Heshan Blanke Ltd. – successful proximity to the Asian market
 

In the light of today’s global goods flows, market proximity is one of the most important prerequisites for business success, a fact clearly demonstrated by retail chains operating worldwide. Nonetheless, a textile finisher who adopts such a strategy must possess a special brand of entrepreneurial courage and the right people. These characteristics and a classic example of how this approach can succeed are evidenced by the history of Heshan Blanke Textile Ltd., which employs dyeing equipment from Fong’s National Engineering Co. Ltd. (HK) and the Then Maschinen GmbH (D) management systems at its plant in China.

The parent company was founded in Bielefeld, a traditional textile industry location, during 1948 by Fritz Blanke. His new company was versatile, dyeing military greatcoats and upgrading sisal yarns for carpets and artificial silk knits for stockings. The knits were finished as required by the business situation. In 1949, the first wood winch vats went into operation and one of the first tiered stenters in Western Germany was built in-house and used as a drying frame.

Rapid develop­­­ment

At the turn of 1952/53, the company moved into the premises of a former dyeing shop in Bad Salzuflen. A mere five years later, these facilities are once again too small. Consequently, Fritz Blanke purchased a plot of land and in 1957 a new building was completed. By 1959, two new stenters were in operation as knitted shirt materials had become fashionable. These fabrics required high-temperature beam dyeing systems and soon five stenters were running. In 1962, following the death of the company founder, Fritz Blanke, Friedrich Blanke assumed the management of the company and was joined in the firm by Ernst-August Blanke.

Today, a workforce of 200 produces 1,600 t, or 12 million metres, of material in an area of 30,000 m². The Blanke company upgrades, laminates, coats and prints virtually every type of fabric, weave, knit and nonwovens for the automotive, medical, underwear/corset, deco/home and technical textile segments. Natural and synthetic fibre fabrics and knits, along with special weaves using technical yarns made of Kevlar or Nomex fibres are all upgraded.

Production meets the requirements of the Eco-Tex 100 standard. Blanke guarantees top quality, environmentally compatible production, which has been tested with regard to pollutant substances and meets the demands of the market. The company possesses DIN EN ISO 9001: 2000 accreditation for the textile finishing, printing and laminating areas.

As far as environmental protection is concerned, a three-pronged strategy of prevention, preparation and disposal is pursued in every area of the company. Modern wastewater treatment technology ensures that the water employed in the production processes is cleaned using a chemical-physical end process. Special attention is paid to the prevention of ecological impact and through the balancing of the contents of the wastewater emanating from the upgrading processes, it is possible to adopt measures prior to the use of critical substances.

The route to China

For Europeans, the ambition of establishing a company production facility in China represents a very special challenge. Johann Wilhelm Birkenhauer (JWB) acts as an on-site, authorised project manager at Heshan Blanke Textile Ltd. A textile engineering graduate, he has been in the industry for the past 35 years and shares a long-term friendship with Andreas Blanke. This formed the basis for their co-operation, which commenced with a part-time management appointment. Johann then headed the entire project in China, right up to the beginning of production. In the final completion phase leading to operational maturity, Johann was supported by company engineers from Germany and the parent company in Bad Salzuflen and this assistance has continued up to today.

How did everything begin?

JWB. “Blanke has been working for the German company, Julius Boos jr. GmbH & Co. KG in Goch and Wuppertal as a commission finisher for the past twenty years. In particular, the high-quality products were then made-up in Asia. The changed markets and the desire for customer proximity led to the idea of establishing a company production facility in China.”

Once the decision had been taken to start manufacturing in China, the production technology direction had to be established and it was decided to opt for the highest possible degree of automation and first class standards. In line with the Blanke philosophy, the greatest possible congruity had to be found between suppliers, products, machinery and technology. For Johann Wilhelm Birkenhauer, the competence of the workforce was also of major significance.

The new machines

JWB.“The first container with machinery arrived on September 26, 2005, when the production halls were still partly under construction. However, by February 2006, we were already making the first test dyeing runs.”

And what was the attraction of assuming such a task?

JWB. “The challenge of participating in something entirely new and the friendship with Andreas Blanke, who within his company brings people and technology together in a very special manner. This means that the profit motive is not the single predominate cooncern, but also that company staff should enjoy job satisfaction. Accordingly, we wish to create a basis for the provision of quality personnel with suitably attractive employment, as this is the only way that one can work in an optimum manner and ensure that technology and the related know-how stay in the company. People must be provided with perspectives so that they remain within the company. This is precisely what we do as such an orientation is part of Blank corporate culture.”

This spirit is tangible throughout the entire company as JWB designates the cultural differences between China and Germany as constituting the greatest obstacle on the road to production in China. Moreover, the influence of the authorities is even greater in China than it is in Germany and this is a colossal challenge.

