The 15th edition of Knit Tech, international textile machinery trade fair, was held from March 1- 4, 2019 in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu. The fair was organised by Hi Tech International Trade Fair India (P) Ltd from Tirupur, who have been successfully conducting the show with its dynamic & very practical experience of more than two decades since 1993.
On the day one of the show, an inaugural ceremony was held which was presided by Ahill S Rathinasamy, President KNITcMA. The welcome address was given by MA Rayappan, Chairman, Knit-Tech 2019. The show was inaugurated by Viking AC Eswaran, President, SIHMA. The Fair Directory was released by Raja M Shanmugam, President, Tirupur Exporters’ Association, and Directory was received by KP Govindasamy, Ex-President, TEKMA.
During the ceremony felicitations were done by S Nagarajan, President, Dyers Association of Tirupur; TR Srikanth, President, TEKPA; N Vivekanandan, President, SIIMCA; Ahill MS, Mani, President, Tirupur Industrial Federation; MP Muthurathinam, President, TEAMA; TR Vijayakumar, Trustee & Co-Ordinator, TTPK. At the end, vote of thanks was given by SR Kennedy.
This year, besides promoting latest technologies in knitting and apparel industry, the show focused on automation in the city. The biennial event showcased various automation technologies not only in knitting division but also in apparel industry. Around 63 leading foreign companies from 23 countries exhibited their technologies apart from large number of Indian exhibitors participating in the show. This year the exhibition was organised in a gross space of 24,000 sq mtr.
According to organizers, 21,632 people have visited the fourday expo. It has drawn businesses to the tune of hundreds of crores. The technologies like automating movement of garments from one machine to another with hanger rails, automating packing and loading-unloading with vacuum supported machine, automating mixing of dyes, and automating functioning of dyeing machines were exhibited in the event.
Around 50 stalls have focused on knitting machine technology. Many companies have exhibited knitting machines with competitive prices than the ones exhibited in previous years. Some of the leading companies from knitting machine segment who participated in the show were CMS (The Empire Textiles), Aroma Tech, Pailung, Vanguard Pailung, Lisky Technologies, Promise Huixing Knitting Machinery, Kauo Heng Computerised Flat Knitting Machine, VJ International, Point Knits Circular Knitting Machine, Chandra Sales Corporation, Voltas- Terrot, Tokyee Knitting Machinery Co. Ltd., Mayer & Cie, Golden Falcon International, Unique Technologies, Santeck Trade, Well Knit, Unitex (Knit-Fab) and many more.
Besides, some of the leading names from the dyeing & processing machine segment who exhibited were Tony Engineering, KRSNA Engineering, MCS Dyeing, Jayaa Engineering, Sahai Automation, Nuva Machines, PROTECTO Tanks, Master Enterprises, Fong’s National Engineering Co. Ltd., (A.T.E), Exolloys Engineering Pvt. Ltd. etc.
This year the show didn’t get much encouraging feedback from the participants. The turnout was quite less when compared to last year and last-to-last year. According to the exhibitors this could be because of low market sentiments as industry is still reviving out of demonetization and GST impact. Besides, some of the exhibitors’ complaint about lack of proper infrastructure and show not being marketed well by the organisers. However, the quality of customers coming to the show was appreciated by most of them.
Naoto Nishiki, South Asia Unit- Global Sales Group Joint Sales Division, Shima Seiki Mfg., Ltd
We are participating here under Voltas with whom we want to explore the complete Indian market. As pioneer of WHOLEGARMENT knitting technology whereby an entire garment can be produced in one piece on the machine without linking or sewing, we are presenting exclusive solutions to meet the current needs of the Indian market as well as future market needs. Such solutions are provided by our MACH2S WHOLEGARMENT knitting machine that offers the flexibility of producing WHOLEGARMENT knitwear using every other needle as well as conventional shaped knitwear using all needles. This feature helps users to invest in their technology wisely. Also shown at KNITTECH is SVR202 machine featuring an 80-inch knitting width and tandem knitting capability for added flexibility in knit manufacturing. Twin carriages can be used together for double-cam knitting, or used separately for single-cam knitting of two identical pieces in tandem. We are also performing demonstrations on the latest version of 3D design system SDS-ONE APEX3. All our products got very good response from visitors here.
