Synthetic leather is a real FEHRER success story.

For many years, FEHRER has been the leading supplier of needle looms for the production of synthetic leather substrates and ultra-suede, etc. A domination that shows no signs of weakening.

FEHRER competence in the synthetic leather field is confirmed by its sales figures, particularly in relation to the Far East. One of the pioneers in this field, Toray/Japan, which around 25 years ago developed the special fibres necessary for this product area and together with FEHRER, created the needling technology required for manufacture, has remained an exclusive FEHRER customer. In the intervening years, synthetic leather lines have been sold to both Taiwan and South Korea, with the result that these three countries now control 80% of global production. Moreover, recently China has become the fourth big player in the synthetic leather area, providing FEHRER with another market of rich potential.

At present some 30 plants using FEHRER technology are operating around the clock in the four Asian nations mentioned above and it can be anticipated that this number will continue to grow. This growth is most likely in China, which will probably expand at the expense of Taiwan and Korea. The shifting of non-woven roll goods production for the shoe industry from high-cost countries such as Japan, Taiwan and Korea to China and Vietnam is an important factor in this scenario. In addition, there has also long been a concentration of shoe manufacturing capacity in Indonesia, which is primarily employed for sports shoes.

Apart from these Asian states, there is one other country that must be mentioned in connection with synthetic leather, Italy. This is by far the largest producer in Europe and FEHRER has delivered around ten lines, comprised of between 4 and 11 machines each.

In addition to the obvious advantage of having enormous experience in the synthetic leather sector, FEHRER has maintained its lead in the market by means of a series of significant technological developments and improvements, of which the latest are "H1" preneedling and "F 90" needle distribution for surface finishing.

"H1" has a curved needling zone, which improves the strength of the product and the MD/CD ratio. These are vital factors in preneedling, as a uniform web is a prerequisite for ensuring the isotropic characteristics of the end product. In addition, the selection of the correct penetration parameters in this passage is essential, in order to create a balance between the required protection against delamination (caused by insufficient penetration) and the need to avoid density and tensile strength losses (caused by excessive penetration).

"F 90" needle distribution is used in the finish needling phase and constitutes a further development of the well-known FEHRER F9 high-performance needle distribution, which was also especially developed for the synthetic leather sector and received extensive customer acceptance. Needle density is a major element in end product quality and "F 90" provides constant density, strength and forming characteristics. These constitute the foundation for a high-quality product, as well as ensuring optimum visual appearance due to streak-free surfaces on both sides.

Apart from the technical aspects of "H1" and "F 90", it should also be mentioned that they also represent an advance in economic terms. This is because all FEHRER developments in the synthetic leather area constitute a practical response to the needs of the industry and are also the result of intensive teamwork with needle manufacturers, who are constantly making major efforts to optimise the specifications of their products. Small wonder therefore, that manufacturers of synthetic leather see no genuine alternative to the excellence of FEHRER engineering and technological know-how.

(Fehrer Focus 28 / September 2001)