Four colors

In 1960, Picañol split up the engineering agency into two departments. In the Polenlaan, seven men continued developing the single-color loom. At the domain of Jaime Picañol near Zandberg in Zillebeke, Picañol started the design of a multi-color loom. Under the supervision of Jaime himself, some twenty draftsmen, technicians, mechanics and weavers worked on the construction of the first prototypes. In the fall of 1962, the company launched a pilot series of a number of 'President-4C-C’, or fur machines, with four colors in the weft. Previously, they had launched a dual color mixing changer. Picañol supplied the first 50 multi-color looms to several weaving mills in Belgium and the Netherlands for a final test run under industrial conditions. The production series was scheduled for early 1963. Many customers showed an interest, because most of the parts were compatible with the parts of the classic President looms.

Entering the English market

In the early 1960s, Picañol slowly started conquering the English market. Even before the end of 1962, around 3,000 Picañol looms were running in England. The enhanced version - the B version - of the President-loom was perfect for processing number duck canvas. The SB version was used to produce multi-layer conveyor belt fabric. This was extremely convenient for the Coal Board in Great Britain, since there was a shortage of conveyor belts for the coal mines. 'Wilson & Longbottom', the local manufacturer of heavy looms, could not compete with the speed and price of the looms from Ieper, which allowed Picañol to quickly penetrate this market.

The sky is the limit

In the spring of 1962, the company added a new type to the President loom series. Picañol brought a new, reinforced machine on the market: the President CM suffix B (Bache) or SB (Super Bache). These were specially constructed looms for weaving canvas. These President looms allowed the company to penetrate an area of the industry that was yet to be explored up to that time. In this period, more and more use of synthetic yarns was made in the textile industry. A new market opened up for Picañol and one of the most renowned producers of technical fabrics was the Cramer Company in Nienborg - Westphalia, which only used Picañol looms. It manufactured a special Diol fabric, which was used as a cover to protect the parabolic antenna of the observatory in Bochum in western Germany. This fabric was to offer protection against atmospheric disturbances. Moreover, the President series got yet another special version: the 'Tire Cord' - for weaving tire cord for bicycle and car tires in cotton, nylon and even metalized yarn. The Japanese tire maker Bridgestone used these looms to compete with its counterpart Firestone. In the late sixties, the first astronaut and man on the moon even wore a flight suit on the Apollo flight, the fabric of which was produced on a Picañol heavy fabric President machine. The suit, made from tightly woven perlon wire and filled with porcelain powder, was designed to offer protection against the potential impacts of small meteorites during the spacewalk.

The innovation continues

In 1962, Picañol began with the study regarding a new foundry. This showed that it would be interesting to design and build its own foundry, which was certainly a bold initiative. The choice was made to work with the most modern form of technology: the high-pressure principle. At the time, the mechanization and automation in the molding were, just like this technique, still in their infancy. With this new principle, the focus was mainly on the quality of the sand, the accuracy of the dimensions, and surface conditions. At the end of 1964, a specialized company from Ghent placed two new overhead cranes, with a combined weight of approximately 30 tons. They would be used for loading and unloading trucks, and to supply the melting-furnaces. On 17 February 1966, the first machine of the new foundry was put into service. The 'Ballard' was an automatic painting machine with an immersion system and drying oven. It worked five times faster than the machine in the old foundry. This meant that 35 looms were painted per 9-hour shift. In November 1966, over 20% of the cast iron production was realized in the new foundry. The new 'Taccone' molding machine had a capacity of a full cast in 15 seconds or 4 casts per minutes. The four cupolas allowed for the casting of 150 tons of iron in 9 hours. To mold the larger pieces, the ‘Sandslinger’ was used, in which the molding boxes were filled by two casting pots with a combined capacity of 1 ton.

A visit from Baudouin

The Belgian Royal Family has always had a keen interest in Picañol. The highlight, however, came on Wednesday, 28 February 1962, when King Baudouin visited Picañol during a visit to Ieper. On a diplomatic mission in the Far East, the King had expressed his wish to visit the company. However, he did not limit himself to the traditional ceremonies and exchange of gifts. He also took the time to talk to some of the employees. The King not only spoke about the working conditions with the employees, he was also interested in their leisure activities and relaxation. During over an hour and a half, the King spoke with numerous employees. After the walk alongside the businesses located in the Polenlaan, the King witnessed another new development when one of the first fur weaving machines was put into service in the new assembly halls. In this factory, he also spoke with some employees, which made many see him - and with good reason - as "a great guy".

2,500th weaving machine in Almelo

On 16 June 1961, a true Ieper invasion of Dutch Almelo took place. In the center of the Twente linen industry, the textiles group Ten Cate was located. Just like Ieper, this was an agricultural area where, besides corn, farmers also grow flax. Therefore, there are many home weavers and spinners in this area. And here as well, industrialization gradually took over. The handlooms made room for more modern machines and Picañol contributed significantly to this reality. In April 1956, Picañol supplied its first loom to Ten Cate. And this cooperation reached its peak in 1961 when machine number 2,500 was delivered to the Dutch customer. Being a milestone that should not go unnoticed, this saw the cats and giants of Ieper, accompanied by the Picañol Brass Band and numerous personalities, come together to see the 2,500th loom handed to Holland's largest textile company. Nicole I, the Ieper Cat Queen, had the honor of starting up the Picañol loom.

The first American player in the Belgian basketball league

In 1960, Jules Bastil, the Athlon President, inaugurated the 'Bernard Steverlynck ground' in the Kruisstraat. In the 1960-61 season, following the merger between BBC and Athlon, the basketball team started under the name BBC Athlon Ieper for the first time. Athlon Ieper was originally founded as an athletics club, hence the name Athlon ('athl' from athletics and 'lon' from Picanol). Following the laying of the first stone of the new indoor sports hall, the team organized a basketball festival at the end of 1961. On 11 November, there followed the official inauguration of the 'Bernard Steverlynck sports hall', named after Bernard Steverlynck, the founder and honorary chairman. From then onwards, the basketball team played their home games at an indoor court in the Kruisstraat. The fact that BBC Athlon Ieper had a large appeal was reflected in the interest of foreign players to play for the team. In 1963, Rex Hughes, the first American player in the Belgian league, joined the team. Hughes came over from the NCAA West (Los Angeles) university team where he had won the championship. At a height of 1.94m and with a deadly jump shot, he was an outstanding defender who excelled in rebounds. On 4 September 1963, he joined the PR department and the basketball team. He was also immediately appointed as youth coach. In addition, in 1963, BBC Athlon was the first team in Belgium, and maybe even Europe, that possessed the latest American novelty in the field of sports and basketball training: the automatic Mc Call Rebounder. This device helped to quickly improve the rebound technique of players.