Gualtiero (Walter) Merati, Technical Service Director Loris Bellini
We are participating in Knittech because we want to promote our products in the South of India where we are not yet completely known. We have good customer in Central India, Northern India. At this show, we had few meetings but not as expected but some good discussions took place. We design, manufacture and sell very high quality dyeing machines at the service of the yarn dye houses in the world. Our reputation in India is since more than 20 years. We have customers like Raymond, D décor and Bombay Rayon, all the big names. Now even in Tirupur there is a lot of yarn exports happening but it is majorly grey yarn. However, now people are realizing that they should do the dyeing or do some value-addition and then export. That’s the current trend in South India. We have received few good enquiries in this regard in last 3 months. Today India is the second largest market for us after China. We have been always technically ahead, and our latest development was Pulsar yarn dyeing machine.
Timo Schramm, Area Sales Manager Mayer & Cie. Rundstrickmaschinen
We are displaying two Relanit machines on show which attracted the attention of the numerous trade visitors. The Relanit 3.2 HS, currently one of Mayer & Cie.’s most popular circular knitting machines, was displayed with a 30“ diameter and an E28 gauge. This highperformance machine is one of the most productive in the market. It is suitable for a variety of uses, but especially for knitting any kind of Single Jersey outerwear. The open width openwidth version exhibited produces open wear in keeping with the current trend. The Relanit 4.0’s focus is on productivity and efficiency for simple Single Jersey fabric. The model on show, with a 30“ diameter and an E28 gauge, is also suitable for manufacturing tubular knitted fabric. At a speed of up to 50 rpm the Relanit 4.0 can produce up to 1,080 kg of fabric per day. Our machines on show correspond precisely to the needs of Indian spinning mills that are increasingly investing in knitwear and aim to step up their output. We are already well established in Tirupur and other knitwear manufacturing regions of India. This year, we have already done good project in India. Besides, demand in home textiles segment is also growing.
Simone Morgante, Marketing Manager Ferraro Spa
The show response for me is really good, however our interest in Tirupur is very deep. Over the years we have sold over 102 Tubular compacting machines and for us it’s a big achievement considering the size of this market. Our band name and machine are very popular here. We are leaders in Tirupur for Tubular compactors. Tubular machines and open-width machines are part of our cobusiness. However, we are trying to expand not only in Tirupur but all over India. We have widened our product’s offering and added squeezing padder and scouring machines to our products lines. These too respond to the market’s requirement in terms of higher quality. India has been representing a very important market for us and so we must attend every single exhibition, which takes place here. However, I was initially little bit disappointed about the response on first day but then I have to change my mind especially on third day. We want to be a part of your country, economy growth that has witnessed some problems in the short-term but I am sure in the long-term the growth will be there. Within 2030 India is supposed to become 3rd economy power in the world.
Burak Uysal, Sales and Marketing Coordinator Serkon Makina
The response this time is much better compared to previous years, thanks to our agent Rainbow Garments, they’re doing a very good job here. Service is the key issue here and our service backup is very fast. I’ve come here with my engineer and we’re giving training to the people here and in Turkey every month. The parts are also important for the customers and so, they have a stock here and they don’t want to spend too much money for the spare parts, which is also an issue here as we have very good prices on the spares. Sales of Serkon in South India, is going very well and I hope that it’ll be much better this year and next year. We will soon be moving into our new factory in Turkey, which is 10000 sq. meter; the biggest one in Europe. So we will continue to develop new machines with new technology and hopefully, we’ll be number one. As far as Indian market is concerned, apart from Tirupur, Kolkata has been nice; we have a person there who is doing a good job. Hopefully, we’ll develop our business in North India; Ludhiana, Delhi also. In Tirupur, we have more than 30 customers and it is going well. At Knittech, we are showcasing DC 90, which is our latest model of heavyduty cutting machine. This is a flexible cutting machine for knits and woven fabric and comes with servo system.
Peter Krieger, Area Sales Manager Memminger-IRO Gmbh
Absolutely, it has been a great exhibition for us. So far, the response here in Tirupur has been as good as Ludhiana show we participated recently and I believe that many more machines and bigger stalls have been on display here; great potential as usual and all our competitors are also present. We have to focus on export oriented units who are looking for quality and we have been very successful in India. Our agent is doing very well; we’re working hard and happy to be here. For me, it’s always a learning experience. I have to learn and give feedback to my head office on what can be improved, what are the market needs. Every market is different, every customer is different and we have to adjust accordingly. What I learned from my agent is that business is getting tough. I don’t expect much growth in the next year and it depends on the coming elections and so on. Hopefully, the market will continue with some growth. Right now, India is the number one market for our product apart from other important markets like Bangladesh, China and Brazil.
