52 nd Anniversary e d i t i o n Contents

6 Editorial industry news 8 Profitability of companies will improve in second half – CRISIL Research 30

10 Stahlecker optimistic of sector prospects

cover story Alok Industries emerges major global textile power Exclusive 42 Brückner focus on energy efficiency & technical 58 Bonas leads Indian market in electronic jacquards 68 Tecnorama’s automatic dosing and machines Corporate news 52 Draft-Air’s timely, constructive tie-up with Chicago Blowers 72 Perfect’s pursuit of excellence with engineering skill & design 86 Unitop adept at evaporation and drying systems 16 90 Technocraft Industries serving textile sector since 1970 92 Shri Lakshmi Cotsyn’s massive expansion in progress Expanding role of 102 Dynamic Indian for decades humidification and filtration systems 104 Stork Prints’ advanced digital systems

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52 nd Anniversary Contents e d i t i o n 62

22 Oerlikon textile shifts management Trident launches Rs. 1,200-crore to Shanghai expansion plan

48 Most Tirupur units limping back to normalcy 76 Tiger Rings partners Leo Agencies for Indian market 80 Only modest FDI inflows: CRISIL 82 The false dangers of FDI in modern retail trade 98 Bodal Chemicals’ aggressive marketing approach pays 106 French machinery manufacturers much impressed with customer response 114 ComforJet, the new with convincing properties 116 Osthoff hairiness tester, paving way for efficient singeing 118 Maestro, the new weft monitoring system from ITEMA 26 125 Events Dupont’s famed Sorona fibre for Indian textiles

Our next issue 2012 New Year 58 Special edition Bonas leads Indian market 134 For advertising, mail us at: in electronic jacquards Kewal Kiran Clothing [email protected]

4 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011

52 nd THE Anniversary TEXTILE MAGAZINE e d i t i o n

Publishers Gopali & Co., Quanta Zen Building, No.38, Thomas Road, 2nd Street, Off. South Boag Road, T.Nagar, Chennai-600017. Ph.: 24330979, 42024951. Fax: 044-24332413 Email: [email protected] [email protected] Website: www.indiantextilemagazine.com Founder A gloomier outlook M. Rajagopalan Mentor Rajagopalan Kalidasan The much-awaited top-level meeting Managing Editor & Publisher convened by the Commerce, Industry and R. Natarajan (Mobile: 9381062161 Textiles Minister, Mr. Anand Sharma, to (R) 24343475) discuss with industry leaders the general Assistant Editor K.N. Ananthanarayanan (Mobile: 9003053132) slowdown hitting all sectors, particularly Executive Editor & General Manager textiles, turned out to be a routine session in K. Gopalakrishnan (Mobile: 9840897542) which he just reiterated the need for greater Editorial Correspondent Government-industry co-operation to work N. Balasubramanian (Mobile: 9840597082) Email: [email protected] out a joint strategy to end the crisis, and did Marketing nothing else. Of course, he did admit that the G. Mohan US slowdown and the Euro-zone debt crisis N. Anandan did impact industrial growth and exports of Designer E. Marimuthu economies around the world, including In- R. Natarajan, dia. Based on his earlier statement that the Managing Editor & Publisher R. Balasubramanian Government had fixed an export target of G 102, Shrinagar Co.Op. Housing Society, P.L. Lokande Marg, Chembur (West), $33 billion for the textile sector next year against the current year’s $28 Mumbai - 400 089. Ph.: 022-25252377. billion, textile circles did expect the Minister to come out with some con- Cell: 9323711291. crete proposal for the industry revival, but were disappointed. Email: [email protected] Textiles, the biggest exchange earner for the country and the largest Coimbatore Ganesh Kalidasan employment provider, next only to the Railways, is considered a priority Flat No.A1-42, TVH Ekanta sector. In fact, the Government has set up six high-level inter-ministerial No.5/179, Masakalipalayam Road Uppilipalayam, Coimbatore 641 015. committees with representatives from different ministries and departments, Cell: 97909 26388 including the Planning Commission, to review the industry performance. The reason why Mr. Sharma couldn’t announce a clear-cut policy approach J. Saravanam BS 23, 2nd Floor, Block ‘B’ Ittina Neela, for the industry at the meeting is perhaps his realisation that it is most Nr. Gold Coins Club, Andapura, difficult to initiate anything positive when the economy is in the grip of Electronics City P.O., uncertainties. Bangalore - 560 100. Cell: 9880974765 Email: [email protected] There is growing concern over the general industrial slump. Industrial Member growth slowed to 5.1 per cent in October this year compared with a ro- INS / AINEC / IFSMAN bust expansion of 11.3 per cent in the same month in 2010. Export growth Edited & Published by R. Natarajan on behalf dipped to 44.25 per cent in August and to 10.8 per cent in October from a of Gopali & Co., Quanta Zen Building, No.38, Thomas Road, 2nd Street, T.Nagar, high of 82 per cent in July. In highly volatile trading, the rupee is now rul- Chennai-17, and Printed by B. Ashok Kumar ing at a low of 54.30 to a dollar. Rupee value stabilisation is very remote at Rathna Offset Printers, 40, Peters Road, Royapettah, Chennai-14 considering the continued withdrawal of FDI and investors turning towards The views presented herein are those of the authors. They the dollar following the debt crisis faced by European countries. With the are not necessarily the views of the editor. Opposition grilling the Government on various issues and political parties All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced in any form or by any means, nor shifting allegiances at the central level, managing the economy is indeed may it be printed, photocopied or stored on microfilm with- an uphill task for the Manmohan team. The future of the economy is really out the written permission of the publisher. grim.

6 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 industry news Profitability of textile companies will improve in second half – CRISIL Research Mr. Ajay Srinivasan Head - Industry Research CRISIL Research expects profit- the anticipation of a spurt in global respectively. On the other hand, ability of yarn and man-made cotton production resulted in sharp branded apparel manufacturers are fibre (MMF) players to improve over correction in cotton and yarn prices trading at historical highs of one the next few quarters on account of during the first half. This resulted in year forward P/Bv multiples of 4.7- decline in input costs and moderate cotton yarn players reporting sig- 5x against an average of 2.9x from demand growth. During the first half nificant losses during the period as April 2007 to April 2011. of 2011-12, these players witnessed they were carrying high cost cotton According to Mr. Tarun Bhatia, severe profitability pressures which inventory from the last season. The Director - Capital Markets: “With led to significant erosion in their sharp drop in cotton yarn prices also profitability outlook for FY13 im- market capitalisation. In the past one enhanced its price competitiveness proving, valuations of cotton yarn year, cotton yarn and MMF players vis-a-vis (a substitute for and MMF players are expected to have registered a negative return of cotton), limiting the flexibility of offer substantial upside potential 48 per cent and 37 per cent respec- MMF players to pass on the hike in for investors. RMG stocks, though tively. costs of their inputs, which are de- fundamentally strong, appear to be However, CRISIL Research be- rivatives of crude oil. fairly priced.” lieves that the current valuation of Said Mr. Ajay Srinivasan, Head CRISIL Research has seven tex- these players discounts the prevail- - Industry Research: “Like in the tile stocks under coverage – Nahar ing negative sentiments around the past, we expect easing commodity Spinning Mills and Maharaja Shree sector and offers good scope for up- prices to support moderate demand Umaid Mills in the cotton yarn seg- side. Further, stocks of readymade growth in 2012-13 and help EBIT- ment, JBF Industries, Sangam (In- garment (RMG) companies seem to DA margins of players across the dia), Alok Industries and Shri Lak- be fairly priced in spite of being at value chain to improve by 100-300 shmi Cotsyn in the MMF segment, historical highs, as they offer rela- bps y-o-y.” and Kewal Kiran in the RMG space. tively high and stable returns among Valuations of cotton yarn compa- Of these, most companies have a the textile companies during the nies and MMF players are nearing valuation grade of 5/5, indicating present uncertain times. their 2009 historical lows with a that these stocks have a strong up- The slowdown in demand in both one-year forward price-to-book val- side (more than 25%). domestic and export markets and ue average multiple of 0.4x and 0.5x w

8 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 exclusive Stahlecker optimistic of spinning sector prospects

While I have not been as- sociated with the Indian textile industry as long as The Textile Magazine you are reading right now, in the past nearly 20 years I have had the Mr. Peter Stahlecker, Managing Director, Suessen Within the textile industry, my traffic discipline is no much better privilege to visit personal experience is limited to in my subjective judgment than it very frequently. At the spinning, so I will concentrate on was 20 years ago. same time, I could also this sector only. While India’s progress is unde- In the past 20 years, India has niable and very, very remarkable, visit other major Asian progressed greatly. Just think of China has progressed more, it centers of the textile the airports we had then, compared seems. Why? industry, such as Bang- to now! Or look at the cars you find I am no social scientist, just a on the roads, or look at the roads mechanical engineer, but it seems ladesh, Indonesia and of themselves! In other areas the to me that a certain lack of disci- course China. progress seems to be lacking: the pline is hindering India to live up

10 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 exclusive

cessful in India than anywhere else! In my opin- ion, the reason is the unique mix- ture of risk tak- ing owners and technically so- phisticated GMs. Nowhere else in the world’s spin- ning industry can this be found to the extent avail- able in India. What is my view of the year 2012? What does it hold in store for our spinning to its true potential. The chaotic into progress for society. industry? Well, I also do not have a traffic is probably just one of the If I look at the Indian spinning “crystal ball”. outwardly visible signs. The al- industry all the assets mentioned The last few months have been most ‘tribal’ political actions are, above can be found there. The difficult for our industry, more dif- may be, another sign of a lack of large majority of our customers are ficult than in some other parts of an “All India Discipline”... family owned and led by a member the world. To repeat it, India has progressed of the family. The technical staff This additional difficulty, in my a lot, and some of the strong points is very well educated, and nearly opinion, may be attributed to some of the Indian society are: all of them have created an atmos- counter-productive moves by the • The English language! phere where the workers seem to Indian Government (export ban on • India is a safe place! I person- like to work. cotton, then on yarn...) ally feel safer in India than almost Very bluntly speaking, I person- However, I am optimistic about anywhere else. ally find the Indian spinning indus- the future of our spinning industry! • High education! It seems to me try second to none in the countries Like they say in “economic lan- that Indian parents put more em- I know! guage”: the fundamentals are right phasis on the education of their India has been good to me and with our industry! children than any other society I to SUESSEN! Over the past 10 On a personal level, I am look- know. Therefore, Indian indus- years we could sell over 33,00,000 ing forward to many more years try can select from a large pool of SUESSEN EliTe Compact Spin- of close association with “my” educated professionals. As we all dles to our Indian customers. This spinning industry in India, many know these professionals are even is over 3.5 times more than our of whose principal actors have ‘exported’ to many countries, also closest competitor. become trusted friends over the fully developed ones. SUESSEN’s EliTwist Compact years! • Risk-taking entrepreneurs! It is System, with about 4,00,000 spin- they who convert the advantages dles installed, is vastly more suc- w

12 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 textile scene

Financial support for weavers to tackle industry slowdown

As part of the handloom package, mestic mill consump- the Government has announced a tion of cotton for 2011- six-fold strategy to offer financial 12 at 210 lakh bales, support to handloom weavers. Un- down from 240 lakh der the scheme, weavers will be eli- bales, and cotton yarn gible to margin money assistance of production down from Rs. 4,200-5,400 per head and inter- 3,900 million kg to est subsidy of three per cent on loans 3,200 million kg, indi- for a period of three years. Credit cating the slowdown in cards will be issued to eligible in- the textiles industry. dividual weavers to enable them The Government is to access loans upto Rs. 2 lakhs in also considering the a period of three years without any industry representation collateral security. for a moratorium on loans for capi- the most labour intensive sectors The Government has convened tal intensive requests and special re- spreading over the hand-spun and stakeholders’ meetings at ministe- laxation in RBI’s prudential norms hank-woven sector at one end of the rial level to assess the slowdown in to avoid asset reclassification or ad- spectrum and the capital intensive the industry. The Cotton Advisory ditional provisioning to address the sophisticated mill sector at the oth- Board (CAB) and the Cotton Yarn industry slowdown. er. The textile sector provides direct Advisory Board (CYAB) meetings Exports employment to over 35 million peo- held on November 15 assessed do- The textile industry is one of ple. Exports being made by the sec- tor have a key role in the economy. During 2008-09, 2009-10 and Rank in cotton exports 2010-11 the foreign capital earnings by this sector were valued at $21.23 Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh are the major cotton pro- billion, $22.42 billion and $26.83 ducing States in India. Production in the three major States in the last billion respectively. The share of three years was as follows: exports of textile & clothing items Indian cotton exports amounted to 35 lakh bales in 2008-09, 83 lakh (including & coir manufactur- bales in 2009-10 and 70 lakh bales in 2010-11. India is the second larg- ers and ) in the total export value est cotton exporter in the world after the US. With a view to increasing of the economy was 11.46 per cent, exports from the country, the Government has placed cotton exports 12.54 per cent and 10.63 per cent for under OGL without any quantitative restrictions. 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. (Quantity in lakh bales of 170 kg each) As per the latest provisional figure Name of the State 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 released by DGCI&S, the share of Gujarat 90 98 103 export of textile & clothing items in Maharashtra 62 65 82 the total export value was 9.28 per Andhra Pradesh 53 54 53 cent for April-July 2011. w

14 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 exclusive

Expanding role of humidification and filtration systems

By Gottfried Abrell, Managing Director, Luwa Air Engineering AG possibilities for future improve- ments (for exam- ple Luwa is devel- oping a new space saving Multi CF Filter and ultra efficient axial flow fans). Nev- ertheless, there is a much big- ger potential for improvements in the way new and existing plants are being operated. Biggest saving potential The question “Where can we save?” therefore has the wrong Mr. Gottfried Abrell emphasis and In spinning and weaving Managing Director, Luwa Air Engineering AG should be formu- lated as “How factories, on an average The question “Where can we save?” is obvious and is being asked can we manage to get the best result 15 per cent of the ener- by all factory owners and mill man- from this plant?” gy, 8 per cent of the fac- agers time and again. My answer About 15 per cent of the total en- tory floor area and 8 per may disappoint you that there is ergy in a spinning or weaving plant very little scope for further optimi- is used to recirculate huge air vol- cent of the investment zation or savings potential is left in umes with the aim to create the opti- are for humidification the equipment cost. Our state-of- mal environment for the textile pro- and filtration systems. the-art equipment has gone through duction process. We also know from our experience what happens when This is quite indispensa- numerous optimization processes in the recent past and today has the best the humidification plant is switched ble for the textile pro- possible cost-benefit ratio. However off – the production breaks down. duction process. this does not mean that there are no This means at one extreme, where

16 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 exclusive

there is exactly maintained room conditions (for example 48 per cent relative humidity in the case of Comfor Spin- ning and say 80 per cent in the case of weaving), the produc- tion machines will achieve the highest possible efficiency. And on the other extreme where there is badly designed and functioning humidifica- tion systems the production efficiency will drop by 2 per cent to 5 per cent. Now, as you have observed that this is the crucial point; and here we have to work on making the system more efficient and thereby elevating the produc- tion efficiency to the highest level. Undetected losses of performance What is the normal work- ing situation in most facto- ries? Humidification systems are part of the utilities and as such are not under the direct control of the production man- ager – this is totally different from the textile production machines. For utilities cor- tion would result in a production loss of 2 to 5 per cent. rective action will be taken only after serious deficien- Just to briefly summarize, we are facing the following cies appear. This needs scrutinizing because the range challenges: of operation “not working optimally but undetected” is l Air and its properties are invisible. The performance often neglected. Only when the production suffers will of the humidification plant must be visualized for the the management react. plant operator. In addition, it is difficult to quantify the problem be- l The relative humidity can only be established cause of the very narrow tolerances involved (± 2.5 per through exact measurements cent relative humidity). The unsatisfactory performance l Plants that operate in the range of “not working of an office building air-conditioning system is easily properly but undetected” detected when the room conditions become uncomfort- l The performance of the humidification plant is often able. On the contrary, it is difficult to judge the relative not under the control of the production manager. humidity for a production machine, whether the relative Luwa has been dealing with these challenges for some humidity is 10 per cent higher or lower then the opti- time and has designed its products such that the per- mum. But for the textile production machine this devia- formance of the humidification plant can be monitored

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often do we encounter a situation where cheap non-gen- uine spare parts were purchased which have to be replaced after only a short period of time? The result: Costly plant stop- pages and unnecessary waste of pre- cious time. It does not cost much more to buy genuine spare parts and keep an ade- quate stock to ensure a properly func- tioning humidification plant, with a smaller maintenance team than running to do fire fighting under the scenario “breakdown maintenance”. You will agree that it is definitely worth operating a humidification system differently than it is normal- ly done. Substantial savings can be achieved with higher productivity and reduced maintenance staff. Finally we would like to point out that the changes in an easy and efficient way. must come from within the textile mills and it should not be left as the task of the humidification supplier. The l Each sensor has a digital display of the measured values humidification supplier must facilitate good -mainte nance by designing and supplying systems that provide l Display and storage of the measured values on the computer all information necessary to attain 100 per cent plant performance. w l Remote access to the DigiControl computer via the internet for service and updates l Calibration set for the humidity sensors l Big LED display in the production area The LED displays are readable from far and enable the management and all the op- erators to monitor the air-conditioning per- formance. “Preventive maintenance” The comprehensive performance moni- toring of the humidification system will cause changes in the maintenance pro- cedures. Instead of “breakdown mainte- nance” which is being activated when- ever an emergency arises, a “preventive maintenance” attitude will emerge and will become more and more significant because only in that way maintenance can be actively and professionally managed to achieve the desired results. The spare parts management system has to be looked into in the same context. How

20 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011

Corporate news Oerlikon Textile shifts management to Shanghai

In line with the new organizational structure, Clement Woon, an interna- tionally experienced executive, will suc- ceed Thomas Ba- bacan as Segment CEO on January 1, 2012. Oerlikon’s CEO, Dr. Michael Buscher, said: “We have seen strong improvement in our The Oerlikon Group will Textile business, simplify its textile seg- resulting in record ment to further increase margins. With the competitiveness and announcement to- profitability. The three key day we are posi- tioning the segment elements of this change even closer to our are consolidation of the largest customers, five textile machinery and consistent with our components businesses strategy to further into three business units increase efficiency Mr. clement woon (BUs), relocation of Tex- and profitability. I tile’s headquarters to would like to thank Thomas Baba- erational discipline, lifting the un- Shanghai, and increased can for his dedication to Oerlikon derlying performance of Oerlikon and welcome Clement Woon to the Textile to a new level, building on R&D investment in both company.” an already strong market position in Germany and Asia to The announcement supports the Asia. around CHF 80 million. continuation of the focus on op- The refocusing of Oerlikon Tex-

