Pioneering sustainable multi-functional fabrics Lauffenmuehle

PIONEERING SUSTAINABLE, MULTI-FUNCTIONAL FABRICS

Lauffenmuehle is a European market leader in the development and manufacture of multifunctional, sustainable fabrics. Philip Yorke talked to Volker Steidel, the company’s CEO, about its strategic change of direction and its launch of high-tech, sustainable fabrics for workwear and protective clothing.

Lauffenmuehle was founded in southern Germany over 180 years ago and established its first textile mill back in 1834. Today the company is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of high quality yarns and fabrics. Lauffenmuehle operates two state-of-the-art facilities in the High Rhine region at Lauchringen and Loerrach. As a successful, fully integrated company with unrivalled experience in the manufacture of yarns and fabrics, it has become specialised in the production of fabrics for corporate- and workwear as well as for protective clothing. In 2014 the company employed over 300 people and recorded sales of more than €43 million.

Innovation driving sales

Lauffenmuehle works in close collaboration with leading universities and professional organisations to develop the yarns and fabrics of the future. With the advent of globalisation, and the revolution in communications and sustainability, it is more important than ever to project a distinctive and clear profile. By focusing on niche markets in the safety and protective work-wear sector, the company has carved out for itself an enviable position where it is acknowledged as a technology leader in its chosen sector.

An extremely flexible company, Lauffenmuehle is able to make decisions quickly and to create tailor-made, innovative and sustainable products for its customers. One of the many areas in which the company excels in order to keep it ahead of the competition is its use of air-spun technology, which is used, for example, for uniform fabrics. The company has developed its own unique air-spun yarns and these offer clear advantages compared to conventional ring and rotor yarns. The fabric manufactured from these yarns is characterised by extremely high scrubbing and tearing properties, as well as offering low piling characteristics.

Lauffenmuehle’s Bi-Stretch ‘Relax’ fabric offers a typical example of how the company has developed a modern fabric in order to meet the challenging demands of hospitals, healthcare and the catering and industrial sectors. This is the first time that elastomers have been used in the warp and weft of the fabric. ‘Relax’ offers optimal stretch comfort, especially where prolonged physical movements form a major part of the wearer’s work schedule. Manufactured with the heat and chemical resistant Elastolefin-fibre, this bi-stretch fabric outperforms all others on the market and is ideally suited to the leasing business. This particular business places a great deal of stress

on fabrics owing to the excessive number of wash-and-wear cycles, extremely high washing and drying temperatures and the tremendous chemical and mechanical load throughout the washing process.

Sustainable fabric production

All Lauffenmuehle fabrics are certified according to the international bluesign® standard of the textile industry, which means that various strict criteria are met during the production of each fabric. This includes areas such as consumer protection, resource-efficient production, occupational health and safety and the reduction of harmful emissions.

Steidel said, “During the past ten years our strategy has been to move away from the fashion industry and to focus on high-end products based upon sustainable production methods and to meet the growing demands of Europe’s manufacturing and service industries. We have significantly reduced the number of chemicals used in our manufacturing operations from 350 to just 100, and this will continue to reduce still further in order to meet the highest environmental standards.

“Furthermore, today we are only manufacturing our products in Germany and the cotton we use comes from Spain, Greece and Israel. We produce uniforms for all types of businesses and have been able to introduce countless product innovations to meet our customers’ individual needs. Our Tec Cell® line offers very comfortable and sustainable fabrics, featuring a new concept involving the use of a high performance fibre made from wood and produced in Austria. This latter is in place of cotton, which occupies large surfaces and needs a lot of water whilst growing.

“This in turn endorses our commitment to reducing emissions by using only companies operating within a short distance of our facilities from a logistics perspective. We are not focused on the highvolume business sector and we don’t go to eastern Europe or Asia for cheap labour. All our products are manufactured here in Germany and that way we can guarantee the quality and service that we have become renowned for. Whilst the bulk of our exports are destined for western European countries, around 54 per cent, we are looking at other big markets for our future growth with the US being the most likely to be targeted in the medium term. We work in close cooperation with our customers to produce tailor-made solutions that meet the increasing demands of modern manufacturing and service industries. We also keep the door open for possible acquisitions or joint ventures if the synergy is right.”

From classical to hi-tech performance

The comfortable feel and excellent optics of Lauffenmühle’s highquality, polyester cotton-blended and cotton-rich fabrics within the Classic range, partly certified according to DIN 10524 (meaning there are no negative effects on foodstuff owing to soiled workwear), make them the products of choice for companies throughout Europe. They are available from stock in over 50 colours. The company also supplies ‘Gneis’, its best selling fabric, in a further 115 colours. Meanwhile its PPE product line, Com4-Guard® offers reliable protection against thermal effects such as heat and flames, as well as against molten metal and electric arc. Furthermore, it protects against chemical risks (optional) and electrostatic discharge, and is also available in high-visibility versions.

As a matter of course these fabrics meet all current standards for personal protective equipment. Finally, alongside these offers there is also of course a broad range of fabrics designed for widely differing applications. n

For further details of Lauffenmuehle’s innovative textile products and services visit: www.lauffenmuehle.de