Peter Menzel, Karl Menzel Maschinenfabrik Gmbh & Co
We manufacture with highly qualified staff in three locations in Germany. Highest quality standards are always targeted in the various production processes. Only in this way are we able to fulfill our promise of excellence and our customers’ expectations. We assist companies in developing an efficient production process and maintain support until a reliable operating system is put into service. Our objective is to provide excellent service throughout the entire life cycle of the machine.
Here we are showing different types of washing technology for knitted and woven fabric. The main highlight for this it’s very powerful washing system, saving energy and is one of the modern technologies. This is our first time here at the exhibition, and the response has been very good; we are very happy. First day wasn’t that good but the second and third day have been good. Tirupur is increasingly becoming more and more important market with growing demand for quality products.
Filiberto Capetti, Area Sales Manager, Bianco Spa
We are displaying Rope Opening line from Bianco. We are also manufacturing Weft Straightener for both woven and knits and we are also supplying some accessories machines for printing and proprietary machine for woven. We are having an agent for Tirupur but we also work directly. The show was quite good; yesterday and today we had good enquiries. We are happy with the response. Presently, the Tirupur market is slow because of factor like GST. But most of them are looking in a prospective view and we hope that we get a better situation in 2019.
Our company concentrates on continuous R&D; we are interacting more with the customers and based on their feedback, our R&D department is constantly working to overcome their problems. It’s not just product selling, we are also a solution provider. Compared to earlier, we have upgraded our technology. Customers and end-users have now started using technologically advanced machines but we don’t have that much skilled labour, which is a major issue that Tirupur faces as a manufacturer.
Ramy Kassem, Area Manager, Arioli S.P.A.
I’ve noticed that there has been great participation from the customers. People have been coming from all over India and that is very important. Another thing is that people have been anticipating and seeking new technologies. E.g. Customers are seeking a digital machine, which is one of our newest machines. They come to us to see the new technology. I think that 2019 will be much better than 2018. In the past year, the movement especially in India wasn’t strong and sometimes slow.
There is a big expectation in 2019; many customers have projects that they want to expand. We’ve been also requested a number of times to come and participate to inform the customers about what we are doing. India is very important for us, especially for the printing sector. There are lots of demands for new technologies here. Now, rotary and traditional printing is slowly dying, most of the production is done by digital printing machines in Europe. The Indian market realizes that and wants to bring in digital printing to be more competitive with Europe. Digital printing is going to be a major segment for us in India apart from the other machines here.
Henning Frank, Area Sales Manager, Thies Gmbh & Co. Kg
The response was better than what I expected; quality of the visitors was very high and it was a very lively show. It has definitely exceeded our expectations. At this show, we’ve focused on the yarn dyes as we see a growing potential in yarn dyeing in India; more and more demands are coming. In fabric dyeing we’re well settled; Tirupur is our home, we have a lot of installations here. Now, we’re focusing more on the yarn dyeing. We have been manufacturing yarn dyeing machines since almost 130 years.
We were the first company in Europe to get a patent for high pressure yarn dyeing vessels. The market for yarns in India wasn’t that much in the last few years but now the market for yarn dyeing is growing, which we see in different projects coming up. Tirupur has always been a good market for us because our service station in Coimbatore is handling this market. I think the machines here speak more or less for themselves. You can say that 90 per cent of our machines in India are in Tirupur. We see excellent quality being produced here and I think that we’re good partners to our customers as well. Our customers feel the same way according to the feedback that we’ve been getting. This interaction is very important and we’re really satisfied here.
G Elango, General Manager, A.T.E. Enterprises Pvt Ltd
Visitors response was quite low when compared to previous years, reason could be there are series of exhibitions happening in India and other parts of the country for textiles machines and suppliers visiting the customers regularly and they are updated at their doorsteps. Unless something innovative technology is displayed, customers don’t show interest to visit the exhibitions. However, manufacturers have to participate to show their presence, which is the need of the hour .
In Knittech 2019, we are displaying TECWIN high temperature dyeing machine from Fong’s. Its main features are automatic nozzle pressure controller, automatic nozzle size adjustment, automatic nozzle flow adjustment, front spray nozzle, automatic variable loading storage chamber, dye liquor separation design, integrated intelligent rinsing, liquid dispersion storage chamber, and single point utility system. Dyers who are visiting our stall are very happy about the displayed TECWIN with the inclusion of many new features to solve the issues in dyeing. We are sure we will get to see many installations in knit market .
