Santoni is the most prominent company in the field of seamless technology, thanks to a range of cutting-edge solutions designed to successfully take up the challenges set by an increasing demanding, ever-changing market. Established in 1919 as the very first Italian sock-knitting machine manufacturer, Santoni is an internationally renowned enterprise, praised for its wide array of state-of-the-art technologies that are able to effectively meet the varied needs of the textile and fashion markets, while guaranteeing first-rate quality and performance standards. Santoni’s fame is tightly linked to the great success experienced by the seamless technology, that is, an innovative concept that has utterly changed the textile machines field, developed thanks to the synergy between the different facets of the Santoni universe. We interviewed Patrick Silva, marketing manager, who described the most important moments in the history of the Brescia-based company as well as the challenges lying in store in the near future.
Patrick Silva, Santoni’s marketing
manager
What are the main strengths of the seamless technology? And what about the end sectors? This ground-breaking processing technique was firstly developed by Santoni, who is still the undisputed leader in this field, as confirmed by the fact that our company currently meets up to 95% of the world’s demand for seamless machinery. At the beginning, said technology was applied to a range of circular electronic knitting machines for the production of underwear. However, over the years, the range of end sectors has widened, including also sportswear, technical garments, beachwear, medical wear, knitwear and, last but not least, the footwear industry. This procedure has resulted in a marked reduction in the number of required seams, thus favouring a decrease in processing and finishing costs as well as in energy consumption levels. The articles manufactured with this technology guarantee the highest standards in terms of breathability, comfort, durability and wearability.
This technology has been constantly developed and improved over the years. Exactly. Thanks to the constant commitment shown by the in-house R&D Department and to the significant investments in technological upgrading, we have been able to develop new models that provide a higher creative versatility, the utmost efficiency and top-notch performances, while paying close attention to environmental sustainability. Furthermore, the seamless technique is the result of the synergy between connected companies and their sets of technical-business skills, of a corporate philosophy based on dialogue and collaboration. “All in a Group” conveys our will to put together innovation and leadership to design cutting-edge machines that help customers meet the ongoing challenges of the textile market and of the fashion business.
The corporate showroom puts on display garments and shoes manufactured with the technologies designed by Santoni.
Footwear is the latest frontier of the seamless technology. What kind of solutions have you developed to fulfil the demands of this sector? We have recently upgraded one of our best-selling models, that is, the MECMOR CMP, the garment-length circular knitting machine complete with rip border separation, a byword for productivity, quality of the finished product and reliability. The undisputed leader in its category, it is now available in the OPEN version, designed to manufacture seamless uppers, so as to effectively meet the needs of the increasingly demanding footwear sector. Besides ensuring the utmost efficiency and low consumption levels, this machine provides ample customization opportunities, helping designers create high-definition patterns and effects by using multiple colours and different yarn types.
In the R&D centre based in Brescia, we saw X-Machine, your latest innovation. Right from its launch, it has been met with amazing success worldwide. It is a highly sophisticated machine that carries out an analysis of the upper’s different areas according to the required rigidity, elasticity and colour, so as to get, with a single process, a finished product that can be immediately assemble with the sole. This model guarantees incredible production times (from 5 to 7 minutes, per piece), first-rate quality standards, reliability and ease of use. It’s a single-cylinder electronic knitting machine featuring four reciprocating-motion feeds, provided with a system patented by Santoni for patterning on all four feeds, thus resulting in motifs standing out for their high definition and chromatic sharpness. It has been developed in partnership with Lonati S.p.A., the most prominent company in the field of hosiery machines thanks to its innovative “closed-toe-truelinking system” that performs a stitch by stitch finish. In addition to cutting down production and labour costs, this machine provides endless patterning possibilities and colour combinations, and it is equipped with a ground-breaking inlay system that allows to create unprecedented 3D textures.
Built within the plant’s area, the hotel is used to host visiting customers.
Besides R&D projects, what are Santoni’s main priorities? Significant resources are invested also in training initiatives. Said commitment is perfectly embodied by the Santoni School, an in-house facility dedicated to courses held by qualified teachers and open to the customer’s technicians, grown into a centre for vocational growth and updating. We own also a hotel to host guests, a laboratory equipped with the whole range of corporate machines as well as a large showroom putting on display garments and shoes made with our technologies. www.santoni.com