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Interview with Sumit Mall

Sumit Mall
Sumit Mall
Director
Times Fiberfill
Times Fiberfill

Emphasis should be on using 'Made in India' products
The technical textiles and home furnishing industry is all set to revolutionise in the coming years. Sumit Mall, director of Times Fiberfill talks about the technical textiles and home furnishing industry in India, its strengths and the challenges it faces, and its growth prospects in an interview with Fibre2Fashion.com

What is the size of the global technical textiles and home furnishing industry? How big is the market in India?

The global technical textiles industry, in a broader sense of the term, is valued at around US$ 250 billion with growth rates ranging from 11 per cent for nonwovens to 2-3 per cent for majority of the sub-sectors. The home furnishing industry is valued at US$ 700 billion and is growing. Due to the wide range of products in both technical textiles and especially home furnishing, a better way to analyse is to look at individual sectors in both the broad segments. The Indian market for technical textiles is estimated at US$ 14 billion, and expected to grow multi-fold in the coming decade. Within this many sectors, geo-tech, build-tech, medi-tech and agro-tech are going to be the major drivers of growth. Home furnishing is valued at about US$ 20 billion, with home textiles’ contribution being more than half. It is a segment which is undergoing major upheavals due to the rise of e-commerce players.
 

How eco-sustainable are your manufacturing units and product line?

We are a GOTS- and Fairtrade-certified company with more than 75 per cent female employees. In our home textiles division, we manufacture home textiles and garments only from certified, organic raw materials, and also ensure that processing and fabrication is at our GOTS- and Fairtrade- certified units. We are one of the few exporters in India manufacturing organic cotton-quilted products with certified organic cotton fabric and certified organic cotton wadding, which is made in-house. Additionally, all our printing units have ETPs installed for cleaning up waste water from the plant. Our technical textiles division uses recycled polyester staple fibre in more than 75 per cent of our products. Additionally, we have shifted all our chemical-based processes to thermal bonding which consumes no chemicals. As a company, our focus is to develop sustainable solutions which provide better performance to our customers.

What has been your growth story over the last three years? What is the target set for the next two?

Since 2011, we have been steadily growing at 30 per cent per year. Our target is to increase this growth rate to 50 per cent, and to increase horizontal integration of our facilities. We have recently added a facility for needle-punching of natural fibres, and another dedicated facility for exporting organic baby products. We have plans to add capacity for geo-textiles and also diversify into recycled natural fibre products by mid-2016. We are also installing an automated flatbed screen printing facility in Kolkata which would be functional by November 2015.

Which countries are the leading players in technical textiles and home furnishing?

Technical textiles: Germany, China, the US, Brazil, Spain, Turkey, and India. Home furnishing: China, India, the US, and EU countries.

Which innovations are set to revolutionise the technical textiles market?

In the global context, I feel the sectors with major innovations would be hygiene and medical. Both these sectors will be aided by innovations in fibre technology. Development of 'smart' fibres will be a disruptive innovation as it would change the way we use technical textile products. In India, the revolution would be the growth of the technical textiles industry itself, and how we are able to integrate technical textile products into the industry and for personal use. We need more research into innovative substitution of conventional textile solutions by technical textile solutions, which would be more cost effective and provide better performance to users. We have to understand that not all substitutions which have taken place in other countries will work in India. Hence, country-focused research is of paramount importance. Our focus has been to analyse an industry, and figure out where our solutions can be beneficial to them. We have since been able to substitute conventional textile solutions with technical textiles in leather industry, garment industry, filtration and home furnishing. Substitutions such as using nonwoven fabrics instead of conventional plastics for bags and using geo-textile bags - both woven and nonwoven - instead of boulders for embankment protection are some of the many such innovative substitutions. These have opened up completely new sectors for the technical textiles industry and bring about faster organic growth than any subsidy-based approach.

What percentage of your profit is allocated towards R&D?

Typically, we are investing 10 per cent of our profits in R&D. Our aim is to provide high-quality fire retardant solutions for safety wear, automotive, home furnishing and insulation. This has helped us over the years to invest in high-quality raw materials, and establish relationships with innovative companies across the globe. Today, we have a complete array of fire retardant solutions for the safetywear and insulation segments.

Has branding come into play yet in technical textiles? For instance, home furnishing like Bombay Dyeing, etc have become household names. How important will branding eventually be in terms of technical textiles?

Branding is already playing a role in technical textiles. Most of the well-known Indian brands in technical textiles like SRF, Supreme Nonwovens, etc are known in the market for their quality products. In the non-consumer segments, good quality manufacturers have been able to create brand-loyalty among their customers through consistent supply. However in many cases, these manufacturers have been unable to replicate the same on a pan-India basis. In such sectors, company brands have become a signature of quality and consistency, which the end-user would pay a premium for. Companies which don't adhere to this philosophy would ultimately run out of customers. We, as a company, have adhered to this philosophy, and are beginning to reap dividends from such long-term thinking. In the hygiene sector, several manufacturers and converters will have to step up efforts in order to match the multinational companies already having a foothold in this segment. This sector is going to be the one which would see the maximum amount of branding exercises in the coming years, as it has over the past several years.

Which major challenges restrict the growth and development of the technical textiles industry?

Our industry is facing challenges on various fronts which most manufacturing companies face, but the following, according to me, are the ones which are unique and critical to our industry: 1. Need to increase awareness of correct technical textile solutions among consumers: This needs to be done across the industry by all associated with it. On many occasions, the technical textiles solution provided turns to be incorrect and a new product opportunity is lost. Very few customers and manufacturers in India realise the importance of using the correct product as per specifications. There is always a tendency to buckle under cost pressures and manufacture sub-standard products, which ultimately hurts the industry. This is a common phenomenon with geo-tech and build-tech products. 2. Low institutional demand for technical textile products: Government institutions need to promote the use of technical textiles in their departments, PSUs and construction companies. This probably would be the single largest driver for demand in the industry. Emphasis should be on using 'Made in India' products only. 3. Unavailability of consistent quality of raw materials at a globally competitive price: This problem pertains predominantly to the nonwovens sector. There are also very few manufacturers for polypropylene staple fibres and hollow recycled PET fibres and no indigenous manufacturer for low-melt polyester staple fibres. 4. Lack of high-quality Indian technical textile machine manufacturers: This is a problem in even the conventional textiles. Machine manufacturers in India are years behind China, and decades behind Europe in terms of technology. A strong technical textile machinery base is required to create a solid foundation for the Indian technical textiles industry.
Published on: 27/06/2015

DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.