Franz Hudi, Area Sales Manager Terrot Strickmaschinen Gmbh
We have ordered booth for two machines, one Terrot machine which is a high production rip machine and the Pilotelli. But, the Terrot machine was coming too late so we could not reach the machine in time. So, only Pilotelli machine is only exhibited here. This is so called SL4 Sinkerless Single-Jersey Machine Tubular Frame. Here we demonstrate the machine with 42 revolutions per minute in 70” and 28” inch. The advantage is that accumulation of the in the sinker area is not there.
Today there is a big demand for machines, which keeps the advantage of cleaning. You don’t create sinker lines on the fabric. All this advantage we feel is demand is used and welcomed by the customer. At Knittech, it was really good experience that so many of customers were coming. We already have very good customers here in area for this machine, but it seems that we will grow more and more in this field. Tirupur was very good last year compared to 3-4 years ago, and we feel that the textile market is growing.
V Viond Kumar, Director (Sales), Santex Rimar India P. Ltd
The show was really good but we were expecting little more positives enquiries. We had good walk-in customers. Number wise and quality wise it was Ok. Customers who came in are very interesting this time. The market looks positive, the business is not really happening into the level which we were expecting. When we talk to the exporters they are having modest growth but at the same time I’ve heard that spinning segment is not doing so good. As a machine supplier we are also feeling the same thing as we are not getting the enquiries as per expected level. But, OK the market is alive for sure. We offer technologies under Cavitec, Isotex, Santex, SMIT, Solwa, Sperortto Rimar brands. Here, We have shown them some exciting new finishes on fabrics to trigger some interest. It is not a regular machine that they are going to invest. It’s a value addition machine, which has already picked up in Far Eastern countries. This edition of Knittech we have not displayed machines but we have displayed samples showing them the latest trends in the market and many visitors said they have seen such finishes. But now, they know that Santex has a solution, so this is a positive for us from this exhibition.
Rajesh Biyani, MD, RI Texsolutions Pvt Ltd
would say that this time was the worst experience at Knittech. I participated before too but it wasn’t that bad, this time it has been totally mismanaged. Infrastructure wise, it has been very bad and very less visitors. I don’t know how they organized; this entire zig-zag route, you can see visitors in the first 2-3 blocks only. A zig zag route is not practical for an exhibition of this size. Every other exhibition is improving while this one is worsening. For Tirupur we’ve added Wayken, which offers cutting blades, knives, cutting machine, other spare parts for sewing industry and cutting. Here we’re selling Silicone, Wayken, Juki, Brother Spares. In big clusters like Tirupur and Ludhiana, we face price issue due to presence of cheap Chinese products but still we have managed to have a big market share. For North India, we are adding these flat-knitting machines from Beworth. We’ll be putting 2 machines on display in Delhi; in Gurgaon and Ludhiana. We’ll be marketing their flatknitting machines for sweater knitting and shoe upper machines also. The prices are highest in China, at par with Cixing, so let’s see how the response is. When compared to other Chinese brands their price difference is 10-13%.
K. Sriram, MD, Nuva Machine Works India Pvt. Ltd
We are introducing this Exhplit 4 plus which is also equipped with XY plating system, a double plating system. We have an auto filtered cleaning system and a cooling water for the stump tanker which in turn saves the energy. Our machines already are energy efficient and the loading capacity has also been extended from 600 to 800. So, even with a very small machine you’ll be able to be more productivity. The liquor ratio now is 1:2.5 which is in terms of 25 litres for the dark colours. Earlier, it was 35 litres and now it is 25; there is more saving of chemicals and water. We’ve also introduced open width fusing with the bio-fluff removal. This bio fluff removal is again unique; we’re taking water for recycling and reusing it in the process. My maximum water consumption is only 500 litres per day. All the European machinery is about saving energy. We’re also doing the same thing and our main advantage is that we’re making it in India and we have the service for the domestic market while also exporting it. We’re also 30 per cent cheaper than European products. Tirupur is now in need of some good machinery to modernize their plants and save resources and energy. At Knittech, the response was good this year and we saw lots of new manufacturers. Other manufacturers have got their machines here on display, which shows that this is the need of the hour.
