ITMA Asia + CITME 2008, held from July 27 to 31 in Shanghai, China, was overwhelmed with a flood of visitors on the first day, so crowded that visitors who arrived before 9AM did not complete the admission procedure until 10:30AM.

Since, this time, the exhibition is being held at a stage where the Chinese government has launched full-scale implementation of their Green Project based on harmony between the environment and production, many machines, which would provide useful information for the Chinese dyeing and printing industry, especially for those wishing to strengthen environmental measures, were introduced.

Booth of Fong's from Hong Kong

It was specifically motivated by the Chinese government's application of conditions for new entry into the dyeing industry from March 1, 2008. It stipulates that the conditions apply not only to new entries into the dyeing industry but also to existing firms undergoing refitting and expansion. According to these regulations, restrictions will be tightened on new construction of factories in areas with fewer and degraded water resources, and will lead the industry to areas with an abundance of water resources. To do so, it instructs local governments to take due scientific consideration and promote comprehensive measures.

It is mandatory to employ advanced production processes and energy savings and environmentally-friendly facilities to be controlled automatically through online monitoring and observation when constructing, renovating and expanding factories. It is restricted to the installation of used pretreatment and dyeing machines which have been used more than five years. It is pursuant to the guide for designing dyeing factories "GB50426-2007" for new construction of factories engaged in dyeing blended fabric with cotton and chemical synthetic fibers.

According to the new regulations, dyeing firms are obliged to have a special department to control energy and water resources with in-house staff operating monitoring and observation on water usage and pollutant emission as well as developing a supervision rating system. There were many machines suggested at this time's ITMA Asia + CITME 2008 to fit these new rules.

For example, it was impressive that Fong's of Hong Kong introduced and demonstrated an actual batch dyeing machine capable of dyeing with a considerable amount of water saved, after improving a dyeing machine the company exhibited at ITMA 2007 (Munich) last year.

Booth of Hisaka Works

There were only a few Japanese makers exhibiting at ITMA Asia + CITME 2008 this time, but it is worth noting that Japan introduced more advanced machines than those of China in terms of environmental and textile measures. One such example is Hisaka Works. In response to the regulation to make a bath ratio of less than 1: 8 (1:10 for silk and wool) for batch dyeing implemented by the Chinese government, Hisaka Works introduced a high-temperature exhaust water/direct cooling system that can systematically deal with those rules.

Kyoto Machinery introduced a UP padder for effective padding, using an actual machine.

Seiren Electronics demonstrated the latest automatic weft straightener for Chinese textile firms focusing on improving the quality of their products. Toshin Kogyo carried out the demonstration with the high-speed type 2030, a machine introduced at ITMA 2007 (Munich), which is recently drawing attention as an environment-conscious ink-jet printing machine in China.

Mimaki Engineering brought in its latest ink-jet printing machine and demonstrated as well.