Thanks to the high installed base and applications in the wipes sector, manufacturers of roll goods are striving for flexibility in production and diversified applications. The strong emphasis on innovation and sustainability is one of the key topics. Andritz Nonwoven & Textile, as one of the world’s leading suppliers of technologies in the nonwoven and textile industry, is well-known for its comprehensive product portfolio for wipes, as well as for pulp processing technologies from tree to finished paper, tissue, and nonwoven. The company has all the technologies to build lines suitable for the different customer markets, such as carding/drylaid, airlaid, wetlaid. All these technologies can be used independently or combined.

The combination of these technologies results in different types of nonwovens/nonwoven technologies such as AirlaceTM, spunlace, WetlaceTM and WetlaceTM CP. In addition, the company is now seeing a trend towards retrofitting conventional spunlace lines by integrating airlaid or wetlaid web forming. Manufacturers of spunlace roll goods will then open new market opportunities for bio-wipes or flushable wipes. Furthermore, retrofits of direct spunlace lines to crosslapped lines are also requested. Producers take advantage of more flexibility in terms of application diversification and markets they can serve.

To evaluate the technologies and different processes, Andritz has state-of-the-art technical centres, where customers can conduct trials and test all options together with Andritz experts. For instance, the facility in Montbonnot, France, is the world’s first nonwoven test center for wipes with integrated cellulose formation.