V. Sriram, Managing Director RVR Machinery Tech (P) Ltd
We’ve launched a Tshirt folding machine. The big machine does 700 pieces production in one hour and is for jeans, T-shirts; all kinds of fabrics. The small machine has a production capacity of 450 pieces per hour but only Tshirts are possible. Now with further development automated packing and the barcoding is also possible. The delivery time is 4 weeks only.
A German machine costs Rs. 40 lakh but I am giving this at Rs. 6 lakhs. Moreover, the imported machines come with minimal programme where mostly setting change is not possible but this machine’s programme change is in your hand. We have sold these in various parts of the country and not only to garment makers but to college, institutes also. We are getting 15 per cent subsidy for this machine from Ministry of Textiles
K. Manikandan, Area Sales Manager Bianco Textile Solutions (I) Pvt Ltd
The response has been good. I would like to highlight the new machine, a scouring machine for removing the synthetic coil from the fabric. Then we also did a new machine for bleaching and desizing for 100 per cent woven. Now in the last 3 years, we have started to manufacture machine for packaging, inspection and rolling.
We have also updated our existing machines and our company invests around 20 per cent of the turnover in research and development every year. Tirupur has been doing well, we are happy that many customers came to visit us at the exhibition.
Muhunthankumar, Director Coninven Engineering Pvt. Ltd
We’ve not exhibiting our products or having stalls to attract customers. I do have a presence in the media but this is our first time, coming to an exhibition and setting up a stall. We don’t get any banking or government support for all these promotional activities, but still we wanted to make ourselves known and be competitive among global companies so that people believe in our brand. I’m happy with the response here. Our range includes particularly for knit processing and finishing industry. We design and manufacture machines with best technologies for the Knit Fabric Finishing Industries. We make machines at international standard in affordable price like Fabric Squeezing Machine, Balloon Padding Machine, Compacting Machine, Slitting Machine, Dryer Machine and Open Width Compacting Machine. We also launched a couple of products in this exhibition. In body dryer, most of the companies are not able to make higher production in their compacting machinery whereas in the market, the demand is that people need to have 2 frames to multiply the productivity. For that, we’ve tried to launch body drier compacting; this means 2 frames and 2 layers of compacting, so higher production will be there. In a similar way, we’ve also launched double-dual padding machinery, with 2 turntables, 2 D twisters and 2 magnetic structures.
Tanmay Pandya, Director Texfab Engineers (India) Pvt Ltd
This is my first time, participating here. The experience has been okay; not so good, not so bad. The number and quality of visitors cannot be compared with others shows like in Mumbai. At present, the most important thing is to save ink, power and water consumption, and for that we’ve introduced a new technology in continuous washing machines. In continuous washing machine, the water consumption is very low and steam consumption is very low.
The great advantage that we have over international companies is the price; our prices are around 20-30 per cent lower. We provide our customers with the best quality, best product and after sales service, because of all this, we cannot be compared with other manufacturers from India. Last 2 years have been a bit down but that happens in every 5 years; it has its ups and downs. As a company, we’re growing; our range of products is very large and we are exporting to 26 countries. 2019-20 looks to be good. I’ll definitely be coming back here next year with new machines.
A. Dhanakumar, Director, SPI Equipments India P Limited
At every exhibition, we have to display some new products to attract customers and show our developments and technologies. We’re into lab equipment manufacturing for the last 15 years and we started our dispenser manufacturing in 2015; we supplied more than 25-30 machines all over the world and in India particularly, more than 25 machines. We’re showing our new dispenser in this exhibition; it’s called a premium dispenser with latest version for the industry. We have other new product i.e. warehouse robots for handling the material at floor level to all the warehouses. We supply the machines to Indonesia, Vietnam, and China.
Percentage wise it is 5-6 per cent of our overall sales. Slowly we are going to spread our leg all over the world, especially in the Asia market. Earlier such product used to get imported but we have developed it in India. When compared to imported product, our product’s price varies about 40-45 per cent. Quality and accuracy remains the same. We only participate in Knittech exhibition, as this is the only exhibition where all the machinery manufacturers are participating and other exhibitions are focused on various segment. We are leader in the market and all the customers are having our machines. We are participating to explore more customers here.
P. Guna Sekaran, MD, IMASIA Cad Cam Services Pvt. Ltd
IMA is the only company in the world which can offer integrated cutting line. People talk about spreading solution but what we talk about is an integrated solution right from your fabric inventory till your cut participation. We were also the first company to come into the 4.0 concept. The response here is much better but not as per the expectations like last year. After the critical period of 2017/18, we got a good response, more than what we expected. Visitor wise, the numbers were less but we did get a good response; we had some good enquiries. At Knittech, we came up with a new generation which was launched in November 2017, called Typhoon 70.
