James Heal Celebrate 30 Years Of Textile Testing With CETTEX Of Tunis
Image By Courtesy of JAMES HEAL
Established in 1991, CETTEX (Centre Technique du Textile) provides advice and expertise to manufacturers in the textile and clothing sector, as well as public authorities.
The CETTEX lab has been operating with James Heal Equipment since 1995, a nearly 30 year relationship where quality textiles testing has taken precident.
Based in Tunis, the Textile Technical Center CETTEX is a publicly funded organisation, under the supervision of the Tunisian Ministry of Industry and SMEs.
Tunisian Lab Plans Expansion Into International Markets
CETTEX offers a complete range of services such as technical support in textiles, analysis and laboratory testing, as well as providing professional training and expertise. It supports Tunisian textile companies in their technical, managerial and organisational development, and helps them in their approach to growth and innovation.
The ISO accredited laboratories at CETTEX carry out physical and chemical analysis for high profile clients such as Next, Levi's Dockers, TUNAC, CELIO, as a few examples.
Over 100 types of tests are carried out within their labs including fibre, yarn, fabrics and accessories testing.
We spent some time with CETTEX General Manager, Mr Mohsen Missaoui and his team, to learn more about their plans for investment in their textiles testing laboratories, and the ethos behind their expansion.
“Our ultimate vision was to elevate our laboratory to bring CETTEX to the same level as multinational companies"- Mr Missaoui
The Vision
Having worked mainly with domestic customers, the team at CETTEX saw that the local market had evolved with most manufacturers now exporting, and began to investigate whether there could be similar international opportunities for their own organisation.
Supported by the Ministry, CETTEX worked with a number of partner organisations in Tunisia and across Europe to conduct market research, looking for new ways to grow their own business outside of their home market.
“Our ultimate vision was to elevate our laboratory to bring CETTEX to the same level as multinational companies and grow our business solely from domestic to include international clients, and eventually serve more big global brands.” said Mr Missaoui.
The Strategy
With potential new markets researched, and expansion strategy formulated, CETTEX created a plan to develop their capabilities to an international level and compete on the global stage.
They recognised the need to widen and improve their services to achieve their aims and through their research identified the desired test instruments to deliver the requirements of the international clients they wanted to attract.
The first new instrument to be installed was a ProMace Snag Resistance Tester as part of the plan, which has been added to the existing comprehensive suite of James Heal lab equipment for the testing of textiles.
Why CETTEX chose James Heal
CETTEX has worked with James Heal and their local Sales Channel Partner, Vibratech since 1995, not long after their lab was first set up.
Having had James Heal instruments working reliably in their labs, and a strong relationship with Vibratech built up over many years, CETTEX knew which brand they ideally wanted to work with to implement their expansion and planned new investment into the future.
On the subject of his experience with the company, Mr Missaoui comments, “We chose James Heal instruments for their quality and robustness, they last so well over time. All the features are fantastic and responsive to our needs.” In addition, after sales service was a primary factor, “The expertise of engineers and ongoing technological support provided is unmatched by other providers, it is a collaborative relationship.” he continues.
As a publicly funded organisation, CETTEX has to achieve best value for money in their procurement, and that means longevity and reliability are key considerations.
The CETTEX team felt that James Heal specialised in and had a strong understanding of instruments in each area of testing.
Other benefits mentioned by the team at CETTEX were the ease of use for Technicians and inclusion of international standards in the software.
