Picanol reached an impressive milestone in April when the 20,000th OptiMax rapier-weaving machine rolled off the production line at its plant in Ypres, Belgium.
The first OptiMax was produced in Ypres in 2007. The OptiMax is the most advanced and fastest rapier-weaving machine on the market today with speeds of up to 700 picks per minute. The 20,000th OptiMax was shipped in April to Sister Denim Composite Ltd. from Bangladesh. The OptiMax offers the ideal combination of considerable versatility and highly productive weaving and features components that are designed for higher operating speeds and optimum productivity. The OptiMax was given a boost in 2011 when Picanol also presented a positive gripper version to complete the offerings of its rapier platform. Whilst it is available in all widths (up to 540 cm), in particular it opened new perspectives in technical segments such as coating fabrics, primary and secondary carpet backing and geogrids. “Our OptiMax represents the benchmark of the rapier industry. Thanks to its modular and future-oriented design, it can be adapted to a wide range of conditions, which means that it provides weavers with a great deal of flexibility in reacting to changes in market requirements. With speeds of up to 700 picks per minute, this is the fastest industrial rapier weaving machine in the world and it has an installed base at more than 800 customers in over 50 countries” explained Johan Verstraete, Vice-President Marketing, Sales & Services at Picanol. “We have every reason to be proud of the fact that we have produced our successful OptiMax model 20,000 times. Achieving this milestone demonstrates our ability to produce best-in-class, dedicated weaving machines for the world’s most reputable textile manufacturers. This is further proof of the confidence that our customers have in the Picanol brand, its quality and its rapier technology” This important production milestone was celebrated with all of the Picanol employees in the assembly department in Ypres. Picanol weaving machines are a synthesis of technological know-how and experience that has been built up over nearly 80 years and has seen more than 300,000 machines produced. As of today, Picanol is proud to confirm that it has more than 175,000 weaving machines running in some 2,600 weaving mills worldwide. “At Picanol we are convinced that we can help our customers to grow. We’ve done it in the past and we are very eager to keep doing so in the future. For this reason we have started our new marketing campaign under the slogan “Let’s grow together” and this will lead us to ITMA Milano and beyond. As ITMA draws closer, we will reveal some of our newest technological breakthroughs on our website www.letsgrowtogether.be.”
