Sustainability, automation, and digitalization are rapidly transforming the spinning industry. As textile manufacturers face increasing pressure to process recycled fibers, reduce labor dependency, and improve production efficiency, machinery suppliers are developing new technologies that address these challenges simultaneously.
During ITM 2026 in Istanbul, Behnam Ghasemi, Editor-in-Chief of Kohan Textile Journal, spoke with Pia Teresa, Marketing Manager at Saurer, about the company’s latest recycling solutions, the evolution of mill automation, and how the industry is gradually moving toward fully autonomous spinning mills.
Recycling Has Become One of Saurer’s Core Priorities
Recycling has become one of the biggest trends in the textile industry. How is Saurer responding to this growing demand?
Pia Teresa: As you know, recycling is one of our core focuses today. Our objective is to enable customers to spin even the shortest recycled fibers while maintaining productivity and yarn quality.
One of the highlights we are presenting here at ITM is our Autocoro equipped with a dual sliver intake, which has become one of our key solutions for recycling applications.
We are also showcasing many yarn samples produced on Autocoro, on our BD semi-automatic rotor spinning machine, and even recycled products manufactured on ring spinning systems.
This is becoming increasingly important because the European Union is introducing new regulations. In the future, manufacturers will have to consider the composition of the yarn already at the beginning of the spinning process. Recycling is no longer something to think about later—it starts from fiber preparation and continues throughout the entire production chain.
Türkiye Is Leading the Recycling Industry
How do you see Türkiye’s position in recycled spinning?
Pia Teresa: Türkiye is actually one of the pioneers in textile recycling.
We already have many customers here successfully recycling mechanically recycled fibers on Autocoro machines. Besides that, several Turkish companies are continuously developing new recycling technologies and innovative fiber processing methods.
I believe Türkiye has a significant advantage in this field and is already several steps ahead of many other countries when it comes to textile recycling.
For Saurer, Türkiye is not only an important market commercially but also strategically because many of the innovations we see here are shaping the future direction of recycling worldwide.
Read More: Saurer: Recycling, Automation and the Journey Toward the Dark Mill
Automation Has Become the New Standard
Automation is another major topic across the spinning industry. How is Saurer approaching this transformation?
Pia Teresa: Automation has become the new normal.
In the past, automation was mainly considered attractive for countries with high labor costs. Today, however, even countries with lower labor costs are facing labor shortages.
It has become increasingly difficult to find people who are willing to work in spinning mills.
At Saurer, automation is nothing new. One of our basic automation systems is the BTS, which automatically transports bobbins from the roving frame to the ring spinning frame.
We have been offering this technology for approximately 40 years, so automation has always been part of our philosophy.
The foundation of automation starts inside every individual machine, but today our focus extends much further—we are working on automating the entire spinning mill.
From Individual Machines to Fully Connected Mills
What are the latest automation technologies Saurer is developing?
Pia Teresa: One of our newest developments is the use of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs).
We introduced these systems recently, and they are capable of transporting cans automatically from draw frames to roving frames or rotor spinning machines.
This allows customers to utilize their workforce much more efficiently by assigning operators to higher-value tasks instead of repetitive material transportation.
In addition, we offer automatic sliver feeding for Autocoro as an option, and we continue working on further automation concepts because labor availability has become one of the biggest challenges facing spinning mills worldwide.
How Close Are We to the Dark Mill?
Many people are talking about fully autonomous “dark mills.” How close are we to this reality?
Pia Teresa: It is difficult to predict exactly how long it will take before completely unmanned spinning mills become reality.
However, some customers are already operating limited versions of highly automated mills.
Even today we have intelligent features that represent important steps toward autonomous production.
For example, on our ring spinning machines, customers can define a maximum acceptable yarn break level. If the machine detects that this limit has been reached, it automatically reduces the spindle speed.
Instead of continuing to produce excessive yarn breaks and reducing productivity, the machine reacts automatically to stabilize production.
These kinds of intelligent machine decisions are exactly the type of functionality that will be required in future dark mills.
The Biggest Challenge Is Investment Economics
What is currently the biggest challenge for wider automation adoption?
Pia Teresa: Technology itself is no longer the biggest challenge.
The real question is always economic.
Customers ask themselves:
- How much will automation cost?
- How much are they willing to invest?
- How much can they actually afford?
- And finally, what level of automation is really necessary for their production?
Our responsibility is to develop solutions that are not only technologically advanced but also economically viable, particularly for ring spinning mills.
Automation must deliver a clear return on investment.
Looking Ahead
What do you expect to see over the next few years?
Pia Teresa: I believe we will see significant progress in automation over the coming years.
At ITMA Hannover, I expect the industry to present many new innovations that will move spinning mills another step closer to fully automated production.
The journey toward the dark mill has already started, and every new development brings us closer to that future.
Editor’s Insight
Saurer’s vision demonstrates that the future of spinning will not be driven by a single breakthrough, but by the combination of recycling, intelligent automation, and digital process optimization. While fully autonomous “dark mills” are still evolving, technologies such as AGVs, automated material handling, smart yarn-break management, and advanced recycled fiber processing are already transforming modern spinning operations. As sustainability regulations become stricter and labor shortages continue worldwide, these innovations are likely to become standard features in the next generation of spinning mills.
