We are currently observing a shift in production from China and India to Bangladesh, which leads to increased capacity and new investment activity.
Gerhard Huber, Chief Executive Officer at Benninger AG, discusses about the opportunities and challenges in the global textile machinery industry with Fibre2Fashion Correspondent Ilin Mathew.
Synopsis:
The Swiss textile machinery manufacture Benninger AG develops and manufactures textile finishing and cord production ranges as well as provides complete system solutions. The company maintains a worldwide service network with service stations in all important textile markets and regions.
Mr. Gerhard Huber joined Benninger in 2003 as a member of the Managing Board, has served as COO since March 2009 and as CEO since June 2011. Prior to that, Mr. Huber was Head of Production and Sourcing at Benninger. Mr. Huber joined Benninger after spending three years at Datwyler and six years at ABB where he held various engineering and production related management positions. Mr. Huber holds a Masters in mechanical engineering and has successfully completed an 18 months general management program at the ABB academy.
Excerpts:
Bangladesh is one of the largest exporters of knitted textile products. What is Bangladesh’s share of the global textile machinery market? Why?
Bangladesh is an increasingly strong market both in the woven segment and in the knit segment. We are currently observing a shift in production from China and India to Bangladesh, which leads to increased capacity and new investment activity.
Benninger has a history of more than 150 years in the textile industry, can you tell us about the technical innovations that are supposed to bring change in the global textile machinery sector?
There will be big challenges related to energy efficiency and the careful use of resources; in spite of that, production processes in the textile industry must maintain their competitiveness and sustainability over the long term. For the finishing segment, this means in particular using less water, steam, energy and chemicals.
This requires a holistic approach to the various application processes; we are involved here with development and innovation projects, thus supporting the principle of “best available technology”. To this end, we are also supporting and broadening intensive cooperation with specific customers in various fields of application.
How do you see the ongoing changes and developments in the textile machinery market worldwide? Please discuss vital issues and challenges.
In the near future it will be essential for the major players in the textile industry to have partners who can support them in building the most effective production processes in terms of quality, performance, operating costs and sustainability.
In recent decades, a clear trend has emerged – textile customers are expecting a partner to be more than a machinery ('hardware') supplier. Instead, customers are looking for a competent system supplier who can help across the board in all areas. So, in addition to the mechanical systems, we have broadened our service portfolio step by step in areas relating to compatibility with the chemical industry, technological results, productivity, operating costs and – more recently – ensuring that the use of resources is optimised (e.g. in terms of the so-called 'carbon footprint'). In doing so we have expanded our partnership to a much more comprehensive and holistic arrangement.
The textile machinery companies play a guiding role in helping to establish trends and set new directions, using its competence (which is based on the company's huge experience) to offer customers optimised and integrated solutions both in terms of processes and in terms of machine construction.
What do you see as the key components of sustainability for textile machinery making?
As already mentioned, this calls for a holistic approach in order to ensure long-term and significant improvement with respect to the careful use of resources, energy efficiency and CO2 emissions.
The use and continuous development of “best available technologies” is mandatory in order to secure sustainable textile production. This requires close cooperation with the customer and retailers so that the needs and requirements of the entire process chain can be taken into account in product development.
We believe in a comprehensive system solution approach which offers customers a long-term, sustainable solution in terms of methods, productivity, operating costs and environmental impact.
You have once said, "After the global financial and economic crisis that deeply affected all the sectors, important changes have been observed in the market dynamics, atmosphere and demands." Can you elaborate a bit on that?
This development has resulted in an acceleration of the market dynamics with respect to the competitive environment, market requirements and process/technology requirements.
The competitive pressure for standard processes/plant has greatly increased because these days the machines for these applications are mostly supplied from Asia. In view of increasing customer pressure on prices/margins, we see many compromises in the quality of machinery (process stability, reliability, quality etc.), which is a questionable approach over the long term.
In order to develop functionally sophisticated applications, technological development is increasingly required so that production benefits and the sustainability of production processes can be secured as mentioned above.
Last year, the company expanded its sales and marketing efforts in the field of continuous knit processing systems in the Indian textile machinery market. How do you see the prospects for trade relations with India?
In India, the technological change from a discontinuous to a continuous process is still in its initial phase and has to be built up in the future in order to generate the specific and significant advantages for the customers.
According to you, which are the countries with a high consumption of textile machines worldwide? What are the reasons?
It is highly likely that countries in Asia such as China, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan etc. will continue to be very important.
In addition, Turkey and South America are key markets for us as are emerging regions and countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam and North Africa, which are becoming increasingly important.
Benninger has its own branches in Asia’s and Europe’s most important markets. What are your expansion plans for the US and Middle East? Can you elaborate on your answers with reasons?
Benninger operates worldwide with its own subsidiaries in the most important textile markets and with longstanding representatives (partners). In this way we also cover the US and Middle East regions.
Let me ask you this, what are the significant changes observed by the company in customer behaviour? How do you think a company can satisfy its consumer’s needs?
As I have mentioned before, we see intense competition owing to ongoing shifts and the dynamics of the value creation chain in textiles. However, this also provides opportunities to adapt and expand our range of products and services.
As a tradition-rich and market-leading company in our segment, we continue to uphold values such as partnership, reliability, flexibility and technical competence in order to offer our customers adapted solutions with long-term added value.
Finally, how important is it to determine technological trends for a company to be at the forefront?
As a technology leader there is a certain obligation to do so and sometimes it is essential, while ultimately the focus must be on customer benefit. It is distinguished by comprehensive process know-how, both in terms of consultancy for applications and project design, and in holistic customer relationships covering the entire life cycle of installations.
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