ACG Kinna has inaugurated a 1,000-square-metre expansion at its Skene headquarters, scaling capacity for complete textile and finished product line automation after a record 2025 and a series of bolt-on acquisitions.

The investment is one of several capacity and product moves by members of TMAS, the Swedish textile machinery association, ahead of ITMA Asia 2026 in Shanghai, which runs November 20-24. Association secretary general Therese Premler-Andersson said members have invested in new facilities, brought new technologies to market and advanced automation, digitalisation and resource-efficient production.

New production capacity

Imogo, an industrial spray dyeing specialist, has opened a showroom, test centre and production hub in Kinnahult. The site combines the Mini-Max laboratory system with a fully operational industrial-scale Dye-Max line for fabrics up to 2.4 metres wide and a production capacity of approximately 3 tons per day.

The Dye-Max line uses as little as 0.7 litres of dye liquor per kilogram of fabric, reducing water, energy, chemical and wastewater loads compared with conventional dyeing. Imogo introduced its first Dye-Max prototype in 2019 and completed its first industrial-scale installation in 2021. The new facility lets brands and manufacturers move from laboratory development to validated commercial production in one location.

TMAS member ReSpin will see its patented RespinJenny mechanical recycling technology installed at Sweden's first industrial spinning mill for recycled textile fibres. The system transforms textile waste into fibres suitable for new yarn production.

Product launches

BW Converting's Baldwin TexCoat G4 platform applies chemistry via precision spray to one or both sides of the fabric. Replacing conventional bath-based methods with a non-contact spray process cuts wet pick-up by up to 50%, lowering water consumption and the energy required for drying while supporting a more consistent finishing process.

The company will also showcase Corona Pure, a surface treatment for improving adhesion and fabric performance. As mills shift from C6 fluorocarbon-based water repellents to fluorocarbon-free C0 chemistries, Corona Pure improves fabric absorbency and helps the new formulations deliver stronger water-repellent performance.

Automatex has developed the P12-PB automatic lock stitch quilting unit, which doubles productivity compared with previous systems through continuous programmable quilting with reduced manual intervention in bedding and padded home textile production.

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

ITMA Asia presence

Vandewiele Sweden and Eltex will showcase their latest technologies at ITMA Asia 2026 in Shanghai from November 20-24.

Eltex will present its Act-Multi system, which brings individual yarn tension monitoring and automatic control to heat-setting. The technology helps manufacturers maintain consistent processing conditions across every yarn position. Heat-setting stabilises yarn structures and locks in twist and bulk in synthetic and blended yarn production, ensuring predictable performance during subsequent weaving, knitting, tufting, dyeing and finishing.

Vandewiele Sweden, with long-standing expertise in weft feeding and tension control, develops data-ready weft feeders that ensure repeatable yarn delivery at increasingly high loom speeds. The systems enable weaving mills to operate closer to their technical limits while maintaining consistent fabric quality.

Premler-Andersson said the competitive landscape is changing, with AI, geopolitical uncertainty, regulation and increasing competition from China all set to influence the industry in the years ahead. For Swedish textile technology companies, she said, the answer is continued innovation, specialist know-how and customer value. She expects current momentum to continue through the remainder of 2026 and into next year.