IMB World of Textile Processing 2006 held in Cologne, Germany, on May 10-13, welcomed 25,000 trade visitors from 115 countries—64% of whom came from abroad.

A total of 631 companies from 40 countries presented a range of technologies for clothing production as well as a spectrum of complete solutions related to technical textiles.

A greater emphasis was placed on communication and know-how transfer at this year’s event. The IMB forum, which took place on May 11, focused on the changing world of IT and logistics and was attended by around 500 visitors. The top IT issue was lifecycle management and high-ranking speakers from science and industry gave presentations on the subject.

The inaugural IMB Innovation awards were also held at this year’s event at which German company Pfaff Industrie Maschinen AG was presented with an award for its programmable welding system featuring full parameter control via a touch screen.