John Scrimshaw visits the German dyer Dolinschek GmbH, whose inexperienced management duo have delivered success against the odds.

At a time when despair feels like the normal state of affairs in the European dyeing business, two brothers with no' background in the industry have demonstrated how a little enterprise can turn an apparently bleak prospect into a business opportunity.
Theo and Erwin Dolinschek, both in their thirties, trained as cooks. Yet they took over a closure-threatened dyeing operation and in just four years have multiplied its business several times over.
Now their company, at Burladingen, among the wooded valleys of the Swabian Alps, south of Stuttgart, has become the first in Germany to invest in the latest, highly flexible Scholl Rapidstar Midiflexjet dyeing machine, part of the Intensity Midi family.
Dolinschek GmbH began life in 1980 as a contract cutting company in nearby Albstadt, providing a service to local garment manufacturers. Its founders were Ludwig and Leo Dolinschek, the father and uncle of the present managers, who had moved to Germany from Slovenia a few years after Theo's birth.
Before long they expanded into selling dressmaking fabrics on a wholesale basis. As the family business prospered it was joined first by Theo in 1984, and then by Erwin in 1990, both sons leaving their original careers in the restaurant trade. Before long they expanded into selling dressmaking fabrics on a wholesale basis. As the family business prospered it was joined first by Theo in 1984, and then by Erwin in 1990, both sons leaving their original careers in the restaurant trade. Before long, the death of Leo and the retirement of Ludwig (though he continues as chairman) placed the younger generation in direct control.
The most important moment of decision came in 1997, when one of the customers of the Dolinschek cutting business -the vertically integrated 'York' sportswear manufacturer in Albstadt - decided to close down its dyehouse and switch to commission suppliers. The Dolinschek brothers sensed an opportunity and decided to lease the 1,000m2 dyehouse, at the same time buying all its equipment. They were then able to sell their services back to York.
Knowing nothing about the technicalities of dyeing, they retained the incumbent head dyer to run the operation - but this strategy worked only for four weeks, after which their chief 'expert' suffered an accident and they were forced to take full charge. Erwin became hands-on manager in the dyehouse, while Theo was responsible for sales.
The York company was at this stage their only customer for commission dyeing and, nine months after the takeover, that too folded. So, less than a year after the venture started, they had no customers at all. But this is where the other activities of the Dolinschek business began to feed back into the dyeing operation.
"We sold a lot of fabrics in Germany and Switzerland, and we knew a lot of people," said Theo, who began to use the family's contacts in the fabric-manufacturing world to replace the lost York business and ultimately grow beyond it.
The enterprise has turned out remarkably well. From its first year's turnover of DM 1.6 million in 1997-8, it will probably approach DM 8 million by the end of this year, and there is still another DM2 million of turnover in the original cutting business.
The reasons for Dolinschek's success in the face of adversity are not obvious, but Theo has a theory: "I'm of the opinion that because I'm not from the textile business -not a dyer -1 look at it in a different way from someone who has the knowledge."
The year 2001 has proved another significant milestone, with the move to Burladingen, just a few kilometres from Albstadt, and this is another example of an opportunity that was rescued from a potential crisis.
At Burladingen was a 7,000m2 dyehouse belonging to the Ambrosius Heim group. This had a stenter on which Dolinschek, lacking its own, used to rent time. But early this year, this dyeworks too was scheduled to close, which would have left Dolinschek without stentering options.
Their solution was to take over the Burladingen premises, with its vastly wider range of equipment, and move their whole dyeing operation there.
One of the key strategies of Dolinschek, and one that may explain its success, is its policy of differentiating itself from its rivals in the region. "In the dyehouses round here are primarily atmospheric machines," said Theo. "Most of the dyehouses specialise in underwear, which is the main garment-producing sector in the Swabian Alps. We started to leap into other fields that need high-temperature dyeing machines."
While underwear is still a big part of the Dolinschek's business, it tends to be based on high value-added fabrics ("We don't touch T-shirts"), with an increasing amount of ladies' and men's outerwear and more and more technical fabrics, such as medical textiles and polishing cloths. Typical fibre content is poly/cotton, polyamide and poly/viscose, with some pure cotton. Most of the fabric is knitted but, says Theo, Dolinschek's recent acquisition of the Scholl machine and its parallel ability to offer a cold-pad-batch process means it is processing an increasing proportion of wovens.
Now employing 25 people, the company can process 25,000 running metres of fabric in a 12-hour shift and, with an extra shift, could process 60,000 metres. Its dyeing
capabilities are complemented by shearing, raising and emerising equipment and it can carry out chemical finishing on its fuller or stenter.
The purchase ofScholl's Rapidstar Midiflexjet dyeing machine is Dolinschek's first major investment since its move to Burladingen and, according to Theo, the machine's versatility has exceeded expectations.
"We didn't know when bought it that it was so flexible, but we were looking for a machine for high-temperature dyeing of small, bodysize fabrics," he said. "The problem when you dye such material is that you get a very long rope length, up to 1,500 metres, because it's narrow - for example you need a 1,500-metre rope to have 100 kilos of fabric.
"This is a problem in reactive dyeing because it lies too long in the chamber. What we want is a maximum cycle time of 2.5 minutes. The Scholl machine is good because you have the security that even with such long cycle times, you get good results. In order to reach less than 2.5 minutes you have to run at 5-600 metres per minute, but with this machine you still have gentle, soft treatment of the material." It was after installation that Dolinschek discovered the other benefit of the Scholl machine - its ability to handle an extremely wide range of fabric weights. Over recent months it has processed fabrics as light as 40 grammes per running metre, and as substantial as 800 grammes.
The resason for this versatility is the flexible and adjustable storing chamber, which allows the fastest possible cycle and process time. The depth of Rapidflex storage chamber can be adjusted by means of external controls, to take account of variable load sizes, fabric weights or fabric types, allowing the machine to take heavier fabrics and delivering outstanding economy at liquor ratios of between 1:4 and 1:7.
Intensity Midi machines are also equipped with an accurate flow control system, ensuring that delicate fabrics are processed with low tension and no slippage, for 'ultra-gentle fabric transport'. According to Scholl, this makes it especially suitable for fabrics prone to pilling or crease marks.
Other features include the Smart fill system, ensuring consistent liquor ratio throughout the process; automatic, simultaneous cooling and rinsing; Scholl's unique Pulsating Rinse; and an internal power cleaning system.