German machinery supplier Oerlikon has formed an agreement with China's Shaoyang Textile Machinery to engineer and supply spunmelt nonwovens line for the global hygiene industry. The first product being offered by the two companies is the SMS QSR (Quality Sized Right) line, which is capable of making 12,000 tons of high quality nonwovens in widths of 3.2 meters and basis weights as low as 8 gsm per year. The technology will allow customers to manufacturer SMS featuring global quality standards with a faster return on investment than competing technologies, according to vice president of sales and marketing Ingo Mählmann.

Oerlikon announced the agreement at EDANA's Outlook conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia and ITMA+ Asia in Shanghai.

Oerlikon's business unit Nonwoven will be responsible for the sales, preengineering, commissioning and after sales of Shaoyang's lines, allowing potential customers to benefit from its advanced engineering expertise, process know-how and worldwide service network. Additionally, Oerlikon acquires the CE certifications of all  Shaoyang spunmelt lines sold outside of China. Oerlikon will also be responsible for product and process guarantees and will provide worldwide customer services outside China. Shaoyang Textile Machinery, on the other hand, supplies the spunmelt plant technologies.

"With Shaoyang Textile Machinery, we have found a renowned Chinese plant manufacturer with extensive know-how in the construction of Spunmelt plants for hygiene applications, which achieves international standards with its nonwoven qualities," explains Oerlikon Manmade Fiber Segment CEO Georg Stausberg.

Rainer Straub, Head of Oerlikons Nonwoven Business Unit, adds: "The partnership with Shaoyang Textile Machinery enables us to gain a foothold in the highly competitive hygiene market. Our many years of engineering experience guarantee our customers production lines according to international standards for high-quality nonwovens".