22 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 Corporate news

tile comprises three key elements: end of 2012 more than 40 per cent aptation. Simplified organization with con- of all Textile senior management After successful contribution over solidation from five BUs to three; a positions will be based at Oerlikon’s many years, Mr. Thomas Babacan new Manmade BU will com- new office in Shanghai. will hand over his management re- prise Oerlikon Barmag and Oerlikon Oerlikon Textile will increase its sponsibilities as Segment CEO to Neumag. The new Natural Fibers 2012 R&D investment in Germany Clement Woon, a citizen of Sin- BU will consist of Oerlikon Schlaf- to around CHF 60 million (world- gapore, on January 1 and leave the horst and Oerlikon Saurer. The wide to around CHF 80 million) and company. Mr. Clement Woon, an structure of the Textile Components start ramping up R&D capacity in executive with extensive interna- tional experience, particularly in Asia, has a strong background in Clement Woon both the technology and service in- dustries. He will be Oerlikon’s first a multi-faceted executive Segment CEO based in Asia. The Mr. Clement Woon is an internationally experienced Executive. position of Oerlikon Group COO He has held leadership positions at, inter alia, Thomson Consum- will be eliminated. er Electronics and the Leica Group. In his previous position, he With a presence in this region for served from 2008 to 2011 as President and CEO of SATS Ltd., almost 50 years, Oerlikon Textile’s Singapore, an airline catering and ground handling service pro- sales in Asia will reach around 70 vider with sales of CHF 1.2 billion, listed on the Singapore Stock per cent of total sales in 2011. “To Exchange. In this function he led the expansion of the company ensure the continuation of this suc- into the non-aviation sector, diversifying the portfolio and paving cess, we will manage the textile the way for sustainable development. business directly out of its most As the President of Geosystems Division of Leica Geosystems important market and at the same AG, a multinational corporation based in Switzerland, Clement time strengthen R&D capabilities, Woon led the transformation of the company’s value chain to especially in Germany”, said Group deliver cost-effective high technology solutions for the surveying CEO Buscher. industry. He was instrumental in growing Leica Geosystems’ busi- Nearly 45 per cent of Oerlikon ness and presence in the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Americas and Mid- Textile employees are based in dle East regions. Asia today, with that share rising Mr. Clement Woon holds a Bachelor of Electrical & Electronics to 50 per cent by the end of 2014. Engineering degree and a Masters of Science degree in Indus- By the end of 2012 more than 40 trial Engineering from the National University of Singapore. He per cent of Oerlikon Textile senior also holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from the management positions will be based Nanyang Technological University (Singapore). in Shanghai (up from 10 per cent at present). With this simplification of BU remains unaffected by the rea- China. The German R&D organi- the organization, and a strong order lignment. Branding will not change; zation will focus on the continued book reaching into 2014, Oerlikon Shift of key Oerlikon Textile man- development of ground breaking Textile is positioned to benefit from agement to Shanghai Oerlikon Tex- innovations such as the recently long-term trends in the textile indus- tile Executives, including the CEO launched Autocoro 8 from Oerlikon try. and CFO, will relocate to Shanghai Schlafhorst. The Asian R&D capa- Oerlikon is a leading high-tech in the first quarter of 2012. By the bility will specialize in regional ad- The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 | 23 Corporate news

industrial group specializing in ma- or second in their respective chine and plant engineering. It is a global markets. provider of innovative industrial Oerlikon Textile is the solutions and cutting-edge technolo- world’s biggest textile ma- gies for , drive, chine manufacturer and vacuum, thin film, coating, and ad- stands for highest technolog- vanced nanotechnology. ical standards in the efficient A Swiss company with a tradition production and processing of going back over 100 years, Oer- man-made and natural fib- likon is a global player with more ers. As of January 1, 2012, than 17,000 employees at over 150 the segment occurs in three locations in 38 countries and sales Business Units with five of CHF 3.6 billion in 2010. The strong brands on the market: company invested in 2010 CHF 239 Manmade Fibers (Oerlikon million in R&D, with over 1,200 Barmag and Oerlikon Neum- specialists working on future prod- ag), Natural Fibers (Oerlikon ucts and services. In most areas, the Schlafhorst and Oerlikon operative businesses rank either first Saurer) and Oerlikon Textile Mr. Thomas Babacan Components. They are market leaders in virtually every technology area. Their range of products and services includes comprehen- sive overall solutions in the sector of textile machinery and plant manufacture and cov- ers the entire textile value-added chain – from the plant de- sign for production of man-made and non- woven fibers up to fa- cilities for ring spin- ning, rotor spinning, winding, twisting and embroidery. The focus of all activities is always the striving for innovation. w

24 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011

Product launch DuPont’s famed Sorona fibre for Indian textiles

DuPont Sorona, renew- ably sourced for the Indian textile market, addresses the four princi- Ms. Poya Tsai, Regional Marketing Manager (Asia Pacific), DuPont Sorona pal segments of dynamic At these two shows, partner mills the environment,” said Gowri Naga- fit , permanent flex featured Sorona-based products, rajan, business leader, Industrial Bi- woven, easy stretch wo- including Arvind, Raymond UCO, osciences, DuPont India. “Sorona’s ven, and ultra soft knits. KG Denim, Vardhman, Banswara versatility and flexibility allow it to Syntex, Suditi, Raymond Zambaiti, be extruded into a variety of fibers DuPont Sorona contin- Precot Meridian and JCT. Some of suitable for a broad range of end ues to develop partners the initial developments from select uses”. throughout the value chain Surat mills working on sarees and DuPont Sorona renewably sourced to bring new offerings ladies wear material segments were fiber continues the company lega- also on display. cy in fiber and fabric innovation. and products for a wide “New applications, fabrics and These new applications continue to variety of end uses to the end-uses that feature Sorona con- highlight the unique combination market. It recently organ- tinue to be developed through our of performance attributes and envi- ised seminars in New Delhi network of fiber and fabric manu- ronmental benefits that Sorona pro- and Bangalore to focus facturers. The key to this new de- vides. velopment is partners dedicated to When used in dynamic fit denim on applications developed working with fibers that can produce and easy stretch woven, Sorona by Indian mills and textile high quality garments while reduc- provides denim and companies. ing the impact that textiles have on consumers with comfort stretch that

26 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011

Product launch

lasts a lifetime with the exceptional softness next to the skin with a natu- ral feel. Since these important fab- ric attributes are incorporated into Sorona at the time of manufacture, these features remain for the life- time of the fabric. For the intimate apparel segment, ultra soft knits, Sorona provides a valuable combination of benefits, in- cluding luxurious softness, flattering drape and easy care. When blended with other natural and synthetic fib- ers, Sorona adapts to enhance their performance. Sorona blends easily with natural fibers, including cotton. , and other synthetic Ms. Poya Tsai, and Mr. Gowri Nagarajan, business leader, Industrial Bio- fibers also are able to be combined sciences, DuPont India (extreme right) with Sorona for an almost endless Sorona. By replacing a traditionally Tex Standard 100 Certification this limit to fabric development. petrochemical-based ingredient with year. The Oeko-Tex Product Class For the permanent flex woven one made from annually renewable 1 certification, the most stringent segment, Sorona offers exceptional feedstocks, Sorona helps reduce de- class, signifies that Sorona meets crease resistance coupled with a pendence on fossil fuels and petro- REACH and CPSIA standards and softness that makes it comfortable chemicals. Combine this with the is safe for use with infants and tod- for Jacket wear launched in other reduced energy consumption and dlers. DuPont Sorona supports these regions of Asia under the “Shape CO2 emissions, when compared to various uses, as with the others, with Memory” fabric concept. Once the production of an equal amount hang-tags, literature, trade shows again, these features stay for the of nylon 6, Sorona stands up to and other marketing and communi- lifetime of the fabric and consumers other fibers in environmental com- cation efforts. will benefit from the feel of a brand parisons. The environmental ben- DuPont, one of the first companies new appeal in the fabric every time efits are verified by a peer-reviewed to publicly establish environmental they wear the garment. ISO 14040 Life Cycle Assessment. goals more than 20 years ago, has All end uses benefit from the en- (www.renewable.dupont.com) broadened its sustainability com- vironmental benefits provided by DuPont Sorona received the Oeko- mitments beyond internal footprint reduction to include market-driven Strong relationship with India targets for both revenue and re- search and development investment. DuPont India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Wilmington, Delaware, US- The goals are tied directly to busi- based E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. DuPont’s relationship with India ness growth, specifically to the de- began more than 200 years ago when it received its first shipment of raw velopment of safer and environmen- materials from India to produce black powder for explosives in 1802. Today, tally improved new products for key DuPont India markets a wide range of products in varied market segments. global markets. With over 1,900 employees (as of end-2010), six production facilities in For details, visit www.sorona.du- three locations and a world-class DuPont Knowledge Center in , the pont.com company has been growing at double-digit rate annually in the last five years. w

28 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 cover story

By K. Gopalakrishnan

Alok Industries Ltd., one of India’s largest vertically integrated textile companies, has completed 25 years in business. With its humble beginning way back in 1986 as a polyester yarn manufacturer, Alok today is amongst India’s leading textile companies providing integrated textile solutions across the value chain, from yarn, apparel fabrics, home textiles, technical textiles and apparels in all natural and man-made fibers. Mr. Ashok B. Jiwrajka, Executive Chairman, Alok Industries, said: “Alok has evolved into an integrat- ed manufacturer and has emerged as world class textile solution provider in apparel fabrics, home textiles, garments, and polyester , sell- ing directly to some of the world’s top brands and retailers, manufac- turers, exporters and importers. Our core textiles business has the unique positioning of being integrated across the cotton and polyester fi- bre production chains and has the flexibilities in capacity to optimise opportunities in the ever changing market. In addition, during this pe- Mr. Ashok B. Jiwrajka, Executive Chairman

30 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 cover story

riod, we have established strong re- production is exported to over 70 in the polyester segment with a ca- lationships with sales channels and countries, the major markets be- pacity of 1,14,000 tons per annum customers, both in the domestic and ing the US, Europe, Latin America, of polyester textured yarn, supple- export markets”. Asia and Africa. Carefully planned mented by 3,00,000 tons per annum “We have gained a strong foot- expansion and marketing strate- of POY. ing in the global textiles and ap- gies have enabled the company to The retail operations, both at home parels market, completed projects achieve a CAGR of 35 per cent in and in the UK, are starting to gain and commissioned capacities across sales since inception. traction and moving towards profit- products according to plans, and In the first six months of the cur- ability. The ‘H&A’ chain of stores grown into a company with a turn- rent financial year, Alok Industries continued to spread its wings across over over of Rs. 6,388 crores in clocked sales of Rs. 3,781.68 India with a total of 291 outlets (in- 2010-11 and emerged as one of the crores, an increase of 48.27 per cent cluding shop-in-shop) by the end of largest integrated textile manufac- over the same period last year. Ex- 2010-11. The target is to have about turing companies in the global tex- ports grew by 28.89 per cent to Rs. 500 stores operational over the next tile market. Today, it gives me and 1,342.23 crores from Rs. 1,041.38 two years. the team at Alok even more satisfac- crores. Profit stood at Rs. 139.48 Alok H&A Ltd. recorded sales of tion to look forward at the potential crores as against Rs. 126.32 crores, Rs. 40.37 crores in 2010-11 and gen- for quantum growth that lay ahead. a growth of 10.42 per cent. erated cash profits. ‘Store Twenty The spade work has been done and Alok has capacities of 82.50 mil- One’, the UK retail chain of value- most of the large investments are in lion metres of sheeting fabric and format stores, did reasonably well place. The next decade will be about 6,700 tons of terry towels for its during the year. For the 12-month sweating assets and reaping benefits home textiles business, 186.00 mil- period ended March 2011, the stores while maintaining the growth mo- lion metres of apparel width woven registered sales of £129.75 million mentum”, he added. fabrics, 18,200 tons per annum of as compared to £117.06 million in Alok’s blue chip international knitted fabrics and 22 million pieces FY 2010, a growth of 10.84 per cent. customer base comprises world re- per annum of garments. The com- Even the international operations nowned retailers, importers and pany which has achieved complete of the Czech subsidiary – Mileta – brands. About 35 per cent of its integration. It has its strong presence have turned around. Net sales grew

The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 | 31 cover story

pacities and made strategic sense to have some portion of its total yarn requirement produced in-house. This also mitigates the risk of total dependence on the market where availability could be a constraint with a lot of high-speed weaving capacities being added in the coun- try in the quota-free regime. Conse- quently, the size of the cotton yarn division has become larger. The company initially set up a weaving unit at Bhiwandi way back in 1991 with about 100 shut- tle looms. Today it has about 2,200 shuttleless looms comprising of ra- pier, air jet and jacquard looms in one complex at Silvassa. This is pos- sibly the highest number of looms at Mr. Dilip B. Jiwrajka, Managing Director one location in the country. Also, at by 3.02 per cent from Euro 19.85 per cent of this yarn is consumed in- this location, about 1,000 looms are million in 2009-10 to Euro 20.45 house for fabric production, making installed in one weaving unit, mak- million in 2010-11. This revenue it the strongest vertical integration ing it probably the largest weaving growth has contributed to PBT turn- of textiles in India. unit in the world. ing around from a deficit of – Euro Alok’s requirement of cotton yarn Alok produces a wide range of 1.54 million in 2009-10 to a profit of increased considerably with the ex- woven and knitted fabrics. The high Euro 0.70 million in 2010-11. pansion of weaving and ca- quality of its products is the result In 2010-11, Alok Industries has invested Rs. 1,858.81 crores across various divisions. A major portion of this was towards cotton spinning, expansion of weaving and process- ing capacities, setting up of the ad- ditional continuous polymerization (CP) plant, and expansion of the texturising plant and regular capex. Spinning, weaving and knitting From an initial capacity of 50,000 spindles in 2007, Alok has today created India’s largest spinning ca- pacity at one location (Silvassa) with 4,11,840 spindles and 5,680 ro- tors to produce about 80,000 tons of cotton yarn per annum. Almost 95

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of its design capabilities, product knowledge and state-of-the-art man- ufacturing facilities. On the weaving front it has modern facilities that uti- lise the best technology available in the world. This includes Benninger warping and machines from Switzerland for preparatory, projec- tile Sulzer make looms, wider width / narrow width airjet looms of Toy- ota / Picanol make, Rapier Sulzer make looms with Staubli make do- bby and Rapier Sulzer make looms with Bonas make Jacquard attach- ment. The company also outsources fab- rics from powerlooms and mills to meet its requirements. Presently, the company has 1,018 apparel width Mr. Surendra B. Jiwrajka, Jt. Managing Director looms with an installed capacity of 93 million metres and 855 wider installed capacity of 24 million me- number of looms to 2,183. Looking width looms with an installed capac- tres. It is also installing 120 normal to the growing demand for the knit- ity of 68 million metres. width Picanol make airjet / rapier ted fabrics, the company is further In weaving, the company, under looms with an installed capacity of expanding its capacities by install- its ongoing expansion programme, 27 million metres. Thus the total ing additional circular knitting ma- proposes to install 200 Toyota make weaving capacity would increase chines, taking the total capacity to airjet wider width looms with an to 212 million metres and the total 25,000 tpa. In knitting, the company currently has 171 Mayer and Cie / Pailung circular knitting machines of vari- ous types like single , double jersey, interlock, auto striper and rib structure. The total installed ca- pacity is 18,200 tpa. The products include single jersey, double jersey, interlock, ribs, jacquards and auto striper, and the fibres used include , blends of cotton with poly- ester or viscose, polyester, viscose and Lycra blended. In an unfortunate incident on Au- gust 16, 2007, Alok’s texturising unit at Silvassa with 70 texturising machines was totally gutted in a fire. The company rebuilt a new texturis-

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ing plant at the same aries, the company location with 35 new is actively devel- texturising machines oping its retail for- in about 90 days and mat ‘H&A’ Stores, restarted production while in the UK it on November 24, operates the ‘Store 2007. This record Twenty One’ outlets performance was through its associate made possible with Grabal Alok Impex the commissioning Ltd. In addition, the of nearly 2,000 peo- company has made ple through separate investments in the contractors simulta- real estate business neously and the am- too. ple support from the In fashion wear business associates. fabrics, Alok pro- From the current 92, duces a wide range by the end of March in both knits and 2012 Alok will have wovens. Fabric a total of 140 textur- types include , ising machines, pro- voiles, , ducing 1,70,000 tons poplins, Lycra pop- of texturised yarn lins gabardines, jac- per annum, making quard, , matte, it the largest capacity , butta dob- in the industry. GEneration next: Mr. Niraj D. Jiwrajka, flanked by by, lawn, yarn dyed In 2001, Alok was Mr. Alok A. Jiwrajka, (left) and Mr. Varun S. Jiwrajka and many more. amongst the first to There are several invest under the Technology Up- to $1,000 billion by 2020 from its distribution channels through which gradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) present size of about $600 billion. the company caters to specified where 5 per cent interest subsidy is The total Indian textile trade during target customer groups. The direct available on eligible loans. Since the the same period is likely to increase customers include Indian exporters abolition of textile quotas in global at a CAGR of 11 per cent to reach or converters in other countries, do- trade in January 2005, Alok has in- 220 billion (domestic $140 billion & mestic garment manufacturers, re- vested over Rs. 9,000 cores (about exports $80 billion) from its present tailers and traders, and institutional $2 billion) in seven years, perhaps size of about $78 billion (domestic sales. the largest capex in the Indian textile $52 billion & exports $26 billion). Within fashion-wear, the compa- industry. It is also the largest benefi- Alok has also made investments ny is focusing on yarn dyed fabrics ciary of TUFS loans in the country towards diversifying. It has extend- used for fashionable shirting and with Rs. 2,592 crores outstanding as ed its textiles business to overseas high end women’s wear that com- at March 31, 2011. centres by acquiring Mileta, a Czech mand premium prices in the mar- The quotas regime in global tex- Republic-based integrated textiles ket. Alok has a capacity to produce tile trade was ended in December player. There are investments in the 5,000 tpa of dyed yarn, which is be- 2004. Global textile trade is expect- retail business in India and in the ing further expanded. The company ed to grow at a CAGR of 5 per cent UK. In India, through its subsidi- also plans to make yarn dyed fabric

