On December 20, 2006, Murata Machinery, Ltd., (Kyoto, Japan) received a Letter of Thanks from the Lenzing Group (Lenzing, Austria). The Lenzing Group is a world-leading manufacturer of cellulose-based regenerated fiber, and the Letter of Thanks recognized the contribution of Murata Machinery's VORTEX Spinning to development of cellulose fiber yarn.

The Letter of Thanks was signed jointly by Mr. Fritz Weninger, Vice President of the Lenzing Group Textile Fibers business unit, and Mr. Dieter Eichinger, Global Marketing Director of Textile Fibers. The letter refers to a consensus of opinion, stemming from a firsthand inspection of Murata Machinery Headquarters on November 15, 2006 by Lenzing Group representatives, on building a technological cooperative relationship regarding the spinning of regenerated cellulose fiber. Moreover, the letter praised the contribution of Murata Machinery over the past several years to development of regenerated cellulose fiber yarn. The letter particularly emphasizes the success of Ecosil yarn development, by Samil Spinning (Taegu, Korea).

Ecosil yarn is spun using Murata Machinery VORTEX Spinning Machines, from TENCEL, Lenzing Modal, Lenzing Viscose and other regenerated cellulose fibers manufactured by the Lenzing Group. Samil Spinning registered Ecosil as a trade-mark and released the yarn to the market in May 2001.

Featuring silk touch and elegant luster among other qualities, Ecosil makes good use of the features of the materials used in TENCEL, Lenzing Modal and other fibers. Ecosil is a new yarn with high performance in many areas, such as dyeing, and VORTEX Spinning gives the yarn resistance to pilling while minimizing knit material shrinkage and torsion. Knit materials are used chiefly for outerwear, innerwear and underwear products exported to markets of the United States, Europe, Hong Kong and Japan.

Samil Spinning, the Lenzing Group and Murata Machinery developed Ecosil yarn through cooperation among the three companies in the study of diverse spinning conditions, from selection of raw materials to blending and draft ratios in spinning. The Lenzing Group has highly acclaimed the collaboration of a spinning company, a fiber manufacturer and a textile machinery maker for having expanded the market for regenerated cellulose fiber. At present, the Lenzing Group is focusing on development of another fiber, called MicroModal. There are high expectations for the technological contribution of VORTEX Spinning to development of MicroModal.

VORTEX Spinning promotes cultivation of markets through differentiation of products. Murata Machinery is honored to have received strong support for VORTEX Spinning from both a spinning company and a fiber manufacturer. As a maker of textile machinery, Murata Machinery remains dedicated to providing technology that will contribute to the textile industry as a whole.

November 15, 2006, Murata Machinery Headquarters
Lenzing Group Global Marketing Director, Dieter Eichinger (left), and Murata Machinery, Ltd., Textile Machinery Division Director, Hidetoshi Kimura (right)