SHANGHAI, China — Texcare Asia, one of the region’s acclaimed trade exhibitions for the international textile care sector, ended its eighth edition on a bright note, say show organizers Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. and the China Light Industry Machinery Association (CLIMA).
The biennial show returned to the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in late November. The three-day event—which fell during the Thanksgiving holiday celebrated in the United States—welcomed 10,267 visitors from 54 countries and regions, representing a 20% increase from the 2013 edition.
“Texcare Asia has unwavering support from the global industry, particularly from regional associations across continents. The impressive increase in visitor figures validates the show’s status as the first-choice trade platform for textile care solutions in China and throughout the rest of Asia,” says Richard Li, general manager of Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. “It also reflects the steady growth in demand for upgraded laundry machinery and innovative solutions with heightened concerns about energy efficiency and integrated automation.
“I am pleased with the show results and believe the fair has contributed to unlocking greater market opportunities for suppliers worldwide.”
Texcare Asia hosted 153 exhibitors from 19 countries and regions that showcased a full spectrum of products, solutions and advanced technologies related to laundry, drycleaning, dyeing, and ironing and textile management systems for industrial and commercial use, organizers say.
Alliance Laundry Systems enlarged its booth for the 2015 show. On display was an array of machines from its family of renowned brands, including Speed Queen, UniMac, Huebsch and IPSO, with special focus given to the newly acquired brands of Deli and Primus.
“With Texcare Asia being held in Southeast Asia, every customer from our distributors comes to the show, making it an important platform for us to show them how unique we are in the industry,” says Christophe Sisternas, the company’s international marketing director.
“The Chinese market has great potential and is one of our biggest markets,” adds Michael Li, managing partner for the group’s Greater China business. “We will retain our focus here for at least the next 10 years.”
China’s own Shanghai Sailstar Machinery Group Co. Ltd. also returned to the 2015 show and successfully closed deals onsite. Says Mingjun Yang, vice president, “Texcare Asia is the most significant and popular industry trade fair for our customers. This year’s visitor flow was exceptionally high, and we have met many end-users, laundry plant owners and professionals from China and other countries across Asia.”
Another participating exhibitor, Jensen Group, displayed its resource-saving technologies and expertise in automation. Says Gerda Jank, head of marketing for the group, “The Chinese market is maturing quickly and paying greater attention to ecological protection, productivity and safety. We are happy to be at the fair and interact with Chinese customers to give them the right solutions. We are extremely satisfied with the quality and quantity of visitors, and engaged in in-depth discussions with both large companies and smaller laundry factories. I am very confident that we will join the show again in 2017.”
Visiting the show were buyers with different requirements and demands.
Edy Susanto, laundry manager at luxury hotel Raffles Jakarta, came with the Indonesian delegation.
“This is a very successful exhibition. I am delighted to see plenty of solution options that I can compare and choose from,” Susanto says. “My colleagues and I found some products, including tunnel washers and fabric-spreading machines from China, that we may place orders for. In recent years I have noticed a big improvement in Chinese products that are competing with European ones. We are very much satisfied by the products demonstrated here, and it is likely that we will place orders when we return to Indonesia.”
Roy Cheng, assistant sales manager, and Ir Roy Leung, assistant general manager, from E&M Contracting of The Jardine Engineering Corp. Ltd. from Hong Kong attended the show for the first time. They searched for laundry equipment that would provide optimized total solutions for their clients in Hong Kong and Macau.
“We decided to visit Texcare Asia because it was highly recommended by our work peers and customers,” says Cheng. “It was favorable that half of the exhibitors were from China and the other half were from overseas, because we look for products in different price ranges and with varied strengths to match the broad specifications of the many projects we work on.”
Leung adds, “The diversity of laundry machines is wide and basically everything along the supply chain can be found at the fair. The show is a good platform for us and anyone in the industry to keep pace with new products and market trends.”
Domestic distributors shared similar sentiments.
Richard Yang, representative of Pro-technic Engineering Co. Ltd., visited for the third time. “My company distributes domestic laundry machines and provides after-sales services. This year, I intended to learn more about large-scale machinery for centralized laundry plants which serve hotel chains and restaurants. Those plants are eager to upgrade existing equipment and favor locally made machines due to low maintenance costs and high performance. The show is highly industry-oriented, and I think it is the most professional trade fair in the region.”
Held alongside a portion of the show, the Texcare Forum Asia provided informative sessions that revealed the newest industry and product trends.
Prominent experts and market leaders from renowned research institutes presented on topics covering innovative smart laundry concepts, and cost-saving RFID and ICT technologies. They also covered specific fashion-care principles that help achieve high productivity, sustainability and maximum profits.
“The forum provides a good chance for participants to learn about what is happening in Asia’s textile market and to exchange ideas,” says one of the speakers, Sandra Constant, head of France’s Department for CTTN Research Institute for Textile Care and Cleaning. “Besides big topics like dry cleaning and laundry, issues related to energy savings are also popular in Europe. Related costs are relatively lower in Asia, so this creates opportunities for brands. If brands want to develop their businesses in Asia, they have to adapt to the Asian market’s preferences for products, technologies and chemicals.”
The next edition of Texcare Asia is scheduled for the fall of 2017 in Shanghai.
It is a sister event of Texcare International, the World Market for Modern Textile Care, staged every four years in Germany. The next edition of that major exhibition will be June 11-15 in Frankfurt.
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