Automation Technology
Textile World Asia Special ReporttrC Candiani & UTIT:PartnerstrC Candiani collaborates
with UTIT Wagner Automation S.p.A. for expansion project.
UTIT’s Palmo Speedy Shutte cone palletizer installed at trC Candiani’s Malvaglio
plantItaly-based trC Candiani is one of Europe’s most important denim manufacturers. Since the end
of the 1960s, the company has demonstrated continuous growth, which culminated in a new spinning
and weaving mill in Malvaglio, Italy. The facility opened in October 2003 after a 19-month
construction period. trC Candiani occupies a total production area of 95,000 square meters (m2) —
65,000 m2 at the Robecchetto mill and 30,000 m2 at Malvaglio — and in 2004 produced 35 million
meters of denim. Italy-based UTIT Wagner Automation S.p.A. provided the automation systems adopted
by trC Candiani for a ring spinning expansion at the Robecchetto mill (1997 to 1998) and at the new
Malvaglio plant. trC Candiani has invested for years in its operation and has carved out a niche in
the high-end denim market. The company has focused on quality and flexibility to provide customers
with the necessary product within the required time frame. Competing CompetitivelyAccording to
Gianluigi Candiani, Ph.D., president, trC Candiani, the secret of a company’s success lies not in
transferring one’s know-how to cheap workers in low-labor-cost areas, but in enhancing know-how at
home by investing in the automation of heavy and repetitive jobs, and changing one’s own workers
from production personnel to quality system managers. Choosing a supplier capable of providing
automation systems to contribute to this growth, in terms of views and know-how, is important.
Because of previous successful installations, UTIT has become the perennial supplier of choice for
trC, as well as a partner. Design simplicity, ease of management, low operational cost and low
investment cost were the guidelines followed by UTIT in designing the automation for the Malvaglio
mill, according to Sergio Vandolfi, responsible for UTIT’s textile division. These concepts already
had been largely experimented with in trC Candiani’s previous projects, and here they have been
refined by new technical, simpler and less expensive solutions. At the Malvaglio spinning mill, 700
spools per hour are handled. The intermediate yarn warehouse has four planes and 60 channels. Each
channel has a capacity of 12 pallets therefore the warehouse simultaneously stocks 60 articles and
720 pallets. Areas with automated intermediate package transport include: raw cotton bale handling
from the storehouse to the withdrawal and the return of empty pallets; transportation of full
spools to the spinning frames and empty spools on the reverse path; package take-up and
palletization; loading, management and unloading of the yarn storehouse; cone transportation from
the yarn storehouse to weaving, warpers and loading bays for outside weaving; and management of
empty pallets. Spider Cross, a quiller’s new servicing system, simplifies the introduction of the
full spool trains and the removal of empty spool trains. Its implementation alone eliminated 250
train control units, 250 pneumatic pistons and 250 pilot valves for the switch opening and closing.
Other new equipment includes a train-like package transport system (instead of a conveyor belt
system), and the introduction of the AGV system for handling the package pallets downstream of the
yarn storehouse.
Automatic bobbin strippers remove used spools from the spinning machine.Building
RelationshipsAccording to Candiani, manufacturers wishing to continue producing textiles in Italy
should shift to product of higher added value in which the weight of such “Italian”values as
culture, creativity, expertise, entrepreneurship and perseverance is greater. Value added should be
increased not only on the product, but also on market service with enhanced flexibility and on-time
delivery. All components of the company should contribute to the network operation ensuring maximum
productivity and value-added possibilities. This is what trC Candiani and UTIT tried to create when
building the Malvaglio plant — an experience that has certainly enriched both companies.
November/December 2005