Perfect Partnership

01.07.2026

Functional tape from JUMBO-Textil in use at ALEA

“You can’t see it or hear it – and that’s exactly why it’s ideal for this application,” says Stefan Wallner, Automotive Sales Manager at JUMBO-Textil. The Textation Group subsidiary specializing in technical narrow textiles is an expert in elastics and produces, among other things, components for automotive suppliers, such as rebound strap, release strap, and tensioning braids. Many of these products remain hidden from view. Built-in into the seat or behind a trim panel, they reliably fulfill their function: tensioning, holding, adjusting, fixing … The textile components work behind the scenes – lightweight, quiet, and durable.

Invisible High-Performer

One of these “invisible high-performers” is a cleverly designed functional tape. The combination of an elastic and a non-elastic woven tape serves as a flap fastener for a card pocket in the seatback. The force-elongation behavior can be precisely controlled by specifying the dimensions and materials of the elastic tape. The non-elastic tape ensures stability at the rubbing points and silent operation.

The flap is held in place by two such combination tapes, which are installed in a crisscross pattern in the seatback. The non-elastic tapes are threaded through a slit in the flap and folded and sewn on the other side so that they are securely anchored behind the slit. The elastic tapes are hooked into precisely defined holes in the seatback. The holes are cut out using laser cutting. Thanks to the sealed hole edges, they are stable and durable. This complex component goes unnoticed by vehicle passengers. Only for the brief moment when they open the flap, one to two centimeters of the non-elastic woven tape flash into view from the side.

Close cooperation, precise specifications

Auto Leder Atelier GmbH, or ALEA for short, uses this high-quality functional tape from JUMBO-Textil. The specialist in interior finishing – from lamination to leather upholstery – manufactures high-quality interior components in series production for car manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers in the luxury and premium segments, including leather seats and trim for some of the world’s most renowned car brands.” Strength-elongation behaviour, flame retardancy, surface properties … – no parameter must deviate from the final sample. The textiles must deliver the performance for which they are designed, right down to the very last fibre. “As a solutions provider, we supply narrow textiles that are precisely tailored to the respective requirements – from environmental conditions to the installation situation – and deliver exactly what the customers need in each case. For ALEA’s functional tape, we have developed a special variant with two different tape widths and produced samples with the exact project-specific properties,” explains Wallner. “A detailed understanding of the customer’s project is essential for this.”

Exactly defined specifications for the Functional tape

Regular on-site discussions

ALEA also attaches great importance to the partnership. “As well as their impeccable appearance, feel and sound, our leather products offer maximum functionality. Every detail counts, whether visible or hidden,” emphasises Mario Haufe, COO of ALEA. “Our partner, JUMBO-Textil, supplies highly functional, ready-to-fit components for our products. That is why we work with the company based in North Rhine-Westphalia. And experience shows that this result also depends on good collaboration with the supplier. Only those who understand us, our expectations, our production conditions and the component’s installation requirements can supply us with components that fit perfectly into the product and our processes.”

JUMBO-Textil was on site at ALEA when the project began. The development team in Sprockhövel therefore knows exactly how the colleagues in Hofstetten work and what they need. All the specifications for the specialised functional tape were precisely defined jointly. JUMBO-Textil then developed several possible solutions, from which the ALEA team was able to choose the perfect option. “As a result, even the prototype for the first installation trial was quite close to the final solution,” explains Haufe. “This was once again an excellent example of collaboration that benefits everyone: us, the car manufacturer and, ultimately, all those travelling in the vehicle who stow their tablet – or whatever else they have with them – safely in the seatback flap.”