TECHNICAL TEXTILE VALUE CHAIN took an EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW of Martin Basset, Sales Manager Zimmer, Austria
Tell us about your company and your products.
We are based in Austria. We are focused on digital printing technologies and technical textiles. Here at TechTextil, we are presenting narrow-fabric printing. It is a new technology for military applications as it helps camouflage prints, which are also UV-protected. There is a very high demand for our products. We are also producing webbing, hooks, and loops, which are also printed and camouflaged, and we are also taking care of infrared reflections. We are placed globally, not only in India.
What is your market share in India and globally as well?
The market share in India is a little bit difficult to explain. We have very niche products. Let’s say for digital towel printing, here, only our machines are used. So, I would say the market share is 90 to 95 percent. We also have shares in normal printing markets. Customers are looking for technologies always.
What is the entire market size, then?
It is difficult to tell as carpet is not just one business in India. There is a lot of focus on Handmade products in India. Many companies are moving into this sector now, and they are developing different products. There are many machine-made carpets used globally, out of which the maximum shares are ours.
What is the future of digital printing?
Digital printing is here to stay. It is environmentally more friendly and this is very important for the industry. It is going to evolve eventually as it focuses on saving energy and saving resources.
What other innovations are going on in your company?
We are working on innovation and developing products that are above the normal standards is always our goal. We have made new developments in the business to save the environment.
Digital printing in technical textiles has not that explored yet, so what are your plans for technical textiles?
Technical textiles is a growing business. We will be developing in this segment as well. It is at an initial stage now, but we are working on it!
You are associated with ATE here in India. How has that turned out to be?
ATE has been wonderful! We have been associated for the last 13-14 years. ATE is representing a lot of companies. They have teams with a lot of knowledge, and hence, they are very resourceful. They give us direct contact with the customer. They also offer technical services, and they support the customers way faster.
We are looking forward to working with them for a long duration ahead as well.