Navis TubeTex sets sight on growing open

Textile finishing technologies have revolutionised Bangladesh’s textile industry in the last few years, making it possible to produce high-quality fabrics with a wide range of features and characteristics as well as to meet the demands of the most sought-after international apparel buyers. Navis TubeTex, a US-based leading provider of high-technology finishing machinery to the global textile industry, has been a known name in Bangladesh’s textile industry as it has been supplying cutting-edge finishing technologies to the country for several years now.

Navis reported positive participation in the recently concluded DTG ’23 exhibition in Dhaka. Since a substantial chunk of fabric manufacturing market is supposedly moving out of China to countries like Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, DTG 2023 proved to be a go-to platform for Navis TubeTex that showcased its products in collaboration with its Bangladesh’s dealer and a reputed name in the industry UNI ASIA ASSOCIATES LTD. owned by MA Saleque to lure textile manufacturers in Bangladesh.

In conversation with Team Apparel Resources (AR), Gary L. Morris, Sales Director (Asia-Pacific region), Navis TubeTex mentioned that the company has been dependent heavily on tubular finishing in Bangladesh but, this time around, it had huge expectations from open-width market and the Bangladeshi market didn’t disappoint Navis.

“We relied on 100 per cent cotton or cotton polyester blend until now in this market but the trend is rapidly moving towards synthetics, cotton lycra, spandex and viscose fabrics. We are continuously monitoring market trends, expansions and we are making adjustments accordingly in those areas to cater to technology requirements of the factories and mills,” commented Gary.

Around 20 per cent business of Navis TubeTex comes from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan which is poised to grow in the future. Navis TubeTex has been in the industry for over 85 years and it has done machine installations in around 80 countries till now. According to Gary, continuously striving to supply global customers with products that help them in manufacturing has been the main motive of Navis TubeTex.

It’s pertinent to mention here that open-width fabric refers to a type of fabric that is produced in a wider width than traditional fabrics. This allows for greater efficiency and reduces the number of seams in finished garments. Open-width fabrics are becoming increasingly popular in the apparel industry due to their versatility and cost-effectiveness. Bangladesh now has a significant share in the global open-width fabric market due to its focus on adopting advanced textile finishing technologies and credit also goes to Navis for its sincere efforts in the country.

Gary further pointed out that even if economic conditions have been a little dismal of late in Bangladesh, the industry is seemingly opening up its investment capacity. There are some machine companies that are talking about liquidity issues; however, Navis claimed it has never sold a machine in Bangladesh and not be paid!

“It’s true that banks are slow here but we haven’t been facing any such issue,” said Gary who further mentioned that the company was promoting its Consultex spray system during DTG 2023 which has many applications in the country. Consultex produces spray systems that are used in textiles, film, non-woven, paper and battery industries.

“We, at UNI ASIA, are identifying premium manufacturers in Bangladesh for Navis Tubetex who are expanding into the open-width fabric segment and looking for 3% or less than 3% residual shrinkage in critical fabrics which our customers can’t achieve from felt-type compactor machines. Navis Tubetex guarantees to achieve this.” – MA Saleque MD, UNI ASIA.

Another solution that Navis displayed during DTG ’23 was Gaston Systems that the company purchased around a year ago. Gaston Systems designs and engineers advanced coating systems for the textile and non-woven industries. Using proprietary foam generation and application systems, Gaston Systems has an international reputation for offering high-quality and innovative technologies to satisfy long-term sustainability requirements.

Applications for indigo, reactive and other dyeing concepts have a measurable positive environmental impact. Gaston Systems’ technology for indigo dyeing eliminates wastewater at the end of the manufacturing process while driving down energy usage.

“During ITMA 2023 in Milan (Italy) later this year in June, we will be launching our newest C2500 Open Width Compacter. We focus not only on statistics but the functionality of the machine which is the strength of our R&D team,” concluded Gary.