WS International 2014 Annual Review

My activities throughout the year, consisting of four trips to Europe, focussed mainly on my personal activities such as winter sport and hiking in my beloved mountains in Tyrol, Austria. In terms of business, my year looked as follows:

September: Visit and discussion about international linkages at the YK Business School in Mauritius (a franchisee of MANCOSA).
30 September – 6 October: Lecture tour to Russia where I gave three lectures at the State University for Economics and Management in Novosibirsk, Russia.
13 – 18 October: Attended ITMF board meeting as well as subcommittee meetings and the annual world conference of the ITMF in Beijing, China.
19 – 26 October: Took part in a research and study tour across China as a member of the international spinners committee, a subcommittee of the ITMF. We interacted with private and state agencies, focussing on the planting and marketing of cotton, as well as visiting gins and spinning mills around Beijing, Urumqi, Akesu, Jinan, Wuxi and Shanghai.
7 November: In my capacity as member of MANCOSA, I attended the Advisory Board opening of a new administration building as well as the opening of the Dr. Chota Motala Auditorium, hosted by the Premier of KZN, Dr Zwele Mkhize.

WS International 2013 Annual Review

2013 was a balanced year with the continuation of my alpine sport activities in both winter as well as summer disciplines, within the Tyrolean Alps.

Equally I devoted a fair amount of time to consulting and lecturing activities, inclusive the active participation in ITMF board meetings and the International Spinners Committee.

I also to had the opportunity to once again offer for 2014 a full MBA scholarship at Mancosa (Management College of Southern Africa) , for previously disadvantaged persons.

Specific Activities

Various activities in Europe (14/2 –29/04/2013)
Attended the Mancosa Board of Governors meeting (8/05/2013)
Activities in Europe (03/6 –19/06/2013)
Activities in Europe (19/7 –04/10/2013)
Attending ITMF conference In Bregenz and board meeting in my capacity as past president (07/9 –11/09/2013)
Acted as moderator at the ITMF conference Session for technical textiles and non-wovens (10/09/2013)
Extensive research and advisory tour as a member of the international spinners Committee, to India (09/11—17/11/2013)
Prepared and finalised an economic study on the future potential of the SA Cotton Growing and Spinning Industry for a European Enterprise (01/11—29/11/2013)
Back to Europe (18/12/2013)

WS International 2012 Annual Review

What an exciting year 2012 was – both from a personal and business perspective.

I finally had some time to improve my skiing skills, and enjoyed a bit of mountain hiking/scrambling in the Tyrolean Alps of my beautiful home country, Austria.

A major part of my attention and time in 2012 was focussed on the educational sector, sharing my decades of experience in the corporate world with aspiring management talent. My motivational presentations were conducted under the auspices of MANCOSA, the Management Collage of Southern Africa, which has satellite campuses in all major cities within South Africa, several SADC states and Russia. Impressively, MANCOSA is also currently developing satellites in Kazakhstan.

This year, I will be offering specialised courses for the Spinning Industry, a complete Quality Management Course as well as comprehensive Textile Training packages.

Should you be interested, please do not hesitate to contact me for more information.

In the meantime, I have pleasure in presenting my 2012 Year in Review:

January 2012
Tanzania-Kilimanjaro-Arusha: The Benefits of Instrument Testing
(17.01.2012 – 21.01.2012)

The project was conducted under the umbrella of the Bremen Fibre Institute and a joint venture between:

The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC);
The Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) of the EU;
The Tanzanian Bureau of Standards;
The Tanzanian Cotton Board;
And from West Africa, CERFITEX in Mali and SOFITEX in Burkina Faso.

March 2012
I signed a Technical Textile Scouting Agreement with a major textile producer in South Africa, which is valid until March 2013.

April 2012
From the 20th of April 2012 until the 23rd of April 2012 I attended:

The ITMF board meeting in Milan in my capacity as past president;
The Textile Machinery Workshop with all major European Textile Machine manufacturers;
A presentation to ACIMIT (Italian Machine Manufacturers).

On the 24th of April 2012, I partook in a day-long Technology Appraisal Presentation at Zimmer, a digital print machine manufacturer in Kufstein, Austria.

May 2012
On the 7th of May 2012, I negotiated a business purchase transaction concept with CHT for an international client in Stuttgart, Germany.

On the 10th of May 2012, I negotiated a technical agreement for a South African company with a major producer in Almelo, Holland.

November 2012
From the 3rd of November 2012 to the 10th of November 2012 I attended a TMF board meeting Hanoi, Vietnam.
On the 6th of November 2012 I acted as Moderator for Technical Textiles and Nonwovens at the ITMF annual world Congress.

December 2012
In December 2012, I developed a three session (two hours each) Management Seminar focussed on the effective running of an enterprise, which I presented to all Mancosa Executives.

Thank you for taking the time to read my 2012 Year in Review. I look forward to sharing another succesful update with you one year from now and wish you all the best in your own ventures in 2013.

WS International 2011 Annual Review

2011 was an exciting and action-packed year for us here at WS International, filled with various events and accomplishments. We would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of the projects that we have been involved in during the course of 2011.

Sale of Textile Machinery
By March 2011 WS International had sold assets to the book value of R400 million on behalf of the Frame Textile Group. This included Rotor and Ring Spinning; complete Denim Mill; Weaving (Sulzer Projectile, Sulzer Toyota Airjets, as well as Sulzer and Dornier Rapier Looms); and a complete Bleaching, Mercerising, Dyeing, Printing and Finishing Plant , inclusive of Laboratories and Accessories. The Plant was sold to Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, as well as institutions within South Africa and its neighbouring states.

Educational Activities
From the 24th to the 30th of May, WS International and other Professors from MANCOSA (The Management College of Southern Africa) held presentations in Novosibirsk, the capital of Siberia. This took place at The State University for Economics and Management, Nova College and the State College for Finance and Administration.

On the 26th of May the Academic and Research Committee ( consisting of 34 members ) of the Russian Ministry for Education and Science ,as well as the Principle of the University, Professor Yuri V.Gusov , reconfirmed the conferment of Honorary Professorship to WS International’s, Walter Simeoni.

ITMF activities
W.S. International attended the board meeting as well as the annual conference from the 17th to the 20st of September 2011 in Barcelona. At this international conference, W.S. International acted as the moderator for technical textiles. W.S. International also attended the World Summit of the Textile Industry, which was held on the 21st of May 2011.

ITMA
By invitation of the 3C Corporation of Canada, WS International attended this prestigious three-day world exhibition, which takes place every four years. It is considered the Textile Olympics of the world where exhibitors from around the globe showcase their latest technology innovations.

International Spinners Committee
As a life member of this committee, which is made up of representatives of each continent and sub-continent, we were invited to spend seven days with the Turkish Textile Federation in the main centre of their Industry in Southern Turkey – close to the Syrian border and the cities of Adana, Maras and Hatay. The purpose of our visit was to observe and evaluate the progress that was made regarding cotton seed production, harvesting concepts, ginning and spinning.

Mancosa
On the 30th of November 2011, WS International was appointed to the Board of Governors of the Management College of Southern Africa.

Other
Throughout the course of the year, WS International gave opinions and advice to various textile entities in both Europe and South Africa.