It’s a high efficient cutter for a mass production unit in India as well as the Asian market specially. We’ve already installed the machine in India with 6 players. Most of the installations have been done in various segments: Not only in knits but in sportswear, in denims and in other segments. We are proud that India was the first country to experience this technology and we first came to Tirupur. That means that we are more aggressive and the machines are giving good response. Customer feedback has been positive and that is why I hope that this year will be more positive.
S. Boopathy, Managing Director, The Empire Textiles
If we compare, in terms of response the show this year is little less than last year. This year we have added printing machine also, so a lot of interest came from people. The knitting machine is doing fine too, infact, one machine order has already been confirmed in the starting of the exhibition. In knitting we had been there for several years so it is getting good number of enquiries. We are displaying a 17 dia 24 gauge machine and one flat knitting machine. That response was good too. As compared to the last year the response was less but enquiries of both machines were good. Knit-tech is a very old show which is taking place from the past 25 years. But footfall is low maybe due to less promotion by the organizers and market being slow after demonetization. However, market is st
able now and is not going downwards further. Meanwhile, we are witnessing a lot of factories shifting outside Tirupur and even to Sri Lanka, Kenya, Ethiopia etc. for cost and tax advantage, which is the reason behind less sales. Today, open-width machine are getting maximum sales but now tubular is in demand from the Jobworkers segment as it can get work throughout the year.
M. Seetharaman, Proprietor, New Horizon Systems
The show, this year in terms of response is a little less when compared to last year. Number wise it was very nice. We expected more but I don’t know what the reason behind low turnout was. Maybe their advertisement was not upto that extend. However, those who are coming are asking for automation, and nobody is interested in basic questions. We are specifying woven manufacturing and are focusing only on automation of each and every product. We have everything right from CAD design to cutting, sewing, finishing, hanger production system. We have really good enquiries and people are appreciating our products. Especially, cutting has got a very good future. In this, we are doing Morgan cutting machine from Italy and this is the best product available in the market. We also have automatic T-Shirts packing, folding & packing and automatic ironing machines as people are now looking at cost cutting. For the automation placket swing machine we have booked a lot of orders. We also got good response for hams automatic robotic elastic attachment machine.
Kesava Moorthy, MD, Hi Tech Sewing Systems
This time show has been quite good but we’re still looking for potential customers. Presently, the market is slow and due to that, the visitor flow is also slow. Last 2 months has witnessed some movement in the Tirupur market and even exports are showing a positive growth of around 20-30 per cent. Now factories are looking for automation from cutting till finishing. We already have IMA for cutting and singling for sewing. We have all the range of cutting, sewing and finishing machines. Now, we’re more focused on finishing area. On the sewing front, we’re searching for more skilled labour. We had some type of attachment for every machine to reduce the labour but finishing was lacking. For sewing, many suppliers come but finishing hasn’t been given the same importance. There also some restrictions due to automation. If it’s a standard garment, it’s easy for automation but if it’s a fancy garment, like it is in most cases in Tirupur, there would be more value addition, it would be more difficult. Here, we are displaying an ironing and T-shirt folding machine, which requires 3 operators and has the capacity to do 5,000 pieces a day doing ironing, folding and packing. It has been imported from Italy (Ironing machine) and Spain (Folding machine) respectively.
Nirav Udani, Vice President – Sales, Creative Industries
We have a joint venture with Rutland company which is based in USA and we manufacture non pvc, water based discharge and other specialty ink. Our unit is from Mumbai for almost 25 years. We are having a pan India office and in Tirupur, DCC is the agent of Creative Industries. At Knittech, we were expecting the owners of mills and actual users. In the last 2 days, we’ve had limited people but what we are getting has been up to the mark. Tirupur and Ludhiana are very important for us as markets.
There’s only one industry in Tirupur; the textile and knitwear. As quality of products is getting upgraded, our inks need to be upgraded too. We’re trying to give our customers the latest thing. We don’t just supply the ink, we give them technical and after-sale-support also. As far as the trend is concerned, people are looking for softer feel, for high wash standards. Plus, comparing this market with plastisol market, water based market is going very high day-by-day. Most of the big brands are going for soft feel and bright feel.
