How to Save Money When Buying spunlace production line

Market Dynamics of the Spunlace Production Line

Market Overview: The global spunlace production line market has been on a steady upward trajectory, with significant growth expected in the coming years. According to Research and Markets, the demand for spunlace nonwoven fabrics has surged, reflecting a broader trend towards automation in manufacturing processes. The market was valued at approximately USD 1.8 billion in and is projected to reach USD 2.4 billion by , exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.2%. This growth is largely driven by the increasing application of spunlace fabrics in various sectors, including hygiene products and industrial wipes, as well as the rising consumer preference for sustainable and high-performance materials. The Asia-Pacific region, particularly China and India, is leading this market expansion, propelled by robust industrialization and investments in advanced manufacturing technologies.

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Industry Insights: The growing emphasis on sustainability and eco-friendly production processes is reshaping consumer behavior within the spunlace production line market. Companies are increasingly adopting innovative technologies that enhance production efficiency while minimizing environmental impact. This shift aligns with the industry's response to consumer demands for higher quality and more sustainable products. Additionally, strategic partnerships and collaborations among major market players are facilitating the development of advanced spunlace production lines that incorporate IoT and AI capabilities for predictive maintenance and operational efficiency. However, challenges such as the high initial investment costs and the need for skilled labor remain prevalent, potentially hindering market penetration for small to medium enterprises. Overall, the spunlace production line market is poised for continued growth, driven by technological advancements and evolving consumer preferences.

Types of Spunlace Production Lines

The spunlace production line is designed to produce spunlace non-woven fabrics. It usually comes in a complete system consisting of multiple steps, including raw material feeding, net forming, spray punching, drying, winding, and so on. Different types of spunlace production lines are available to meet various fabrics' specific needs and requirements.

• Small and Mid-sized Production Lines: These kinds of production lines are often used by manufacturers who produce spunlace non-woven fabrics on a small-to-middling scale. Such production lines usually cover a small area and are easier to operate and manage. Also, it is more cost-effective for manufacturers to choose small and mid-sized production lines.
• Large Production Lines: Large spunlace production lines are mainly used for industrial manufacturing. These production lines generally have bigger sizes, higher automation levels, and greater efficiency to meet the demands of large-scale manufacturing. In addition, large production lines have more complex and advanced technology and features, which ensures the stability and quality of the produced fabrics.
• Specialized Production Lines: Specialized production lines indicate that they can produce specific types of spunlace non-woven fabrics. For example, some production lines are suitable for manufacturing thinner, finer, and softer spunlace non-woven fabrics. In contrast, others are designed to produce thicker, denser, and more durable spunlace non-woven fabrics.
• Flexible Production Lines: Such production lines usually come with a variety of configurations and optional accessories to satisfy different manufacturing needs. They can process several kinds of raw materials and are suitable for producing various kinds of spunlace non-woven fabrics. What is more, the advanced technology and high degree of automation in the production lines help improve the efficiency and quality of the manufacturing process.

Specification and Maintenance

• Production capacity:

  The output of a spunlace production line is often represented in terms of square meters (or feet) of nonwoven fabric produced per unit of time (e.g., per hour or per day).

• Raw material feeding system:

  This is designed with the ability to adjust the width and weight of the feeding materials.

• Spunlace equipment:

  Different types of spunlace equipment have varying specifications.

• Wetlap forming system:

  Machine parts such as the wire width can be measured to match the spunlace line.

• Water circulation system:

  This manages the flow of water within the system, measured by pump capacity and pipeline diameter.

• Drying system:

  Another key part of the spunlace line, it can be measured by such parameters as length, width, and drying capacity.

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• Automation and control system:

  This has the ability to control and monitor the entire production process, including parameters such as temperature, humidity, pressure, etc.

• Overall dimensions and weight:

  The entire spunlace production line occupies a floor space, along with its net weight.