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Home textiles are exported to overseas retailers and brands, sold in the domestic market to retailers and brands, and also distributed through the Indian retail ven- ture ‘H&A’ Stores and the UK-based ‘Store Twenty One’ outlets. In home textiles, processing capacity is being increased by 22.50 million me- tres to 105 million metres, while weav- ing capacity is being raised by 24 million metres to a total ca- a major growth driver of its apparel up a unit of 100 stitching machines pacity of 92 million metres. The ter- fabric sales. and other allied machines at Vapi. ry towel capacity is being doubled to Technical textiles are speciality Subsequently, it set up a new fac- 13,400 tonnes. fabrics, such as fire-retardant fabric, tory with 400 stitching machines at Garments water-repellent and soil release fab- Silvassa, taking the capacity to six Alok commenced its garment ric and high visibility fabric. They million sets. manufacturing operations in 2004 as require special functionality and are Alok has created a large and pres- a pilot project by setting up a unit used in industrial, aerospace, mili- tigious customer base with Wal – of 100 stitching machines at Turbhe, tary, marine, medical, construction, Mart, Target and Kohl’s in the home Navi Mumbai, with an installed ca- transportation and high technology textiles segment. Looking to the pacity of one million pieces per an- areas. Due to their specialised na- good demand the company later on num. The company has evolved into ture, they offer higher margins than expanded its weaving and process- a nominated or preferred vendor for conventional textiles. ing capacity. The products include big global label and retailers like The technical textiles market in In- sheet-sets, duvets, comforters, blan- Mother Care, Carrefour, JC Penny dia is still in its infancy and remains kets, quilts, bed-in-a-bag, curtains in and Kappa. With the removal of unorganised. It is also highly import prints, solids, embroidery, ’s, quotas and sourcing of garments by intensive. Estimates suggest that this , Jacquards, dobbies, yarn the Western countries from low-cost market will grow at a CAGR of 10 dyed from 180 TCs to 1000 TCs. countries like India, garment stitch- per cent to reach Rs. 146,000 crores Within this segment, the terry ing has become an important value- ($31 billion) by 2020. towel plant was commissioned in added service for the buyer. With Alok ventured into the made-ups 2009-10. It has 48 looms, capable of a view to increasing its production segment by installing wider width producing 6,700 tpa and an equiva- capacity, the company has added (3 metre width) processing house at lent amount of terry towel process- 1,547 Juki machines. Currently it Vapi, and as forward integration, set ing capacity. has installed capacities of 22 million

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pieces with 1,647 Juki machines at ary 1989 at Silvassa with production Under the CP route, POY is manu- Silvassa. of 511 tons per annum of texturised factured from PTA and MEG. While garment sales, especially yarn. Its present capacity of 1,400 Alok Industries expects growth for export, have encouraging growth tons per day represents an increase of in global demand for polyester yarn potential, there is fierce cost compe- over 2.50 times of its original capac- and is setting up another CP plant tition. Alok is therefore also looking ity per annum, making it the fourth with a capacity of 300,000 tonnes, at increasing capacities through out- largest fully integrated polyester yarn taking the total capacity to 500,000 sourcing, either directly or through manufacturer in the country. tonnes. Of this, 100,000 tpa com- its subsidiaries, to low-cost opera- The company offers a wide range menced operation in March last. The tors, both in India and overseas, es- of polyester products, from partial- company is also increasing the DTY pecially Bangladesh, where quality ly-oriented yarn (POY), draw tex- capacity by 56,000 tonnes to create garments can be produced at com- turised yarn (DTY), fully drawn total capacity of 170,000 tonnes. petitive prices. yarn (FDY), dyed yarn, cationic Future outlook The work-wear segment, too, of- yarn, polyester staple fiber (PSF) With an anticipated CAGR of fers opportunities for this division to and chips. 5.7 per cent for the five-year period grow. The products include knitted As a backward integration to 2009-2014, the global textiles mar- or woven garments for ladies, gents texturising, the company ventured ket is expected to grow to $1,369.8 and children, garments for sports- into POY manufacturing, with an billion by the end of 2014. In this wear, active wear, casual wear and installed capacity of 54,000 tpa in growing global market, India has sleepwear, garments made from fab- 2006 through the chip route. Look- the potential to expand its textiles rics like solid, mélange, yarn dyed, ing to the expansion of texturising and apparel output by serving both auto stripes, jacquards, embroidered capacity and to save on the raw ma- its domestic and export markets. and variety of prints like transfer terial cost, it has increased the total In fact, given its competitive cost prints, and block prints. production capacity of POY from structures, estimates suggest that In- Polyester yarn 54,000 tpa to 200,000 tpa. This was dia’s $70 billion textile and apparel Alok commenced polyester yarn done through the continuous polym- industry has the potential to grow at manufacturing operations in Febru- erization (CP) route in March 2009. 11 per cent per annum to reach $134 billion in 2015. Alok Industries has been gearing itself since last of couple of years to take advantage of these oppor- tunities. It has created large-scale capacities with backward and for- ward integration, adopted modern technologies, widened its product range and created a flexible set-up to quickly adapt the products to the changing customer needs. Its inte- gration and scale of operation en- able the company to produce high quality products at most competitive prices and at lowest lead times. It has a well diversified customer base and has become a reliable sourcing partner for its customers. w

40 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 exclusive

Brückner focus on energy efficiency & technical textiles with heat recov- By K. Gopalakrishnan ery, depending on the process and fabric type, and production can be consider- ably increased. This technology was shown by means of a com- plex 3D anima- tion, and Brück- ner presented also field reports from an already existing line in production at a customer in Ger- many. The run to this presentation was very big just as the interest in Brückner looks back to a Ms. Regina Brückner other new tech- very successful participa- nologies such as tion in this year’s ITMA An insider tip on Brückner’s a new nonwovens dryer. “Some- in Barcelona. As a leading booth was the presentation chamber times we could have shut our booth manufacturer of for the newly developed POWER- because it was overcrowded”, said FRAME ECO stenter. Low-tension owner Regina Brückner with sat- lines for textiles, nonwo- fabric transport, minimum energy isfaction. “We are very glad about vens and technical textiles consumption and maximum pro- the great interest in our new devel- Brückner presented many ductivity are the key words for this opments, and we feel once again new products and develop- revolutionary dryer technology. A confirmed in our role as technology ments. Energy efficiency central heating system, a completely pioneer. We thank our customers new air guidance system and a so- very much for their interest and the and technical textiles were phisticated temperature control sys- intensive discussions, and we are the issues in the fore- tem help save up to 30 per cent of looking forward to our future posi- ground. energy compared to usual stenters tive cooperation”.

42 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 exclusive

In an interaction with The Textile Mag- azine, Mr. Manfred Schulte-Austum, Sales Manager for the Indian market, and Ms. Verena Ruckh, Head of Advertis- ing & Marketing Depart- ment, Brückner Trock- entechnik GmbH & Co. KG, spoke in detail on the new products and technolo- gies and also on Brueck- ner’s presence in India. Question: What was the highlight of Bruekner’s participation in ITMA 2011? Answer: One of the high- lights of our booth at ITMA was the exhibited coating and lami- tile industry is recovering a little bit. tomers. Our major customers are nating machine with downstream ar- We are really happy that India is Bombay Fibre Ltd., Mand- ranged stenter. A newly developed still an important market for us. We hana Industries Ltd., D’Decor Home floating knife / knife over cylinder were happy to welcome so many In- Fabrics Pvt. Ltd., Arvind Mills Ltd., coating machine which allows the dian visitors in our booth. We also Vardhman Group Ltd., Shri Lak- most different paste or foam ap- invited some Indian delegations, and shmi Cotsyn Ltd., Nahar Group plications from 5 to 2000 g/m² was our CEO, Mrs. Regina Brueckner, Ltd., Bharat Vijay Mills Ltd., Gupta presented. In the stenter entry the always took time to welcome them Exim Ltd., Kitex Garments Ltd., to fabric can be coated in addition, personally. We are looking forward name a few. from below with a new type of wide to strengthen the partnership with Q: What are short-term and slot nozzle. In addition, a laminating our Indian customers in future. We long-term targets you’ve set for unit integrated in the stenter entry have signed more contracts at ITMA your business? What are your has been presented. This unit allows than we expected. This underlines of plans for the Indian market? to laminate mainly high tension sen- course the benefits we derived from A: Both short-term and long-term sitive fabric webs with diaphragms the show. targets are to satisfy our customers or foils. Q: Can you give us some insights with high quality machines, which Q: How was the response for on Brueckner’s presence in India? are reliable and energy efficient with your company and products? A: Brueckner has a very success- maximum output. Our plans for the A: We had a very good response ful cooperation with Voltas in India indian market are to be a partner and from the show regarding our com- since seven years. We are glad to supplier of knowhow and machines pany and also the new products. We have such a competent representa- for new technologies and products were wondering that visitors came tive in India who always takes care like coated fabrics, technical fabrics, from so many countries all over the of the needs of our valuable custom- agricultural fabrics, medical fabrics world. We did not expect that variety ers. In India we have more than 100 and many others. of nationalities. It seems that the tex- installations with about 70-80 cus- Q: Considering the deep crisis

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exclusive

that easy for the textile industry. As we have invested a lot in the techni- cal textile and nonwovens sector, we could compensate the loss in the tex- tile orders. Development of energy saving systems and efficient work- ing machines offered the possibility to satisfy the customer needs and to place some important machines on the textile market. Q: Are you planning any ma- jor investments in manufacturing or capacity expansion during the current year? A: Brückner is committed to con- tinuous research and development, Mr. Manfred Schulte-Austum investing annually a major amount Ms. Verena Ruckh into the developement of new prod- in the some segments of the textile ucts and the technical development investing into the latest manufactur- industry, how has Brueckner per- of existing products. To stay com- ing technology to ensure best qual- formed during 2011? petitive with a ‘Made in Germany’ ity for our customers and their prod- A: The year 2011 was indeed not company policy, we are constantly ucts. w

46 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 industry news Most Tirupur units limping back to normalcy FDI and FTA are the game changers

By Ganesh Kalidasan

Mr. A. Sakthivel, TEA President According to Mr. A. Sakthivel, which export all types of knitted President, Tirupur Exporters Asso- fabrics and garments for kids, la- Tirupur, popularly re- ciation (TEA), the first hosiery fac- dies and men. Some of the world’s ferred to as the Dollar tory with hand-operated machines largest retailers like C&A, Switch- City or Banian City, was set up in Tirupur in 1935. For erSA, Walmart, Primark, Oviesse, excels in knitted ready- more than 30 years, garment man- Switcher, Polo Ralph Lauren, Die- ufacturers in the town were pro- sel, ARMY, Tommy Hilfiger, M&S, made garments. It has ducing mainly grey and bleached FILA, Respect, H&M, HTHP, spurred the textile banians(vests). It was in the late Whale and Reebok import many tex- industry growth in In- 1960s that the industry started di- tile and clothing items from Tirupur. dia for the past three versifying into manufacturing other It earns over Rs. 10,000 crores in decades. Its economic inner garments, including banians foreign exchange. The annual forex and underwears consumed largely in business in Tirupur for 2008 stood boom boosts the morale the domestic market. But Tirupur’s at Rs. 8,000 crores. This crossed the of Indian industrialists, fortunes took a dramatic turn in the Rs. 12,000-crore mark in 2009. and it accounts for huge late 1970s when it began exporting Of course, since 2009, the Tirupur exchange earnings. its products. textile industry has been in doldrums Tirupur has a number of factories due to a number of reasons. Starting

48 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 industry news

from the instability in yarn pricing, ure to help that country come out of ished products is much less, even labour shortage and major environ- the devastating floods last year, but after importing the raw materials mental issues which later led to the now deciding to call back the oppo- from India. But if the Foreign Trade court order for complete closure of sition. Agreement (FTA) gets approved by all dying units are a few of the major “This bilateral move will have a the Government, there is a greater setbacks faced by the industry. detrimental effect on the Indian tex- chance of retrieving a huge por- As a result, production houses in tile industry as Pakistan is one of our tion of this business back to India. Tirupur were not able to execute the major competitors in the global ap- The next meeting related to FTA orders on hand. This had its nega- parel market,” he added. is scheduled to be held in February tive impact and gave rise to credibil- The signing of FDI and FTA with next. ity issues. But, of late, most of the the EU is expected to be a game Under the plan, it will conduct major dying units have commenced changer and hopes to revive this road shows in Europe, the US, Japan production after getting Central industry back to its original scale. and China to get feedback for the re- clearance. This decision is an enabling policy view to increase FDI in the sector. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, that will open up new windows of The push is to invite technology Ms. J. Jayalalithaa’s announce- opportunity to ment of interest-free loan of Rs. 200 modernize the crores to revive the Common Ef- retail sector. The fluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) in Indian industry Tirupur has given hope to the knit- will benefit to wear cluster there. a great extent Mr. Sakthivel has hailed the Tamil once global re- Nadu Pollution Control Board tailers will start (TNPCB) decision to permit reopen- setting up local ing of CETPs at Angeripalayam and operations here Veerapandi, which would help 142 and sourcing dyeing units resume operations and products from achieve zero liquid discharge. local manufac- TEA has urged the Union Gov- turers, particu- ernment to continue opposing the larly from sec- European Union decision allowing tors like handicrafts, textiles and into the sector to make it more ex- duty-free access to 75 tariff lines, food processing. port oriented as the Ministry hopes including 65 textile products, ex- The TEA President said: “FDI In- the segment in India ported from Pakistan. flows within the textiles industry in will attract investments worth Rs. The appeal of knitwear exporters India will definitely be a boom for 5,000 crores by 2012. This is quite had come in the wake of the recent garment manufacturers and export- significant since the entire sector has decision by India to withdraw its ers but will have a huge negative im- not been attracting much FDI. earlier objection to the particular pact on domestic retailers”. The priority accorded to techni- unilateral trade concession offered During these hard times in the In- cal textiles is evident in the fact that by the EU to Pakistan in the next dian textile industry, one nation that the Ministry, for the first time, has WTO meeting. capitalized on the opportunity was proposed to set up a technological Mr. Sakthivel pointed out that In- Bangladesh. It is understood that a mission for technical textiles in line dia first raised its voice of concern large chunk of business has moved with that for natural fibres like cot- when the EU countries’ sop was ex- from India to Bangladesh and Pa- ton and jute and special incentives to tended to Pakistan as a relief meas- kistan as the cost of producing fin- attract FDI in this sector. w

50 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

Draft-Air’s timely, constructive tie-up with Chicago Blowers

By Ganesh Kalidasan

Mr. G.D. Panchal, Chairman & Managing Director, Draft Air, and Mr. J.J. Dubeck, President, Chicago Blowers

With minimal investment and and to design from scratch for each workforce, Draft Air commenced such set of parameters, as opposed its journey in 1986 under the able to standardised solutions, has paid guidance of Mr. G.D. Panchal, its rich dividends. Creative design, in- Draft Air is a key com- Founder and Chairman. Today, corporating innovative concepts, so- ponent provider to Draft-Air’s state-of-the-art humidi- phisticated equipment and processes the textile sector. It fication, ventilation, pressurisation, worldwide, coupled with a passion waste recovery, and dust extraction for delivering only the very best, provides complete hu- & air conditioning systems have met sticking to pre-determined sched- midification and cen- with success at every turn as they ules and continued after-sales moni- tralised waste recovery expand markets across industries toring and upgradation back-up, has solutions to the textile and geographically. been the hallmark of the company’s The company philosophy of treat- commitment. industry on a turnkey ing each client, his requirements and Draft-Air’s recent collaboration basis. conditions as separate and unique, with Chicago Blowers, an American

52 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

partner, marks a milestone in its ca- airflow requirements as its competi- will house all the modern processes reer. This collaboration enables it to tors but with 20 per cent less energy. and technology available in the mar- stretch its reach beyond the borders Today CBC products are used for ket to produce fans of superior qual- of the textile vertical. various applications such as heat- ity. “The joint venture with Chicago ing, ventilating, pollution control Draft-Air has also upgraded its Blowers Corp (CBC) is more of a and air-conditioning in areas like existing manufacturing facility with technical collaboration where we helicopters, locomotives, hospi- latest CNC machines imported from would be manufacturing products tals, steel mills, power plants, sugar Europe to improve the quality and using their technology”, said Mr. mills, paper mills, glass industry, production capacity. Prakash Panchal, Joint Managing cement plants and processing plants. The company range of products Director. The fans are approved by the Ameri- covers textile air engineering (hu- CBC, a manufacturer of differ- can Petroleum Institute (API). midification systems, refrigeration ent types of fans and blowers, was CBC fans are in operation at the systems, automatic control system, established in 1947 in Chicago. Sydney Opera House in Australia, fibre recovery plants and yarn con- The company moved to its current the Petronas Twin Towers in Ma- ditioning); ventilation and air pres- manufacturing facility at Glendale laysia, the Pentagon, on the elevat- surisation system (power plants, Heights in 1968 and since then has ed tracks in Chicago, McCormick steel plants, cement industries, re- expanded and modernized the plant Place and the United Airlines termi- fineries, bulk drugs and pharma- a number of times to provide the nal at O’Hare. ceuticals, electronics manufacturing best technology to the customers. The collaboration with the com- units, mines and tunnels, workshop CBC was the first fan company in pany enables Draft-Air to produce buildings, and cinema/community the world to design and sell a cen- fans ranging from 0.5 hp to 5000 halls); special-purpose fans for trifugal fan blade (1958) with an air- hp according to customer demand. power plants, metallurgical indus- foil shape in the commercial market. The company is now expanding into tries, boiler industries, refineries, This new shape meant that the com- another unit to manufacture fans for radiators and heat exchangers, proc- pany fans could produce the same various industries. The new facility ess industries, cement plants, petro-

54 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

Mr. G.D. Panchal, along with his two sons, Mr. Prakash and Mr. Nitesh chemicals and fertiliser industries. needs of customers from the Mid- gressive approach in the near future Draft-Air recently bagged and dle-East, Pakistan, South Asian and to increase its volumes and market commissioned some prestig- African countries. share domestically in the textile in- ious projects such as KPR Mills’ As part of value addition for its dustry. The company has set ambi- 1,00,000 spindle spinning project, clients, the company also provides tious targets for 2012 and with their Garg Acrlylic 64,000-spindle spin- consultancy on design of air engi- recent JV signed, their team is all ning project, Arvind Ltd. 112 looms, neering systems during the initial confident in reaching them. Winsome Textiles’ 40,000-spindle phase of projects with a view to Draft-Air’s Founder and Chair- spinning project, Gimatex spinning minimizing the construction cost as man, Mr. G.D. Panchal, along with & weaving project, AMW - Asia’s well as the power requirements with his two sons, Prakash and Nitesh, largest truck assembly line, BHEL ease of operation and maintenance. are supported by an excellent team Ukai - 500 MW thermal power Even after diversifying into vari- of highly qualified, experienced and plant, BHEL Hazira - 225 MW CCP ous fields, the company considers talented professionals and the most plant, and BHEL Sikka - 500 MW textile vertical as its primary busi- up-to-date computer assisted system thermal power plant. ness sector, generating nearly 60 per design whose synergetic insights The Indian industrial fans is a cent of its revenues last year from it. can ensure that Draft-Air remains at Rs. 1,000-crore industry. Draft-Air The company spokesperson, Mr. par to the best in terms of quality of- is gearing up to enhance its market Prakash Panchal (JMD) says that fered globally. share. It also plans to cater to the Draft-Air will be looking at an ag- w

