Business

USTER® yarn completes the 50 years mark

At the push of a button, spinners today can set up automatic yarn clearing with the latest USTER^®QUANTUM 3. This amazing feature is the legacy of 50 years’ continuous progress in textile quality assurance and mill optimization. It is a history supported by three vital elements: USTER’s in-house expertise in instrument technology, detailed knowledge of customers’ quality needs and most importantly – the commitment and skill of the USTER people behind some of the textile industry’s most significant innovations.

Peter Hättenschwiler recalls his early days at USTER, as he was completing his apprenticeship: “My boss told me ‘you can stay with the company if you behave well’ – so that’s what I did.” That was in 1948, and Hättenschwiler went on to devote his entire working life to USTER, playing a key role in many landmark advances. As an apprentice, he assembled the USTER^® GGP, the first evenness tester. Later he was in charge of customer service and for many years the head of the Textile Laboratory. Today, at the age of 88, he is still in good shape mentally and physically and can look back on a fulfilling career.

The launch of USTER’s first yarn clearer for automatic winders, in 1965, was a special milestone, says Hättenschwiler: “This was at a time when USTER had an outstanding world-leading position as a machine manufacturer because of two important factors. Firstly, we could successfully combine mechanical and electronic know-how, to produce instruments with unique functions. Secondly, the company knew whichquality parameters were important to measure and what the spinners wanted.”

Reviewing 50 years of USTER’s history of yarn clearing for automatic winders is a classic product success story. It demonstrates the continuing and sustainable development of a major product line and reminds us that important previous stages of development still feature in the current generation of the USTER^®QUANTUM 3. In the past 50 years, a total of 15 yarn clearer models were introduced to the market. But it is not only about the innovative features invented over this period, but also the continuing trust shown by spinners, relying on these yarn clearers to safeguard the quality of their entire yarn production – essentially their reputation.

“The remarkable history of the yarn clearers, as well as of the company, is strongly related to the total dedication of the staff, in the past and still today, and particularly to the unique ability of our engineers to combine both evolutionary developments and revolutionary innovations,” says Dr. Geoffrey Scott, CEO of Uster Technologies.