Maintenance

• Regular inspection: Users often perform regular inspections of the entire spunlace production line. They check whether the fasteners, seals, and components are loose or leaking, making timely repairs or adjustments as necessary.
• Lubrication: Users apply proper lubricant for the moving parts of the production line (such as chains, bearings, etc.) to reduce mechanical wear and improve operating efficiency.
• Replacement of wearing parts: Over time, some parts of the production line may be subject to damage or wear, such as blades, gears, etc. Users should pay attention to the condition of the wearing parts and replace them as necessary to ensure the normal operation of the equipment.
• Cleaning and sanitizing: Users need to clean the entire production line regularly to remove dust, impurities, and residue to keep the equipment sanitary and tidy.
• Electrical maintenance: Users should periodically inspect the electrical parts of the production line, such as the circuits, connectors, etc. They ensure the stability and reliability of the electrical system by checking for loose connections, damaged wires, and other issues.

Scenarios of Spunlace Production Lines

Spunlace non-woven fabric is widely used in various industries due to its soft texture, high tensile strength, and good air permeability. Here are some common usage scenarios for spunlace non-woven fabric.

• Sanitary Products: Spunlace non-woven fabric is widely used as the top layer and absorbent layer for sanitary napkins, baby diapers, and women's vaginal discharge diapers due to its excellent softness, good skin affinity, and high tensile strength.
• Wipes:Spunlace non-woven fabric is widely used in wet tissues, face tissues, makeup remover tissues, and disinfectant wet tissues due to its excellent softness, high strength, and good water filtration.
• Medical Products: Spunlace non-woven fabric is widely used in surgical masks, surgical gowns, and protective clothing, as well as in the manufacture of medical dressing materials, such as bandages and swabs for wounds and burns.
• Beauty and Personal Care: Spunlace non-woven fabric is widely used in face masks, hair masks, and body masks, as well as in skin cleaning and makeup removal cotton pads. It is also used in the manufacture of beauty and personal care disposable products, such as sanitary swabs and cosmetic applic.",s.
• Household Cleaning and Storage:Spunlace non-woven fabric is widely used in household cleaning products such as dishwashing sponges, cleaning wipes, and bleach pads. It is also used in the storage industry for sanitary and anti-bacterial cleaning pads, clathrates, and other products.

How to Choose Spunlace Production Lines

To ensure every detail is attended to and no quality consistency or adherence to brand values is sacrificed, the following tips will help when selecting a good quality spunlace nonwoven production line:

• Process: Different production lines will have different ways to create their nonwoven fabrics. Some may focus on chemical bonding, others on thermal bonding, and yet others on mechanical methods. The ideal process will depend on what type of nonwoven fabric the intention is to produce.
• Automation: The amount of manual work a production line needs to operate smoothly and consistently is another important consideration when selecting a spunlace production line. The more automation the line has, the less labor it will require and vice versa.
• Sustainability: Eco-friendly and sustainable practices have grown in importance over the years for business buyers who are looking to purchase and produce products that they can offer to a customer who is increasingly looking for sustainable and eco-friendly products. Look for a line that features energy-saving technologies and recycle systems. This kind of machine helps to minimize water and energy consumption. It also helps to reduce production waste to go towards a recycling facility.
• Flexible production lines: Some nonwoven fabrics are more popular and used more by consumers than others. Buying a production line that only produces one kind of nonwoven fabric could limit the market at which the end product could be sold. A more flexible option would be to buy a line that has the potential to produce a variety of spunlace fabrics for an ever-changing market. For instance, a flexible line could create anything from hygiene products to industrial filters to construction materials or even to agricultural spunlace nonwoven fabrics.
• Creation speed: How much product one of these production lines can create in an hour is crucial. While some factories may look at large volumes and expect to sell all of their products in bulk, others may only be able to sell smaller quantities and would look for something that can offer them customization. Overall, it is a good idea to assess the market and figure out what the winning products are and how much progress at least a 60% conversion rate could create in a year.

Spunlace production line Q&A

Q1: What is the core manufacturing process of a spunlace production line?

