Spain’s circular knits finishing specialist Tinfer has commissioned a new six-chamber Montex stenter by Monforts at the Pineda de Mar plant. Founded in 1973, originally as Tintes Fernández, in Arenys de Munt, the company shortened its name, expanded and relocated to its present plant in Pineda de Mar just down the coast from Barcelona at the beginning of the 1980s.

Over the years, Tinfer has established a reputation as Spain’s specialist in swimwear and sportswear – and especially in the dyeing and finishing of circular knits with a high degree of stretch, based on elastanes with polyesters, polyamides, cottons and their blends.

While 90% of its customers are third party distributors in Catalonia, the company’s treated fabrics are supplied subsequently supplied to garment makers for global brands and retailers. “The emphasis can only be on constant high quality, which our customers expect as standard,” said General Manager Xavier Alabau Basart, the son in law of the company’s founder Juan Fernández.

“This in turn relies on both our own high standards and working with trusted suppliers. We needed to invest in a third stenter to increase our capacity in response to higher demand from our major customers, and this time decided to opt for the Monforts system.”

The new stenter has a working width of 2.2 metres and is one of the first in Europe to benefit from the integration of the self-cleaning Monforts Eco Booster heat recovery unit. The Eco Booster is equipped with an electric drive for computer-controlled optimisation of the heat exchanger’s performance to the prevailing exhaust air streams – something that is not possible with purely static heat exchanger modules, the German manufacturer explains.

“The Monforts Eco Booster heat recovery unit puts an end to maintenance downtime as a result of its automatic cleaning control, which means the machine doesn’t have to be stopped at all,” said Oriol Canet, Sales Engineer at Aguilar and Pineda, the agent for Monforts in Barcelona. “In addition, the degree of soiling of the rotating heat exchanger wheel is monitored automatically, deciding when cleaning is required and to what degree, so the mill no longer has to rely on the operator.”

The new line is fully automatic, with all the intuitive features operators will be familiar with from touchscreen smart phones and tablets provided by the Monforts Qualitex 800 control system. This is designed to make navigation extremely easy and has considerably cut down the time required for Tinfer’s operatives to become familiar with the system.

“In my opinion the latest Monforts Montex is without doubt the best horizontal chain stenter on the market,” concluded Alabau. “We are now building on the additional capacity it has provided us with and expected it to be fully booked out this Autumn.”

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