56 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 exclusive Bonas leads Indian market in electronic jacquards

By K. Gopalakrishnan

Mr. Anand Agate, General Manager Bonas, the inventor of electronic jacquards, has Mr. Anand Agate says: “The idea Anand Agate. behind starting the office in India Mr. Agate has a team of Sales completed 20 years since was to provide complete service Manager, a service support man- it established its liason support to the local clients, and ager and six engineers. The jacquard office in India way back that’s how we have been very suc- market in India is roughly 6 to 7% in 1991. The company cessful. We take care of the entire of the total weaving market and the started its branch office sale, installation and after-sales potential is around 200 jacquards subsequently in 1994. service support for our clients”. annually. But in the last couple of The Indian operations are Bonas is a clear market leader in years, the market has been flooded the electronic jacquard business in with second-hand electronic jac- headed by its General Man- India. The company has over 3,000 quard machines due to the recession ager, Mr. Anand Agate, electronic jacquards running in 200 in the European and American mar- who has been associated customer locations across India. In- kets. with Bonas India since its dia is among the top five markets for Bonas has recently introduced a inception. Bonas worldwide, according Mr. revolutionary adjustable split heck

58 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 exclusive

technology on its jacquards. The ad- Bonas Jacquard models LJ and ZJ to increase significantly, and single justable split heck comes in two exe- are one family of products, sharing end warp control can extend to more cutions, the odd-even warp end sep- and benefitting from all attributes than 19,200 warp ends. This elimi- aration in high density flat fabric and of our modern manufacturing and nates the need for repeats and sym- the terry version to separate ground design ideals. Suitable for all appli- metrical designs and allows almost and shed to avoid reverse terry. cations, from flat to terry and from infinite versatility. The computer- The split heck adjustments are ap- rapier to air-jet machines. Jacquard controlled machines significantly re- plicable on both the successful ZJ selection is executed from a 100% duce the downtime associated with and LJ jacquard range. electronic system, further enhanced changing punched paper designs, Split heck is the latest technology and improved for today’s require- thus allowing smaller batch sizes. allowing to split the warp ends in ments. Low power current drive The well-balanced drive mecha- the reed dents even more, avoiding ensures consistent accuracy in se- nism and approved selection system yarn to stick to each other during lection regardless of speed, tempera- of both the LJ and ZJ result in low crossing. With the shed fine adjust- ture or voltage. power consumption, regardless of ments and now split heck, Bonas of- Bonas Machine Company Ltd. speed, temperature or voltage. From fers complete flexibility and the best launched the first electronic Jac- flat to terry, from rapier to air-jet possible weaving condition for dif- quard at ITMA Milan in 1983. Al- machine, choosing Bonas Jacquards ferent applications. This split heck though the machines were small is simply the most profitable option technology is possible only on Bo- initially, modern technology has you have. nas jacquard machines. enabled Jacquard machine capacity w

60 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

Trident launches Rs. 1,200-crore expansion plan

By K. Gopalakrishnan

Trident Ltd., formerly Abhishek Industries, has embarked on a Rs. 1,200-crore expansion plan which will be imple- Mr. Rajinder Gupta, Managing Director mented by 2013. One of The company commenced terry The revenues of Trident’s textile towel manufacture with a 66 loom business amounted to Rs. 2,237.53 the world’s largest terry capacity in 1998-99, which in- crores in 2010-11, of which home towel manufacturers and creased to 388 looms by 2010-11. textiles accounted for 43.6 per cent. yarn spinners in the It strengthened its spinning capacity The company has an installed country, the company is from 17,280 spindles in 1993-94 to capacity of 2,24,448 spindles and exporting its products to 224,448 spindles in 2010-11. These 1,920 rotors. It specialises in a wide consistent capacity investments bal- range of yarn products. While a por- over 20 countries, includ- anced the company’s spinning and tion of yarn is consumed captively ing the US, Europe, Aus- weaving capacities, enabling it to for the manufacture of terry towels, tralia and New Zealand. meet the growing customer needs. the rest is sold in the domestic and

62 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

trademarked a new product by the “Air Rich” TM in the US market and has commenced test marketing in Japan through a local collabora- tion. The company continuously under- took product enhancements to wid- en acceptance. It won various global awards for superior product quality, including the JC Penney Award for ‘Best Quality for Home’ and the JC Penney Innovation Award. In the yarn segment the company manufactures 100 per cent cotton, blended, special open-end, organic cotton, core spun, eli-twist, com- pact, slub-yarn and specialised yarn comprising gassed mercerised, wa- ter soluble, air rich, bamboo/cotton, corn cotton blended and 100 per cent dyed yarn. Trident augmented per MT reali-

international markets. beach towels, bath The company has six manufac- sheets, bath towels, turing units, in Barnala (Punjab) hand towels, guest and Budni (Madhya Pradesh), with towels, face fringes state-of-the-art manufacturing facil- and bath mats. ities (ring spinning, carding, comb- In 2010-11, the ing, open ended spinning and yarn company could in- dying). The product range services crease sales from the needs of the fashion sector and 91.3 million pieces knitting, weaving, denim, hosiery, of towel to 105.2 shirting and suiting industries. million pieces and Tridents’ terry towel and towelling increased sales product range comprise piece-dyed from 309 MT of dobbies, yarn-dyed, single and dou- greigh towel in ble jacquards, unidyed jacquards, 2009-10 to 1795 yarn-dyed stripes, weft inserts and MT. The company checks, terry and finish, has introduced and

64 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

sation from Rs. 120,569 in 2009-10 388 looms. Commercial production quality products to suit demanding to Rs. 174,346 in 2010-11 and has at the new facilities commenced in customer requirements. Quality is entered Brazil and strengthened its January last. benchmarked with the Uster Statis- presence in Bangladesh. The specific areas in which R&D tics scale (global leader in textile The company has undertaken fur- carried out by the company are: quality control). It enjoys quality ther expansion in its yarn spinning New product development in tex- certifications from Egyptian, PIMA facilities which envisage setting up tiles, increasing water absorption of and FLO cotton and recognition of 275,904 spindles and 2,040 rotors, cotton yarn, high bulk yarn, mutli from CUC, IMO, GRS, ISO and including other balancing equipment count, multi twist, T400, Pc span- OKEO. at an outlay of Rs. 11,170 million. dex, quickdry towels, air rich tow- Trident has installed textile looms Commercial production at these fa- els, hi-bulk zero twist, 2-ply air rich, from Toyota and other leading sup- cilities is expected to commence in a reversible towel, eucalyptus fibre pliers and has state-of-the-art yarn phased manner and to be completed blend towel, rose fibre blend towel equipment from LMW, Rieter, Mu- by the third quarter of 2013. Further, and banana fibre blend towel. rata, Zinser and Savio. the company proposes to set up an The company keeps upgrading open-end yarn spinning expansion technology to manufacture high- w project by installing 1,344 rotors at an estimated investment of Rs. 733.5 million. Of this invest- ment, Rs. 17 crores is proposed to be incurred on modernisation of existing yarn facilities. In 2010-11, Trident completed terry towel capacity expansion. It has installed 14 new looms. With this expansion, the total production capacity of the terry towel division has increased to

66 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011

exclusive Tecnorama’s automatic dosing and dyeing machines

By K. Gopalakrishnan Renewed success for Tecnorama at Barcelona ITMA 2011: more than 1.000 visitors appreciated the latest developments and innovations dis- played. Some sales contracts were finalized directly at the fair. Besides the upgrade of Dos&Dye Compact, the automatic system for laboratory dyeing, Tecnorama pre- sented its new Dosorama HS that helps carry out more complete reci- pes with a better accuracy and speed which is 10 times faster than the best machines so far available on the market. Another innovation was Spec- trorma, the undoubtedly forefront that excited interest and satisfaction: it’s the unique device that facilitates a detailed color analysis during the dyeing cycle. Patented all over the world, the machines conceived and proposed by Tecnorama confirm the engage- ment and the passion of the techni- cians of the Research and Develop- ment Centre to answer to all market needs offering efficient solutions to obtain the exact planned result by optimizing resources and costs. In an interview to The Tex- tile Magazine, Mr. Mario Scatizzi, Owner of Tecnorama, spoke in detail about the new prod- ucts and innovations and also about the Indian market. Question: What was the high- Mr. Mario Scatizzi and Mrs. Romana Barni, owners of Tecnorama light of Tecnorama’s participa-

68 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 exclusive

thanks to the big flow of visitors at the Tecnorama stand. Despite the contest and the dark years of the crises that has cut off most of the investment projects in the textile sector, more than 1.000 companies vis- ited the Tecnorama stand with enthusiasm, exceed- ing the earlier expectations. Many visitors came from India confirming the impor- tance of this country in the world textile business, and we started many projects with the Indian clients met during the fair. Q: What about Tecno- rama presence in India? Who are the agents for Tecnorama in India and tion in ITMA this year – the prod- Among the machines displayed who are the major customers of ucts and technologies that you at the exhibition, New Dosorama the company products in India? showcased at the show? HS gained a big success too. An A: Tecnorama’s machines have Answer: The highlight of Tecno- automatic lab dosing machinery, it been sold in India since the begin- rama’s participation was the pres- is able to carry out more than 200 ning of the 2000s and we consider entation of the Spectrorama system complete recipes in an hour with an India as one of our main markets. that can be successfully used for the accuracy of +/- 0.003g and with a We have dozens of excellent cli- study and search of new formulas, speed which is 10 times faster than ents and potential clients who are to analyze the influence of chemi- the best machines so far available in considering our solutions for their cal and auxiliary products on the the market. future investments. We have agents dyeing behavior of single dyestuffs, Together with these extremely all over the world and in India as to check the dye affinity of various innovative machines, Tecnorama well, but we are going to improve textile fibers and to study the ideal showed the upgrade of Dos&Dye the Indian network in order to cover dyeing process in terms of the time Compact, an automatic system for more deeply all the territory and required and the quality of the re- lab dyeing, and the Multifastest, an to be able to grant a better pre and sult. It has been the most appreci- analytical device designed to obtain post sales assistance to our clients. ated innovation for the extremely quick responses on the fastness of We are structuring a widespread advanced technology that allows dyes on fabrics, yarns, knitwear, etc. and detailed sales net to increase the the unique machine in the market to Q: How was the response for number and the quality of physical carry out the spectrometric analysis your company and products? visits of our agents and sales man- of a dyeing cycle, with simultaneous How was the response, particu- ager in companies and plants. readings of the dye-bath and textile larly from Indian visitors? material. A: The fair was a great success, w

70 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

Perfect’s pursuit of excellence with engineering skill and design

By Ganesh Kalidasan

Mr. Naresh Mistry and Mr. Jayesh Mistry

Selling to global markets with pushed the organization in discover- top quality and excellent after-sales ing new horizon in the industry with services gave complete satisfaction unbeatable service standards. to the company customers all over Perfect has created a cybernetic the world. This achievement within working unit which symbolises Perfect Engineering Corpo- a span of five years motivated the management that is aimed at goal- company directors to expand activi- directed thinking and that rewards ration was established in ties in different verticals of textile human achievement. 1975 by Mr. Amrut Mis- engineering. Perfect Equipment Pvt. Ltd. & try with the vision of excel- Within a couple of years since Perfect Engineering Corporation has lence in textile machine inception, Mr. Ishwar Mistry who its own state-of-art R&D Centre that started his carrier with Perfect by aids in the design and manufacture manufacturing. Started as taking care of technical operations, of world class roll shop equipments a small-scale company, it took over as a Director of the com- and the entire gamut of card room began its humble journey pany. Today the company is man- service equipments as well as lat- by manufacturing bare aged by the trio, Mr. Naresh Mistry, est generation of carding machine, Mr. Jayesh Mistry and Mr. Jitendra blowroom, automatic waste extrac- flats for the international Mewada, and under their dynamic tion system, rag tearing line, OHTC, market. leadership and motivations has etc.

72 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

“Meeting the demands of the textile in- dustry, Perfect has created a niche for it- self in its pursuit of excellence”, says Mr. Jayesh Mistry. Perfect currently exports machines and equipments to more than 40 countries around the world, including Canada, the US and Germany. Exports contributed to more than 50 per cent of the company turnover for 2010-11. Perfect also has a strong presence in the domestic market enjoying nearly 65 per cent of the market share and 40 per cent of the international market. Thus it is a global brand, meeting the demands of the textile industry for more than 30 years. Recently the company entered the emerging for tech- “Recycling of textiles is going to be a big demand nical textiles and non-wovens segment and started pro- in the future”, says Mr. Naresh Mistry. Perfect Engi- ducing tailor-made machinery to cater to it. neers has successfully installed three lines for recy- cling textiles, one each in India and Bangladesh, and the third one will be commissioned in Africa soon. Us- ing state-of-the-art machinery combined with efficient, eco-friendly manufacturing processes and unparalleled technical expertise is the key to Perfect’s success story. “At Perfect, being innovative and staying ahead in a fiercely competitive global market is our motto, so that our valued customers can reap the benefit as our custom- ers deserve the very best,” Mr. Naresh Mistry observes. Top Indian textile names such as Super, Precot and Premier Group of Coimbatore, Nahar & Vardhaman Group, Alok Industries, Zenith Spinners and other big players, both domestic and international, are happy cus- tomers of the Prefect Group. The company’s ability to integrate technology, proc- esses and customer requirements into ingenious solu- tions formulated to deliver efficiency and economy is comprehensive. Perfect obtained the CE mark for European market, and one of the group companies has been certified to ISO 9001-2000. It has also been presented the prestig- ious ‘Special Export Award’ for small-scale sector for outstanding export performance for 2000-2001 in tex- tile machinery by the Federation of Indian Textile Engi- neering Industry.

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74 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011

partnerships

Tiger Rings partners Leo Agencies for Indian market

By K. Gopalakrishnan

Mr. S.T. Rengarajan, Leo Agencies, and Mr. Bo Michael Kristoffersen, Tiger Rings

The German ring manufac- TIGER, which stands for Textile Kristoffersen comes with years of turer Tiger Rings has part- Intelligent Group of Excellent Rings, experience in the textile industry. nered with Leo Agencies for was started by Mr. Bo Michael He has earlier worked with Rieter distribution of its products Kristoffersen last year. The manufacturing facil- in India. Effective August ity is based out of 2011, Leo Agencies has Germany. The been conducting trial runs company ini- of the rings in 20 differ- tially launched ent customer locations and its products the response has been very in Africa and encouraging, says Mr. S.T. South Ameri- Rengarajan, who is heading ca. the company. Mr. Bo Michael

76 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 partnerships

and Oerlikon. around 60 million, out of which 20 also handles Spincan and few more He says: “We want to use In- per cent comes for replacement eve- products. dia as a base and then enter other ry year, which is 12 million rings. Mr. Rengarajan has established Asian markets. Indian customers are Tiger Rings is targeting five per cent strong relationship with customers, looking for rings which can run ef- marketshare in the first year. and this will be an important fac- ficiently at high speeds. Customers Leo Agencies has been catering to tor in making the presence of Tiger are equally looking for good return the needs of the industry for over 10 Rings in the Indian market. on investments, value for money years. Apart from Tiger Rings, Leo w and the best quality. If we succeed in India we are confident that we will suc- ceed in all other markets”. Speed Rings, the brand launched by Tiger Rings, are based on German tech- nology. “Speed rings save a lot of time in yarn manu- facturing. The high qual- ity chrome-plated surfaces shorten long start-up times. The right use of materials enables production at very high speeds. The long life span of approximately five years minimizes machine downtime. The rings can be used upto a traveller speed of 44m/s and are thus among the best world- wide”, he adds. “We are now concentrat- ing on the trials. We want the customers to experi- ence the product and get it approved technically before we start selling ag- gressively in the market”, Mr. Rengarajan observes. The total spindleage in India is estimated to be

78 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011

FDI in Retail

Only modest FDI inflows: CRISIL

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi- brand retail will stimulate investment in In- dian retail. CRISIL estimates FDI inflows of $2.5-3 billion over the next five years, mod- est in the context of overall FDI inflows of $160 billion in India over the past five years.

