Carding Technology Takes the High-End Seat: Signals of Industrial Upgrading at CINTE26

While the nonwovens industry grapples with overcapacity and price wars, CINTE26 sends a clear signal: equipment makers are shifting their competitive focus from 'selling machines' to 'selling system solutions.' The 19th China International Technical Textiles and Nonwovens Exhibition (CINTE26), a benchmark event in the Asia-Pacific region, opened at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, showcasing the entire industry chain from raw materials and equipment to end products. Notably, carding technology has become a key variable for downstream mills aiming to increase output, improve quality, and reduce costs.

Exhibition Trends: A Consensus on High-End Transformation

This edition of CINTE26, both in its exhibition zone layout and exhibitor strategies, points to one common theme: high-end transformation. The event not only featured a special zone for the '15th Five-Year' plan for technical textiles, directly aligning exhibits with national industrial policy, but also attracted senior executives and technical personnel from leading companies such as Andritz, Anhui Jinchun, Shandong Yongxin, Jiangsu Huafeng, and Huafu Group. The on-site deep exchanges among equipment makers, material suppliers, and product manufacturers signal a shift from isolated technological breakthroughs to collaborative optimization across the entire chain.

For buyers, what does this trend mean? In the past, the key specs for nonwoven equipment were speed and width. Today, stability, adaptability to raw materials, and seamless integration with downstream processes are the core metrics of ROI. At the exhibition, several high-speed carding machines emphasized the balance of 'high output, high speed, and high quality,' directly addressing common pain points: increased output but fluctuating quality, higher speeds but frequent web breaks and neps.

Industrial Impact: How Carding Technology Reshapes Nonwovens Competitiveness

Carding is a critical pre-step for spunlace, air-through, and needlepunch processes. Its quality directly determines fiber web uniformity and strength, influencing final product pass rates and performance. JW Card Clothing's comprehensive carding solutions for different processes, showcased at the exhibition, target this very link. Its exhibit in the '15th Five-Year' zone underscores that carding technology is now a national priority for industrial upgrading.

From an industry chain perspective, carding equipment upgrades have ripple effects on upstream fiber materials, midstream nonwoven mills, and downstream applications such as hygiene and filtration materials. For mills, adopting high-speed, stable carding systems means higher output per unit of raw material, reduced downtime and waste due to poor carding, and directly improved gross margins. For buyers (e.g., hygiene product brands, filtration purchasers), upstream carding advancements translate into more stable supply quality and lower batch-to-batch variation—more valuable in the long run than simply squeezing prices.

Notably, this technical collaboration between equipment makers and product manufacturers is reshaping the traditional buyer-seller relationship. At the exhibition, technical personnel from leading companies engaged in precise discussions with equipment suppliers on 'product adaptation, process optimization, line efficiency, and technology iteration,' indicating that equipment procurement is evolving from a one-time transaction to a long-term technical partnership. For many small and medium nonwoven mills, this is both a pressure—rising technical thresholds—and an opportunity: by adopting mature carding solutions, they can quickly narrow the quality gap with industry leaders.

Practical Recommendations

For Buyers - When evaluating nonwoven suppliers, consider their carding equipment's technical level (e.g., whether they use high-speed, high-output carding solutions) as a key criterion, as it directly affects product consistency and supply stability. - For high-end nonwovens (e.g., medical hygiene materials, filtration media), request carding process parameters and fiber web uniformity test reports, rather than deciding solely based on sample quality.

For Nonwoven Mills - Prioritize technological upgrades in carding: if current carding machines frequently cause neps or poor uniformity, even using more expensive raw materials won't improve finished product grades; upgrading the carding system is often more cost-effective than replacing downstream equipment. - Establish a joint commissioning mechanism with equipment suppliers: when purchasing new carding lines, ensure the supplier provides customized parameter tuning for your specific raw materials and processes, so you're buying not just a machine, but a complete, implementable solution.