Exclusive Interview with Thomas Oetterli, CEO of Rieter, at ITM 2026 Istanbul
At ITM 2026 Istanbul, Kohan Textile Journal had the privilege of interviewing Thomas Oetterli, CEO of Rieter, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of spinning systems. During the interview, Mr. Oetterli shared Rieter’s vision for the future of spinning technology, the importance of automation and digitalization, the outlook for the Turkish textile industry, emerging opportunities across Africa, and how global machinery suppliers must adapt to an increasingly unpredictable business environment.
Q: What are the key technology trends shaping the future of the spinning industry?
Thomas Oetterli:
At the end of the day, everything comes down to technology leadership.
Technology leadership means delivering higher productivity, lower energy consumption, and outstanding yarn quality. Around these core objectives, automation and digitalization have become two of the most important industry trends.
Customers today expect machines that are not only more productive but also more intelligent and capable of optimizing production while reducing operating costs.
Q: Türkiye has always been an important market for Rieter. How do you see its future?
Thomas Oetterli:
Historically, Türkiye has always been one of Rieter’s most important markets.
Of course, the country faced major challenges following the devastating earthquake three years ago. However, we know the resilience of Turkish textile manufacturers, and over the past few months we have seen business conditions gradually improving for many of our customers.
This gives us great confidence. Rieter has been active in Türkiye for more than 50 years, and we strongly believe the country will continue to be one of our key strategic markets in the future.
Q: What are the biggest challenges currently facing Turkish spinning mills?
Thomas Oetterli:
One of the biggest challenges today is undoubtedly rising labor costs.
This is exactly why Rieter has developed tailor-made automation and digitalization solutions. As a complete system supplier, we are able to integrate automation throughout the entire spinning process, helping customers reduce labor dependency while increasing productivity and operational efficiency.
Automation is no longer simply an option—it has become an important competitive advantage.
Read More: ITM Istanbul 2026 Visitor Guide:
Q: How do you evaluate the future of the African textile industry?
Thomas Oetterli:
Africa offers enormous long-term potential, but it is important to distinguish between two different regions.
The first is North Africa, including countries such as Egypt and Morocco. These markets benefit from relatively low labor costs, competitive energy prices, and, particularly in Egypt, strong domestic cotton production. Although they are still developing, they represent attractive opportunities for future investment.
The second region is Sub-Saharan Africa, covering countries such as Ethiopia, Nigeria, Benin, and Côte d’Ivoire. Many of these countries are also major cotton producers, but their textile industries are still in the early stages of industrial development.
To support this transformation, Rieter has established a strategic alliance with African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms, and together we have already delivered the first large-scale spinning mills in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Q: The global business environment has become increasingly unpredictable. How is Rieter adapting to these challenges?
Thomas Oetterli:
Today’s business environment is extremely dynamic.
Almost every quarter a new global crisis emerges. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have learned that this may simply be the new normal.
The key is agility.
One important aspect is building resilient supply chains. We must ensure that we can manufacture and deliver machines from multiple production locations around the world instead of relying on a single source.
At Rieter, we refer to this as adapting to the decoupling of the global economy, and it has become an important strategic priority for our company.
Q: What makes Rieter different in today’s competitive market?
Thomas Oetterli:
Rieter makes the difference through technology leadership.
Our focus remains on delivering higher productivity, lower energy consumption, intelligent automation, digital solutions, and complete spinning systems that help our customers remain competitive in an increasingly challenging global market.