According to CRISIL, the food lead time to identify and grocery (F&G) vertical would appropriate store loca- attract a larger share of the likely tions and address is- FDI inflows. The clause specifying sues in rolling outback- 50 per cent investment in back-end end infrastructure will infrastructure especially aligns with also limit the pace of the commercial requirement in the growth in ORP. F&G segment. F&G accounts for The recent Cabinet two-thirds of Indian retail sales, but decision allowing 51 currently has organized retail sales per cent FDI in multi- of only around two per cent, the brand retail and 100 lowest among retail verticals. per cent FDI in single- “To improve profitability in the brand retail is likely F&G segment, retailers need to to catalyze joint ven- Mr. Ajay D’Souza, Head - CRISIL Research control their supply chain costs and tures between Indian and foreign players attract capital for driving build scale,” said Mr. Ajay D’Souza, organized retailers. Depending on their expansion plans and, in addi- Head - CRISIL Research. “Every whether they buy into existing retail tion, benefit from scale, cost effi- percentage point reduction in sup- chains or set up new JVs, the share ciencies and technology brought in ply chain cost and resultant gain in of foreign retailers in multi-brand by foreign retailers. EBITDA margin can improve equi- organized retail will remain moder- “The aggressive growth plans of ty IRR of an F&G store by 250-300 ate and is expected to vary between leading Indian retailers, which were basis points. Foreign retailers, with 10 and 20 per cent by 2015-16. under pressure due to increasing debt their access to capital and technol- Comparatively, in China, where stock and moderation in customer ogy, are well placed to leverage this organized retail accounts for 20-25 footfalls in the current year, will get opportunity.” per cent of total retail sales, foreign a strong boost from the availability Considering the likely supply of retailers have a market share of 25- of capital. However, for smaller and quality retail space and current or- 30 per cent in organized retail, built regional retailers, scale of operations ganised retail penetration (ORP) in over the past 15 years since FDI in and control over costs will determine large cities, CRISIL believes that retail was opened up. their ability to weather pressures of ORP will still remain moderate, The FDI proposal offers good aggressive expansions by large re- reaching about 11 per cent by 2015- prospects for large established Indi- tailers”, said Mr. Anuj Sethi, Head, 16 from 6.5 per cent currently. The an retailers. FDI would enable these CRISIL Ratings. w

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FDI in Retail

DI in

initiated. Many concerned with the prospects of Corporate India said stem the slowdown, increase invest- ments, bring in new reforms. No he false dangers ofone objected F till then. But when the T of a Parliament that is completely Government began to act, what have unable to function in a normal, dem- we but chaos and adjournments over ocratic manner. a decision to allow foreign direct in- modern retailA democracy encourages trade open- vestment (FDI) in retail. ness and permits dissent, but per- There are 32 Bills in the winter ennial disarray and disruption is session of Parliament for considera- sacrilegious. So, as the nation inter- tion and passing, many of which are By Ashok Ganguly & Deepak Parekh minably and unproductively quar- of far greater consequence and im- rels about ‘India’s tryst with des- portance for the country than FDI in India always prided itself on its tiny’, the more important question retail. The protests on FDI in retail vibrant democracy. It was large and is how should some semblance of are misconceived and unfortunate, noisy, but it worked. Today, there order be restored in Parliament? but hope to salvage this situation is concern over India’s overall eco- During the course of the year, sec- should not be lost. nomic slowdown. From ambitions tions of Corporate India, together FDI in retail has not been a sud- of double-digit GDP growth rates, with the common man, raised its den decision taken by the Govern- the slide has been swift. Yet, in the voice over many misgivings of ment. On the contrary, the idea has broader scheme of things, a slowing the Government. The Government been toyed with for over 14 years. economy seems to pale in compari- gave a hearing, and remedial ac- Detailed discussions with various son to the larger crisis at hand – that tion, though in small measure, was stakeholders have been held, experts

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FDI in Retail

consulted and studies commissioned based on international experiences of organised retailing. Modernisation of retail trade is an essential part of India’s growth story. It is well known, from experiences of countries such as China, Indonesia and several others, that modern retail trade and traditional traders can, and do, prosper side by side, While there has been a lot of media cover- raising employment along the supply chain, improving farm incomes, reducing spoilage and delivering affordable products age on the hot debate about the benefits and to consumers. pitfalls of allowing 51 per cent FDI in multi- Opposing investment in modern retail for the sake of it is brand retail, several important issues have not only defending vested interests to the detriment of the vast been properly highlighted either by the Gov- majority. The farmers, the consumers and the common people ernment or by those opposing the move. must raise their voices against this false drama of apprehen- The most important is the impact on direct sion against investment and modernising trade in agriculture and indirect tax revenues for the exchequer. and consumer goods. For example, in a district which grows Another is a correct estimate of what amount the largest amount of potatoes in the country, more than 50 of actual foreign investment India can expect. per cent rots in the fields due to inadequate cold storage facil- How many kiranas will actually get impacted? ity and supply chain, to the utter distress of the farmers and at One of India’s most respected retail consult- the cost to the end consumers. There are thousands of similar ants – Asipac – has come out with a simple events every year across the country. and factual white paper covering these impor- What is intriguing and bewildering is that the false alarm of tant issues: FDI is continuing to be used after so many years as a bogey in modern times against foreigners and foreign investment. It is l By 2015, Urban India will have 423 mil- completely baseless to argue that kirana shops will be wiped lion people and will need 635 million sq. ft. out with the onslaught of FDI in retail. What does hurt the of space for food retail (including pharma, kirana shops are their having to down their shutters to support beauty and FMCG) compared to 511 million bandhs. sq. ft. today (total space occupied by modern It is important to articulate the economics of FDI in retail. It trade and neighbourhood kiranas). is illusory to believe that the market will be flooded with FDI. l Assuming that the organized sector (in- Retailing is not an easy business – margins are thin, large par- cluding the existing players) captures 7.5 per cels of real estate are not easily available and the supply chain cent market share in four years, we will have logistics ranging from warehousing, cold storage to transpor- 47.63 million sq. ft. of hypermarkets, super- tation pose a major challenge. More importantly, the Central markets and pharmacies by 2015, compared Government’s role in retail FDI is minimal. The greater onus to 15.3 million sq. ft. today. Even if foreign lies with the State Governments as a maze of laws ranging retailers capture 50 per cent of this and have from the Shops and Establishments Act to the APMC Act, 23.82 million sq. ft., at average ownership of amongst several others, falls within the State’s domain. Pro- gressive States that wish to attract FDI in retail will encourage 1,200 sq. ft. per kirana owner, this will only investments and vice versa. Either way, the fruits of organised affect 19,850 businessmen and not crores of retailing will not happen overnight, but will take several years. businessmen, as has been hyped. To conclude, this is a call to the saner sections of Corporate l There’s much more to retail than just food India to come out and strongly support progressive measures & grocery. A total of 423 million urban In- and reforms with the same spirit and gusto with which we take dians will need 3,680 million sq. ft. of space the liberties to criticise policies or issues we do not appreciate. for non-food retailing. Assuming 20 per cent w

84 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 FDI in Retail

market share, the organized sector l This translates to Rs. 2.594 tril- and shop fit-ins) and Rs. 1.904 tril- is estimated to have 736 million sq. lion in GST collections (@ 16 per lion in inventories (@ Rs. 2800 per ft. of non-food retail space. cent GST) and Rs. 174.28 billion in sq. ft.), or a total investment of Rs. l Thus, organized retail will have corporate income-tax. The Govern- 6.664 trillion ($128 billion). a maximum of 783.63 million sq. ment is losing a minimum 50 per l If 50 per cent of this is foreign ft. (47.63 + 736.00). cent of this potential tax revenue investment (by foreign retailers as l At one direct job for every 180 because half of the business of the well as financial investors), we are sq. ft. of retail space, 4.354 million unorganized retail trade is probably talking about FDI of $64 billion in people will be employed across the escaping the tax net. four years, or $16 billion per an- 783.63 million sq. ft. of space oc- l The organized sector will have num, 80 per cent increase over the cupied by organized retail. With 780,000 managers earning average actual inflows of fiscal 2010-11. 1.5 indirect jobs (in supply chain taxable salary of Rs. 1 million per This will help the rupee to bounce and logistics) per direct job, it adds annum. This will generate at least back. up to a total of 10.89 million jobs. Rs. 195 billion of additional per- l Most importantly, about $180 l A vast majority of the employ- sonal income-tax collections. billion will get converted from the ees will be primary school drop- l The total Rs. 1576 billion in ad- black market economy to the ac- outs. Organized retailers will give ditional tax collections (Rs. 1294 countable economy, and we may them benefits such as PF, ESI and billion in GST [50 per cent of to- need a much smaller Lokpal au- , and hone their skills tal] + Rs. 87 billion in corporate thority. through training & development. income-tax [50 per cent of total] Asipac undertakes strategic re- What does the kirana do to increase + Rs. 195 billion in personal in- search on retail and retail real es- India’s Human Development In- come-tax) translates to an increase tate sectors. In retail real estate, it dex? So, FDI = HDI. of more than 11 per cent in the tax has provided development strategy, l Why would any political party collection of the Centre and States, planning and lease management on want to favour 19,850 small busi- wiping out the revenue deficit and retail/shopping centre projects of nessmen over 10.89 million youth making India a revenue surplus more than 17 million sq. ft., includ- who don’t have many other other economy. ing seven of the 15 largest shop- job opportunities? l Of the 783.63 million sq. ft. of ping centres in India. l At estimated sales of Rs. 2,000 organized retail space, about 103.9 The company has leased more per sq. ft. per month in 2015, the million sq. ft. already exists. So than 8.5 million sq. ft. of retail 783.63 million sq. ft. of organized we are talking about 680 million real estate in south India alone in retail space will generate revenues sq. ft. to be added a new. This will just six years. It has current leasing of Rs. 18.807 trillion per annum need infrastructure investments of mandates for nine malls in five cit- and taxable profits of Rs. 564 bil- Rs. 4.76 trillion (at an average Rs. ies. lion (assumed at only three per cent 7000 per sq. ft. at 2012-2015 costs, of revenues). for building construction, interiors w

The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 | 85 corporate news Unitop adept at evaporation and drying systems

By K. Gopalakrishnan

Mr. S.M. Mondkar Unitop has been in the forefront in liquor and using the same back in Some organisations are recovery from waste for the past 34 merceriser is the only feasible so- years offering various projects such lution. Further, the payback period built on strong founda- as heat recovery, salt recovery and is less than 5-6 months. Today the tion, thanks to the inno- caustic recovery systems. company has a long list of custom- vation and technological Unitop was founded in 1974 by ers playing a prominent role in the leadership provided by Mr. Mondkar, a Chemical Engineer Indian textile industry. their founders. Unitop is from IIT Mumbai. He says one of The company has further expand- the early breakthroughs was made ed its base in zero effluent discharge one such company which with United Bleachers and Madura systems by evaporation and drying has established leader- Coats in the 1980s. Mercerisers for of rejects of reverse osmosis systems ship in evaporation and textile mills generate dilute caustic for effluent / water. “We are the only drying sytems, thanks liquor, which, if drained to effluent company of our size to offer both to the vision provided by treatment plant, will create consid- evaporation and drying solutions, erable problems in meeting the en- and we can claim with confidence Mr. S.M. Mondkar, its vironmental standards. Caustic soda that our efficiency parameters are founder. recovery plant concentrating wash the best in the market”, he says.

86 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

European companies who are keen to set up JVs in India. With increas- ing cost of manufacturing, these companies are looking at setting up a manufacturing base in India to supply to Asian countries, for which they are looking for a reliable part- ner. “The strength of Unitop is our cli- entele who is satisfied with our inno- vative design, quick deliveries and committed service. Of course, our sales force is not adequate to handle the business volume. However, with Having supplied more than 200 num. Unitop has also been exporting its co-ordinated efforts, it relies on evaporation and drying plants, Uni- to countries like Sri Lanka, Nigeria, the strong references made by our top is in the process of setting up a South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, valued customers. This accounts for new facility near Bhiwandi with a Bangladesh and China. The compa- the superior quality of products and built-up area of around 60,000 sq. ny employs more than 40 engineers. services offered”, adds Mr. Mond- ft. This will have a capacity to make Looking into the future, Unitop kar. about 30 large sized plants per an- is exploring possibilities with some w

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88 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

Technocraft Industries serving textile sector since 1970

The range of company products includes accesso- ries for: l Weaving preparatory machines such as weaver’s beams / warper beams, hydraulic trolley for handling beams & cloth rolls, aluminium cloth rolls, reed stor- age rack and draw-in stands. l Cloth-making up machines like cloth inspection machine, cloth folding & plaiting machine, cloth rolling machine and cloth swatch/sample cutting machine. l Web guiding equipments for dry & wet fabric processing machines such as cloth guiders (mechan- ical, pneumatic, electromagnetic, etc.), bow & weft unit, curved bar (bow type) expanders, slet expand- ers (aluminium / wooden) and two / three finger un- curlers. Mr. Bharat Panchal Technocraft is a well-established name in the tex- Established in 1970, the Ahmedabad-based Tech- tile vertical and has been supplying its products to clients nocraft Industries (TI) is a leading textile machineries such as Arvind Mills, Reliance Industries, Raymond, and accessories manufacturing firm specialising in the Vardhman Textiles, Birla Century, Grasim Industries, indigenous range of machines for fabrics and garment JCT Ltd., Alok Industries, Welspun India, Bombay manufacturing industries. Rayon & Fashions, LNJ Group and S. Kumars. w At Technocraft Industries, customer requirements are accorded the top priority. With its focus on quality, technology and commitment to customer service, the company believes that “the satisfied customer is the best ambassador”. Technocraft has its reputation for delivering a wide range of textile products & accessories since several decades and all products are provided with a back-up of broad-based infrastructure of highly qualified and expe- rienced R&D team. TI has registered strident growth during the last dec- ade with its participation in exhibitions like Garmentech - 2003, Texspare - 2004, Technomas - 2004, India-IT- ME - 2004 and 2008, Tex Tech - 2005, ITGME - 2006, etc. It has expanded operations and widened the sales network in the domestic and international markets.

90 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news Shri Lakshmi Cotsyn’s massive expansion in progress

Shri Lakshmi Cotsyn Over the years, it has emerged SLCL is projecting a turnover of Ltd. (SLCL) is an inte- one of the largest textile manufac- Rs. 2,300 crores in 2011-12 and Rs. grated technology-driven turers with products ranging from 3,000 crores in 2012-13. In 2010-11 home furnishings to blended fabrics, it clocked a turnover of Rs. 1,798.38 multi-product player in quilted fabrics, fusible interlining, crores with net profit of Rs. 105.29 the textile industry. The embroidered fabrics, terry towels, crores. company started func- denim fabrics and bottom weight The company is in the process of tioning in 1993 with a fabrics. The fabricated equipments backward expansion of its existing also include sleeping bags and tents facilities and is in talks with some production capacity of 6 and fabrics like haversacks, face- non-performing private cotton tex- mm per annum of suiting lets, protective clothing and casualty tile companies for acquisition. Apart and shirting. bags. from the regular textile business,

92 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

SLCL has entered into the high-end ments, fusible interlinings, embroi- India. Besides state-of-the-art four eco-friendly organic textiles such as dered fabrics and zippers. It serv- manufacturing facilities across Uttar Vitamin E (skin care) bed sheets, ices large institutional clients with a Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Haryana, water-repellent bed sheets, mosqui- range of uniform fabrics, ballistics, SLCL is in the process of intro- to-repellent bed sheets, bacteria-re- 360 degree protected armoured ve- ducing Smart Textiles, i.e., Smart pellent bed sheets and stain-free bed hicles, fabricated equipments such Vests and Smart Jackets, with the sheets under the new brand WeaveS. as sleeping bags and tents and fab- use of nanotechnology. It plans to It is also successfully diversifying rics like haversacks, facelets, and use this technology for developing its portfolio to de-risk its business protective clothing and casualty Nano-Carbon Sensors for Smart model and foraying into the brand- bags. and Medical Textiles. With the help ed retail segment with terry towels, SLCL is a market leader in fusi- of nanotechnology, Shri Lakshmi home furnishings, high-end organic ble interlining with over 35 per cent will develop smart vest which will textile and denim trousers. There are market share. Its product range is be wearable, washable and will plans to open 1,500 retail outlets by spread across several product brands use integrated flexible sensors with the end of the year. such as “STAR TRACK” (Fusible RFID to continuously monitor hu- SLCL is undergoing a major ex- interlining) “SVL” (zippers) “ALI- man physiological conditions which pansion at an outlay of Rs. 992 SHA” (Embroidery and Fab- will determine fatigue, stress, heart crores for its denim, wider width ric) and “GALAXY” (denim trou- conditions, blood pressure, etc., and technical textile products. The sers, garments and bottom weight and will also help monitor soldiers’ project cost is divided into a term fabrics) and now the eco-friendly movement in the battle field. loan of Rs. 693 crores and equity of brand “WEAVES” (home furnish- SLCL is backed by a highly pro- Rs. 299 crores. ing) for health conscious families. It fessional team and skilled workforce The company has seven manufac- has recently launched a new ready- of over 3,000 workers, technicians turing facilities in Aung, Malwan, made product range called DYFI and other staff. It has its network of Abhaypur and Raahsupur in Fateh- translated as Do You Fit In. 750 dealers/distributors across the pur district of Uttar Pradesh, Sonepat Keeping pace with the changing country for domestic sales. in Haryana, Roorkee in Uttrakhand dynamics of textile business and Weaves Studio in Tirupati and at Noida. Its product range in- ushering into a new era the com- SLCL recently inaugurated its first cludes bed-, terry towel, denim pany has introduced the finest tech- weaves studio in Tirupati. The com- and bottom weights, readymade gar- nology into the textile business in pany is planning to launch 100 more

94 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

such studios across the country. The shmi Cotsyn Ltd., said: “There are jacket that can transmit your medical studio displays the complete range many denim players in the market, condition to a doctor through wire- of home furnishing products like but they can be categorized largely less network. The Smart Vest comes bedsheets, bedcovers, comforters, as premium branded denim wears embedded with sensors and an elec- towels, bathrobes, draw sheets, AC and the discounted brands, leaving tronic chip that transmits details quilts, cushions & bath mats and a huge need for quality products at about the wearer’s health param- kitchen accessories. right price. To tap this market, we eters like blood pressure, heart rate, “This is the first weaves studio, have priced DYFI aggressively and ECG, etc., to the nearest monitoring our exclusive store. The others are will give a strong reason for custom- centre through wireless technology. opening shortly. We plan to open ers to change their wardrobe.” The chip also acts as a positioning around 100 weaves studios this Mr. Sharad Agrawal, Business system that allows the wearer to be year. We will also open 100 weaves Head - Retail, said: “We are target- tracked and rescued. boutiques which will be based on a ing the mid-segment of the jeans The vest is ideal for both defence shop-in-shop format,” said Mr. San- wear industry which has around and medical sectors. While soldiers jay Gupta, President-Retail, Shri 20% growth. Quality product and and paramilitary personnel in the Lakshmi Cotsyn. aggressive pricing are the USP of firing line can be tracked by the Weaves products, the cost ranging our brand. After opening three stores command centre for their position from a mere Rs. 49 to Rs. 4,199, ca- in Delhi and NCR, now we are look- and medical condition, doctors can ter to all the segments of shoppers. ing to other metro cities along with remotely assess the data of patients “We are expecting to generate reve- State capitals and other B towns.” and suggest medication online, in- nue of around Rs. 1 crore per annum With priced at Rs. 999 to creasing the reach of quality diagno- from the Tirupati store,” Mr. Gupta Rs. 1,499, shirts at Rs. 899 to Rs. sis and medication. added. 1,299 and T-shirts Rs. 399 to Rs. Unveiling the Smart Vest, Dr. MP The theme and layout of the store 599, the DYFI venture provides Shri Agarwal, SLCL Managing Director, has been designed to give customers Lakshmi Cotsyn a forward integra- said: “This is the first time such a a pleasant and comfortable shopping tion opportunity. technology is being used in India to experience – a combination of pre- “We have already started distrib- get accurate and specific data in the mium looks with affordable shop- uting our collection through multi- field of defense and medicine, and ping experience. branded outlets in Punjab, Haryana, this would be a great boon in both DYFI brand Himachal Pradesh, New Delhi, the fields.” SLCL has also launched its exclu- Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh and the He went on to add that besides de- sive stores for the readymade gar- North East. We are looking forward fence and medical sectors, the com- ment brand DYFI across India. A for a good response from the pub- mon man is also expected to benefit denim wear targeted at the young lic”, added Mr. Bajaj. immensely from this invention. The consumers of growing India, the DYFI exclusive stores are pro- Smart Vest package, which includes brand would include jeans, shirts, moted to offer customers complete a T-shirt and a CD, will help in- casual trousers, cargos, shorts and jeanswear category of DYFI brand dividuals monitor their health on tees. The garments will be manu- under one roof. DYFI range is al- their personal computers from the factured at the company’s Roorkee ready distributed by the company’s comfort of their homes. Although facility which has a capacity of man- authorized 11 distributors to about it would not be a replacement for ufacturing 6.6 million pieces per an- 200 MBOs in 15 States. available medical diagnostic equip- num. Smart Vest to monitor ments, it could go a long way in ear- During the launch, Mr. Dileep Ba- health on the go ly diagnosis and prevention of fatal jaj, Executive Director of Shri Lak- SLCL has unveiled Smart Vest, a diseases. w