A1: The key manufacturing procedure of a spunlace manufacturing line includes feeding and laying the fibers, carding and web forming, hydroentanglement, drying, calendering, and winding.

Q2: What are some key components of a spunlace production line?

A2: The key parts of a typical spunlace preparation line are as follows: fiber feeding system, carding machine, hydroentangling spinneret, drying device, calendering machine, and rewinding system.

Q3: How does an hydroentangling spinneret work in a spunlace production line?

A3: An hydroentangling spinneret works by high-pressure water jets. The water jets entangle the fiber web and fix the fibers in the desired pattern. This process improves the strength and resilience of the spunlace non-woven fabric.

Q4: What are some safety measures for a spunlace production line?

A4: The safety measures for a spunlace preparation line are as follows: avoid direct exposure to high-temperature surfaces; wear the suitable environmental protection masks and earplugs; and regularly inspect the electric parts and protective devices.

While many often equate the spunlace market with wipes, the technology actually serves a versatile range of applications in the hygiene, medical and technical areas. As makers of spunlace continue to rely on the high volumes the wipes market offers, many are looking beyond wipes for new opportunities and a strong return on investment. 

Despite these opportunities, investment in new spunlace lines has slowed in recent years in developed areas like North America and Europe where new lines or line expansions were completed by companies including Jacob Holm in the U.S., Suominen in the U.S., Europe and Brazil, Spuntech in the U.S. and Mogul in the U.S., which is a line now owned by Fibertex Nonwovens.

“The market has been growing steadily for the past few years and continues to do so worldwide,” says Carolin Weber, director of health and hygiene at Sandler. “The competitive landscape is changing constantly as new players are entering the market. Particularly Asian manufacturers have become a big influence, undertaking a lot of investments and building capacity that will influence the supply vs. demand ratio. It goes without saying that nonwovens manufacturers will have to monitor these developments closely.”

In fact, Asia is the region seeing the strongest rate of investment for spunlace technology. At the forefront of this expansion is Nan Liu Enterprises. The company operates production sites in Taiwan, India and China and largely serves the needs of disposable hygiene, medical, and nursing markets. In recent years, the company has invested about $100 million in Taiwan, mainly for expanding its spunlace capacities, and is constructing a new plant in India.

Meanwhile, its latest plant, in Yancho, China, recently started trial production on pure cotton spunlace nonwovens as well as high speed spunlace materials and spunlace nonwovens with biotech finishes to its product offerings.

“Thanks to growing demand in China, Nan Liu spunlace production lines are now fully loaded and production capacity is tight,” says Bernard Kerstens, commercial director of the overseas business. “This is why Nan Liu continues to invest in new spunlace production lines. In addition, the upgrading and modification of an existing old spunlace line could create high value-added products and avoid price competition with competitors.”

Next up for Nan Liu will be India where the company is currently in the planning stages of setting up production. According to Kerstens this investment follows those of Nan Liu’s customers who are already operating successful operations on the sub-continent. “With a population of more than 1.3 billion, its national income is increasing and demand for nonwoven-based products continues to increase. We are optimistic about India’s future market demand and development prospects,” Kerstens says.  “Driven by the continuous growth of the overall Asian economy and the contribution of population growth, we believe that the Asian market of nonwovens will grow further, particularly in China, Southeast Asia and India.”

Elsewhere in Asia, Dalian Ruiguang Nonwoven Group in China has successfully achieved full capacity of 15,000 tons per year at a new neXline wetlace line. The highly flexible Andritz Wetlace technology, combining wet forming and hydroentanglement, is especially suited for the production of flushable wipes that are dispersible, 100% biodegradable, and without any chemical binders. This fulfills the highest environmental standards for the end products and enables production of certified nonwovens quality according to the latest EDANA/INDA guidelines for flushable wipes.

