Sustainable to the last detail

Transcription

1 Sustainable to the last detail certified according to OEKO-TEX Standard 100plus 28-Feb-2013 Versatile fields of application The products manufactured by Mattes & Ammann have a very wide field of application: The range includes velour seat covers in cars, aeroplanes, ships and all German ICE trains, mattress cover fabrics, flags for numerous international sports events or lining fabrics for wedding gowns as well as hook and loop fasteners for baby nappies. Managing director Christoph Larsen-Mattes points out the versatility of his company: Our products are used on land, on water and in the air as well as in all areas of life. With currently 300 employees and a total production area of around 36,000 square metres, Mattes & Ammann produce over 56 million square metres of textile fabrics in circular knitting, circular weaving and warp knitting each year. The beginnings of the company go back to the year 1951 when operations started with the production of fabrics in a warp knitting mill. Back then, Christoph Mattes and his son-in-law Albrecht Ammann founded their company exclusively for the production of textiles for the clothing industry. In the mid 1960s production was expanded by setting up a knitting mill with large circular knitting machines saw a time of change for Mattes & Ammann: A complete change to technical textiles was made for strategic reasons. And in 1994 the existing company units were supplemented with a circular weaving mill with French circular looms. The production of woven and knit fabrics, which is often carried out according to highly individual customer requirements, is now equipped with state-of-the-art specialised machinery with around 500 models. Today Mattes & Ammann mainly focus on the production of technical knit fabrics for the automotive industry. The company have been supplying renowned automotive manufacturers for 30 years and are specialised in three-dimensionally shaped interior lining components such as headlinings, columns or parcel shelves. At the same time they also supply other fabric qualities for seat upholstery and seat covers as well as materials used in seat construction.

2 2 / 5 Another important production area at Mattes & Ammann consists of woven and knit fabrics for the home textile segment, lead by 100% cotton and mixed fibre mattress cover fabrics for leading manufacturers in Europe, USA and Australia. The company additionally manufacture a wide range of other knit fabrics for different technical uses and industries such as lining materials for trade fair stands, flame-retardant fabrics for aircraft construction and interior furnishing of buildings, knit fabrics for chair covers and seats in rail vehicles, functional materials for foundation garments, antistatic woven linings for clothing or textile materials for food packaging. Quality, power of innovation and customer focus Efficient quality management in close connection with all company processes is of particular importance at Mattes & Ammann. The company can already look back on numerous successful certifications in quality management, including the successful implementation of ISO/TS 16949:2009 as proof of quality for suppliers in the automotive industry. Christoph Larsen-Mattes explains why the supplied quality has an elementary influence on the company itself: "A whole bundle of targeted measures and strategies is required to secure the location and the jobs provided by the company. The basis, however, is still the perfect implementation of customer requests and requirements. Our long standing experience and wide ranging know-how enable us to guarantee first rate quality which contributes to customer satisfaction." The strength of the company consequently is their power of innovation. Customer requirements in turn are the focus of in-house development work. Mattes & Ammann are also involved in joint research projects with universities and colleges, research institutes and scientific working groups and take part in numerous professional associations, alliances and interdisciplinary clusters. The aim is to sound out innovations in the area of textile technology applications for practicable possibilities for use. An extremely successful example for this is the market introduction of the innovative super light mattress fabric "easyair federleicht" in Thanks to

3 3 / 5 special processing methods of the state-of-the-art circular knitting machines at Mattes & Ammann, product properties such as an excellent feel to the touch through unusually high volume quality as well as elasticity and breathability can be achieved. Further breathable textiles with excellent human physiology properties for use in seating furniture as well as in the automotive seating sector have been developed in cooperation with Lenzing AG and the Eurofoam Group. Intensive development work lead to the creation of a new type of cellulose foam especially for automotive interiors. For this product there is also a focus on sustainability, as Christoph Larsen-Mattes explains: "Cellulose material absorbs moisture very well without storing it. As it is a natural raw material is can be safely used with regard to the environment." Environmentally friendly without compromises Mattes & Ammann have been committed to environmental management early on and are especially dedicated to continuing improvements in all areas of the company. Christoph Larsen-Mattes sums up: "As a medium-sized company, sustainability is an essential principle of business management for us. Especially in our fast lived times, we think in the medium and long term as well, focusing on continuity." The environmental management system implemented at Mattes & Ammann is therefore tailored to a comprehensive sustainable concept. The company document their environmental achievements through certifications according to ISO as well as according to the EU eco audit regulation EMAS. As early as 1993, Mattes & Ammann were one of the first companies to have their products successfully certified according to the human ecology requirements of the OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and they

4 4 / 5 have continually expanded the percentage of certified products in the range to now 99%. In addition, the company's environmentally friendly production conditions were certified according to OEKO-TEX Standard 1000 in 1998 as only the second textile manufacturer worldwide and the company can market their circular knit fabrics with the OEKO-TEX Standard 100plus label, also since To improve the environmental balance, new measures are developed and implemented in the framework of an in-house environmental programme each year. The acquisition of several company-owned oil cleaning devices for example allows used needle oils to be processed and reused to a great extent which permanently reduces costs. Propylene sleeves coming out of production without yarn residue are ground in an in-house mill and sold to the plastics industry as a high quality raw material for further processing. In addition to this, Mattes & Ammann are implementing a range of measures which successfully contribute to the optimisation of the environmental performance. This particularly includes waste disposal which is organised and documented in the facilities in an exemplary manner, measures for energy savings and CO2 prevention, but also in-house improvements regarding material flow or innovative information technologies such as the "paperless office". "A central aim of our actions and a criterion for the development of our products is to not burden the environment any more than absolutely necessary," Christoph Larsen-Mattes points out. "We are consistently striving to pass on this idea within the supply chain as well and are always very delighted when another supplier has taken action towards environmental management." Exemplary social and cultural management The appreciation of employees as a cornerstone of business success is firmly anchored in the company through the certification according to SA 8000 (as the first textile company in Europe) and is being additionally stimulated by an active

5 5 / 5 cultural management since In addition to fulfilling basic requirements such as performance-based pay, regulated holiday times, workplace safety or the exclusion of discrimination etc., Mattes & Ammann include their employees in numerous activities such as Christmas parties, company outings, further education courses or sports activities to encourage community spirit and have established a code of conduct for respectfully dealing with one another. Furthermore the employees are being motivated by premium programmes to actively take part in the company's success through suggestions for improvements and quality optimisation. All successful achievements are communicated in the annual environmental declaration. The employer's duty of care towards the employees is also implemented in an exemplary manner. This includes necessary utensils and regular introductions into health and safety as well as the health management introduced in 2003, encompassing half-yearly health checks, a health "passport" for all employees, vaccinations, professional lectures about health issues and a bonus system for the healthiest employees in the overall workforce. Christoph Larsen-Mattes summarises: "Healthy products in a healthy world that is the guiding principle for our work. We are firmly convinced that sustainable production which for us naturally includes the appreciation of our employees and customers is the right way for us."