Autefa Solutions, a firm well known for turn-key lines and individual machines such as cards, crosslappers and needle looms, has expanded its product portfolio by taking over the Automatic Needle Exchanger from CU4Motion Gmbh. With the Automatic Needle Exchanger Autefa Solutions will offer all customers an efficient and economic unit for exchanging needles, which should be an integrated part of every service workshop says the company.

The device is based on the development of a consortium of companies, under the leadership of CU4Motion GmbH and was presented to the public at ITMA 2011 for the first time. It has been developed continuously since then and trimmed for industrial suitability in manufacturing enterprises. As service machine for needle looms the Automatic Needle Exchanger is a complement to Autefa Solutions’ portfolio. According to customer requirements the company says the needling of the needle boards has to be simple, safe and effective, in order to avoid long downtimes and to extend the service life of the needle boards.

“We are very satisfied with the cooperation with CU4Motion. With the Automatic Needle Exchanger CU4Motion has developed and built a perfect service machine,” says Dr. Stefan Schlichter, managing director of Autefa Solutions. “The machine is efficient and equipped with an adapted software system, so that reproducibility and safety at every needle exchange are most important. It was of major importance for us that the Automatic Needle Exchanger can be universally used for all practicable applications required from our customers and does not only cover inserting needles into new needle boards. It is about time that the hammer as the main tool disappears from the needle workshop.”

“After the great and positive feedback at ITMA 2011 our development team has been successfully oriented on the achievement of a high reliability and has optimized the processing speed as well as the robustness of the individual functions,” says Roberto Rahn, one of the shareholders of CU4Motion GmbH. “As a result of these efforts we could redesign important individual processes, that has led to another patent application. In Autefa Solutions we have found a partner who will successfully establish the Automatic Needle Exchanger in the market.”

For Autefa Solutions the Automatic Needle Exchanger is a further building block in the concept of a modern tool management that focuses on efficiency as well as flexibility. The innovative i-Point system for needle looms enables to achieve customized needle patterns with regard to technology by preventing surface markings in the nonwovens.