ERKO + FEHRER: Our Cooperation – Your success

A central element in FEHRER business strategy is comprised of co-operation with other leading companies in the textile machinery industry. This is exemplified by the recent commencement of intensive teamwork between ERKO and FEHRER in the area of complete production lines for
high-end, non-woven products.

ERKO was founded by Erwin Kock in 1993 and is based in Dülmen, Germany. The company production programme includes the following:

- Drive and control system solutions for textile machinery
- Machines for fibre preparation, opening and blending
- Non-woven cards
- Cross-lappers
- Web drafters

As for some time a clear trend has existed in the non-woven branch towards investment in complete production lines, particularly in up-and-coming non-woven producer countries such as China and the CEE states, ERKO and FEHRER decided to create possibilities in their technical centres, which would allow the testing of end product characteristics under highly practical conditions. Accordingly, ERKO built a separate testing centre in Dülmen in which non-wovens are produced starting from the fibre bales. The test facility comprises the following:

- A fibre opening and blending unit with simultaneous mixing of two different components.
- A card feeding unit.
- An EK 150 non-woven card with two take-off units and various devices for the creation of differing fibre structures. The card is characterised by efficient suction at all critical points, as well as especially easy access for maintenance.
- An EKLB 437 cross-lapper for feeding speeds of up to 120 m/min (with material) and a working width of 3.3 m. The cross-lapper has an efficient system for profile control, in order to optimise weight exactitude in an extremely elegant manner.
- A FEHRER RDF feeding system, which is characterised by extremely low-draft input of the cross-lapped web into the needling zone of the pre-needler.
- A FEHRER NL9/S pre-needler with 5,000 needles per metre, which ensures efficient pre- needling.
- A downstream FEHRER NL9/SRS Tandem needle punching machine with 2x5,000 needles per metre. This machine provides careful final needling of the non-woven product. The needle distributions employed, which are all the result of computerised optimisation, guarantee the
mark-free surfaces of the finished fabric.

Since the opening of the technical centre in Dülmen, “practical testing” for our customers has been a virtually daily occurrence. The product parameters thus established furnish our customers with a first class basis for their purchasing decision. Indeed, the customer can acquire a complete non-woven line from fibre preparation up to needle looms on a one-stop-shopping basis, with uniform responsibility for defined guarantee parameters and production output, which can be tested under realistic conditions.

Monika Fehrer, the FEHRER AG president, “With this laboratory, ERKO and FEHRER have gone a long way to meeting consumer demand for complete plants. For FEHRER, testing facilities for our complete product programme have always been a matter of course. Now, with ERKO, one of the most dynamic companies in the non-woven machinery sector, we have found the ideal partner for our strategy of boosting complete plant business.”

Erwin Kock, ERKO CEO, “We are looking to set a milestone in non-woven technology with our laboratory and would like to offer our customers a cordial invitation to gather their own first hand impressions of the results of the shared efforts of ERKO and FEHRER, as well as the striking capabilities of our joint laboratory line, at our headquarters in Dülmen.”

April 2004