Page 9 - Annual Report 2019

Supervisory Board Report
Group Management Report
Consolidated Financial Statements
Annexes

1.5. Research and development
Research and development activities in innovative textile solutions are another building block in
our strategy of positioning the Group as a global supplier and partner. And partnerships with research
facilities and institutes are just as important a factor in this as our joint development work with
customers. We focus on delivering customers optimum products that meet high quality standards
at competitive prices. Our application-oriented sales staff define specific customer requirements
early on to ensure they are incorporated into development work on established products and
new advancements.

Our collaboration partners include the Hof University of Applied Sciences, the University of Bayreuth,
the Saxon Textile Research Institute Chemnitz, Dresden University of Technology and RWTH Aachen,
among others. Our development expertise and technological know-how is intelligently enhanced in
collaborative projects.
The focus of research and development activities in the year under review included further enhancing
product qualities, developing new products, identifying new applications for our products and the
environmentally friendly use of raw materials. Using recycled or biodegradable raw materials
is becoming increasingly important. The TENOWO division uses recycled carbon fibres to create
nonwovens, thereby offering a sustainable solution strategy for further processing this high-
performance material. New types of nonwovens are developed from recycled carbon fibres using
special manufacturing processes. The newly created products feature unique material properties
in terms of strength and further processability and open up new fields of application and markets
for TENOWO. The NEUTEX division focuses on creating new designs and additional product features
using novel weaving techniques or new materials. This has led to new products made of natural fibres,
such as wool blends.

To further expand our technology expertise in nonwoven production, the technology centre for
stitch-bonded fabrics that opened at our Mittweida location in 2019 will be equipped with additional
systems. Concentrating product and process development in this location helps shorten development
times and rapidly transfer the insights gained there to series production in the various locations.
During the fiscal year just ended a total of EUR 1.4 million (prior year: EUR 1.4 million) was spent on
research and development. A total of 25 staff are employed in this division. Research and development
activities are performed exclusively at Hoftex Group subsidiaries.

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