Itema never stops and weaves new denim magic!

Leveraging its strong historic past, Itema has been proving every year that it is capable of setting new milestones in weaving fabrics to the utmost satisfaction of its customers worldwide.

The last five years had been hectic for Itema at its Colzate plant: Total revamp of production, adding to a face-lift never seen before, with the Itema Group CEO, Carlo Rogora at the helm leading the restructuring saga. Today the Colzate plant reflects the extraordinary transformation it has undergone. The revamp has at last brought immense benefits in its wake – doubling profit and production capacity.

The culmination of all the herculean efforts and also the beginning of a new era in Itema was clearly visible on the faces of Carlo Rogora and Christian Straubhaar, Itema Group Sales & Marketing Director, when they announced the launch of a revolutionary concept in denim weaving in a new avatar of R9500 called R95002denim, that drew unending stream of crowds at the ITM 2018.

It was a mesmerizing moment when Christian announced during the press conference that “the world’s greatest denim mills are going to save money, produce quality fabrics, achieve the highest weaving efficiency like never before. A new generation of Itema denim rapier machine will push the boundaries of weaving due to never-before-seen in the industry innovation.”

Both the Itema stalwarts claim unparalleled cost savings in the new R95002denim. How? Based on three planks, the first is iSAVERâ„¢ by ItemaLabâ„¢ , a breakthrough mechatronic innovation able to eliminate the waste selvedge on the left side of the fabric. With no warp and weft waste, it will lead to unparalleled cost savings.

Secondly, significant energy saving is realised thanks to the optimisation of the machine main mechanical components and lubrication system that allows a considerable energy consumption reduction.

The third plank is a new tape-hook system: redesigned and optimised, the tape-hook system provides the remarkable benefit of significantly extending components’ lifetime. The new Itema tapes developed by Lamiflex, an Itema Group company specialised in composite materials, feature an innovative configuration with a triple layer of carbon fibre thus leading to unparalleled performances and reliability.

Besides economic saving, the Itema R95002denim guarantees superior fabric quality due to the unrivaled rapier transfer system and to the smallest shed opening in the market.

Ready to revolutionise the denim fabric production through never-before-seen innovations which make the R95002denim by far the most advanced denim rapier weaving machine in the playground, Itema strong point is the customer centricity that defines every company’s move.

“No matter how easy to use and intuitive the latest-generation weaving equipment from Itema, training remains a key element when it comes to getting the most out of your looms," says in this regard Straubhaar. “This is why Itema strongly encourages Customers to take full advantage of the ItemaCampus facility and schedules dedicated training courses for key weaving personnel at our fully-functional and ergonomic ItemaCampus worldwide locations.”

Itema Sales Director continues: “Hands-on training for the latest Itema Rapier R9500 and Airjet A9500 series looms, as well as the Projectile P7300HP V8 and the R9500terry looms currently takes place at various Itema locations around the world, including the original ItemaCampus at the Corporate Headquarters in Colzate, Italy, as well as in a number of training centers globally, including Wollerau, Switzerland; Shanghai, China; Coimbatore, India; lbaraki, Japan, and Spartanburg, USA. The latest to join this rank is the ItemaCampus in Lahore, Pakistan.

Itema is future-oriented not only when it comes to develop innovative weaving solutions. Says Rogora: “In 2017 Itema Group acquired 61 per cent of shares in Lamiflex, a leading supplier of technical composite products, and a minority stake in NoeCha, provider of high-tech wide-format printing solutions. The acquisitions are part of a wider strategy of Itema and its shareholders, the Radici family with 60 per cent of shares and the Arizzi e Torri families with the remaining 40 per cent, to ultimately accelerate the continued expansion and secure the long-term predictability of Itema by diversifying into complementary, high-growth markets through stakes in innovation-driven companies which offer significant economies of scale to fuel the joint development of each others’ core businesses.”

Back in India, where Itema has a well established organisation, Ajay Arora, D’Decor Managing Director, one of the Itema Brand Ambassadors and a leading producer of premium furnishing fabrics, in a video interview attributes his company’s success to its determination to offer its customers only the best. Disclose Itema sources: “And therein lies the profound link between D’Decor and Itema. The cooperation between the two companies dates back to 1999, when D’Decor was founded in Tarapur, Maharashtra, India, starting its production of furnishing fabrics on the Itema rapier Super Excel. Since then D’Decor has grown to become the world’s largest producer of soft furnishing fabrics and has repeatedly shown its confidence in Itema by installing every year new weaving machines. In 2013, D’Decor was one of the first companies in India to install Itema’s latest rapier model R9500, testing its superior textile performances and higher machine efficiency and confirming through several repeat orders-the choice.”

With an installed base of more than 400 Itema rapier machines in 5 state-of-the-art plants, D’Decor produces everyday over 1,20,000 sq m of top quality fabrics for homes all around the world. The Itema R9500 best-in-class rapier machine– in both SK Weft Transfer with guided hooks and FPA Weft Transfer with no guiding hooks in the shed — allows D’Decor to weave a wide range of furnishing and curtain fabrics, with no limitation of patterns and yarns, including coarse and delicate weft yarns such as lurex, chenille and linen, just to name a few.

No wonder, only last year after 50 years of having launched its first rapier, Itema not only celebrated its past, but also raised a toast to weave magic after magic in the coming years!