Swedish Textile Technology Companies Drive Innovation Ahead of ITMA Asia 2026

As the global textile machinery industry gears up for ITMA Asia in Shanghai this November, Swedish textile technology companies are responding to a rapidly evolving market with fresh investment, new product launches, and targeted innovation. Growing competition from Asia, geopolitical uncertainty, tightening regulations, and the accelerating influence of artificial intelligence and digitalisation are collectively reshaping the industry landscape.

Against this backdrop, members of the Swedish Textile Machinery Association (TMAS) have had a notably productive 2026, with new facilities, product introductions, and technologies addressing automation, productivity, recycling, and more resource-efficient textile manufacturing.

Expanding Capacity and Opening New Facilities

Following a record-breaking 2025 and a series of bolt-on acquisitions, ACG Kinna has inaugurated a 1,000-square-metre expansion at its headquarters in Skene. The move comes in direct response to growing demand for the company’s complete textile and finished product line automation services.

Imogo, a pioneer in industrial spray dyeing, has opened a new showroom, test centre, and production hub in Kinnahult. The company introduced its first Dye-Max prototype in 2019 and completed its first industrial-scale installation in 2021. The newly opened facility now enables brands and manufacturers to move from laboratory development to validated commercial production within a single location.

Imogo’s Spray Application Technology

The centre features Imogo’s patented spray application technology, combining the Mini-Max laboratory system with a fully operational industrial-scale Dye-Max line. The line supports fabrics up to 2.4 metres wide and carries a production capacity of approximately 3 tons per day. Using as little as 0.7 litres of dye liquor per kilogram of fabric, Dye-Max delivers significant reductions in water consumption, energy use, chemical input, and wastewater output compared with conventional dyeing methods.

The latest TMAS member, ReSpin, will also see its technology installed at Sweden’s first industrial spinning mill dedicated to recycled textile fibres. The company has developed and patented RespinJenny, a mechanical recycling technology that transforms textile waste into fibres suitable for new yarn production — a development that places textile recycling at the centre of Swedish textile technology progress.

New Technologies Addressing Productivity, Automation, and Efficiency

Alongside these investments, TMAS members have introduced several new technologies during 2026, all focused on productivity, automation, and more resource-efficient textile manufacturing.

BW Converting’s Baldwin TexCoat® G4 and Corona Pure

BW Converting’s Baldwin TexCoat® G4 precision spray finishing system uses precision spray application technology to apply chemistry with pinpoint accuracy to one or both sides of a fabric. By replacing conventional bath-based methods with a non-contact spray process, the system reduces wet pick-up by up to 50%, significantly lowering water consumption and the energy required for drying while supporting a more consistent finishing process.

BW Converting will also showcase Corona Pure, its surface treatment technology designed to improve adhesion and enhance fabric performance. As mills transition away from C6 fluorocarbon-based water repellents towards fluorocarbon-free C0 chemistries, Corona Pure improves fabric absorbency and helps these formulations deliver stronger water-repellent performance — reflecting the company’s continued focus on helping mills adapt to changing chemistry requirements while maintaining product quality.

Automatex’s P12-PB Automatic Lock Stitch Quilting Unit

Automatex has developed the P12-PB Automatic Lock Stitch Quilting Unit, which doubles productivity compared with previous systems. The unit delivers continuous programmable quilting with reduced manual intervention in the production of bedding and padded home textiles, representing a clear step forward in textile automation.

Eton Systems’ AI-Powered Garment Sorting

Eton Systems has demonstrated its aUPS module for the rapid sorting of used garments. Built on the company’s established UPS material handling system and ETONingenious Factory 4.0 software, the system uses artificial intelligence to grade individual garments by colour, size, and style — and, where possible, by manufacturer. It can also identify damage, recommend possible repairs, and calculate a potential resale price, providing an automated approach to sorting garments for reuse.

TMAS Members Heading to ITMA Asia 2026 in Shanghai

The pace of activity across TMAS is set to carry through to the close of the year, with Vandewiele Sweden and Eltex both confirmed to showcase their latest technologies at ITMA Asia 2026 in Shanghai, running from 20 to 24 November.

Eltex at ITMA Asia 2026

Eltex will present its latest ACT-MULTI system at ITMA Asia 2026, bringing individual yarn tension monitoring and automatic control to the heat-setting process. The system helps manufacturers maintain consistent processing conditions across every yarn position. Heat-setting is a critical stage in the production of synthetic and blended yarns, stabilising yarn structures and locking in twist and bulk to ensure predictable performance during subsequent weaving, knitting, tufting, dyeing, and finishing processes.

Vandewiele Sweden at ITMA Asia 2026

Vandewiele Sweden will highlight its long-standing expertise in weft feeding and tension control at ITMA Asia 2026. By ensuring repeatable and predictable yarn delivery at increasingly high loom speeds, the company’s technologies enable weaving mills to operate closer to their technical limits while maintaining consistent fabric quality. The company’s continued development of data-ready weft feeders also reflects the growing digitalisation of textile manufacturing, embedding intelligence where it can deliver measurable operational benefits without adding unnecessary complexity to demanding production environments.

TMAS Secretary General’s Perspective

Therese Premler-Andersson, secretary general of TMAS — which, as a member of Cematex, is closely involved with the ITMA exhibition platform for the international textile machinery industry — commented on the year’s progress.

“This has been a very positive year for TMAS members so far, with investment in new facilities, new technologies reaching the market and further progress in areas ranging from automation and digitalisation to more resource-efficient production,” she said. “These developments demonstrate the breadth of Swedish textile technology and the very practical way our members are responding to the changing requirements of manufacturers worldwide. We expect that momentum to continue throughout the remainder of 2026 and into next year.”

She also addressed the broader competitive environment: “There is no question that the competitive landscape is changing. AI, geopolitical uncertainty, regulation and increasing competition from China will all influence our industry in the years ahead. For Swedish textile technology companies, the answer will be to keep pushing innovation, specialist know-how and customer value.”