Interview with Erwin Stoller

Erwin Stoller
Executive Chairman
Rieter Holding Ltd.

India becomes more and more an important manufacturing base in the company's global environment.

Erwin Stoller, Executive Chairman of Rieter Holding Ltd. tells us about the growing importance of developing regions, during an interview with Fibre2Fashion Correspondent Manushi Gandhi. Synopsis: Rieter is a renowned name in the world for textile machinery and components used in short staple fiber spinning. The company comprises two Business Groups: Spun Yarn Systems and Premium Textile Components. It has 18 manufacturing locations in 10 countries. Its sales in 2012 were 888.5 CHF million. The company is based in Winterthur, Switzerland. Erwin Stoller is the Executive Chairman of Rieter Holding Ltd. since August 2009. In 1991 he was Managing director of the Group company Rieter Ingoldstadt (Germany). He joined Rieter Machine Works Ltd.’s production engineering office in 1978. He holds a degree of Master of Science ETH in Mechanical Engineering , Switzerland. Excerpts:

How machines in the textile industry have changed the demand for human resource?

Todays’ machines have more electronic inside to ensure automation, exact control and high sliver and yarn quality. Therefore it is important to offer also services accordingly in training and repair services. Beside that the higher degree in automation enables customers especially in China and India to counteract the growing shortage of skilled spinning mill personnel.

What kind of alterations/changes can be done in old spinning machines so that it uses less power and produces more?

To reduce power consumption it needs the development of reducing the weight of moving parts and design to optimize moving at all – as well as to reduce air consumption. In spinning automation we focus on three important issues: reduction of transport, automation of often necessary manual tasks and automation in order to increase quality. As machines of today’s generation are more energy efficient of course the replacement of old machines by new modern machines helps to save a lot of energy. Integrated spinning systems optimize the energy consumption over the whole spinning process which means that such solutions are more energy efficient.

Do you feel that textile industry today will be handicapped sans machineries?

Spinning is a capital intensive industry. Spinning would no longer be economic without machines.

What is that one thing in the textile industry that can never be replaced with machines?

Knowledge and expertise throughout the textile value chain from raw material to end product, customer support and service, which are of great importance to us. Other values important to us are for instance quality, reliability, trust and our traditional pioneer spirit. All these values will never be replaced by machines even when they are the best.

Which country/region still needs a lot of mordernisation in textile trade?

Our main markets already invested a lot in modern machinery; state of the art machinery secures both a sufficient economical and quality level. However I believe markets like Africa could better participate in the global textile trade if investments in new technologies also in the spinning sector would be increased.

What innovations are under pipeline in your company?

Since it was established in 1795, Rieter’s innovative momentum has been a powerful driving force for industrial progress. Products and solutions are ideally tailored to its customers’ needs and are increasingly also produced in customers’ markets. With a global sales and service organization and a strong presence in the emerging markets of China and India, our company fulfills important prerequisites for achieving future growth. We constantly work on future innovation and bring them regularly to the markets. We do not disclose the details of innovative products and services until the technology proved to be successful in the main application of our customers.

What types of raw materials are required in the making of textile machineries? Is there limited availability of any of these raw materials?

So far we did not face any limitation in raw material.

What kind of textile machines should be used that help to save energy?

For decades, we have focused on developing new products that save energy. One example of this is E 80 comber, which uses 10 % less energy than its predecessor. An innovation, which has been brought to market recently, is the new R 35 semi-automated rotor spinning machine, which is the economical solution to increase productivity. This machine can have up to 460 positions, allows rotor speeds up to 120 000 rpm and delivery speed up to 200 m/min even at full machine length. The design is dedicated to make this machine the new “workaholic” for all applications where best cost efficiency and long-lasting performance is needed. Astonishingly small, but highly efficient is another innovation by us: The Rieter Suction Tube ECOrized for ring spinning machines is a small component with a big effect. It reduces suction power at the spinning position by 50 % and results in significant production cost savings. Each spinning position currently features a suction opening for extracting ends down and hard ends. However, this is only needed in very few cases. Retrofitting all the 244 million ring spindles worldwide with Rieter Suction Tube ECOrized would save as much energy as the annual production of Switzerland’s biggest nuclear power plant! Saving energy is not only good for the environment, but also an effective means of long-term cost reduction in the production of yarns.

What can be called as a major achievement by your company in the year 2012?

Rieter has reached its half-time goals in the investment program for further growth, e.g. the opening of our new manufacturing site in Changzhou, China. The company has also created additional capacity with an existing plant rebuild and new plant building in Koregaon Bhima, India. It was well on course with projects for global standardization and support of business processes and with organizational realignment to a global working approach, in particular with regard also to manufacturing. The Indian customers benefit from the local production. Rieter also enhances the cooperation with Indian universities and institutes of technology in spinning. India becomes more and more an important manufacturing base in the company’s global environment. We have launched new machines and technology components to improve yarn quality, increase productivity and enhance energy efficiency. The company has increased its presence in major markets by further localizing service activities so we are closer to our customers, which helps us to provide a timely service. Last but not least, we went on with the further market introduction of the Air Jet Spinning machine.

Published on: 09/09/2013

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.