER in presenting the new USTER® TESTER 6 at the 13th edition of the DTG show, held from January 28-31. PTHM is among the earliest customers for the tester, and already reports that the advantages have exceeded expectations. “At the launch at ITMA in Milan, the new USTER® TESTER 6 received a very positive feedback, so we are eager to show this latest USTER innovation at more shows,” says Sivakumar Narayanan, Head of Marketing, Uster Technologies.

PTHM is one of the pioneers of textile manufacturing in Bangladesh. Established in 1954, the company currently has an installed capacity of 71,760 spindles, producing 13,000 metric tonnes of yarn per year. As a supplier of high-quality knitting yarn used in export-oriented industries, PTHM is equipped with state-of-the-art machinery, including the most technologically advanced European and Japanese equipment. Mahbubul Alam, Chief Operating Officer of PTHM, explained that this policy was also applied to quality control procedures: “It was clear from the beginning that our laboratory must be equipped with USTER® fibre and yarn testing instruments,” he says. The company already operates USTER® HVI 1000, USTER® AFIS and USTER® AUTOSORTER in its quality management regime and was seeking to replace its USTER® TESTER 4—installed in 1998—to cater for increased production. What at first seemed like an upgrade requirement has now opened up a whole new world of yarn testing, Alam says: “The testing speed of 800m/min is already an appreciated improvement but the advantages arising from the Total Testing Center have exceeded our expectation regarding this investment.”

Total Testing Center

The USTER® TESTER 6 is the gateway to the Total Testing Center, in which its precision laboratory data is interpreted by the USTER® QUALITY EXPERT software and then integrated with information from yarn clearers to provide a complete picture of spinning mill operations for the entire production volume.

Analysis of this data by USTER® QUALITY EXPERT is the key, examining all quality parameters to guide spinning mills towards fact-based decisions on improvement actions. The scope of these features expands as further USTER® instruments are linked to the system.

Innovative extra support for management comes in the form of Assistant Q – an intelligent helper service which has been likened to recruiting a new staff member with 65 years’ USTER know-how. Part of the Total Testing Center, Assistant Q simplifies complex issues and takes over repetitive tasks, so managers can concentrate on the wider goals.

Essential feature for Bangladesh

Spinners in Bangladesh, and knitting yarn producers generally, will especially value the USTER® HAIRINESS technology provided by USTER® TESTER 6. This is the definitive hairiness solution – combining Sensor HL and Sensor OH – another convincing factor in PTHM’s investment decision. The Sensor HL was particularly attractive, the company says, for its complete evaluation of the vital hairiness parameter at high-speed for Hairiness Length Classification based on protruding fibre lengths. Together with the established Sensor OH, spinners now have a complete hairiness analysis, giving the best possible assurance against quality claims.

Fabric prediction

USTER® TESTER 6 introduces a number of novel features for rapid fault-tracing and quality management, all designed to minimise downtime and optimise quality in both yarns and fabrics. For PTHM, the fabric simulation tool was another investment clincher. This tool gives an advance display of how current yarn parameters will look in a knitted or woven fabric, using yarn boards – magnified for hairiness views – and reflected and transmitted light for some wovens.

The host of innovations with the new USTER® TESTER 6 makes it difficult to predict which will be the most widely appreciated overall. Says Sivakumar Narayanan: “The USTER® TESTER 6 offers sophisticated technology to make it an essential tool in the spinner’s laboratory, with features which provide advantages in many fields for yarn production. I think the key criteria for the purchase decisions are very individual. Therefore exhibitions are very important, so textile professionals can see the full picture and evaluate all the possibilities resulting in the greatest advantage for them. Thanks to Pahartali Textile & Hosiery Mills, visitors to DTG 2016 will be able to do just that with the USTER® TESTER 6.”

The Group is headquartered in Uster, Switzerland and operates through a worldwide market organisation complemented by technology centres. It has sales and service subsidiaries in the major textile markets and technology centres in Uster (Switzerland), Knoxville (USA) and Suzhou (China).