Thetextile machinery manufacturers produce for a purpose and with clients in mind:textile manufacturers. Fibre2Fashion decided to speak to six well-knownpersonalities from the textiles industry and sought their opinions about theissues they face and how they feel these could be resolved.

 

Textile manufacturers, the obvioustarget audience of textile machinery manufacturers, have a lot to say - fromthe brands they use and prefer to the problems they face during the productionprocess. And they have their own set of solutions and suggestions on howmachinery manufacturers can make life easier for them. Most are plausible andcan be implemented.

 

On issuesthat machines face

There are a number of issues thatcropped up when Fibre2Fashionspoke to textile manufacturers.

 

Ravi S Jalan, managingdirector of GHCL Ltd, lists a number of issues. He says, "The machines andtheir spare parts from Rieter are very costly which impacts the cost ofproduction. Also, the design of their open end machines makes tail-endpreparation difficult. The yield from LMW machines is 5 per cent less ascompared to Reiter and their frequency of breakdown is also very high. The KTTMring frame machines consume more power and the working life of short aprons isalso low.

 

"Moreover, in the open endmachines from Reiter, the piecing quality is average and the packagecompactness is less. Schlafhorst autoconer machines, on the other hand, havehigh consumption of spares. Besides these, the splicing strength of Murata& Schlafhorst Autoconer is low as compared to Savio."

 

The main issue that NarendraKaushik, VP-Spinning Operations with Pratibha Syntex, faces is that ofcontamination. The suggestion he has in mind is to improve the quality ofcotton at the ginning stage itself. Shekhar Agarwal, vice chairman of LNJBhilwara, says, "After-sales service needs to improve in the country forall imported machines. The technicians are not properly trained, and sometimesspare parts are not available and have to be imported." According toRajeev Bansal, managing director of Celestial India, the main problem he faceswith Terrot knitting machines is that of the high knitting needle cost."

 

Jalan also has a number ofsuggestions for machinery manufacturers. He believes, "Rieter is a trustedbrand and has excellent post-sales service as well. They should startmanufacturing all range of machines in India to bring down the cost withoutcompromising on the quality. For their part, LMW must improve upon the qualityof the components assembled in its machines. The KTTM machines should bere-designed for consumption of less power. As the apron life is shorter, theyshould do some R&D to improve the life of aprons.

 

"These apart, the open end machines from Reiter have to improve on the piecing and packaging quality through technological interventions and innovations. The number of mechanical components in Schlafhorst Autoconer has to be reduced for low spares consumption. Also, Murata & Schlafhorst autoconer machines have to incorporate new splicer with an improved splicing strength."

 

Machinery brands popularly used

Rajeev Bansal, Managing Director, Celestial India

Knitting: Terrot Garmenting: Pegasus, Yamato, Juki, Jack

 

Ravi S Jalan, Managing Director, GHCL Ltd

Spinning: Rieter, LMW, KTTM, Murata, Savio, Schflorst, Suessen

 

Shekhar Agarwal, Vice Chairman, LNJ Bhilwara

Spinning: LMW, Rieter, Murata, Schlafhorst, Uster

Weaving: Dornier

Knitting: Fukuhara, Mayer & Cie, Karl Mayer Garmenting: Pegasus, Brother, Juki

 

Narendra Kaushik, VP - Spinning Operations, Pratibha Syntex

Spinning: Blow-room: Casrol, LMW, Truetzschler; Cards: Casrol, LMW, Trutzschler; Draw-frame: Toyoda, LMW, Trutzschler; Combers: Toyoda; Simplex: Texmaco, LMW; Ringframe: Toyoda, KTTM, LMW; Autoconers: Murata, Savio; Conditioning plant: Xorella, Sieger; Air-jet: Murata; Open-end: Saurer SE-10, Saurer SE-12

 

Rajesh Parikh, Managing Partner, Parikh Patel & Co

Ginning: Bajaj Industries, India - double roller gins and lint openers; Samuel Jackson, USA - steam conditioners and bailing press imported by Bajaj Industries; Truetzschler, Germany contamination cleaning system with ultrasonic cleaning

 

Mukund Choudhary, Managing Director, Spentex Industries

Spinning: Reiter, Zinser, Murata, Marzoli, Schlafhorst, LMW.

 

On training people

People are the greatest asset of any organisation, asserts Jalan. He believes proper training is must for efficient use of technology to remain competitive in the market place. "We have a high level training module to ensure the best use of technology for every machine. If we talk about any specific training experience, we would like to add that: (i) in the Reiter open end machines, they need to either improve the composition of the machines in a manner that the tail end preparation becomes easier or they should train their customers' technicians properly; and (ii) in case of LMW machines, they need to make more user-friendly techniques for comber settings to improve the overall experience of technicians."

 

Mukund Choudhary, managing director of Spentex Industries, says about the process followed in his organisation, "Due to state-of-the-art technology and new generation of machines, the operational problems are self-explanatory. Newly-joined trainees are being trained to operate the machines. The total training course is of four months."

There are three areas where Kaushik sees challenges: the availability of manpower itself, the regular attrition of workers, and that of changing the mindset of workers. Agarwal says, "Spinning is not an issue, but there are issues relating to knitting and dyeing/ finishing." Bansal feels training people in the machinery sector is not a tall order.

 

On beyond after-sales service

Jalan has specific requests for two machinery manufacturers, "LMW's after-sales service needs to be improved during the warranty period. For Rieter, on the other hand, the response time for fixing an issue is more which they can improve by increasing their workforce of skilled engineers."

 

Choudhary looks out for two things from machinery manufacturers. He feels they should provide timely service support, and help in upgrading technical developments so as to keep the plant ahead.

 

Kaushik feels that spares of OEM suppliers is very costly, and in case of any problem, the response time is very high. Moreover, sometimes the delivery of parts takes quite long.He also feels the need to have updates on the new developments in technology. Bansal thinks availability of mechanics and spares need to be kept in mind.

 

The brands they prefer

Rajeev Bansal, Managing Director, Celestial India

Knitting: Fukuhara,

Garmenting: Juki, Pegasus

 

Ravi S Jalan, Managing Director, GHCL Ltd

Spinning: Rieter for spinning preparatory and ring frames;

Murata for coarse and medium counts; Savio for finer count

 

Shekhar Agarwal, Vice Chairman, LNJ Bhilwara

Spinning: Rieter

Weaving: Dornier

Knitting: TFO, Terrot, Mayer, Fukuhara

 

Narendra Kaushik, VP - Spinning Operations, Pratibha Syntex

Spinning: Machine Performance: Trutzschler; Economical: LMW

 

On the need for innovation

More innovations are obviously needed. Choudhary has three areas where he looks forward to innovations and improvements: auto doffing on ring frames, roving bobbin transportation system, and link coners. Kaushik, on the other hand, wants to see air-jet spinning technology being improved. For Agarwal, the keyword is automation.

 

Jalan, however, has a bucket list. He lists them out: compact spinning system from Suessen; online monitoring system in ring frame from Premier Ultimo; auto doffer in ring frames; and, cotton contamination system for better clearing efficiency from Truetzschler SP-FPU.