German scarf manufacturing specialist V Fraas has installed a Montex 6500 stenter at its Zhangjiagang factory to allow the production of cashmere and woollen scarves. The China division of German scarf manufacturing specialist V Fraas has installed a Monforts Montex 6500 stenter with integrated heat recovery system at its recently established plant in Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province, to allow the company to add wool and cashmere to its production.
The stenter, a four-chamber unit manufactured by the Monforts Fong's joint venture, represents the third stage in Fraas's development plans for China. V Fraas was founded in Wüstenselbitz, a small village in Upper Franconia in Germany by Valentin Fraas in 1880, and specialises in producing quality woven, knitted and rochelle scarves that are complemented by a wide assortment of shawls and other textile accessories such as caps, gloves, capes and ponchos.
The family-owned company has its renowned V Fraas brand that sells through its own stores and in retail outlets internationally, and also manufactures for other leading clothing and accessories brands under its Private Labelling division.
A design team is spread across Wüstenselbitz, New York, Paris, Düsseldorf and Shanghai, market proximity and technical proficiency being the underpinnings of the development of 500-700 new items annually. With its vertical manufacturing capacity the company produces annually 10 to 12 million scarves and other textile accessories from its manufacturing facilities in Germany, the Czech Republic and China.
Fraas established its Zhangjiagang production plant in 2003, having in the previous three years opened a total of seventy V Fraas stores in China. The Chinese division, V Fraas (Zhangjiagang) Textile Co Ltd, is entirely German-owned.
Juergen Pittroff, executive director of operations, says that initially the Chinese factory was for the production of warp knitted and woven scarves, and there was no stenter frame.
"The plant underwent a second-phase expansion in 2006, and then in 2009 we made the decision to expand to wool and cashmere; needing a new factory extension to be built to house the stenter."
Mr Pittroff says that V Fraas has a Monforts stenter at its German plant, and has been comparing the build and functions of the Germany-built Monforts and the China-built Monfongs stenters.
