Interview with Martin Basset

Martin Basset
Sales Manager
Zimmer Austria

We have met less, but serious customers at the fair

Zimmer Austria with sites in Klagenfurt and Kufstein has been one of the leading manufacturers of digital printing systems, flat screen and rotary screen printing, coating, steaming, washing, drying for textile and carpet finishing. Martin Basset, sales manager, Zimmer Austria, talks about the growing market in India and discusses the latest in textile digital printing.

What are your expectations from the ongoing India ITME 2016? How have been your product offerings been received so far?

The expectation is to sell a lot of machines. The idea is to get in contact with customers as much as we can. We are running multiple projects and this is a platform where we can meet the most of them in one place. Therefore, the idea is to take a profit out of the exhibition by selling more machines.

How big is the market for your products in India?

It is definitely a big one and growing very dramatically. We are very much into very special applications of digital printing, we are leaders in the market for heavy qualities like towel printing, blanket printing, carpet printing and so on. Therefore, we see a very big potential. The textile industry is shifting very much in India into new businesses and many of them are in these areas where we are supplying very good machines.

Which are your bigger markets apart from India?

We are acting worldwide. It depends, a couple of years ago it was Turkey, but the situation in Turkey has changed very much. Now it is US and China. China has its ups and downs. A couple of years ago, we started selling very well in Japan. I cannot tell you a single country where we are selling every year. Every year it is changing a little bit and shifting from one country to the other. On the other side, India has always been a constant customer for us. It is a very big textile industry. Even Bangladesh is a customer.

How would you describe the technologies used in India versus its contemporaries like China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia?

Well, very difficult to tell. Customers take a little bit of time to learn how to handle the machines. Nevertheless, customers are learning very fast and very good. Indians are very good towards their machines.

Do you think India has the skilled man power when it comes to automation?

Yes, definitely.

Which other fairs do you plan to attend in 2017?

In 2017 we will attend Heimtextil, Domotex in China and Domotex in Germany. We will also have exhibitions in Turkey. I don't remember them all.

How has demonetisation affected the textile industry?

It is going to hit us for, perhaps, two or three months. It is a short setback but nothing else. I think it is a very good movement from the government.

Will FTA with EU improve the potential of the textile industry?

I am not very confident that it is going to happen very fast.

Which verticals in the textile industry does India need to revamp with latest machines?

None.

What do you think will be the next big thing in digital textile printing?

Not so much in the digital part, but the machine manufacturing part. Perhaps there is going to be a change in the head technology. Since more digital printers are coming into the market, the price of the ink is changing and this is a very important issue in this business.

Which new innovations or technologies are you working on?

We are going into VAT dyes for digital printing, which is a very important development. We are researching on new developments for coating and we are going into digital functionalisation. The idea is to apply in a wearing some wet protect on the top side because of the weather and some other protective values additions.

If you had to summarise your experience at India ITME 2016 so far in one line what would you say.

It has been a good one. A little bit of quiet one, mostly due to the demonetisation in India but a very productive one. We have met less, but serious customers.

Published on: 03/01/2017

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.