Wipes And Beyond
As one of the largest markets for nonwovens in general, the wipes market continues to represent the largest segment for spunlace nonwovens where the technology is valued for its excellent lotion handling, softness, textile-like feel and absorbency. As the wipes segment continues to develop new markets and new uses for their products, demand will continue to drive spunlace growth.

“There are wipes for almost every discernible use in everyday life, from baby care to cosmetics, from car interior care to furniture polish to the cleaning of computer screens,” Weber says. “They are readily available at any time, even on the go. In our fast-paced society, this is a major convenience factor and a driver for further demand growth.”

However, the supply chain can be challenged in wipes. For many applications, supply already matches demand and new suppliers are regularly entering the market. Growth and further development are only achievable through differentiation. Visual differentiation is possible in print or embossed motifs. Enhanced functionality, innovative product structures or combinations of different properties can also set a product apart from the competition.

Therefore, spunlace manufacturers like Suominen continue to look outside of the wipes market for spunlace growth. Markets where spunlace is being valued include from technical applications where they nonwovens are applied as processing aids or cover nonwovens. The automotive industry is just one sector benefitting from the functionality of these materials.

“Our wide-spread portfolio and know-how of different manufacturing technologies made it easier to consider the spunlace technology for applications other than wipes,” says Lynda Kelly, senior vice president, Care. “As we are active in a variety of markets, we are also aware of requirements, trends and customer demands in these other segments. This enables us to ascertain whether spunlaced materials would make an adequate – or in the best case even superior – alternative for a specific application. Having different technologies at our disposal also enables us to combine material properties in order to further enhance functionality. To this end, we are also collaborating with our customers and partners, advancing their products as well as our own.”

As the largest maker of spunlace nonwovens globally, Suominen has spent the last few years investing in new technologies both to help this expansion in new markets but also to benefit its wipes business. Recent line upgrades, which promote its focus on value added products, include Green Bay, WI, where Suominen has invested €6 million to install new carding machinery on an existing line, expanding the product range made at the site.

The upgrade has allowed Suominen to supply high value added nonwovens for a range of technologies including baby wipes, which can now be supplied more efficiently.

Other investments include a line upgrade in Paulínia, Brazil, which allowed Suominen to launch Fibrella Wrap, a high-performing material for undercast paddings and cushions used in wound care, to the South American market, Suominen’s initial foray into the growing medical market of South America. In Alicante, Spain, the investment expanded the plant’s product offering and increased its capability and capacity to supply also products with high added value. The focus of the investment was particularly on workplace and medical segments.

In medical, Suominen continues to grow in niche medical applications utilizing its unique thermal bond line called Novonette nonwovens. This technology offers unparalleled hold and release characteristics of fluid necessary for many niche medical applications.

Meanwhile, Webril, the company’s 100% cotton nonwovens line of products, continues to meet the rigorous needs of the medical cast padding and medical market.

For Sandler, its experience in a variety of markets has helped fuel its involvement in new spunlace categories. “Our wide-spread portfolio and know-how of different manufacturing technologies made it easier to consider the spunlace technology for applications other than wipes,” Weber says. “As we are active in a variety of markets, we are also aware of requirements, trends and customer demands in these other segments.

She adds that  technical applications as well as hygiene products , hold a lot of opportunities to bring the advantages of spunlace nonwovens to bear. In the technical sector, spunlace nonwovens are applied as processing aids or cover nonwovens. The automotive industry is just one sector benefitting from the functionality of these materials.

“To advance innovation in these new fields of application as well as in the wipes market, we cooperate closely with our customers and partners along the supply chain,” Weber says.

For Fibertex Nonwovens, which is also a needlepunch producer, an existing background in many technical markets has helped it expand spunlace into new market areas. “We already sell spunlace technology in various industrial segments—automotive interiors , engine bay, backing, composites, filtration and acoustics,” says Michel Vincent-Dospital, CCO, Automotive & Wipes.