Why did you select machinery from Fong’s National and the Then Maschinen GmbH integrated management system?

JWB. “Initial contacts regarding this purchase took place as early as February 2005 and following an extended evaluation phase, we decided to buy the Fong’s National equipment and the Then management systems.

Subsequently, two Fong’s National machines, consisting of an ECO 88-1T-T50 with one tube and an ECO 88-1T-T50 with four tubes, were brought to our plant in Germany and integrated into standard production. The aim was to find out if we could manufacture the products that we wanted with these machines. The answer was affirmative and together with Fong’s, we brought the equipment up to production maturity.

As I mentioned previously, the objective was to achieve a high degree of automation. Therefore, in addition to the Fong’s machinery, we bought an automatic dispensing system from its German sister company, Then Maschinen GmbH, Schwäbisch Hall, which is also part of the Fong’s Industries Group. As a consequence, we can attain an excellent level of automation right up to the fully finished product.”

The machine pool has a classic layout. Three ECO 88-1T-T50 operate in production, with two in tandem, along with four ALLFIT dyeing machines for medium-sized batches and two CBS beam dyeing machines.

The integrated TDS management system from Then undertakes the administration and organisation of the dyehouse. The system integrates company and third party products, as well as PC control systems and hosts to form an integrated dyehouse system. Among the tasks handled are order supply, disposition, recipe systems and calculation programs for the optimisation of dyeing processes. The entire software is fully object-oriented and programmes with the very latest development tools.

The linkage of the individual components in the dyehouse guarantees an optimum data flow and a clearly structured and flexible production sequence.

Below a uniform operator interface, the TDS communicates the process programs to the controls of the dyeing machines in accordance with the selected sequence. Accordingly, production recipes are sent to the weighing station, the ADS solvent station, or the CHD chemical dosing unit. Set and actual values, all types of statistics and faults are reported by the dyeing machines to the control system and then stored.

European environmental standards

It the aim of the management to use the best possible, environmentally compatible technology even in China. Johann Wilhelm Birkenhauer, “We went to China to work in a serious manner and also to set a positive example with regard to the environment, which is a special concern of Andreas Blanke. As a result we have invested a considerable amount in this area in Heshan City. Wastewater is cleaned using advanced technology and when it leaves the cleaning system, the water is considerably purer than during feeding. Indeed, the pre-treatment of the water also requires considerable expense and effort.”

Market position

Blanke is regarded as a leading finisher in the highly elastic knits and warp knitted goods area. In order to market the company’s production in Asia, a joint venture, BBF Boos Blanke Fabric Ltd., was founded as a sales company in Hong Kong by Blanke and the knits manufacturer, Boos. Johann Wilhelm Birkenhauer says that as a result of the teamwork with the raw materials producer, everything from the yarn to the final finishing is on a one-stop shopping basis and this creates Blanke’s market position. Within this context, product development is a major issue with further advances constantly being made in the warp knitting shop on the basis of existing items. Equally, certain products are being finished using nano-technology such as silver ions.

And what are current market demands with regard to products from Heshan?

JWB. “First and foremost, assured product quality and absolute reliability as a supplier. Of equal importance are the use of physiologically harmless dyes and additives, as the products are often worn in direct contact with the skin.”

What then are the major advantages of the plant?

JWB.“Via the Fong’s-Then system we know exactly what is going on at any one moment, have a precise overview and thus everything under control. Our high standard products require total quality assurance at all times.”

The plant has been operative since February 2006 and saleable products were manufactured from the outset. How was that possible?

JWB “The human-machine-technology interface is of special importance and in our case functions perfectly. One needs the right people for this purpose and we have them. Our experience up to now has been positive and our expectations have been largely fulfilled. Then and Fong’s have a clearly defined service orientation, which is exactly in line with our needs. Should we occasionally have a problem, competent service engineers are always on the spot immediately.”

Positive outlook

Johann Willhelm Birkenhauer envisages massive challenges in the coming years, “All the partners in the production chain must work together. We have reached a phase in which large markets are shrinking and small markets are growing. It is here that we have to make our presence felt. I would also like to see even closer co-operation between machinery producers and users in the development area, as this would help to achieve greater mastery of the problems of the future.”

JWB regards the current market situation as positive. The customers can see that the price/performance ratio is in order, “Today, quality has gained a different meaning that also applies in China. The markets are slowly departing from the throwaway society and one is ready to pay for a certain value added. This is seen as being a multiple in times of resource shortages. Naturally, the extreme price pressure causes us headaches, but with the right, top quality products at the correct price we are in line with customer needs. Moreover, the next season always comes around and then we must, and will, hold our own.”