IKME 2005
Textile World Asia Special ReportThe Best Of Both WorldsIKME 2005 will enlarge its focus to include both knitting and finishing developments. IKME once again will be held in Milan at Fiera Milano.Milan, Italy’s couture capital and center of industry, will provide a fashionable setting for the second edition of the International Exhibition of Finishing and Knitting Machinery (IKME 2005), to be held at Fiera Milano from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Friday, November 18, through Tuesday, November 22. IKME premiered in 2003 as an event that offered European textile companies, primarily those in Italy, an outlet to display their developments and technologies to the international market. Show organizers stress that while Italy may sometimes be eclipsed by Asia on the world textile scene, it still has a powerful impact, meeting 48 percent of world demand for textile products and 75 percent of European needs, as well as making up 30 percent of European textile and clothing production. The 2005 edition marks the start of the quadrennial schedule of the exhibition, which will take place between International Exhibition of Textile Machinery (ITMA) shows. It also marks the first time the finishing sector — encompassing pretreatment, dyeing, printing and finishing — will be offered in addition to knitting technology — covering flat-bed, circular, chain and crochet machinery developments. Exhibitors also will include manufacturers of auxiliary equipment serving these sectors. Finishing was added in an effort to meet the needs of manufacturers who want more frequent contact with customers and potential customers than was offered by ITMA’s quadrennial schedule. Organized by Milan-based Fiera Milano International (FMI) S.p.A., the exhibition is promoted by the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT); and recently gained the support of the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers (CEMATEX) and its supporting textile associations in Germany, Spain and Switzerland. Exhibitors Continue To RegisterAfter a somewhat slow start to exhibition registration, nearly 180 companies have signed on to exhibit as of Textile World Asia’s press time. Italian exhibitors will have the greatest presence, while companies from Turkey, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland, Brazil, France, Spain, India, Poland and the United Kingdom will lend an international flavor. “It looks as though the decision-making cycle of companies that take part in trade fairs has changed,”said Dott. Federico Pellegata, director, ACIMIT. “Before, when the markets were more stable, it was in companies’ interests to book their places months in advance. Now, because of the turbulence of the international economy, particularly in our industry, companies are making last-minute decisions.” IKME exhibitors will take up the whole of Hall 11 at Fiera Milano, and organizers plan to make space available in Hall 10 as more companies register. Visitors will enter these halls through the Porta Metropolitana entrance. “We are prepared to change the layout of the exhibition area in order to provide space for companies wanting to take part,” said Costantino Cutroneo, exhibition director.“We will certainly make every effort to make sure last-minute participants do not miss out on this great opportunity to take part in the largest textile machinery exhibition in Europe in 2005.” The Excellence area will highlight new products and treatments for traditional fabrics.IKME ConferencesTwo conferences will be offered at IKME. The first,“The Role of Product and Process Innovation and the Relaunch of Textiles and Fashion,” will take place Saturday, November 19, and is sponsored by the Italian Textiles Association and the Italian Textiles and Colour Chemicals Association. Domestic and international experts will discuss topics relating to the Best Available Technologies, which enable companies to save energy and protect the environment. Topics of discussion also will include innovative production processes that utilize nanotechnologies. The second conference, to be held Monday, November 21, is entitled “The New Frontiers in Textiles: Scenarios, Innovations and Products. Technology, Functionality and the Supply Chain in Textile Surface Finishing and Non-traditional Applica-tions for Knitted Fabrics.” Organized by TexClubTec, Milan, it will focus on current development opportunities offered by nontraditional uses of innovative textiles. On the afternoon of Sunday, November 20, a series of short talks on technical, economic and market topics organized by trade magazines in Italy and abroad will be held in a special conference area in Hall 11. Knitwear examples on display at the last IKME.Promoting ExcellenceIntroduced at IKME 2003, the Excellence area — an entry portal to the exhibition itself that serves to promote the synergy between machinery manufacturers and users — will highlight new products and treatments for traditional fabrics, as well as the extension of everyday applications to new sectors. More than 30 companies will be represented in the 600 square meters of the Excellence area. These companies will promote new ideas for home furnishings, apparel and nontraditional applications. “IKME Finishing & Knitting mainly targets clients in Europe and the Mediterranean basin, who nowadays have to face a difficult market to which they should be able to present ever more interesting and complex products,” said Biella Intraprendere representative Maurizio Poma, who will help to coordinate the Excellence area. “This is the basis for the concept embodied by Excellence, which exhibitors will use initially to stimulate interest in visiting the event and then to make visitors want to spend time at the individual stands.”
For more information about IKME 2005, contact Fiera Milano International S.p.A. 39 02 48550 376/378; fax 39 02 43995259; www.ikme.it.
November/December 2005