Fibertex’s trust in the strength of the spunlace market is proven through recent acquisitions in the U.S. and Brazil. “These recent acquisitions are driven by the market observations as well as the growth of the volume and flexible spunlace technology and our knowledge of the specialty wipes market in Europe and Americas in line with Fibertex‘s recent acquisition of DUCI in Brazil,” says Vincent-Dospital.

Earlier this year,  the Denmark-based company purchased Mogul’s North American spunlace facility in Grey Court, SC providing it with better access to customers in North America. The acquisition gave Fibertex 14,000 tons of spunlace nonwovens as well as 20 acres, giving it ample room for future expansion.

“We will exploit the advantages of now having Fibertex Nonwovens production sites located in the most important markets in Europe, Africa, South and North America,” says Jørgen Bech Madsen, CEO of Fibertex Nonwovens. “At the same time, we will make full use of the our global product development capabilities, which has contributed to some of the most recent technological breakthroughs. We therefore see a great potential in investing in further growth.”

The acquired plant complements Fibertex’s other North American operation in Chicago, IL, a needlepunch facility acquired from NonWoven Solutions in . Fibertex Nonwovens also has considerable experience with spunlace technology and produces this type of substrate at facilities worldwide.

“We have been offered to acquire the production site as Mogul wants to focus on its Madaline product and new innovative nonwovens in Turkey,” says Madsen. “The line has been built in accordance with state-of-the-art production principles and already operates in a fully reliable manner. In this way, we save time and money compared to a greenfield investment in North America, where the market is currently undergoing rapid growth.”

Mogul’s Madaline product was launched in . This bicomponent microfilament hydroentangled nonwoven is suitable for artificial leather, anti-mite home textile, outdoor/sportswear, facial mask, dry wipe, precision product packaging, automotive headliner/acoustics and graphic design applications. Meanwhile in dry wipes, or cleaning cloths, Mogul has established a subsidiary called Asterion to promote the material. Asterion hopes to challenge the reusable microfiber wipes market, which is traditionally comprised of woven rags, and open up new opportunities for nonwovens.

When used in the cleaning wipes market, Mogul’s microfilament technology performs well when cleaning dust and dirt commonly found in industry, light and heavy manufacturing and professional cleaning. Featuring microfilaments 100 times thinner than a human hair, Asterion wipes are a cost-effective, convenient and a portable tool for spot cleaning and wiping irregularly shaped surfaces.

“The cleaning industry is basically fragmented into two major distinct applications, one is the disposables and the other is washable,” says Enver Kayali, president of Asterion Global. “The disposables can be named as paper-based multi use wipers and man-made fibers (spunlace), etc. In the washable segment, the products are textile scraps/rags, terry towels and microfibers. The nonwovens industry supplies to the disposable side of the industry and almost has no presence in the washable side.”

The development of Madaline was the result of an investment in unique microfilament technology with a high throughput production line, which made Mogul one of just two nonwoven producers, globally, to have such a high capacity and patented production line in-house.

While Mogul is not a large player in spunlace when it comes to capacity, commercial director Serkan Gogus believes the company plays an important role with diversified technologies like Madaline and its Durell crosslapped technology, which has created opportunities in artificial leather, home décor, medical and automotives.

“Hydroentangling brings unique properties to polymer based nonwovens, so this is definitely a growth area for the future. Also new technology combining wetlaid and hydroentangling brings,” he says.


Suominen Gets Smart
Last year Suominen, one of the largest suppliers of substrate material to the global wipes market, took a concrete step in its Changemaker strategy and introduced the Suominen Intelligent Nonwovens concept to the market. First of its kind in the world of nonwovens, the concept makes it possible to embed digital features into Suominen nonwovens, allowing things like product traceability and safety to a whole new level. It also gives Suominen customers opportunities for a new kind of sophisticated marketing tool.

The concept stems from Suominen’s research and development projects that previously led to the launch of the High Definition Design Series, a revolutionary pattern selection for nonwovens. The Suominen Intelligent Nonwovens concept adds a unique technical capability into the mix and combines artificial intelligence with extremely high definition patterning. With Suominen Intelligent Nonwovens, all kinds of digital features can be embedded into the substrate without deteriorating other functionalities or aesthetic appearance of nonwovens.

