> Used clothing and wiper machinery

Sorting Lines

Baling Presses

Special machinery and peripherals

Started in 1990

Valvan started off in this business around 1990 with the design of basic pit presses and single box presses for large bales of used clothing and wipers. The first low cost swivel box presses for export bales came shortly after that.
By 1992, we designed the first automatic feeding and bale evacuation systems for the used clothing presses. Around the same time, the first high speed press for export bales was an immediate success.
In the following years, we started building mutilators for exporting clothes to India and Pakistan and also basic sorting equipment like tables, tilting devices, carts,...

Start of a great range…

But it was in 1997 that the first major automated sorting plant was designed for high capacity production. With an increasing production cost, more and more customers contacted us for solutions to save on labour and space and to improve the control of their operation. Each project is custom-made in close collaboration with the customer.
By 2001, a next step in the automation of the presses was taken with the implementation of automatic strapping systems for the bales to increase the capacity and save on labour and strapping material cost.
Our ongoing search for new developments led us to the idea of using voice recognition in the sorting process. After building a test installation, we were successful in selling the first speech operated sorting plant in 2002.
In the same year, we invested in state of the art 3D design software in order to optimize the mechanical and electrical design of our installations, based on new materials and developments. This is an ongoing process with the emphasis on performance, reliability and safety.

More improvement

A further step in the optimisation of the sorting plants was the improvement of the unloading, storing and feeding of unsorted goods. This has always been a time consuming, labour-intensive operation. As from 2006, we have been successful in designing ways of facilitating this essential part of a sorting operation.
An important part of the clothing is not packed in bales, but in bags. The filling of the bags is again a labour-intensive task that needed to be looked at. In 2007, we built the first automatic bag filling system with integrated weighing system.
Through the success of our customers, we have, in recent years, extended several existing sorting plants to increase production and/or implement newer technologies.
The advances in computer technology allow us to integrate visualisation systems and to offer remote access support to assist our worldwide customers better.

The future

This is not the end of the journey. Valvan’s dynamic team continues its search for new applications or problems that need solving. Your knowledge of the business combined with our know-how in mechanical and electrical design is the secret to mutual success.