What has been the growth of the Italian textile machinery market in the last two years?
After a decline in Italy's textile machinery production in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, the Italian textile machinery industry made a strong recovery, exceeding pre-pandemic production and export levels. The value of Italian production in the industry reached €2.4 billion, while the value of exports was €2 billion.
What are the strengths of the Italian textile machinery market and what are the weaknesses? What steps is ACIMIT taking to overcome the shortcomings?
The main characteristics that distinguish Italian textile machinery sector are
- the skilled workforce that ensures high quality of products;
- the dimensions of Italian companies that allow a quick response to the need of each customer;
- the flexibility and versatility ensuring a customised production for satisfying the needs of each customer and
- the high technological level of the supply due to the constant attention paid by Italian companies to the R&D activities and to innovative solutions.
Of course, the small size of Italian companies can also be a point of weakness. In certain markets our brands are still not well known precisely because of the poor promotion activities that small companies cannot carry out on their own. ACIMIT supports the internationalisation of its member companies through activities aimed at promoting the entire sector such as coordinating Italian exhibitors at trade fairs, organising training courses for foreign textile operators, etc.
From which countries has the demand been the most and for which type of machinery?
In 2021 China, Turkey, Pakistan and the United States were the main markets for Italian textile machinery manufacturers. Asian countries are the ones to which the largest percentage of Italian exports is directed (42% of the total Italian exports). This is followed by European countries. The supply of Italian manufacturers covers all the classic sectors into which we can divide textile machines. Each type of machine is well represented in Italian exports. In 2021, finishing machines accounted for 30% of Italian exports, followed by spinning and knitting machines.
Technology has grown by leaps and bounds over the last two years. How have ACIMIT members stayed abreast and what have been the key innovations that you would like to talk about?
The Italian textile machinery industry has also seen a strong innovation momentum to deal with the pandemic and its impact on manufacturing. Italian manufacturers have focused on digitising their production processes and those of their customers. Machines that are more interconnected with each other and with customer companies' information systems can make textile companies even more competitive. Special attention has also been paid to facilitating maintenance, both predictive and preventive one, of installed machinery to reduce production stops and make the production process more efficient.