According to the company, the idea of Suominen Intelligent Nonwovens was originally based on traceability and counterfeit problems that the company observed in the market place and wanted to solve.

In today’s world in a case of a customer claim, consumers do not call a customer service number or similar. Instead they take a picture from the product and distribute the complaint via social media to the whole world. In these cases the damage to the brand can be huge and nonwoven suppliers have very limited tools to help their customers to solve the problem.

Suominen has IPR protected 21 different patterns ready for its customers to be used. It can design customer or brand specific patterns with the Suominen Intelligent Nonwoven capability included.

This customization is central to Suominen’s technology strategy for the past years. Three to four years ago the company started to work in very detail on the patterning of its wipes. Especially it wanted to understand the connection of customer perception to its patterns and the connection to real data from its laboratories. Suominen looked at perceived softness and cleanability of different patterns and compared that to real cleaning data from its laboratories. With this iterative process, it was able to design the most soft and best cleaning patterns in the industry.

Through this work the company was able to improve its technical patterning capabilities and the patterns of today are a magnitude better than the ones five year back. The contrast became so good that Suominen noticed that the pattern is easily recognizable with a normal smart camera. Suominen used artificial intelligence (AI) to teach the camera what it should be looking for in the pattern. The beauty is that the system learns and becomes better every time you scan a pattern.


Spunlace Directory
Akinal Sentetik Tekstil
2. Org. San. Bol. Cad. No.:11,
Baspinar, Sehitkamil 
Gaziantep,   Turkey
www.asnonwovens.com

BC Nonwovens
Avda. Diagonal 463 bis 9A
Barcelona,   Spain
www.bcnonwovens.com

Bondex
2 Maxwell Drive
Trenton, SC
803-663-
www.bondexinc.com

Eruslu Nonwovens
4.Organize San. bl. Sk. No:22 Baspinar
Gaziantep, ,  
Turkey 
90-342-357-07-20
www.eruslu.com

Fibertex Nonwovens
Svendborgvej 16
Aalborg,  
Denmark
96-35-35-35
www.fibertexnonwovens.com

Ginni Nonwovens
H-6 Sector 63
Noida
India
www.ginninonwovens.com

Ihsan Sons
Dar Road
Raiwind Lahore Pakistan
www.ihsansons.com

Jacob Holm Industries
Picassoplatz 8
Basel,  
Switzerland
www.jacob-holm.com

KNH Enterprises
27F No. 456 Sec. 4 Sinyi Road
Taipei,  
Taiwan
www.knh.com.tw

Lentex
ul. Powstancow 54
Lubliniec, PL 42-701 
Poland
www.lentex.com.pl

Mogul Nonwovens
Baspinar 2. Organize Sanayi Bolgesi
Nolu Cadde No: 8
Gaziantep,  
Turkey 
www.mogulsb.com

Nan Liu Enterprises
Baspinar 2. Organize Sanayi Bolgesi
Nolu Cadde No: 8
Gaziantep,  
Turkey 
www.nanliu.com.tw

Norafin
Gewerbegbiet Nord 3
Mildenau,  
Germany 
www.norafin.com

Novita
Dekoracyjna 3
Zielona Gora, 65-722 
Poland 
www.novita.com.pl

Sandler
Lamitzmühle 1
Schwarzenbach/Saale,  
Germany 
www.sandler.de

Spuntech
Spuntech555 North Park Drive
Roxboro, NC
www.spuntech.com

Suominen
PO Box 25, Suomisentie 11
Nakkila, FI- 
Finland
www.suominen.fi

Tenowo
Postfach
Fabrikzeile 21
Hof,  
Germany
www.tenowo.com

Welspun
6th Floor, Kamala Mills Compound
Senapati Bapat Mar, Lower Parel
Mumbai 400 013
India 
www.welspunindia.com