S. Satheesh Babu, Capricornn
It has been 18 years since we’ve been into the garment industry. We are mainly into CAD/CAM for cutting room solution and mainly we are doing all the cutting room products and in future we are planning to implement automation products. The CAD/CAM is from China but we do have some plotters from Spain also. As of now, we are only providing cutting room solutions and gradually, we will increase our products range. Our company is only 6 months old here and this is the first show we are participating in. The experience has been nice; we are mainly participating to gain more exposure. Of course gradual growth will be there so we are expecting some more business in the next year and we hope that Capricorn will be a well-known company in the next 6 months. We already have some installations in Tirupur. The customers want to reduce their capital investment and based on that, there has been a good response for Chinese products. The Tirupur market is now stabilizing when compared to last year. Maybe after the elections, things will be much more positive; we are hoping 2019 to be a good year.
Jitender Pal Singh, Business Head – Textile, Colorjet India Ltd
What we have demonstrated here is that in spite of the curling we have managed to run the knitted fabric on our machine, without stopping the machine or injuring the head. Therefore, I think that this is a very good demonstration. We’re showing knitted fabrics running and that too very light, low gsm fabric. This is my first visit to Tirupur and from an exhibition point of view, what we wanted to achieve, we’ve achieved. We never expected a high footfall but we did expect our target audience to come which has been achieved. Tirupur is a very important market and for some reason, we were not able to tap the market earlier. I’m glad that we’ve participated and we’ll build on this in the near future. We want to have a focused approach here; our first step was to appoint a dealer, as a it would always have a better reach in the market which has already happened and we’ve been able to sell a couple of machines also here. Now we have to build on this and consolidate it further. To scale it up further, we would like to have a dedicated sales person and service support also, taking care of the South market along with the dealer. We want to build our business here. You can say that we were weak from the approach point of view but now we are on the right track.
Boban Charly, Executive Director Bierrebi Cutting Solutions Pvt Ltd
We are launching new products like AC 4 series i.e. automated cutting lines. We have already installed around 50-53 machines in India. At the same time, we’re introducing the new machines with an updated technology and Industry 4.0. There’s ERP connectivity along with remote access. We have also drastically reduced the consumption of energy by 3-4 KW. The main advantage of our machine is that there isn’t much need of manpower and space. In one hour we can get 4,000-5,000 pieces and all our machines are running 24 hours in both India and abroad. In America we have customers having 100 machines at one factory itself. In India, all our customers are having around four-five machines at their plants. Our new office for cutting solutions is for operating in the India-Asia market and some of the African markets. Business wise, last year was good for us; we sold over 6 machines in India, especially in Tirupur and Kolkata. As of now, the market is a bit dull and has slowed down because of the election season. At this exhibition, we have a small booth but still the response is been good and we’ve made some appointments. Overall, feedback from the customer has been good.
Amit Chadha, Aura Designs Limited
We are a company based in China which started its operations almost 9 years ago. We’ve been much more present here in India since the last 3-4 years. We are into digital printing machines but we are not a regular company doing regular machines. Apart from digital printing machines, we have solution for sweaters, Tshirts, shawls and stoles. We’re mostly offering T-shirt printing machines and reactive printing machines. The T-shirt printing machine that we’re showcasing here is completely different, it runs on pigment inks and the basic USP of this machine is the capital cost of the machine and the printing cost per unit. It’s very easy to run this machine; the capital cost of the machine is very low and no maintenance is required in these machines, so it is very easy to run. We’ve already sold 2 machines. This is our first exhibition in Tirupur. The show is amazing; great response. We’re on the verge of closing 3-4 machines. A lot of people came and were surprised to see that this technology existed. I think we will be selling around 10- 12 machines easily after the show. As far as our country is concerned, of course I’m very hopeful for the future. The last 2-3 months were pretty bad but I think that things are moving in the right direction now.
Naveen Juneja, Director, Corpora Consultants Pvt Ltd
Our company is 10 years old, representing 16 machinery agencies from all over the world; mainly from South Korea and Italy. We are covering all the dyeing printing processing part. Apart from this, we’re also manufacturers of textile dyes and chemicals. We have our own manufacturing unit in Maharashtra and a small unit in Coimbatore, which makes lab instruments like IR machine, which is displayed. Apart from this, we also give consultancy; productivity improvement programmes and training. This is our third time at Knittech. The infrastructure is so-so. The gathering footfall on third day has been good but for the past two days, not so good. Tirupur is a good market for us. We’ve sold couple of machines here and we’re doing good business for dyes and chemicals. Overall, it is a bit slow but we’ve got good potential. Our company is into processing only at the moment. We’re trying to have full hold of the processing. We have a head office in Gurgaon and branch offices in Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Tirupur, Coimbatore and all the textile hubs. As far as future is concerned, I’m expecting the government to take some steps towards the benefit of the textile industry. I’m expecting the next 5 years to be quite good for the industry as a whole.
