customer newsletter - Benninger AG

customer newsletter
«Customer-Focus»
Ready for a change
Dear Customers, Partners and Friends
Fortunately, the market situation has improved for our customers
in some countries. Various textile manufacturers,
particularly in India, have told us that the fortieth Heimtextil
trade fair which was held in January in Frankfurt was a
great success. According to their information, the demand
for textiles has risen noticeably, and the textile industry,
which has a much more international structure than many
other industries, is through the worst of the economic
downturn. A similar picture emerged from the Première
Vision which finished in Paris middle of February. Are these
the signs that things are ready for a change?
In recent months, Benninger has been able to secure
increasing numbers of contracts from a handful of new
customers, but predominantly from existing and loyal
customers. The situation for companies seeking finance
for new plants appears to have eased slightly. Textile
manufacturers are regaining their confidence and expect
the industry to now enter a period of growth. The fact that
they are preparing themselves to start making investments
again gives us confidence. However, we have also noticed
that there are still customers in traditional textile-producing
countries who are reluctant to purchase new finishing
plants until they are sure of further developments on the
consumer front. Despite the growing optimism, discussions
with our customers have revealed that they feel our price
structure leaves a little to be desired, i.e. our customers are
increasingly demanding that we lower our selling prices.
Benninger is addressing this matter, and various mea-
sures have now been put in place. One thing goes without
saying for us though – despite the enormous pressure to
reduce prices, we always endeavour to meet or surpass
the quality standards expected by our customers. Furthermore,
we are also constantly looking for ways to improve
our solutions in relation to energy and water consumption.
It is also very important to us that our machinery displays
stable running characteristics, even when running with
delicate textile composite materials. Our engineers are
working very intensively to improve finishing processes
with adapted new components. Product innovations remain
important for Benninger and are a key way to add value for
customers.
We are open to new ideas and suggestions and look
forward to hearing from you – our specialists are also very
happy to discuss unusual requirements for new textile fabrics
or knitwear.
In this issue of our Customer Focus newsletter we would
like to introduce a highly successful product from Küsters
Textile GmbH – the Küsters DyePad padder. Based on customers’
requirements, we have decided to launch a padder
with a slightly simpler design. It is mechanically adjustable,
without complicated electronics. With the Küsters DyePad
Basic we are hoping to offer our customers a more inexpensive
padder alongside the familiar padder with PLC
controlled S-roller. The first machines are already running
to the satisfaction of our customers in China. In addition,
we will also take a look at the production facilities of Küsters
Textile GmbH in Zittau, Germany. Küsters Textile GmbH
was brought into the fold of the Benninger Group at the
end of 2007.
We now look ahead with greater confidence into the
future, and we hope to soon share our customers’ more
buoyant mood.
Your Heinz Michel, CEO
| 1
Editorial March 2010

New products
Interview
Küsters DyePad Basic: a cost-effective alternative
Detail view
It was Joe Cocker in the 1990s who announced that «the
best things in life are the simple things…». This motto has
also been the guiding principle behind the cold pad batch
dyeing process (CPB) since it was first invented half way
through the last century. In this method, a pair of rolls is
used to apply an accurately defined quantity of dyestuff
evenly onto the textile product, where it is allowed to react
for several hours before being washed out again. The
result is a simple and reliable method for dyeing cotton.
The key here is the even application of dyestuff across the
width and length of a section. This is also the ideal situa-
Our customer Qing Mao in Shaoxing Paoj, China, works
with a Küsters DyePad Basic for one year. Mr Koji Chan,
Vice General Manager of our subsidiary Benninger Trading
(Shanghai) Ltd., interviewed Mr Wong Pak Sang,
Dyeing Factory Manager of Qing Mao:
Benninger (BEN): How long is Qing Mao already in the
business?
Mr Wong: The factory is started construction in 2002, and
is put into production in 2003.
BEN: And what is your main focus today?
Mr Wong: Qing Mao is specialized in the weaving, dyeing
and finishing. The main article is 100% Cotton, but also
Cotton/Lycra, and T/C woven fabric.
BEN: Are you mainly producing for the local, or also for
the international market?
2 |
tion for using swimming rolls from Küsters Textile, as have
already been used in the DyePad for decades.
Thanks to the S-Roll technology, an even and reproducible
roll gap can be produced independently of the overall
pressure. In the past, market-driven requirements have
seen this method increasingly accompanied by control
technology innovations. «Tailing control», «self-adjustment»
and «plug and play» are just a few of the additional
functions which have often served very well, but which
have gradually over-complicated what was originally a very
simple process.
