Chairman
Andreas Weber
Head of Sales & Marketing
Heberlein Fiber Technology Inc.
Sales department
Bleikenstrasse 11
CH-9630 Wattwil, Switzerland
Phone +41 71 987 44 02
Fax +41 71 987 44 45
Email mailto:andreas.weber@heberlein.com
The 62nd Swiss Section Annual Meeting
TI Swiss Section Visits the Home of Swiss Mountain Silk
The 62nd Swiss Section Semi Annual meeting was held on 29th October 2008 at Camenzind & Co in Gersau. All in all over 30 members and friends of the TI Swiss Section participated at this interesting meeting.
Following the tradition of the summer meeting, which had been rescheduled according to the wishes of the Section members to autumn, a visit to a textile enterprise was on the agenda. Over 30 participants showed up to have a good look at the spinning of silk yarns at Camenzind + Co. AG in Gersau - the home of Swiss Mountain Silk. Some of these participants had followed the directions of Andreas Hellwig for a scenic tour from the city of Lucerne by boat on the picturesque lake of Lucerne to Gersau.
After welcoming the attendees Mr. Andreas Weber, Chairman of the TI Swiss Section, handed over to Mr. Matthias Camenzind, director of the company. In his introduction speech he gave an overview of the company's history, present production program and figures, their own energy production and staff.
All this information is readily available under www.natural-yarns.com.
Thanks to the large number of participants it was necessary to split up into two groups. One group was led by Mr. Camenzind and the other one by his sister Mrs. Amato-Camenzind. The interesting tour through this unique spinning mill in Switzerland proved to be absolutely impressive and gave a splendid insight how silk yarns can be spun successfully. The silk tow is purchased in the country which is synonymous for silk - China. This raw material is processed into a flabbergasting variety of silk yarns in the range from Nm 2 to 200. All this is made possible with a specialised machinery park which includes self-designed and modified machinery, older down-to-earth spinning technology to the newest high-tech spinning equipment available. Ultimately, these yarns are used in top class end products e.g. silk ties (Hermes), lingerie (Hanro), socks (Falke) and carpets. Several celebrities, just to name one, Madonna, own a carpet that was crafted with yarns from Camenzind. Most of the yarns are exported all over the world.
Definitely a highlight of the visit to the home of Swiss Mountain Silk was professionalism of our two hosts; with their openness to the intellectual curiosity of the participants no question remained unanswered.
After the tour everybody was invited by the TI Swiss Section for some refreshments at the nearby restaurant "Schäfli". Andreas Weber thanked Matthias Camenzind for showing us the company and how silk yarns are spun in the centre of Switzerland.
In the eyes of the organizing committee a successful event had been offered to all attendees, giving the opportunity to network, to see and experience something special. Especially pleasing was to see that the meeting and tour attracted textile professionals who are just starting their careers and those having a background of several decades of experience in the textile industry.
The 63rd meeting TI Swiss Section, which is also the 30th Annual General Meeting, will be held on 29th April 2009 at Gessner AG in Wädenswil, a company that produces home furnishing and Jacquard fabrics from yarns of a large variety of materials - including silk.
For the TI Swiss Section Committee
Uwe Nick
Committee member
