TECHNICAL TEXTILE VALUE CHAIN took an EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW of Christoph Machill, Head of Business Unit Spunlace, AUTEFA Solutions, Germany.
Could you please give us a brief overview of your company and what you are specialized in?
Autefa is a supplier of spun lace and nonwovens. It is a complete value chain from fibres to rolled goods. We are supplying machines for all kinds of bonding, like needle punching, thermal bonding, and web forming.
What are the key research areas of spun lace?
The focus is on providing machinery for manufacturing sustainable fabrics. We provide our customers with innovative solutions in this sector.
How is the performance of spunlace in the market?
The spunlace technology has been in the market for over 25 years. We already have a presence globally and in India as well. Autefa decided to venture into Spunlace because we wanted to have a presence in the entire supply chain, and the Spunlace was missing. We redeveloped our technologies. We are working to create lesser energy-intensive process as the process used currently is very energy-intensive. We want to get better results.
How are you focussing on getting better quality products?
We are developing a process that is less energy intensive and reuses the existing resources in manufacturing the products.
Has AUTEFA taken any steps to obtain different kinds of certifications?
We have various certifications that are necessary for the different machinery as per the European and other markets. We have ISO certifications as well.
How is the Asian Market according to you?
The Asian market is particularly very interesting for us. It is the most growing market. The countries are very populated, and hence, people need textiles and nonwovens. We are making products that are more suitable for the needs of the people.
How do you manage to maintain the diverse clientele that you have?
Well, it is extremely important that both the manufacturers and the consumers are very happy in a business. You have to create a win-win situation for both. We develop technologies and technical support to operate such machines. In addition to this, we offer extra services like spare parts, electronics, technologies, etc.
How does Autefa focus on the continuous improvement and development of its technologies?
We have a very special system to keep track of how everything is functioning. We also need to see how everything benefits the customers. We are offering not only the technologies but how the customers are developing their products. There is always an exchange of knowledge. We have different lines for different processes in our setup.
What is the main challenge that you have faced, being in the industry for so many years?
We are getting good feedback from our customers. We develop the machines by discussing them with our customers so we can generate products according to their needs.
There is a lot of demand for our products. Hence, it is necessary to be open to everything, including the suggestions that are given to us.