In an era where sustainability, digitalization, and high-performance manufacturing continue to shape the global textile industry, Santex Rimar Group remains firmly positioned at the forefront of innovation. In this exclusive interview with Nadeem Mazhar of Pakistan Textile Journal, Simone Rancan, CEO of the Santex Rimar Group, shares insights into the company’s latest advancements in energy efficiency, automation, and technical textiles. He also highlights Santex Rimar Group’s strategic focus on key markets such as Pakistan and outlines its priorities and expectations as the industry moves toward 2025.
Nadeem Mazhar: Sustainability remains a critical focus. What advancements has Santex Rimar Group achieved in energy efficiency, water conservation, and environmental sustainability with your latest product developments?
Simone Rancan: Santex Rimar has always been a reference for the market in terms of energy consumption and sustainability. The premium quality of our projects and machines translates into lower energy consumption per kilo of material processed. This is achieved by reducing those factors with a negative impact on sustainability. Embracing sustainability also has the positive consequence of reducing both waste and energy consumption. We have also made great strides in developing software that optimizes machine performance in order to achieve these goals.
Nadeem Mazhar: Digital transformation is reshaping the textile machinery sector. How has Santex Rimar Group embraced digitalization and automation, and what measurable benefits have these brought to your customers and the industry?
Simone Rancan: Digitalization and automation have been key topics in the industry for many years. And Santex Rimar has always brought its clients the best-available solutions for digitalization. This commitment has required strong investments in our own engineering, as well as cooperation with partners active in digital production technologies. We are extremely satisfied with the results achieved here. The level of automation is also increasing. We note that our clients are continuously choosing machines and plants with our more advanced automation concepts. This brings the end-user maximum consistency in output quality levels, as well as the possibility to operate processes with reduced personnel.
Nadeem Mazhar: Pakistan is a global textile hub. What is your strategy for the Pakistani market, and are there any upcoming products or tailored solutions specifically designed for Pakistani manufacturers?
Simone Rancan: Pakistan is well known for its state-of-the-art textile sector. Requirements from customers are very much focused on the performance and productivity of the equipment they need. Another important aspect is related to the average size of the mills operated by Pakistani clients. They generally have a higher than normal production capacity and daily output, so the equipment we develop for this market are specific versions, geared to the particular profile of the local industry.
Nadeem Mazhar: Customer-centric innovation is vital for long-term success. How does Santex Rimar Group incorporate customer feedback into its R&D processes, and what steps have been taken to enhance the user experience of your technologies?
Simone Rancan: Our Global Service team represents our eyes and ears in the market. We are very proud of this worldwide network, which is vital in bringing feedback from customers. These responses are discussed and analyzed internally by our engineering and sales teams. The interface with latest PLC technologies helps a lot in this process. We have achieved extremely satisfying results, for example in the application of compacting technologies, thanks to this approach, and we will continue in other areas as well.
Nadeem Mazhar: Technical textiles are a growing industry segment. How can Santex Rimar Group meet the specific requirements of sectors like automotive, medical, or protective fabrics?
Simone Rancan: Santex Rimar Group has had technical textiles in its DNA from the start, with a specific division including the Cavitec and Isotex brands. We are thus well positioned to cope with an emerging demand for these types of machinery and plants. So, we do not actually have to ‘follow’ a technical textiles – as we have already been in it for more than 30 years, and are eager to share our extensive knowledge with customers. In fact, technical textiles production doesn’t only need machinery and plants, it also requires tailor-made solutions to be really effective. And this area is one of our great strengths.
Nadeem Mazhar: The development of a skilled workforce is vital in the high-tech manufacturing sector. What initiatives has Santex Rimar Group implemented to ensure that operators, technicians, and clients are well-trained in the efficient operation of your advanced machinery?
Simone Rancan: We place great big importance on our Service Team, not only for providing top-quality assistance to our clients but also for its role in managing training. Increasingly, we offer our clients the chance to train their workforce during a new plant installation. At the same time, we are developing our software to allow customers to input simple instructions to our machines, while the software handles the most complex settings. This is a huge advantage in shortening training time for operators.
Nadeem Mazhar: Looking ahead to 2025, what are Santex Rimar Group’s strategic priorities and expectations? Can you offer any insights into upcoming product launches or anticipated technological breakthroughs?
Simone Rancan: The year 2025 will still be one of uncertainty, for us and the customers. In such an environment, we need to focus on bringing short-term and effective advantages to our clients to help them through this difficult period. Our technological advances are thus mainly focused on software improvements and digitalization. These are the kind of improvements that can be implemented quickly, once developed, not only on new machines but also on existing machines and plants. In this way we achieve a double target, enhancing the new products and giving clients the chance to improve what they already have.
Nadeem Mazhar: What can we expect from Santex Rimar Group at ITMA Asia + CITME 2025?
Simone Rancan: At ITMA Asia + CITME 2025 the Group will present the full program of our technology offering, across both conventional textile and technical textile applications. There will, of course, be a special emphasis on the particular requirements of the greater Asian market. Prominent will be examples of intelligent manufacturing with textile machinery, maximizing the latest digital technologies to improve productivity and sustainability.
In technical textiles, the range of applications is enormous, from carbon fibre pre-pregs to special coatings for airbags and medical products. Our developments in these areas will feature strongly, highlighting especially the design and production of tailor-made equipment to meet the specific demands of individual clients.