Gunnar Meyer:  German engineering firms are at the forefront of Industry 4.0

For more than a century, the Monforts commitment to customers is to be helpful – accurate – fast – reliable and has shaped the image as a leading global supplier of textile machines and systems for the finishing and coating of woven and knitted goods as well as special applications almost one hundred agents represent Monforts in all textile centres around the world. Gunnar Meyer, Managing Director, Monforts, in this interview with Divya Shetty, highlights the strengths of the German textile machinery industry and discusses how his company is playing a role in its growth.

What, in your view, makes the German textile sector globally significant and trusted?

Over many decades the ‘Made in Germany’ label has become synonymous with reliability, advanced technology and durability. Engineering excellence and machinery innovation is a cornerstone of the country’s industrial strength. We are proud to have been a part of this sector since 1884 and successive waves of development. We continue looking ahead to find the best solutions for machine engineering that lead to fabric quality with added value and other customer benefits. Our key strengths include automation, digitalisation and sustainable manufacturing. German engineering firms are at the forefront of Industry 4.0 and integrating cyber-physical systems, IoT and AI into production processes. The sector’s strong export orientation has also made it a crucial contributor to Germany’s economic stability and global competitiveness.

How is Monforts contributing to the growth and innovation of the German textile machinery industry, both domestically and internationally?

Despite a challenging time, Monforts will continue investing in research and development and by adapting to market demands and focusing on sustainable practices we aim to remain a reliable partner for the textile industry. With a strong emphasis on responsiveness, technological advancements and environmental responsibility, we are well-positioned to navigate the uncertainties of 2025 and beyond.

How do you see the German-Indian collaboration evolving, and what role has Monforts played in fostering this relationship?

We have been active on the Indian market since the 1960s and have built up many successful partnerships over the years with many of India’s leading textile manufacturers. Our machinery portfolio range has been continuously expanded based on accumulated know-how, resulting in our dominant position in fabric finishing technologies. We have progressed since we first entered the Indian market through mechanical technologies to the first mass production lines, then to electronic drives and special machine construction and highly modular concepts. We are now truly in the digital age and committed to investing in the digitalisation of our technology, with concepts for further assuring precise quality control and energy monitoring.

Could you share some of the recent technological advancements or innovations introduced by Monforts that reflect the strengths of German engineering in textiles?

Our core strength is in the process knowledge we have acquired and can pass on to customers for improving quality results and efficiency. The Advanced Technology Center (ATC) at our headquarters in Germany is now pivotal to our operations. Over an area of 1,200 square metres, it houses two full MONTEX finishing lines, engineered to accommodate an extremely diverse range of processes, in addition to a THERMEX range for the continuous dyeing of denim and other woven fabrics, a full colour kitchen and a number of lab-scale systems for smaller batch trials. The ATC allows our customers – many of them from India – to test their own technical fabrics under fully confidential, industrial production conditions. Using the results from these trials, we are also able to make recommendations for improving many fabric finishes.

What are Monforts’ strategic priorities and future plans for the Indian market, given its growing importance in textile manufacturing?

Our core business continues to be in MONTEX stenters and THERMEX dyeing and curing lines. MONTEX stenters are the industry standard for the fabric finishing industry, particularly in the sectors of denim, home textiles and technical textiles, providing a number of advantages in terms of production throughput and especially in energy efficiency and savings. These machines remain unmatched in terms of their robustness and long service life, as well as resource-efficient productivity. We are seeing an increased interest from Indian companies in coating and the latest applications equipment, especially within the growing technical textile market. With an eye on the technical textiles market, we have recently introduced the MontexCoat, a multifunctional coating line which offers versatility with knife coating, magnet roller coating, rotary screen printing and other applications. As a fully automatic machine, it fully caters to customers who require such flexibility. For clients only using knife coating, Monforts has also launched the more cost-effective coaTTex coating line.

Looking ahead, how is Monforts preparing to address the future needs of the global textile industry, particularly in terms of sustainability, digitisation, and automation?

We are constantly updating and improving our machines and with the latest MONTEX stenters, for example, overall energy savings of up to 40 per cent can now be achieved compared to a conventional stenter with no heat recovery or energy optimisation measures. Another example is with the on-going development of the THERMEX universal hotflue line for continuous dyeing, curing and thermosolation. The THERMEX provides exceptional cost-effectiveness when dyeing both large and small batches of woven fabrics due to a quick and economical one-pass pad-dry and wash off process.

For our existing customers, we are also prioritising modernisation and upgrades that can make a significant impact in terms of efficiency. The retrofitting of specific modules with new control and drive technology can have a significant impact on the performance of an existing line. The Monforts universal Energy Tower, for example, is a flexible, free-standing air/air heat exchanger for recovering the heat from the exhaust air flow of thermal processes.

It can result in a reduction of up to 30 per cent in the energy consumed by a line, depending on the exhaust air volume and operating temperature. The Monforts Eco Booster, which can be completely integrated into the chamber design of a MONTEX stenter, is another retrofitting option.

As a single state-of-the-art heat recovery system with automatic cleaning, it can be added to existing ranges. For ranges of up to eight chambers, only one module is necessary to achieve very significant energy savings. The Eco Booster consumes only minimal amounts of water during the cleaning cycle and the entire process is controlled and monitored automatically. There are also considerable benefits to be gained from bringing a machine’s HMI – human machine interface – up to date, as well as with new frequency converter options.

Monforts is now working with business partners and textile producers across all industries to use AI to increase operational efficiency and transform the customer experience. Please contact us to discover the ways AI, accelerated computing and simulation can be integrated into products, services and operations.