Sattler AG, the highTex Company in Graz, Austria
A COMPANY VISION: TEXTILES WITH AN „IQ"

Austrian Styria is mainly famous for its thermal springs. Only insiders know that Graz accommodates a company which exports 85 % of its textile production worldwide.  
The Sattler group has around 550 employees and has become the worldwide leading supplier of sun protection textiles. At the same time, innovative projects such as plasma treatment of textiles set new standards in environmentally conscious finishing.

Even when it was founded in 1875, the Sattler weaving company in Thondorf near Graz was considered to be a modern, if not futuristic company. The large-scale factories, a progressive sales strategy and, in particular, the power of innovation were convincing and have brought lasting success to the company. In more than 100 years, the present Sattler group has developed into an internationally active textile company. The family company produces far away from its export markets which soon forced it to streamline its structure. The company attributes its success to uncompromising customer orientation. It produces and markets textiles with high functional and technical demands and relies on early recognition of market trends and niches as well as fast implementation of solutions.

Fabrics for awnings and large sunshades are produced with high-quality yarns and fibres and characterised by high light fastness and excellent weather resistance. The fabrics provide lasting protection against UV radiation. That collections are adapted to differing aesthetic requirements and vary in design and function depending on the end user country is a matter of basic understanding for the customer-oriented Sattler AG.

DORNIER the Guarantor for Production Quality
The two filling insertion systems of the DORNIER system family comprising four weaver groups with Air-jet machines and three weaver groups with Rapier weaving machines cover the diverse production areas in the weaving shop. Sun-blind materials mainly from acrylic staple fibre yarns are produced in 30 x 2 tex on the Air-jet weaving machines. The Sattler group uses Rapier weaving machines to produce textiles for the Pro-Tex and Multi-Tex ranges. Their strength lies in reliable filling insertion with different filling yarns. The system also supports multiple filling insertion so that Sattler gains essential benefits from higher filling performance. The weaving machine park of the Sattler group at the production site in Rudersdorf in the Burgenland today comprises exclusively DORNIER weaving machines with very different nominal widths.

The pick performance of the Air-jet weaving machines is between 1,650 and 1,990 m/min., the Rapier weaving machines achieve even up to 2,800 m/min. with multiple filling insertion.

In the Sun-Tex business area, the latest development of textiles for visual and antiglare protection is another important component in Sattler’s success, and prove their untiring power of innovation. The company philosophy brings the conviction of the Graz weaving shop to the point - „top quality combined with lowest costs and shortest delivery times under consideration of ecological and legal environments". The Sattler group achieves 85% of its turnover abroad, mainly in Europe but also in Northern America and Asia.

The market position for technical fabrics (tarpaulins for trucks, large tents or large banners becoming more and more popular in the advertising sector) is important. Last but not least, the use of textiles in construction and building industry is developing into an significant market area. Textile building materials are characterised above all by economic cost-benefit relationships, rapid installation and negligible maintenance. The characteristics of plastic-coated fabrics (higher specific strength than steel, resistance against wear, age and weather, impressive in lightness and elegance) could make them the fifth building material in addition to concrete, steel, glass and wood.

Sattler also sees considerable growth prospects in the environmental protection area where more and more textile systems are being implemented, for example in biogas reservoirs or as seepage protection for sewage treatment plants.

High Quality = Low Fault Quota
The large production range demonstrates that the company takes its innovation demand seriously. Just as important is the high standard of production and therefore end product quality. DORNIER was also able to contribute here to the high demand of the Sattler group. Replacing the shuttle weaving machines and then later the projectile weaving machines with modern Air-jet weaving machine technology reduced the fault rate by more than 70%. More or less simultaneously, ISO 9001/14401 was introduced, technological and organisational optimisation measures implemented in the preliminary process. Dedicated training measures were carried out to improve the already high technical knowledge level of employees. These measures halved the fault rate again. Today, the Sattler group budgets a 0.25 % fault rate in their fabrics.

Recognising market trends and determining customer requirements are decisive for new developments. The company’s own sales organisation ensures vital closeness to customers in the very important German market and independent sales partners serve customers in the other countries in Europe as well as non-European countries.

The range of products of the Sattler group is split into three areas, with sunshade textiles being the largest: Sun-Tex: Fabrics for shading, awnings, boat tarpaulins, camping tents, large sunshades, visual and antiglare protection. Pro-Tex: Textiles for industrial use, PVC-coated tarpaulins, textiles for extreme requirements and tents, textile constructions, canopies. Multi-Tex: Textile designs for special requirements (biogas reservoirs, air-inflated tents, textile architecture, textile construction for agriculture, environmental protection, industrial use).