Yatin Kapasi, Director, Flock Tex
It’s our first time participating here at the exhibition. We’re making a vision based controlled machine which can detect each and every stripe and place the pattern accordingly. So when the front and the back of the garment have to match the stripes, then this machine can be used. This will result in all garments look same after production. With our software, we can control moving, stretch ability and averaging. The machine is very useful for stripes and placement industry; it’s a role to role cutting. It’s specially made for knitwear and for stripes and placement. We started this company in 2016. Nine months ago, we came to Tirupur and visited many companies. We found out that there was a huge problem in stripes cutting which lead us to the development of this machine. The machine is assembled in India; we have special tie ups with different companies for different parts. It’s a laser machine only for cutting. The software part is developed in India; it’s in a joint venture with another company part of my team. The response has been very good, more than what I expected.
R. Kathiereshan, Chief Executive, RETEX
The show was earlier going to be held in February. After that, they postponed it to the first week of March. So a lot of people were thinking that whether we are going to participate or not, is it really going to do be held or not. Due to all these things, everybody was in dilemma. Keeping the same phase, we gave advanced already, so we have to participate and have already settled our payment also.
We had expectations and need more customers but the show is not upto the mark. Maybe due to the market scenario or lack of proper advertisements and promotion, visitor footfall has been affected. As far as Tirupur market is concerned, after Diwali upto Pongal it was not so good. After Pongal it slowly started picking up. We can definitely expect further improvements.
S. Jeganathan, Proprietor, Sri Bhumaa Traders
We are introducing Tokyee brand from China at this exhibition. This is for the first time they are launching their machine in South Indian market. So, if you look all Chinese brands, this is one of the best brands. This machine works by Servo Motor System with servo controller, which is not there in other Chinese brands. Hence, we are expecting higher machine sales in South Indian market because here people are quality conscious. When you look at the machine performance, you don’t see machine yarn breakage, vibration or making big noises while running. It reduces the machine downtime, wastage of fabric and increase safety of the technical hooks and make it faster. Normally, everybody is making machines as slanting angle system but we have made it straight. So the operators need not to bend while working in knitting zone. They can see knitting zone as easily and comfortably. Apart from that, when you look at the takedown area there are some safety switches for operator safety. We are just launching Tokyee in Indian market through Knittech exhibition. On 1st day there were less customers but yesterday and today it was really good. We got the positive from visitors.
Sabeer S, Director – Operation, Sahara Technologies
We provide all garment solutions from cutting to finishing. We have brands from Cologne, Turkey, Taiwan and China. We also have various country collaborations with many suppliers. We represent Allcomp, the machine is from Poland. They examine the exact needs of customer and make their machines accordingly and the quality of the output is very good. This is the first time that we’re launching this product in India. They’re manufacturing all kinds of attachments that could be used to reduce the dependency on the skill level. Like this, you can increase your productivity with this attachment which is very easy to use and can be operated even by a simple helper. Now, we are looking for the new entry for Crea Solution which is one of the first IT partner supplying software and hardware solutions to fashion industry. At Knittech, the first day was very slow and the footfall was also low. Day 2 was very good compared to the first day; there were many customers. The thing here is that many visitors come in later hours so it would be practical for us to start late too. As far as market is concerned, it’s a very difficult time. Only after the elections we will be able to see some change.
V. Vivek, Chandra Incorp.
As a company we deal with all knitting spare parts accessories for the knitting industry. We also supply processing oil and grease for processing work; these are the two areas we operate in. Now, we’re launching our product Miller machine which is based in Taiwan and have a production plant in China. They make rib machine, single jersey machine, jacquard machine and they also make special polyplace machine.
If compared to any Asian brand, we are better as we make all our products as per European standards with high speed and performance. It’s been three months since we started in Tirupur and till now 2 machines have arrived. We are looking at this exhibition to see how sales activities will go out here. The response at this exhibition has been good. The market here has always been a bit turbulent and it is hard to predict what will happen here. From the last 30 years, the market here has been growing and so in the future, we are still expecting it to grow.