96 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011

dyes & chemicals Bodal Chemicals’ aggressive marketing approach pays

By Ganesh Kalidasan The company’s huge motivation is the ability to Bodal Chemicals, formerly known as JK Phrarma, use its products in the most optimum way, and it has began operations in 1989 with two enterprising made it to lead from one partnership firm to a well young men, Suresh Patel and Ramesh Patel, will- established Limited Company. The year 1994 saw ing to take on the world of chemicals with their the conversion of the partnership firm to a private quality offering. And thus began JK Pharma, a limited company with the change in name to Bodal partnership firm with a production capacity of 60 Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. tonnes of vinyl sulphone per annum. About 17 years back the company started produc- ing vinyl sulphone in a small way, and with the pas- sage of time and with the foresight of the main per- son instrumental for its growth, Bodal is producing 25 major dye intermediates with a monthly capacity of 2000 MT. It has now emerged a supplier of one of the finest quality of dyes and dyes intermediates. Dye intermediates R&D at Bodal, in these two decades, has successfully launched several products for industries such as textiles, leather, paper, etc. Bo- dal has made significant strides in the field of dye intermediates and other related products since incep- tion. Strong foot on Vinyl Sulphone Ester had given the company the strength and competence to go ahead with forward integration and that gave rise to the Dyes Division. In order to be more self-reliant and competitive, Bodal decided to go for backward inte- gration and thus saw the inception of Basic Chemi- cals and Sulphur Chemicals Division. Thanks to forward and backward integration from the Dye Intermediates Division, the company has been able to use 50 per cent of its own raw materials to produce dye intermediates and consumes nearly 60 per cent of raw materials while producing dye- stuffs. “Forward and backward integration has been one of the biggest strengths of Bodal which is the most integrated Indian dyestuff company”, says Mr. Bhavin S. Patel, Executive Director. Mr. Bhavin S. Patel, Executive Director More than 50 per cent of the production is exported

98 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 dyes & chemicals

to countries like the US, Brazil, the UK, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Turkey, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Bangladesh and Pakistan. In addition to its comprehensive worldwide network, Bodal also has superior distribution facilities strate- gically located throughout Europe, Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. Through warehousing, storage de- pots and office set-ups, the company is able to respond quickly to custom- er needs and deliver products to suit their convenience. Today Bodal is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of intermediates in India. A 450 tpd sulphuric acid plant was successfully commissioned at the company’s Unit No.VII located at dyes called ‘Bodactive’ for the tex- quality products to drive growth Dudhwada, Vadodara, in July 2010. tile industry. Introduction of the Bo- and also endeavour to reduce cost. Bodal has also manufacturing facil- dactive range heralds the launching It relies on a sound platform with its ity for production of dyes and dye of nanotechnology for the first time. forward and backward integration. intermediates at the same location. These are the pure and superior It is also supported by a strong back- Hence, the company has a unique quality dyes for the textile industry. end in procurement, manufacturing, locational advantage which helps it Bodactive BNC (Bodal Nano product development, IT and human in saving transportation cost, easy Chemistry) Technology is highly ef- resource management. and timely availability of acid for fective to gain reproducibility, and Being in the chemical industry, dye intermediates. the level dyeing of cellulosic ma- Bodal is subject to various environ- From a negligible turnover in the terials provides latest generation of ment & pollution control regula- beginning, Bodal has crossed the dyes with features of high solubility tions, including safety and emis- Rs. 500-crore mark for the very first & outstanding high strength. Molec- sion norms. The company addresses time and touched a level of Rs. 558 ular structure of each product in this these issues through advance plan- crores in 2010-11, out of which ex- range has been designed according ning and allocation of sufficient ports accounted for 45 per cent. to the economic recipes and right- physical and human resources, ef- The company spokesperson Mr. first time dyeing. fluent treatment facilities and proc- Bhavin S. Patel, is confident that Bodal has started marketing its ess controls. the group would reach the Rs. own Brand name “BODACTIVE” Bodal Chemicals Ltd. now en- 1,000-crore milestone before the end dyestuff products with its own dis- joys the status of Two-Star Export of this decade. Out of total dyestuff tribution channel partners in India house. The company also has ISO sale, about 80 per cent is exported, and worldwide. At present, it has 35 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 and as for basic chemicals it is main- distributors in India and 15 agents in certifications for production of dye ly sold in the domestic market. different countries. intermediates & dyestuffs. Last year, Bodal Chemical The company continues to put re- launched a unique brand of reactive lentless focus on developing high w

100 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

Dynamic weaving Indian textile industry for decades

By Ganesh Kalidasan

The textile industry ac- counts for 31 per cent of India’s exports and is a mother industry upon which millions of people are dependent. The Indian weaving industry has con- ventionally been one of the Mr. Mittal Patel, Director most promising sectors offering huge employment. Dynamic Looms, a 36-year old industry. Being a pioneer in tex- company, was incorporated in 1975 tile machinery manufacturing, the In fact, after agriculture, under the leadership of the ambi- company has risen to become one the weaving industry is tious and pragmatic Mr. Vasantb- among the leading domestic players the largest employment hai Patel, a successful entrepreneur by consolidating its position in the provider. Abundance of with an innovative approach. Since last three decades. inception, the group has seen steady Dynamic Autolooms India Pvt. raw materials and con- growth both in terms of product de- Ltd. is one of the leading manufac- tinuous supply of cheap velopment and technology. turers offering a variety of world labour are the factors Dynamic Looms offers proven ex- class weaving machines for manu- behind the success of the pertise in high-precision machinery facturing innovative fabrics, glass weaving industry in India. for the extremely competitive textile fibers, filament, jute, pure , linen

102 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

and many more. Its looms are also country, i.e., Mumbai, Bangalore, programme that was initiated at the used in the manufacture of suiting, Salem, Coimbatore, Banaras, Hy- time it was established, Dynamic is shirting, dress materials such as cor- derabad and , and across committed to the industry as a whole duroy, light denim, fancy , the globe with existing clientele in to provide the most modern and in- high twist, sports shirting, , Loughborough (England), Stranger novative weaving technology”, says worsted and woollen fabrics, fur- (South Africa) Nepal, Sri Lanka, Mr. Mittal Patel. nishing fabrics and industrial fab- Oman, etc. To face such competition and rics. “Technologically Dynamic is to survive in the market, Dynamic The company has its core compe- at par with the best due to the vast Looms has equipped its manufactur- tencies in designing and building a knowledge of this industry”, says ing unit at Ahmedabad with state- complete range of shuttle and rapier Mittal Patel. of-the-art high-grade castings CNC loom machines for the textile indus- The company’s candid commit- shop and assembly shop. Key parts try. Dynamic offers reed sizes of ment to continual improvement and produced by advanced processing 140 cm, 170 cm, 190 cm, 230 cm, product innovation has led to major equipment allow no error as they 280 cm and 330 cm width rapier expansion. Dynamic is known for its are strictly controlled in accordance looms. exceptional productivity, cost-effec- with design drawings. This is a very The company is proud to be the tiveness as well as tranquil opera- important process in making looms. only large rapier loom machinery tions. The company is determined to Dynamic is also an ISO 9001:2000 manufacturer, with all its products maintain the faith entrusted by their certified company, the first-ever to developed indigenously without any valued customers owing to their im- be certified amongst the rapier man- technology transfer or collaboration. peccable performance and outstand- ufacturers in India. The processing The group has been able to achieve ing customer services. A highly accuracy of Dynamic’s products, this because of its technocrat & en- dedicated team of professionals and with strictly tested parts, is well trepreneurial Chairman, Mr. Vasant- concurrent management practices demonstrated in their operation. bhai Patel. have driven this process Despite the difficulties faced in of transition. manufacturing as well as marketing Dynamic and other of shuttle-less looms in the 1980s, loom manufacturers in a couple of existing manufactur- this segment have been ers and a new breed of manufac- facing tough competition turers started developing low-cost, from imported second- low-speed shuttle-less rapier looms hand rapier looms as well during the 1990s. The Technology as new Chinese rapier Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) looms. The landed cost of announced by the Government gave a Chinese rapier loom, on all encouragement to the manufac- an average, does not ex- turers. ceed Rs. 3 lakhs. Though Today the company has reached a the quality of Indian made point where the manufacturing stage shuttle-less looms is much has achieved the highest produc- superior to the Chinese tion capacity over a span of 36 suc- looms, there is an uneven cessful years of constant endeavor competition due to the to industrial technology. This ena- lower prices quoted for bles Dynamic Looms to reach out the latter. to every textile market across the “By continuous R&D

The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 | 103 corporate news Stork Prints’ advanced digital systems

‘Digital’ was certainly a key One of the major highlights was – showed considerable interest in word for Stork Prints at the new Sphene 24 digital printer, this digital workhorse. Several deals ITMA 2011 in Barcelona. which demonstrated its capacity to were concluded during the show, in On display at the company’s print on Polyamide Lycra swimwear most cases involving more than one stand in hall 7 were sev- fabric using acid inks. The Sphene machine. eral new introductions in can realise print speeds up to an “We confirmed at the ITMA that amazing 555 m²/hr, while its feed- the era of digital textile production both digital equipment and ing system allows virtually any fab- has definitely started,” said Jos Not- consumables. Naturally, ric imaginable to be used, at widths ermans, Stork Prints’ Business Unit this was complemented by a of up to 1.85 meters. Manager for Digital Textiles. “The variety of screens, inks and Representatives from major print- success of our Sphene once again samples, plus equipment ing firms around the globe – many emphasises our leading position in for realising high-quality already proud and satisfied owners this market, as does the recently-an- textiles using rotary screen of Stork Prints’ equipment and us- nounced agreement with Italy’s MS printing. ers of Stork Prints’ consumables that our inks will be used in their MS

104 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 corporate news

Lario. The future of digital is very bright for all Stork Prints customers.” Pegasus EVO Another major point of interest at the stand was the Pegasus EVO rotary screen printing system. Lit- tle wonder, the EVO manages to combine excellent print quality with exceptional efficiency and flexibility in operation. Its sophisticated and flexible squeegee system gives bril- liant colours in the widest range of applications for halftones, fine lines and blotches. It also offers the most precise registration in the market. Through a combination of a unique paste recovery technology, the use of a Mr. Dick Joustra, CEO and Mr. Jos Notermans, Business Unit Manager, blade squeegee, a superior drying officially open the new digital inks factory in Boxmeer process and an intelligent waste wa- introduced at the ITMA. The 125/ have the added advantage of the ter recycling system, the EVO can RR is characterised by a random dis- unrivalled Stork Prints quality and save in excess of Euro 80,000, every tribution of conical holes. This sig- service support. Visitors could also year, in running costs. nificantly reduces the moiré effect see other screens for fashion, home Yet it still manages to offer the whilst printing, which means less decoration and coating applications, flexibility today’s textile printers are need for trials and fewer remakes as well as a selection of digital inks. looking for. For example, it accepts and rejects. It also offers more free- Solutions for all blade-, air-flow - and magnet squee- dom in design possibilities, for ex- production processes gees, and can be equipped with inte- ample, through its ability to produce With the pre-press solutions on grated coating & finishing technol- realistic weaving and effects. display, Stork Prints underlined that ogy to enable production of many Meanwhile, the new 195/19% it is the only global partner that can different types of coated fabric. NovaScreen distinguishes itself by offer solutions for every phase of the Moreover, the machine can also combining high paste transfer rates production process as well as con- offer superb value for customers by with superb resolution. A patented sumables. For example, at the stand retrofitting the new EVO upper part design combines a high count there was a bestLEN 8413 direct la- onto existing RD 4, RDD and RD 8 with minimum spacing between ser engraver doing what it does best; frames. Customers can enjoy the ad- wider and ingeniously conical holes, rapidly and accurately engraving vantages of individual drive, using so the maximum amount of paste is screens. existing infrastructure and founda- transferred to the substrate. It has This was accompanied by a brand tion of their machine. been specially designed for printing new highly advanced bestLEX laser Two new rotary screens fine halftones on voluminous sub- exposure system, which integrates Users of the Stork Prints rotary strates like single jersey, and also the advantages of optical screen screen printing technology can also gives full penetration print on CV exposure with those of digital laser look to the future with confidence. or crepe articles. technology. For example, two new screens were Of course, both types of screen

The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 | 105 ITMA 2011

ITMA 2011 in Barcelona French machinery was clearly a great edition of the world machinery and technology exhibition. manufacturers “It was very spectacular to see so much interest much impressed for our machines and serv- ices and many significant with customer projects from the textile producers worldwide”, said Bruno Ameline, Chairman of response UCMTF, the French Textile Machinery Manufacturers’ Association. “There seem to be two different worlds, the financial world in jeopardy and a real economy where the entrepreneurs have long-term goals and innova- tive projects to ensure the growth and profitability of their companies.” The French exhibitors were amazed by the number and the qual- ity of trade visitors at the show, their already well-planned projects and their willingness to implement these very quickly to secure competitive advantages on the market. There was huge customer demand, and several contracts were signed at the show. Ms. Evelyne Cholet, UCMTF Secretary General, stated: “The French manufacturers are now har- vesting the results of their strategy to address the specific requirements of their customers, to provide them tailored solutions and seamless serv- Ms. Evelyne Cholet, UCMTF Secretary General ice; in one word, to build long-term

106 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 ITMA 2011

Andritz acquires Asselin-Thibeau

At ITMA, the Andritz Group and the NSC Group announced they signed a contract for the acquisition of Asselin-Thibeau by Andritz. Asselin-Thibeau is the corporate identity of the NSC nonwovens ac- tivities and Andritz already a leader in nonwovens through Andritz Perfo- jet in France and Andritz Küsters in Germany. Both companies insisted that very interesting synergies could be found with this consolidation: a nonwoven platform within the An- dritz Group will enable the pooling From (left), Mr. Tobias. Schäfer, Sales Director, Andritz küsters, Mr. Didier Vulliet, CEO, Andritz Perfojet, Mr. Johannes Haep, CEO, Asselin Thibeau, Mr. of three experiences and knowhow Andreas Lukas, VP, Andritz Küsters, Mr. Bruno Ameline, Chairman and CEO, to optimize the existing technologies NSC Group, and Mr. Jean-Philippe Dumon, Sales and Marketing Director, NSC Nonwoven and achieve the best process results and the utmost production efficiency for single sys- Concerning the future of the NSC Group, Bruno tem components or full-line concepts. For the clients a Ameline, Chairman and CEO, explained that the wide range of processes will be available from a single group will continue to invest for the future of its engi- source. neering expertise. relationships with them and provide ation. The line is capable of textur- machine, SwissTex France made added value to their projects.” izing up to 12 ends at the same time the choice of a complete new design The NSC Fibre To Yarn innova- in a fully continuous operation, in- from the frame to the textile equip- tion was the S200 new stretch break- cluding knitting, online heat-setting, ment, with many advantages such as er. It was very well received by the de-knitting and rewinding. energy saving and easy ergonomics. customers. The latest evolution of The customers and visitors who Christophe Lettner, Head of Sales the ERA combing machine also were looking for innovative proc- and Marketing, said the booth was registered a big success. The com- esses, quality and energy savings in particularly active with customers pany attracted an unusual number machinery and differentiation with coming with very precise projects of customers from such countries as new products on their market seg- and that very important orders were Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, ments found these with the Green- signed at ITMA. Mexico, Iran and India. tex line, or with the already reputed PETIT Spare Parts SUPERBA TVP3 heat-setting line for carpet PETIT Spare Parts is a dealer in SUPERBA displayed the latest yarns. accessories for all textile machines. development in the field of artifi- SwissTex France presented a new It has a wide international installed cial turf: the GREENTEX line. It twisting & cabling tire cord machine: base. Over 6,000 spare parts refer- is a completely new concept for the the CP 20 exhibited for the first time ences are available on stock at com- processing of artificial grass which in a show. The machine which was petitive prices. A personalised as- helps in carrying out the well-known in operation at the booth attracted sistance is provided by technicians KDK technology in one single oper- many visitors. With this new CP 20 and a reactive, trilingual bureau is

The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 | 107 ITMA 2011

available for the customers. PETIT Spare Parts has acquired worldwide exclusive rights to deal in original spare parts for the “fine- fibres” machines of the ARCT, ACBF, ICBT, Rieter ICBT and RITM brands. The measurement of the real ten- sion of yarn is of paramount impor- tance to optimize the quality of the yarn during the manufacturing proc- ess. FIL Control brought a solution for detecting “big” yarns (400 to 10,000 dTex), thanks to a new prod- uct Meters Yarn Tension (MYT) with a wide tension range: 100cN to 10,000cN. It also permits to detect drifts in the manufacturing process Mr. Desiderio Catala, Alcocertex, Mr. robert Laroche CEO and Mr. Charles of yarns and to improve mainte- Junker, Sales Manager, Laroche nance of machines. to have sold the 10th JUMBO/ With the parallel card web, speeds Nonwovens EXEL Tearing Line to its main cus- are over 150 m/min. The ACS also The main innovation here was the tomer in Spain “ALCOCERTEX”, enhances the final fabric perform- new generation of Airlay type “Flex- as well as other recycling lines to ances, such as contributing to ob- iloft +”. This fifth Laroche Airlay countries such as Indonesia, Paki- tain a MD/CD ratio for strength and generation is designed to produce stan, Mexico, etc. elongation, close to 1/1. Automotive uniform mats from all types of fibers NSC Nonwoven appears to be one of the key applica- from 2 to 60 mm length, whatever Asselin-Thibeau was much satis- tion fields. the fineness, as well as from non- fied with customer response. The For Jean-Philippe DUMON, Sales fibrous particles. machinery manufacturer received & Marketing Director, the affluence The main improvement of this an excellent welcome for the Ex- of customers was huge, specially new generation is in the capabil- celle Isoweb TT card as well as for customers with real projects from ity of this machine to produce very the ACS Profile crosslappers and the India, Pakistan, the Middle-East resilient lofty fiber mats which will new SDV-2 needle loom for velour and Gulf countries, North and Lat- permit notably to produce ther- applications. in Americas. The attendance from mobonded products with uniform Excelle Isoweb TT card is the in- Europe and Asia was as expected, density of less than 10 kg/m3 and line card solution to obtain the 3/1 with a limited number of Chinese with thickness of up to 300 mm after MD/CD strength ratio on the final customers. Several contracts were the thermobonding process. Also a product, even at high speeds of over signed during ITMA, but the com- big improvement has been made to 250 m/min. pany cannot give names for the mo- produce mats of fibers from 250 up ACS is the crosslappers solution ment to respect the confidentiality to 10,000 with a capacity up to for high-speed production capaci- requested by the customers. 1T/h/m as well as the ability to proc- ties. Even with both card web con- Andritz Perfojet ess 100% shredded paper or 100% densed, ACS is enabling the Asselin Andritz Perfojet and Andritz wood fibers. crosslappers to run an inlet speed of Küsters presented their latest de- LAROCHE is particularly proud well over 100 m/min. velopments in wetlaid, spunlace,