Benninger is now bucking this trend with the Küsters
DyePad Basic padder, which meets all of the requirements
of the cold pad batch dyeing
process without having to make
any comprom ises. Alongside
the proven and necessary
S-Roll technology, this application
system has an automatic
dyestuff feed and even a quickclean
option. With the Küsters
DyePad Basic, dyeing results
which are absolutely brilliant in
every respect can be achieved
with exceptionally cost-effective
equipment.
Control cabinet
Interview with our customer Qing Mao Weaving, Dyeing & Printing Co. Ltd. in China
Entrance of Qing Mao’s factory
Mr Wong: Our products are mainly for export to Europe
and USA, but some for domestic market, especially the
garment factories which belong to overseas companies
but located in China.
BEN: As a Chinese manufacturer, how important is the
quality issue for you and your team?
Mr Wong: Of course, quality has always been the most
important factor for us. We are absolutely convinced that
without quality there is no way for a long-term partnership.
This is the same requirement for machinery supplier, like
Benninger.
BEN: You are also dyeing with the Cold Pad Batch system.
What is the reason for this?
Mr Wong: I think the biggest advantages of Cold Pad
Batch dyeing are energy saving and high quality. The
investment cost is rather low in comparison with continuous
dyeing range.
BEN: When did you buy your first DyePad?
Mr Wong: In 2003, we bought the first DyePad.
BEN: You decided for a Küsters DyePad at this time. Why
the S-Roll system?
Mr Wong: Küsters S-Roll is well-known all over the world,
and we had confidence in this system, so we decided to
purchase Küsters DyePad at that time without any hesitation.
After using S-Roll, we found that the hydraulic
system always gives us the safety and security for a good
production result.
BEN: How long does an original S-Roll last?
Mr Wong: The original S-Roll has already lasted for seven
years. The roll condition is still good up till now except

some maintenance grindings for rubber surface.
BEN: Last year you purchased the first generation of the
222.13, the basic successor of the original 222.11. Do you
already have a first impression?
Mr Wong: It is a typical Küsters DyePad, even if now produced
by Benninger.
BEN: Do you see any changes in the Küsters DyePad,
which is now manufactured by Benninger?
Zittau is the production site for the Küsters DyePad Basic
Since the invention of the swimming roll in 1956, the name
of the S-Roll has been inextricably linked to the town in
which its inventor Eduard Küsters was born: the «velvet
and silk» town of Krefeld. However, restructuring measures
at Maschinenfabrik Eduard Küsters GmbH at the
end of the last century have resulted in major parts of the
company being relocated to its subsidiary in Zittau. In the
period since, the production site in the triangle of countries
between the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany has
steadily been expanded, resulting in the most state-of-theart
roller production facilities in the world. Know-how and
competence centres have been set up, and expertise has
been continuously widened in the field of roller production.
Swimming rolls play a special role here. One of the
company traditions is that the employees in Zittau have a
Mr Wong: Basically, I cannot find any big differences. Küsters
DyePad is always easy to be operated and controlled.
BEN: How do you see the future?
Mr Wong: The future market needs more energy-saving
and high performance machine; I have no doubt that
Benninger Cold Pad Batch dyeing machine will have good
prospect in the market.
BEN: Thank you very much for the interview.
duty not only to adopt a quality and innovation based outlook,
but to constantly expand this outlook. Every day, the
legacy of Eduard Küsters is kept alive and steered towards
new targets. The most recent example of this is the Küsters
DyePad Basic, which shows quite how successfully Zittau
has taken on the legitimate succession from Krefeld as
the cradle of the swimming roll. The power to innovate,
expertise in the field of textiles and high quality work are the
cornerstones of the company’s well-documented customer
satisfaction. It also helps here that all Küsters S-Rolls come
together in the modern Service Center in Zittau for repairs
and maintenance work, which allows continuous efforts to
be made to keep improving this traditional quality product
– exactly how Eduard Küsters, the father of this technology,
would have wanted it.
145 years of textile machinery construction in Zittau: Küsters Textile GmbH
Küsters Textile GmbH Küsters DyePad
More than fifty years ago Eduard Küsters filed the first patent
for the swimming roll (S-Roll). Since then, much has changed
in the field of wet finishing for woven and knitted fabrics.
The history of Küsters Textile GmbH starts in 1864, when
Albert Kiesler founded an iron foundry and machine construction
plant at the site on Gerhart-Hauptmann-Strasse. Eight
years later, the Kiesler-based company became one of the
very first companies in Germany to be listed on the stock
exchange under the name Zittauer Maschinenfabrik AG. The
textile machines and steam machines from Britain, which had
been dominant up to this point, suddenly saw a big rise in
competition right across the continent.
