For Turkish textile sector to come to the place it deserves and in order to increase competitiveness in the international area, Istanbul Textile Research and Development Center (İTA) was established to support high value-added products by Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters' Association (İTHİB) in 2008 was founded under European Union development projects together with Istanbul Fashion Academy (İMA) in Tekstilpark. After İMA moved to Nişantaşı and the management seperated, with the goal of being Turkish Textile Industry's most important R&D center, continuing to operate in Tekstilpark, İTA's General Manager Jülide Sunday Özgen aswered Tekstil Dünyası Magazine's questions.
İTA, was established for Technical Textiles
6 years ago, established with the support of EU and at a cost of 17 million euros and in the axis of R&D in textile sector to meet the needs of technology and innovation in facilities where value added products and applications will be produced, despite investing as for a more technical and functional textiles on having advanced technology laboratory and businesses, it hasn't been actively used until recent years.
Except the tools, equipment and facilities research projects, by being available for sample studies in the service of sector, companies can make ther sample studies without having to stop its production lines with less fabric, fiber or by using chemicals, under the supervision of expert support in pilot lines installed in İTA. İTA, is also able to guarantee the protection of the confidentiality of the project by making confidentiality agreements with companies.
İTA, equipped with pilot production lines and advanced testing equipments, Özgen specifies that it has many technological equipments for the test and studies of R&D projects and invites industrialists and universities to use these facilities.
In the pilot production lines in the facilites; there are a non-woven and coating-laminating machine that produces in 1 meter wide and extruder (polypropylene chips, pes spun yarn). Özgen says also, starting from a small sample comb, with ring spinning and socks pilot production lines, in addition to garment machinery and supplies such as small hand looms, 1.5 meter wide digital fabric printing machines, ultrasonic sewing machine, there are nanotechnology devices such as elektrospinning, nanospider also noted there are DSC, F-TIR machines in polymer laboratories that can not be found in many universities.
"İTA, is a chance for Turkish Textile, it should be evaluated"
In terms of the recourses that İTA has owned, Özgen expresses that its a great chance for Turkey; also saying textile manufacturers should be directed to technical textile and for this, they need to give importance to R&D works. "If the necessary importance was given and if the textile manufacturers have provided and would still be providing the enough support on time to İTA which made investment in these subjects, İTA was rampant" says Özgen, also adding that Işık Tarakçıoğlu from Ege University warned the industry years ago about this subject "I have witnessed that Işık Tarakçıoğlu has warned industrialists in various channels about making their investments on these value-added products and R&D in future technical textiles". As of today, although the textile production increased in Turkey, Özgen says the development of textile is in technical textiles,emphasizing that, the presentation of the facilites should be well done and this place should be where industrialists and universities use and meet.
With the support of İSTKA, İTA activated
Özgen specified that; in 2012 within the context of grant program about information-oriented development by Istanbul Development Agency (İSTKA), in the writing of and in the implementation as a project coordinator of İTHİB's "Activation Of Pilot Businesses and Laboratories" project, herself and the team has worked hard. Özgen said the project has finished in January 2014 and they expect the results to be taken this year. Unfortunately when this was being established, to provide an income to meet their needs was not predicted, with high expenses it remained on İTHİB's shoulder as a load. The laboratories were not structured as testing laboratories that can provide income. Specified that, under the İSTKA project, they resolved the deficiencies and needs of the pilot production line and that they received some conventional test equipments that are missing in laboratories but can respond to combined test requests of the industrialist and that they are becoming fully organized to serve the sector.
Fully-fledged İTA Laboratories
İTA Laboratories; in early 2013 by completing the accreditation works they started before, has been accredited by International Accreditation Association's full member TÜRKAK. Özgen says all of the textile industry and organizations and institutions engaged in research on textiles in facilities which are open to use that in addition to the physical laboratory there are four laboratories including chemical laboratory, nanotechnology and polymer laboratory, they can do all tests except few specific tests such as carcinogenic substances and heavy metal determination and that found in only three places in Turkey comfort testing, thermal and water vapor permeability tester (Ret,Rct) even Hotplate device is Turkey's first and only organization that is accredited. Özgen, "Again, not many places are making sound permeability testing and polymer analysis but we do. We also received the light resistance test devices that is used in automotive textile, to measure the light resistance of the textile materials used indoor that can make measurements at any weather condition within the context of İSTKA. In the coming years, receiving other required devices by projects, in the future we aim to be Turkey's important test and R&D laboratory” said.
Practical Training Certificate Near To The Machine
Özgen says also in an area of 4 acres,İTA facilites has an exhibition space of textile industry open to the use, conference room and has areas for all kinds of events that can be organized, they organize training according to the needs of the sector, “In the near future, traditional printing techniques will completely vanish. Now, it will take place of classical techniques made from templates such as digital printing, film-druck and rotation. But Turkey is not yet at this stage, people trained in this area is few. For this we feel about ourselves accountable, we are giving photoshop-based digital printing training in our structure.” Saying, within the context of İSTKA project, in 2013 they gave this training with experts. Özgen stated that furthermore, they give practical non-woven and coating-laminating training, the trainings are free for academics and students and according to the protocol they did with Chambers of Textile Engineers (TMO), they give TMO Certificate for those who complete the training successfully.
Özgen said they effectuated Interactive Digital Portal (DÜTSİP) within the context of İSTKA again and everyone involved can follow all the activities and developments related with textile via this portal.
International Project Market and Techno Fashion Show
Although its a 6-year-old facility, Özgen says İTA's awareness is still very little, in order to increase it, in 2013 Functional Textiles Congress and International Techno Fashion Show and Project Market was organized together with İTÜ. This why we did not get exactly the results we wanted” says Özgen, continues “At the Techno Fashion Show we organized, we exhibited many interesting technical textile products. For example, the wedding dress brought from Singapore was flashing with the body's vibration and temperature change. Later, we have exhibited many more technical textile products such as Öztek Tekstil's fabric which is developed in the field of military textiles, distributes the human warmth and cannot be detected in the thermal cameras. In this way, we showed visually what technical textile is. If the main textile bosses could come, we would show what is a value-added product, why investment in this area is necessary."
Özgen says they see 2014 as the year where their investments will come to fruition, "Meanwhile, I hope there is not a misunderstanding, we have to gain our expenses. If we do not gain our expenses, we can't increase the number of our employee and we can't do R&D. If we want to do research, we must develop our team, improve and we need to increase our opportunities.”
At the end Özgen says they want a support from all the textile sector, "This is a place with big investments, this place should be known, used by the sector and the universities.”