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ITMA 2011

calender and wet finishing. With the ing system principle – the heart of LEIN to respond to all specifics en- neXline spunlace, which includes every dobby – features enhanced se- quiries. the Jetlace hydroentanglement sys- curity for the selection of the heald MALLEIN exhibited its new tem, a dewatering unit, through-air frames and allows higher production range of aluminium canisters at dryer, and twin embossing calender, speeds and fabric quality. ITMA 2011 that are stronger and Andritz can provide a single-source As a main attraction on the manufactured with the greatest geo- solution with high productivity and STÄUBLI booth customers wanted metric precision. very attractive energy efficiency to to see the new Jacquard machine On ITMA, EBELMANN worked produce state-of-the-art spunlace SX, which is now also available in a very closely with its clients on how fabrics. In order to customize spun- version SX V for production of vel- to reduce waste on the selvedges lace fabrics and produce unique vet fabrics. Further more drawing-in during the weaving process. In par- webs, Andritz offers a full range of machine SAFIR S80 - known for ticular, special scissors made in car- patterning and aperture solutions us- high universality and faultless draw- bide tungsten blades, in association ing calenders or sleeves. ing-in quality of weaving harnesses with polycrystalline diamond inserts A further innovative development - was of major interest to custom- – a special knowhow of the compa- by Andritz Perfojet is the spunjet ers who want to further rationalize ny – were closely studied by many technology for spunlaid nonwo- weaving preparation. customers for such applications as vens. This patented process entails New contacts were made and aramids, glass fibers, hydro entanglement of continuous many projects discussed, started or and other high price yarns. filaments, thus creating a new gen- reviewed. A most pleasing fact is “New research in 3D and multiax- eration of nonwovens with superior that an encouraging number of or- ial weaving are very promising for fabric properties as regards bulk, ders were finalized during the show. EBELMANN”, said Karine Ebel- softness, drape and tensile strength. MALLEIN, a specialist of the mann, CEO of the company. Weaving beam for warping and weaving, was Dyeing and finishing STÄUBLI announced a new gen- able to clear all doubts raised by the ALLIANCE: Shown for the first eration of dobbies, the newly devel- customers. The entire integration of time in Barcelona, the ROTORA oped rotary dobby family S3060/ its aluminium foundry and all of its Yarn & Fabric Machine was the S3260. The new evolutionary lock- production facilities allowed MAL- new advancement of the ROTORA concept to dye a beam of cones in rotation. It offers the possibility to dye cones and fabrics simultaneous- ly. One of the main advantages is to obtain absolutely the same color in clothes which are made with fabric and yarn. A sampling can be made without draining the vessel, by means of a door on the vessel. The rotation of the beams inside the machine allows adaptation of the quantity of bath to the quantity of material and so to dye in the most economical man- ner. The ROTORA Y & F allows economies up to 50 per cent com- pared to the conventional machines

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ITMA 2011

and more versatility as the length of flexibility. the ROTORA Y & F beam machine The interest on the DOLLFUS & is adapted to the width of the fab- MULLER booth was specially on ric and/or the number of cones to be the new compactor felt for the knit- dyed. ted fabrics finishing which brings Callebaut de Blicquy (CDB) in- many new advantages: higher com- troduced its latest improvements in paction, softer for quicker running dye-work management optimiza- in, peach skin surface for a better tion: finishing of light weight open width l At the laboratory level: With fabrics. Many contacts were also CDB specific device for “online” made concerning the dryer belts and color measuring, integrated to the the sanfor . dyeing machine or any other equip- David Fauconnier, Sales Director, ment requiring it, and with their said: “ITMA 2011 surpassed our own lab equipment allowing both expectations. The number of visi- process optimization and significant tors at the DOLLFUS & MULLER production cost savings. booth increased by more than 40% l At the industrial level: CDB compared with the previous edition introduced machines for economi- of ITMA. Many new contacts were cal and ecologically high density made with prospects from such bleaching and dyeing of loose stock countries as Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan for all textile factories, was positive- fibers, tow and bumps (up to 700 kg and Iran as well from India, France, ly impressed with the ITMA Barce- per cubic meter for acrylic or poly- Germany, Italy, Spain and Brazil.” lona results, noting a big increase in ester tow and more than 350 kg per Last but not the least, during the the number of visitors compared to cubic meter for loose cotton fibers), show DOLLFUS & MULLER the previous edition. allowing huge savings in water, proudly celebrated its 200th anni- Schaeffer productique steam and ingredients consumption, versary. The main product innovation in- and so providing the most competi- Visitors discovered Calemard’s troduced at ITMA 2011 was the in- tive cost prices (up to 25 per cent new generation cutter Softegder, teractive mobility application linked cost reduction). developed especially for flat and with the textile specialized ERP, The latest version of ROUSSE- smooth edges on narrow strips available in SaaS mode, thanks to LET ROBATEL continuous cen- 100% PE, Tafta or . the Cloud Computing technologies trifugal hydro-extractor achieved The Decoup + Ultrasonic Division and the Tablet PCs. great success at ITMA. The various introduced its new mini-press to per- It is a very good solution for the and numerous loose stock proces- form cutting, welding and punching textile producers’ objectives to net- sors involved in dyeing, bleaching operations: even more compact, work through internet with their or washing have been impressed by more versatile, with easier settings own clients, and a real added value energy cost savings such centrifuge and maintenance. for textile of Schaeffer’s ERP/CRM allows at the level of the drying op- The customers were searching for business software. eration, and appreciated its newly high quality devices but also cus- For Rémy Wolfer, the export designed full opening and pneu- tomized solutions as per their needs, manager, “ITMA in Barcelona was matically driven top lid, which sig- with the same objective: add value a great success as more than 20 new nificantly reduces basket inspection to their final product. projects should be finalized before and cleaning times, and increasing AESA, the specialist in air-condi- the end of 2011.” its productivity and improving its tioning and waste collection systems w

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ComforJet, the new yarn with convincing properties

ComforJet is the brand name of the inner yarn core. the machine and a cotton yarn Ne 50 yarn spun on the new Rieter air- The ComforJet yarn brings many (Nm 85) on the other side. jet spinning machine. In close co- advantages, not only in downstream In Hall 3 on the Santoni stand, operation with representatives of processing but also in the end prod- such a ComforJet cotton yarn from three process stages, the spinning uct, and opens up new areas of ap- Hermann Buehler AG was knitted machine manufacturer Rieter AG, plication. on the Atlas circular knitting ma- the spinning company Hermann With new developments, the Ri- chine. The exhibition visitors could Bühler AG and the eter test phase does not end with the thereby be personally convinced of manufacturer Santoni, the yarn yarn but in the downstream process- the advantages of the new yarn that properties and thereby the behavior ing. Consequently, the findings from was processed almost dust-free. in downstream processing could be the further yarn processing also flow In the new fiber and yarn section optimized. End products made from into the machine development. This in hall 4, the spinning company ComforJet yarn exhibit excellent was also the case in the development Hermann Buehler AG also showed wear and tear characteristics. These of the air-jet spinning machine. For ComforJet yarns from its production were convincingly demonstrated instance, a project was carried out range. Also Rieter was represented to visitors at ITMA on the various with the Italian knitting machine in hall 4 with a second stand. As booths. manufacturer Santoni, during which the only supplier of all 4 spinning ComforJet, the air-jet spun yarn, the idea arose to use the ComforJet technologies, Rieter exhibited the exhibits a completely new yarn cotton yarn from Hermann Buehler 4 different yarns: ring yarn, Com4 structure. The typical features are AG on the latest Atlas circular knit- compact yarn, ComfoRo rotor yarn the very low hairiness, the smooth ting machine from Santoni at ITMA and the ComforJet air-jet spun yarn yarn surface and the associated soft in Barcelona. as well as their end products. Many and voluminous yarn character. On the Rieter stand in hall 1, the interested visitors took the opportu- How does the spinning principle new J 20 air-jet spinning machine nity to discover these 4 yarns as well work? The air-spinning machine is was presented to the public for the as their typical end applications and fed with slivers. The sliver is specif- first time. Visitors followed with to compare them with each other. ically drafted and fed to a spinning great interest production of two dif- The new ComforJet yarn and its nozzle. By means of an air stream, ferent yarns on the J 20, a viscose benefits in downstream processing the outer fibers are twisted around yarn Ne 30 (Nm 50) on one side of and in the end product was the cent-

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er of public interest. Hermann Buehler AG is one of the first ComforJet spinners. With headquarters in Winterthur-Sen- nhof, Switzerland, it produces yarns for customers with highest require- ments. With innovative products, superior quality and a perfect cus- tomer service, the company sets standards. With a constant interest in the lat- est technology, Hermann Buehler AG was present from the beginning in the development of the Rieter air- jet spinning machine. That is also the reason why it incorporated one of the first Rieter J 20 air-jet spin- ical properties of ComforJet yarn. ComforJet cotton yarn from Buehler ning machines in its production. Experience also shows that due to increases the benefit immensely due Ms. Renata Franz, Business De- the special yarn structure, savings to the very low fiber fly.” velopment Manager at Hermann can be made in the amount of sizing A further positive influence on Buehler AG, made the following agent and color dye required.” the quality of the knits is provided comments: “Our cotton yarn, spun Santoni, a market leader in seam- by the knitting technology without on the new Rieter J 20 air-jet spin- less knitting machines, also showed sinkers patented by Santoni. This ning machine, is the first air-jet spun great interest in ComforJet cotton allows knits to be produced without cotton yarn on the market that can yarn which was being processed on any sinker marks and, at the same be processed without problems. The its latest Atlas high-speed circular time, permits a closer stitch and good bobbin build-up of the cylin- knitting machine. The yarn from thereby heavier knits. The patented drical bobbins allows perfect op- Hermann Buehler, with a yarn count technology leads to higher produc- erational behaviour on the knitting of Ne 50 (Nm 85), was processed tion speeds with conventional gaug- machine. Due to optimal bonding trouble-free, and this at the highest es. of the fibers in the yarn structure, speed. The ComforJet yarn aroused very the end products from air-jet yarn Gianpiero Valsecchi, Head of great interest amongst the exhibition possess extremely good pilling Sales (Large Diameter Machines) visitors. Process stages could be ob- characteristics. The fiber ends can- at Santoni, said: “In particular, the served in detail, from the machine not be freed in wear, which main- high speed of 45 rpm and the ex- producer across the yarn produc- tains a perfect fabric appearance tremely low fiber fly of the Comfor- ers up to the downstream process- even after numerous washes. After Jet cotton yarn fascinated visitors ing on the knitting machines. For washing, a visibly lower shrinkage to our stand. The Buehler air-jet the three companies participating, is apparent compared to the classic yarn allows maximal productivity Hermann Buehler AG, Santoni and ring yarn. Furthermore, the knits are at simultaneously reduced machine Rieter, it was in every respect a suc- dimensionally very stable which is cleaning expenditure. The knits are cess. Many valuable discussions and especially interesting in the case of convincing, thanks to minimal hairi- projects were generated. seamless knits. The very even fabric ness, an attractive sheen and very appearance and for an air-jet yarn low impurities due to bonding of w pleasantly soft touch are further typ- the fiber tufts during knitting. The

The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 | 115 technology

Osthoff hairiness tester, paving way for efficient singeing

ess to reduce the fabric hairiness. The scope of supply consists of a monochrome CCD camera and a light source LED along with a guide roller and necessary synchroniza- tion with PC. This system consists of a light source (LED) and a mon- ochrome CCD camera. The light source is slightly tilted, which illu- minates the fabric surface tangen- tially, so that the camera does not register the shadows of the protrud- ing fibres, but the refracted light. This type is called dark field meas- urement, because the background remains black, whereas the objects are shown bright. Camera and light source are in- stalled in a dust and waterproof enclosure (IP67). The lenses of the Mr. Joerg Schlageter, Sales Director, Osthoff Senge and Mr. G. Elango of ATE camera are protected by scratch- Fabric hairiness refers to poor, thereby affecting the fabric resistant sapphire glass. Both parts protruding fibres on a tex- feel and quality. of the unit feature air nozzles, which How is hairiness controlled? It tile surface. These protrud- keep the optics dust free. is well known that the process of The camera signal (up to two ing fibres vary in length, singeing fabric is the best way of cameras are possible) is sent to an based on the quality of the reducing its hairiness. For example, industrial PC via Gbit Ethernet ca- yarn used for weaving. Osthoff Senge offers the famous ble. The industrial PC is located in Due to these protruding fibres, the double jet burner, which with gas/air the main cabinet and runs an analy- final fabric surface can be rough. mixtures, singes away the protrud- sis program, which determines the This is often not in line with the ing fibres, thus offering a very clean bottom limit (fabric surface) and customers’ expectations. When- surface and soft feel to the fabric. top limit (topmost visual point of ever such a fabric is dyed, then due In addition, Osthoff now offers the hairs) of the fibres. The distance in to the presence of these protruding Osthoff senge hairiness tester. This between is the length of the hair. Af- fibres, the colour appears hazy and accessory allows an objective meas- ter this, a variety of statistical data dull. This is due to the fact that the urement of the hairiness of a fabric is calculated; where for the evalua- protruding fibres act as obstructions, sample, which in turn lends itself to tion of the hairiness the mean value and thus the angle of reflectance is proper control of the singeing proc- and the standard deviation are used.

116 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 technology

The mean value re- The advantages are: flects the grade (how l It ensures that the short are the hairs in whole batch has the general), the standard same hairiness value. deviation reflects the l In the future simi- quality (the consisten- lar articles will be cy of the hair length) singed with the same of the hairiness. parameters (repeat- We define hairi- ability) ness as the sum of the l The gas consump- mean value and the tion is only as high standard deviation. as necessary. If the The picture on the desired hairiness is left shows the screen achieved with a lower of the PC where the Osthoff Senge hairiness tester intensity, the settings signal coming from are adjusted accord- the camera is evaluated. The im- dedusting units and a big batching ingly. portant values are Hn (mean value) device with centre winding. The The improvement that can be and Sn (standard deviation). The top hairiness tester is located behind the achieved with the use of the hairi- right is the camera picture, below is dedusting unit following the singer. ness tester is depicted in the follow- a histogram showing the distribu- The right-hand side shows a preset ing images, wherein the fabric has tion of the hair lengths. The above hairiness value of 205, the actual been perfectly singed with very little example shows hairs between ap- value being 2188. hairiness appearing on the surface. prox. 0.15 mm and 1.8 mm length, By means of the company hairi- We have supplied Osthoff senge the major part of them being approx. ness tester, we are, for the first time, hairiness tester to Oswal Hammerle, 0.3 mm long. able to measure and influence the , and Ruby Mills, Mumbai. The other picture shows the oper- important variable, i.e., the hairi- This underlines the importance of ating panel of a singeing unit (our ness, directly. The measured value the online hairiness tester in ensur- laboratory machine) consisting of is used to control the process param- ing perfectly singed fabric quality a centre unwinding device, dedust- eters in more detail. The intensity of online. ing unit, singeing machine (for wo- the burners is adjusted depending on ven fabrics and knitware), two more a preselected hairiness value. w

The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 | 117 technology

Maestro, the new weft monitoring system from ITEMA

By Dario Pezzoni and Bernard Cruycke, ITEMA Weaving

Rapier looms have long since been equipped with a weft detec- tor based on the piezoelectric ef- fect. During weft insertion, the rapid movement of the weft stimu- lates the piezo crystal to produce a small signal. Utilizing amplification and electronic circuitry, the weft detector causes the rapier loom to stop in the event of weft breakage. Today’s weft stop detector systems are used in such a way that the detector gives very little information to the micro-processor of the rapier weaving machine. In very basic terms, the weft detector signals the loom to continue to run or to stop. Certain advanced types of weft detectors allow detection of de- Dario Pezzoni Bernard Cruycke

Fig 1 shows the Maestro weft detector on the Silver 501 as it was introduced during ITMA 2011 in Barcelona

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tor. If no weft is inserted for a given position the signal value will be extremely low (the signal noise level). If a weft yarn is moving in the eyelet, the numerical value can go up as high as 4000, thus offering a very good signal/noise ratio. For each pick insertion, the 8 or 12 numerical values are continuously transmitted to the loom’s micro-proc- essor, multiple times for each pick. In fact, the numeri- cal values are transmitted for each degree of the weav- ing cycle. The data communication between the weft detector and the loom’s electronics is handled by a very fast and secure means of data communication. Clearly this weft monitoring method also requires a fast loom micro-processor. With ITEMA’s new electronic NCP (common elec- tronic platform for all ITEMA’s loom types), which was also introduced at ITMA 2011, the required computa- tion power is guaranteed even at extremely high rapier weaving speeds; such as the 750 RPM demonstrated on Fig 2: the touch screen console allows the weaver the Silver 501. and the technician to operate the Silver 501 in a very user friendly way. With transmission of the numerical values, the soft- ware is capable of drawing the insertion curve for each sired or undesired double insertion. But no other infor- eyelet of the weft detector. This curve can be viewed on mation is transmitted to the loom other than the “go / no the touch screen display of the weaving machine. The go” decision made by the detector itself. insertion curve is available for each of the 8 or 12 eye- In most situations, weft detectors require significant lets of the weft detector. time and attention in the creeling of packages and the Typical to other weft detection systems, the sensi- thread-up of weft yarns through the detector eyelets. tivity and control zone have to be defined. With the Double insertion must originate and be maintained Maestro System, the control zone is defined specifying from designated eyelets, and it is not always possible the degree in the weaving cycle for the start and stop of to change. Also, mixing of the same weft in single and the two zones in which the weft insertion is controlled. then in double insertion is not always possible. Fur- The first zone goes from the beginning to the middle of ther, even if the detector offers an individual sensitivity the insertion and the second zone from the middle to setting for each eyelet, the procedure is complex and the end. In each of the two control zones, the software requires an experienced technician. will check if the numerical value of the inserted weft is At ITMA 2011 in Barcelona, ITEMA introduced the above the threshold. The thresholds are predetermined Maestro weft monitoring system on its new Silver 501 and defined for each eyelet. This is an easy procedure rapier machine. Maestro, unlike any of its competitors, by using the up/down arrows on the touch screen dis- uses a special weft detector that transmits signals from play. Therefore, the need to use potentiometers or other each eyelet to the micro-processor of the loom. Innova- setting methods is eliminated. tive software from the loom’s micro-processor allows The individual sensitivity setting or definition of the real time analysis of the signal and thus efficient han- threshold does not make the Maestro more expensive. dling of all weft breakage conditions. All functionalities are handled through software. Dur- The weft detector has been designed to produce a nu- ing weaving Maestro will continuously compare if the merical value for each of the 8 or 12 eyelets of the detec- numerical values transmitted by the weft detector stays,