Up to World War I, the company experienced a period of
booming business and expansion. After the chaos of war
lifted quite quickly, exports to the Far East and to the Middle
East increased rapidly. Products from the machine factory in
Zittau became a byword for quality during the years between
the wars. Great success was achieved with numerous patents
and benchmarks in textile finishing, particularly in the field of
machines for textile finishing processes.
Even under the difficult conditions of being sealed off
from western markets, the company known then as VEB
Textilmaschinenbau Zittau (which translates as the «people’s
enterprise for textile machinery construction in Zittau») was
able to follow on from these traditions. In 1949 Eduard Küsters
founded a development facility for textile machinery in the
town of Krefeld, a place steeped in a rich tradition of industry
and textile production. In 1953 he then founded the company
Eduard Küsters Maschinenfabrik. In the mid-1950s, a milestone
was reached when the patent for the swimming roll was
| 3
Production site
Küsters Textile GmbH

Services
Benninger worldwide
filed, and five years later this technology was used for the first
time in a paper machine. After founding the Küsters Corporation
for the production of textile machinery in Spartanburg/
USA in 1974, Küsters took over Zima Corp. in the same town
in 1994 and set up Küsters Far East Ltd. in Hong Kong.
In 2007 Benninger AG acquired Küsters Textile GmbH,
Zittau from its then owner Jagenberg AG by acquiring all
of the shares in Küsters Textile GmbH, Zittau. This merger
Addresses
Benninger AG
9240 Uzwil, Switzerland
T +41 71 955 85 85
F +41 71 955 87 47
benswiss@benningergroup.com
www.benningergroup.com
Benninger Zell GmbH
Schopfheimerstrasse 89
79669 Zell i.W., Germany
T +49 7625 131 0
F +49 7625 131 298
bengermany@benningergroup.com
4 |
Benninger Zittau
Küsters Textile GmbH
Gerhart-Hauptmann-Strasse 15
02763 Zittau, Germany
T +49 3583 83 0
F +49 3583 83 303
kt@kuesters-textile.com
Benninger AG
Moscow Office
Leningradsky pr-t 72
Bld. 4, Office 802
125315 Moscow, Russia
T +7 495 721 18 99
F +7 495 721 30 84
benrussia@benningergroup.com
produced the worldwide leading technology supplier for
machinery, plants and complete system solutions for textile
wet finishing. By pooling the expertise of Benninger and
Küsters in the field of wet finishing of woven and knitted
fabrics, the long-term future of both companies has been
secured and strengthened.
Küsters S-Roll Service: A high quality product deserves top class service
S-Roll in service
For decades the Küsters Swimming Roll guarantees high
quality and reproducible top results. In order to maintain
these high standards, repair and maintenance work should
only be carried out by professional and qualified experienced
specialists – by technicians trained by Küsters to the
most discerning standards.
Regular maintenance is essential in order to keep the
performance of the elaborate S-Roll-System in perfect
shape, also in the future to come. Besides a periodic
regrinding and renewal of the rubber coating, maintenance
in the core of the roll is required, such as seals and the
hydraulic system. These services can only be performed
by qualified specialists. Our Küsters employees in our Zit-
tau manufacturing unit have been building textile machines
since tens of years. Here the vast expertise of the traditio-
nal textile machine builder supplier is at your service in
order to make sure that your Küsters Swimming Roll maintains
true running in the future.
Time is money. That is why we set the threshold very
high. Should no major damages be detected (for the axis or
the steel tube on the S-Roll), we guarantee a professional
overhaul of your S-Roll (all standard widths) within 4 weeks
upon arrival of the roll in our works. Should for one reason or
another the overhaul take longer than expected, we will reimburse
some of the costs. Upon demand we are in a position
to offer an exchange roll (a few countries do not permit this
service and certain working widths may not be available), in
order to minimise your production interruption.
The advantages at a glance: Professional job executed
by experienced Küsters technicians, you get an original
Küsters warranty on overhaul work executed and calculable
time frame, you get part compensation in case of longer
than stipulated time frame and finally you get an original
certificate from Küsters Textile GmbH.
Please contact Mr Daniel Griessbach, our specialist
for the S-Roll Service at Küsters Textile GmbH in Zittau,
Germany. He is pleased to advise you. Like this, your swimming
roll runs smoothly into the future.
Benninger India Ltd.
415, Sunshine Plaza
Naigaon Cross Road/
Near Avon Ruby Hotel, Dadar (East)
Mumbai 400 014, India
T +91 22 2417 5361
F +91 22 2417 5362
benindia@benningergroup.com
Benninger Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.
Room 904, Tower A
City Center of Shanghai
100 Zun Yi Road
Shanghai 200051, P.R. China
T +86 21 6237 1908
F +86 21 6237 1909
benchina@benningergroup.com