USTER Tester , the heart of the textile laboratory

Foundation for USTER® Statistics – The USTER® GGP sparked a new interest in evenness testing by spinners, and led to requests for further quality management tools. The response was the publication in 1957 of USTER® STANDARDS, the precursor of USTER® STATISTICS. This listed unevenness data as U% and CV figures for carded and combed yarns, from GGP® test results collated worldwide. For the first time, spinners were able to benchmark their yarn quality against that of other mills, using objective measurements.

Evenness is still an essential quality standard for the industry today although the number of different yarn parameters included in USTER® STATISTICS has extended over time, in line with the launch of further USTER® instruments for quality improvement. The USTER® Tester itself was developed still further and became even more popular, regarded as ‘the heart of the textile laboratory’.

USTER® GGP – The first evenness tester launched in 1948 -Hättenschwiler, now in his 91st year, well remembers assembling this historic instrument: “The GGP® consisted of a capacitive sensor and a diagram recorder, all housed neatly in a state-of-the-art wooden case,” he says. “The device actually looked quite similar to early radios – but it turned out to be a huge success story in the textile industry over the coming decades.”

Originating from the USTER company’s search for diversification after the 2nd World War, the GGP® was its first electronic product, incorporating the latest technology of the day. It was soon established as the global standard for yarn evenness, destined to become an indispensable tool for many generations of textile professionals.

Now, in 2018, the USTER evenness tester celebrates its 70th anniversary, marking decades of unprecedented success. Over 16,000 USTER® Testers have so far been sold in 65 countries. And thousands of operators all over the world depend on its key values – the familiar U% and CVm results.

For most textile professionals, there is really only one evenness tester, now fulfilling its destiny as the undisputed heart of the entire spinning mill. Here, three USTER people describe some of the key development stages.

Peter Hättenschwiler was a 20-year old apprentice, working in the precision engineering department of Zellweger Uster, a well-established and sizeable Swiss company producing a range of textile testing instruments.

The year was 1948 and Zellweger, the forerunner of Uster Technologies, was ready to launch the world’s first yarn evenness tester, the USTER® GGP, after four years of development.

For decades the USTER® Tester has been the indispensable driver of quality in yarn manufacturing and celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, and its unique reputation as a driver of textile quality worldwide is stronger than ever. Even in its earliest version, this remarkable instrument was a big hit with spinning mills, inspiring a new focus on yarn quality.

Continuous development throughout the 20th Century saw the USTER® Tester established as essential equipment for the textile laboratory and the word ‘Uster’ become a generic term among mill personnel for evenness testing.

Further progress followed in the new millennium, the USTER® TESTER 6 setting standards even higher by introducing the Total Testing Center – the gateway to integrated quality management of the complete yarn manufacturing process.