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weave with minimum weft yarn deflection (weft yarn as much as possible in a straight line) the numerical values produced by the weft detector will be lower. Maestro visualizes these values and illustrates the weft insertion curve on the loom’s display. The technician can easily define the individual thresh- old for each weft yarn in such a way that every weft break will be detected without creating false or unwant- ed weft stops. The insertion curves also allow the tech- nician to have a clear view of the signals received at the end of the weft insertion. This allows him to weave with the longest weft control zone. Fig 3: There are 2 zones where the weft insertion is checked What is meant here is that the yarn will be monitored by the software. The settings are easily entered and prede- to the point the weft is released from the gripper. This termined on the touch screen for all positions (1 up to 12). feature certainly serves to eliminate defects for short while in a control zone, above the defined threshold. If picks while also preventing false stops. Further, a more not, Maestro will stop the loom for weft breakage. controlled and precise release from the gripper is as- Another feature of the new Maestro System allows sured. Consequently, the Maestro System also reduces the weft pattern information to be linked with the sig- weft yarn waste. nal processing of the numerical values provided by the With Maestro, ITEMA introduced a new look at weft weft detector. This is completely automatic, requiring monitoring and the detection of weft breakages on ra- no technician intervention. What does this mean? pier looms. Thus, the complexity for the technician is - If the weft of one eyelet position has to be inserted removed and handled by the software operating with the and for some reason another weft is inserted, Maestro micro-processor of the weaving machine. will detect this and stop the loom. Without adding cost to the weaving machine, the Sil- - If two wefts are to be inserted and for some reason ver 501 rapier loom assures better quality with Maestro only one or three wefts are inserted, Maestro detects this in charge of weft detection. w and the loom will be stopped. - If two wefts are to be inserted and for some reason one of the two wefts is the wrong one, Maestro will de- tect this and stop the loom. - The same applies for any other wrong insertion, be it a triple or quadruple insertion, in every case. If the sig- nals transmitted from the weft detector are inconsistent with the weft pattern, Maestro will stop the loom. Because of this functionality any malfunction of the weft selector or any case where a weft yarn gets en- tangled with a neighboring weft, Maestro will stop the rapier loom. Clearly Maestro is a further step in the di- rection of a rapier weaving machine which guarantees perfect fabric quality. Fig 4: The weft sensor transmits at high speed for all posi- Some further words concerning the definition of the tions of the sensor signal. This signal clearly illustrates how the weft is transferred through the shed. The green line and thresholds, which can be set individually for each eyelet. arrow indicates the threshold setting. If the weft signal drops For a fine weft yarn count, the numerical value will be below the threshold in one of the zones in which the weft has lower than for a course yarn. If the technician wants to to be checked, the weaving machine will be stopped.

The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 | 121 technology

Oerlikon Barmag eAFK redefines automatic texturing

By André Steingass What is an automatic doffing ity of the performance, have to be at draw texturing machine? Simply, least the same as, but should gener- it is a conventional draw texturing ally be superior to, humans perform- machine where the machine itself, ing the same process steps. rather than an operator, performs the Automatic or manual doffing by means of an integrated doffing machine? exchanging device. There are a few simple direct ad- It sounds quite straightforward, vantages over a manual machine but the complexity lies in the detail that make the typically higher ini- of the exchange where the process tial capital expenditure feasible. The steps take place consecutively or in finished DTY packages are placed parallel: in a parking position and the surfac- Stopping and lifting the full bob- es of the DTY bobbin have not been bin; Separating the continuously-fed touched by an operator. yarn from the full bobbin without Equal yarn length disrupting the process by feeding it the operating position; Placing the Manual machines require the at- into a waste container; Moving and meanwhile fed waste yarn in a posi- tendance of operators once the fin- releasing the full bobbin to a storage tion that allows the end caps to catch ished DTY bobbin has to be doffed. location; Providing an unused paper the yarn; and Continue with a new If there is no operator, the position tube to the take-up cradle, clamping package formation. will, under normal circumstances, it in the right position at the right The accuracy and the speed of be cut in accordance with a time time; Moving the cradle back into these steps, along with the reliabil- window.

eAFK, the machine that combines the most reliable and proven components ever used in Oerlikon Barmag draw texturing machines

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In the case of an automatic doffing to automatic doffing and de- machine, doffing will be performed pending on the degree of auto- automatically after a given time or mation in general. Depending diameter, thus creating packages of on labor costs, this can also be a equal length from position to po- significant cost factor. In coun- sition. These packages minimize tries with high labor costs, this waste and optimize processes – for is an important consideration example, for warp creation. when investing in automatic Depending on the take-up cradle machines. The general avail- design, certain influences on the ability of labor can be a fur- package formation cannot be ne- ther consideration. In the event glected. Manual machines typically that insufficient skilled labor is have lighter take-up cradles, mostly available, automation becomes operating with spring dampening a necessity, as production systems, whereas automatic ma- would otherwise be impossible. chines use cradles of a more sturdy Efficiency design in conjunction with pneu- Above all, the achievable matics to control release and contact machine efficiency is the key pressure. Package formation takes factor when opting for an au- Package formation takes place in a more stable place in a more stable environment tomatic machine. Precondition environment under defined conditions, which typically generates an improved package build under defined conditions, which for high efficiency is a possibly typically generates an improved uninterrupted and ideally endless the latest generation of automatic package build. process. The doffing efficiency of an draw texturing machines. Doffing process automatic machine has to be as high Following the basic requirements Depending on the experience of as possible; the target should always and success factors for automatic the operators, doffing takes a certain be the magic 100%. machines, the eAFK features: amount of time. An automatic ma- Comparing the number of drives l Split-type functionality for chine always doffs at the same speed and feed systems of an automatic processing two different products on and always consumes the same with a manual machine, you will one machine using a maximum 12 amount of compressed air, which find more or less the same figures. of sections, equal to 288 positions; can be beneficial depending on op- If machines are equipped with the l A selection of various cross-sec- erator experience, as compressed air same upper structure and only dif- tions for the best possible product is a significant cost contributor. De- fer by type of doffing technology, processing from the outset; pending on availability of operators then there is no physical reason to l The most advanced feed technol- at the time when the doff timer sup- assume an automatic machine con- ogy for the best-possible processing plies the signal, the position might sumes more than a manual machine of the widest range of products; continue running until the operator at the same process. l The combination of the most re- reaches it or even cut in the event Oerlikon Barmag has a tradition liable and proven components ever that an operator does not reach the of manufacturing automatic doffing used in Oerlikon Barmag draw tex- position in time. machines that stretches back almost turing machines; An automatic doffing machine 25 years. The company is now un- l A re-engineered automatic doff- minimizes waste and increases ef- veiling the eAFK. Advantages of ing unit combined with the most ficiency by eliminating the need for and customer feedback from the advanced ATT take-up technology an operator for the doffing process. past AFK, AFK2 and MPS have that pushes machine efficiency to its Fewer operators are required due been intensively evaluated to create maximum. w

The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 | 123 appointments

Rainer Mestermann is new CEO of Mahlo GmbH

Mahlo GmbH + Co. KG, leader in developing and manufacturing modern textile machinery and qual- ity control systems, located in Saal/ Donau, welcomes Mr. Rainer Mes- termann as the new Chief Executive Officer as of December 1. The grad- uate engineer coming from Thermo Fisher Scientific in Erlangen, Ger- many, is an internationally active supplier for measuring systems for flat webs. During the course of his long pro- fessional career Mr. Mestermann held various positions. He was very successful as head of the interna- tional marketing and sales depart- ment as well as leading and devel- and his profound market and product the company Baumueller Nuernberg oping the company further. knowledge. Mahlo has positioned it- Group, a leading specialist for auto- Mr. Ralph Greenwood-Mahlo, self successfully on an international mation solutions and for drive sys- Participator - Chairman of advi- basis as a leading company for so- tems, switched to Mahlo in October sory board at Mahlo GmbH + Co. phisticated solutions in developing 2009 to assume a position in man- KG., said: “We are very pleased to and manufacturing of machines and agement, and he leaves the company welcome such a qualified and field systems for the textile, coating, foil now in mutual agreement. experienced successor to the Man- and paper industries. So a perfect Mr. Ralph Greenwood-Mahlo agement of Mahlo GmbH +Co. KG. base was created to further develop said: “Mr. Hopp was a loyal and Mr. Mestermann will adapt Mahlo and lead the company. We are look- professional colleague, and we to current market trends and keep ing forward to work with Mr. Rainer very much appreciated his strategic the company on the course for suc- Mestermann. Together we will con- working and technical understand- cess with his long international sales tinue to look for continuity and in- ing. The Mahlo family thanks him and marketing experience, his pro- novation.” for his dedication and the trusting nounced technical understanding Mr. Ralf Hopp, who came from cooperation.” w

124 | The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 events

Influences croisees- when home décor meets fashion!

The Paris Region Economic

Development Agency Mr. Jean-Luc Margot-Duclot, Executive Vice-President, PREDA (PREDA), with the support The event was a dialogue between ers the most important trade shows of Promosalons, hosted a French exhibition organizers and In- held in Paris specialized in the fash- unique presentation and dian designers who expressed their ion, accessories and home sectors; discussion on November views on major fashion & design Maison&Objet, the show for home 5 on the latest Fashion & trends, and the role of Paris Fash- fashion and Première Vision Plu- ion and Home Trade shows. The riel - Six top international events for Home Design Trends at merge between fashion and home the textiles industry, Paris Lingerie Sussane Roashan’s The décor was reflected by the exclusive Show, Interfilière and Mode City Charcoal Project. Post the fashion show by Gauri and Nainika - shows that give a complete view festive season of lights which was accessorised by Little of the material and finished products Shilpa. and fabric collections for lingerie, the city welcomed the The leading Paris Fashion & Home loungewear, home wear and beach- leading trade shows or- Trade Shows were at this rendez- wear industry as well as Silmo the ganizers from the city of vous: Paris Capital de la Création, International optics and eyewear ex- lights! an umbrella organization that gath- hibition.

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Mr. Jean-Luc Margot- Duclot, Executive Vice- President of PREDA, highlighted the lead- ing place of Paris as the world capital of fashion and home design. Over 40 shows and more than 60 events take place in Paris each year making the city an accessible destination for shows. Exhibiting in these shows gives the ideal op- portunity to be in touch with global markets and to reach out to Europe. Mr. Margot Duclot dis- closed that fashion and home trade fairs are true sources of inspiration that boosts creativity. They anticipate consumer de- Etienne Cochet, Gauri Karan, Jean Luc, Margot-Duclot, Suzanne Roshan and Eric Lenoir sires and emerging fashion trends. CITY in Paris and the shows IN- MO said how the exhibition which India is a very strategic market place TERFILIERE in Paris, Shanghaï was held in Paris from September 29 for France. Indian businesses have a and Hong Kong, stressed that the to October 2 lived up to the summer significant presence at the Paris Re- shows should respond to the market temperatures of Paris. gion exhibitions with a high poten- needs. Proof is, the success of the Talking about Galeries Lafayette, tial of development. change of dates of the shows Inter- Mr. Thierry Vanier, Head, Interna- During the discussion Mr. Etienne filière and Mode City last July, initi- tional Sales of Galeries Lafayette, Cochet, President of Paris Capital ated by Eurovet to suit the require- observed that promoting creation de la Creation and Managing Direc- ments of the market. is one of the group’s core values, tor of SAFI and MAISON&OBJET, Mr. Jacques Brunel, Première Vi- and added “sab kuch milega” at the said that MAISON&OBJET is the sion General Director, presented Galeries Lafayette. key reference in the world of home Première Vision, the world’s pre- The world’s No.1 region for fashion where latest trends, cultures mier fabrics show, and Première congresses and international trade and lifestyle cross paths. He stressed Vision Pluriel, the banner which shows, Paris hosts every year more that fashion is at the very heart of gathers twice a year a strong and than 440 trade shows covering all home décor and MAISON&OBJET coherent ensemble of 6 shows that business sectors and welcomes 10 the reflection and the precursor of continue to attract large numbers of million professional visitors and this trend. international visitors Indian profes- 100,000 exhibition companies, thus Ms. Taya de Reynies, the Lingerie sionals and the fact it maintains its making itself a major economic Division Director at Eurovet organ- position as the world leader in the center. iser of SALON INTERNATIONAL field of fashion. DE LA LINGERIE and of MODE Mr. Eric Lenoir Dircetor of SIL- w

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Encouraging response for 67th AITC

The 67th edition of the All In- ity, technology, investment and dia Textile Conference (AITC), infrastructure, attracting invest- hosted by the Delhi Unit of The ments in the textile sector, etc. Textile Association (India), will Mr. R. Dudeja, the Confer- be held in New Delhi on Febru- ence Secretary and also the Vice ary 4 and 5 next. The confer- Chairman of the Delhi Unit of ence will be attended by a large TAI, said the conference will number of textile professionals enable industry professionals to from all over the country and absorb new thoughts and ideas from abroad. and introduce them to the latest The theme of the conference is in technology and innovations “Textile & Clothing - Emerging from across the globe. It will Global Scenario”, with its very also offer excellent networking sharp focus on the various as- opportunities to all the partici- pects and dimensions of the fast pants. Elaborating the content evolving trends in the entire eco- and format of the conference, he system of the textile and cloth- said: “The 67th AITC will have ing industry across the globe. panel discussions in an interac- The Conference Chairman, tive format, on a wide array of Mr. Ashok Juneja, said that this currently relevant topics, with edition of AITC is designed to be Mr. Ashok Juneja the panelists being drawn from a “conference with a difference” as it will offer a highly the entire spectrum of textile and clothing industry from “delegate-friendly” format by way of panel discussions both India and abroad. This will be the first-ever dis- instead of the age-old class-room paper presentations. cussion-oriented conclave in which the renowned and He observed: “The 67th AITC will offer multi-dimen- seasoned decision-makers and captains of the industry sional content, relating to the most significant aspects will share their experience and vision with the large of the textile and clothing industry, and will be the first- congregation of professionals from textile, apparel and ever convergence of senior bureaucrats, super-specialist retail industry, on a public platform.” technicians, decision-makers from the industry and re- The conference is being supported by Indorama In- nowned subject-matter experts from India and abroad, dustries Ltd., Indonesia, Sutlej Textile Industries Ltd., on one platform for sharing thoughts, discussing solu- T T Group, Kirloskar Toyoda Textile Machinery, Wel- tions, and laying the road-map for the future of the tex- known Polyester, Bombay Dyeing, ITME Society, Ri- tile and clothing industry in India.” eter, Paramount, Alps Industries, Pan Overseas, Orient Mr. R.K. Vij, President of the Delhi unit of TAI, said Syntex and Indian Card Clothing, besides the Union that the conference will be attended by over 500 del- Ministry of Textiles. egates from various segments of the textile and apparel TAI has been serving the Indian textile industry for industry from India and abroad. The conference will over seven decades since inception in 1939. It has 27 cover a wide array of distinct subject lines like envi- affiliated units at various textile centers in the country, ronment and sustainability, corporate social responsibil- accounting for a member strength of over 22,000. w Media Partner : The Textile Magazine

The Textile Magazine DECEMBER 2011 | 133 brand story Kewal Kiran Clothing Ltd.

By K. Gopalakrishnan and equity that many inter- national names did. The first milestone was reached when Killer was launched in 1989, which was subsequently em- braced by customers in India and abroad. This was fol- lowed by the launch of a se- ries of brands that helped the company emerge among the few large branded apparel manufacturers in India. KKCL, started by Mr. Ke- walchand P. Jain, now its Chairman and Managing Di- rector, is an integrated Indian branded apparel company. Over a span of three decades, the company has integrated capabilities to include the de- sign, manufacture, brand and retail of branded readymades and lifestyle accessories for the youth. When the company com- menced its operations in Mr. Kewalchand P. Jain 1980, the fashion aspiring These two facts comprise the most Indian youth waited for the yearly challenging and exciting aspects of visit of relatives from abroad to Fashion is the one busi- Kewal Kiran Clothing Ltd.’s busi- bring home a token of last season’s ness in which there is ness. Having spent over three dec- fashion. With liberalisation opening ades in this industry, the company up markets in the 1990s, a flurry of nothing called a standard realises that there is a singular asset Western brands came to India. But product. Collections go that connects both – the ability to India wasn’t fashion forward yet. out of fashion faster than address challenges and to realise op- Despite an opportune segment, the they come in. On the other portunities. Indian organised sector was too con- side, it can be argued that KKCL’s inspiration to be present servative to introduce Western wear in the business of fashion apparel aggressively. One of the first items something new will always was a realization that no indigenous of desire being jeans, KKCL took be in demand. brand enjoyed the kind of goodwill the plunge with Killer towards the

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end of the millennium. The success of Killer encouraged the company to diversify into other apparel niches – Easies, Lawman Pg3, Integriti, and recently its first accessories extension - Addictions. With the distinction of making an international mark in style and de- sign innovations, it caters to those who take India to the world. KKCL came into being with the vision to emerge as a world-class business enterprise. Today, it has successfully become a fully inte- grated branded apparel company, with national and international foot- prints, thanks to its market insight and ceaseless innovation. KKCL’s vision is to touch Rs. 1,000 crores in net revenues by 2015-16. This is possible only if the company enriches its products port- folio to cater to national and interna- tional customers. At the same time, it is focused on its profitability ob- jectives, because value creation is an important part of the organisational ethos. The Killer success has been instrumental in taking the company business to new heights of brand creation and management. This has spawned many other brands as well as an entry into the here to sustain as the economy con- also propelled it to an export pres- women’s casuals segment. KKCL tinues to expand. KKCL remains ence in the Middle East, Sri Lanka, is now focusing on its first acces- committed to capitalise on this tre- Nepal and other countries. The flag- sories extension, Addictions. These mendous market potential through ship brand ‘Killer’ has been rated innovations will catalyse its future enhanced innovation and brand vis- amongst the top five denim brands growth and sustainability. ibility to drive growth and reinforce in India as per the IMRB Research Despite challenges, the outlook for business sustainability. Report. the industry is promising largely be- What began as a vision to build KKCL has retail stores in more cause of fast evolving consumption a global Indian denim brand has than 100 cities across the country. patterns and accelerated economic helped KKCL establish a compre- It has over 200,000 sq. ft. space for expansion in emerging economies. hensive presence across the country manufacturing in Daman, Gujarat India is now witnessing a consump- in truly international Western wear. and Maharashtra. tion boom, and this phenomenon is Its high benchmarks of quality have w

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