#Dyeing, Drying, Finishing

2025-02-27

SL Smart Weft-Straightener success at Harris Tweed Hebrides, UK

High quality fabric is essential for any finisher who wants to ensure consistent quality and resource efficiency. A particularly important quality criterion is straight weft and straight course fabric. The Scottish tweed manufacturer Harris Tweed Hebrides finishes 100% woolen, handwoven cloth and stands as a world class leader in British luxury cloth with an extensive, high quality product range. The company was looking for a weft-straightening system which, in contrast to the previously used pinwheel system, could not damage the wool.

SuccessStory at Harris Tweed Hebrides, UK © 2025 PLEVA

They finish 100% woollen, handwoven cloth with fabric weights from 260 to 353 g/m² and fabric widths from 750mm up to 1500mm. Each individual tweed is approximately 50m in length.

Precise weft correction without pin wheels for high-quality, straightened fabrics

The customer's aim and requirement is a precise correction of the weft without usage of pin wheels to produce high quality, straightened fabrics without distortion as well as automatic adaptation on a wide range of weaves and the variations that occur with handwoven fabrics, while maintaining easy, intuitive operation.

Pleva's SL smart weft-straightener: advanced technology for precise and efficient fabric straightening

Fitted to these needs the well-known German manufacturer PLEVA gives with the automatic weft-straightener SL smart including the unique high-tech traversing camera technology the optimum solution and offers the finisher several advantages.

The user-friendly, self-explanatory interface displays all important information at one glance. This enables to work with maximum efficiency and to react to the complex portfolio with the integrated recipe management for sophisticated straightening. The well-established advanced traversing camera with many measuring points across the fabric width ensures the most accurate straightening. In combination with the fast reaction time of the rollers, it allows best straightening results. Furtheron the machine design is fitted to even the harshest working conditions and optimized for easy cleaning and low maintenance.

PLEVA SL smart weft-straightener © 2025 PLEVA

Harris Tweed Hebrides praises SL smart weft-straightener for precision and efficiency

David Stewart, Harris Tweed Hebrides Ltd is very satisfied and states: „The SL smart weft-straightener performs very well with our product. The traversing camera is exceptionally accurate and automatically adapts to a wide range of weaves. The system of skew and bow rollers allow precise alteration of the weft without the possibility of damage to the fabric. It requires very little input from the operator and minimal maintenance, resulting in increased productive times. The addition of the touch screen control panel allows the operator to view the current weft position in real-time, ensuring that the fabric is within the accepted parameters. Excellent support from PLEVA team.”

Besides those advantages, also a positive ecological impact is achieved: Due to the first-time-right-principle, only one round through the production line with the fabric is needed to produce directly the aimed result. This saves energy and valuable resources. In addition, due to the higher quality of the goods, there are no more costly readjustments or wasted fabrics and complaints can be reduced drastically. This is not only good for textile finishing companies and customers, but also for the environment.

Learn more about sustainability with PLEVA Sensors and Controls on www.pleva.org

Smart sensors, smart savings - Reducing energy and cost in textile finishing

As energy prices, sustainability requirements and quality expectations continue to rise, manufacturers of technical textiles face increasing pressure to optimize efficiency while ensuring process reliability. At the same time, skilled labor shortages require production systems that are intuitive, automated and easy to manage. PLEVA addresses these challenges with robust, maintenance-friendly sensor technologies combined with intelligent process control.

Smart automation to fix gaps of skilled staff

Advanced technology for high quality and efficiency at textile finishing - ITMA Asia 2025, Singapore As customer expectations rise and skilled labor becomes increasingly scarce, smart sensor technology and automated control systems have become essential in modern textile finishing. PLEVA meets these challenges with its renowned, robust and reliable sensors, specifically designed for the demanding conditions of textile production.

Generation change at Pleva: Kathrin and Stephan Pleva join the Management Team

PLEVA GmbH, a leading manufacturer of sensors, measurement and control technology for various industries, announces that Kathrin Pleva and Stephan Pleva have been appointed as Managing Directors of the family-owned company. Together with their father, Dr. Ralf Pleva, they will shape the future of the company.

New Gravimax MMX-R X-ray sensor platform opens up new application fields

The demands placed on quality control in web-based production processes are increasing: materials are becoming more complex, basis weights are varying more widely, and at the same time, pressure is growing to make processes more efficient and transparent. Precise measurement data across the entire web width has therefore become a key factor in ensuring stable production processes. With its new Gravimax MMX-R sensor platform, Mahlo introduces a radiometric measurement solution designed to set new standards in determining basis weight and material composition. The platform combines advanced X-ray technology with newly developed signal processing, enabling measurement tasks that previously often required multiple sensor technologies.

BW Converting to present its Baldwin TexCoat® G4 at Techtextil 2026

BW Converting will present its Baldwin TexCoat® G4 precision spray finishing system at Techtextil Frankfurt 2026, taking place April 21-24 at Messe Frankfurt. Visitors to Hall 12, Booth C56B, will have the opportunity to explore how this advanced spray technology helps textile manufacturers improve finishing quality, increase efficiency and reduce resource consumption across a wide range of applications.

BW Converting expands Southeast Asian presence with new agency partnerships in Vietnam and Indonesia

BW Converting is strengthening its presence in Southeast Asia through new agency partnerships in Vietnam and Indonesia, reinforcing the company’s commitment to supporting textile manufacturers across the region. The expansion comes as BW Converting prepares to exhibit at SaigonTex 2026 (April 8–11, Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) and INDO INTERTEX 2026 (April 15–18, Jakarta International Expo, Indonesia).

New study shows low environmental impact by Cotton made in Africa Organic Cotton from Tanzania

Today, the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) is announcing the results of a comprehensive life-cycle analysis (LCA) for cotton produced in Tanzania under the Cotton made in Africa Organic (CmiA Organic) standard. The study emphasises the small ecological footprint of CmiA Organic verified cotton. This can largely be traced back to the absence of synthetic pesticides, artificial fertilisers, and artificial irrigation. Consequently, CmiA Organic cotton can help the textile industry meet regulatory requirements as well as science-based targets. The results also show that the consequences of climate change threaten the livelihoods of these cotton farmers, even though the type of agriculture they practise barely contributes to climate change.

PERFORMANCE DAYS proves its relevance as the industry’s key meeting point

Held on March 18–19, 2026, PERFORMANCE DAYS once again confirmed its position as a leading international platform for functional textiles. A total of 3.366 trade visitors and around 560 exhibitors gathered in Munich, with the event already kicking off successfully on DAY 0, which received highly positive feedback for its interactive format. Despite challenging conditions caused by the public transport strike in Munich, the event saw strong attendance and a consistently high level of activity across both exhibition days.