The company’s core business is the supply of PET and PA 6 virgin production and recycling plants with own developed technology and equipment. In the global market it is well-known for medium-size polymer plants
Dr. Dirk Karasiak, Managing Director, AQUAFIL Engineering GmbH
AQUAFIL Engineering GmbH is a leading company for the technology of PET and PA 6 virgin production and recycling plants. This German company for industrial plants has also made rapid inroads into the Indian market in recent times. Speaking exclusively to The Textile Magazine, Managing Director Dr. Dirk Karasiak sounded happy at how things unfolded for the company in 2021. “It was again a year driven by the pandemic, but it was surprisingly a very good year. We hope that the strong demand for polymer and recycling plants and equipment will continue in 2022,” he says. When queried as to which were the important global markets that were good for the company, he states: “We are a globally active company and therefore we have no preferences, but in 2021 it was mainly India, Europe and Asia.”
Going into details regarding the company’s strengths and the advantages offered to customers, he mentions: “We are a German engineering company for industrial plants. Our core business is the supply of PET and PA 6 virgin production and recycling plants with own developed technology and equipment. In the global market we are well-known for medium-size polymer plants and some of our technologies are leading the global market. With our first-class quality of products, we have been able to achieve advantages in several parameters compared to our competitors.” AQUAFIL Engineering’s plants make the difference in quality and reliability of its products. “Our plants show shorter start-up phases, longer running phases and less deviation in product quality than other plants” Dr. Karasiak adds.
New Technologies
The company has successfully introduced new technologies in the recent past. Elaborating, Dr. Karasiak points out that in the last few years the company has created, patented and supplied new technologies like LBT® (low building technology), DFC® (direct film casting) and EverPET® (chemical recycling). “With these technologies we are helping customers to decrease their building investments, conversions costs and carbon footprint. Our long-time customers appreciate these developments a lot, so that their feedback gives us the confidence that we are on the right path,” he explains. When asked about the valuable lessons learnt by the company from the difficult pandemic period, Dr. Karasiak replies: “Luckily, we have not been hit hard so far by the pandemic period. Our projects have been running for about two years after we received new orders just at the beginning of 2020.”
“We have used the time to speed up our planned digitalization. So today we are producing less paper for our projects. Furthermore, we are more present for our customers as we use virtual meetings to stay in contact more often. The virtual meetings can be held more frequently than personal meetings and so this is an appreciated advantage for both sides. During the second high phase of the pandemic, we succeeded to start up a plant by remote as we were not allowed to send engineers. So, the biggest lesson may be to get on with digitalization and rely on our strength. If you have a good product and good employees, you can achieve more than you think,” he opines.
Automation Initiatives
Automation and Industry 4.0 are no more optional. They are the fundamentals for an efficient manufacturing system. What have been the company’s recent initiatives in this direction? Responding to this question, Dr. Karasiak says, “As already mentioned, due to the pandemic we were ‘forced’ to start our first plant by remote control and with the great help of the customer at site. And I can tell you that it has been working very nicely and surprisingly without any internet interruptions or electrical issues. With the lessons learned from this experience we are working on new digitalization concepts that will make monitoring and optimization of plants more facile. In future we would like to support online our customers on regular basis, if there is any such request.”
The Sustainability Factor
Sustainable textile manufacturing has gained more importance in the post-pandemic world. Brands and retailers have set stringent sustainability goals and standards for their suppliers. Explaining how AQUAFIL Engineering has helped its customers to achieve this objective, Dr. Karasiak remarks: “We have developed a new chemical recycling plant which allows you to produce 100% recycled PET chips or directly to go to your POY or DTY spinning plant. We are the only engineering company globally that has a running reference of industrial production since 2011 in PET.”
There is widespread hope that the world is nearing the end of the pandemic. Sounding hopeful of the revival of the textile industry, he says: “I hope that the pandemic situation and the restriction will soon come to an end, but the virus will not disappear completely. We will have to live with local restrictions in the future and therefore we will have to change our habits of personal contacts and travel. The telephone and the virtual meetings will be the new standard. In general, I think we have to change our habits not only because of the virus but also because of the environmental situation of the planet. To stop global warming and other negative human impacts on the environment, more should be produced and sourced locally.”
“It makes no sense to ship food or textiles around the whole globe. The world’s economy needs to get more efficient and environment-friendly. That said, I think that there will be a revival of the textile industry and machinery, but with other targets. The companies have to satisfy the demand of sustainable clothes and not the demand on lowest price and the highest production. We are looking forward to work with our customers on the upcoming tasks and we are confident to provide the best solutions for them,” he says confidently.
Solid Vision
Finally, giving an insight into the company’s vision by 2025, Dr. Karasiak reveals: “My vision is to hold and extend our global technology leadership in polyester and polyamide with AQUAFIL Engineering. We are working actually in new developments for our EverPET® technology which will be game-changers in the recycling market. Additionally we will support our mother company, AQUAFIL Group, to reach its vision of a 100% oil-free production. This vision of AQUAFIL Group started with ECONYL® fibre which is 100% regenerated nylon from post-consumer waste and which reduces the carbon footprint by 80%. We think sustainability is not a goal to be achieved, but a principle to follow.”
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“My vision is to hold and extend our global technology leadership in polyester and polyamide with AQUAFIL Engineering. We are working actually in new developments for our EverPET® technology which will be game-changers in the recycling market. Additionally we will support our mother company, AQUAFIL Group, to reach its vision of a 100% oil-free production…
– Dr. Dirk Karasiak, Managing Director, AQUAFIL Engineering GmbH
