The biggest challenge today for any technology provider is to offer a product that the industry would be willing to invest in, particularly at a time when investments are not priority due to weak market trends. Most of the industry is lying low, waiting for market revival but for a few forward thinkers. Imperial Group of Companies, which was earlier supplying garment machinery and services have expanded its product line by offering machinery to the textile sector with major focus on automation and innovation. Automation not only makes process easy, compact and highly productive over conventional systems but also adds value to the product in many ways through superior and consistent quality eventually making the product price competitive and affordable. Appreciating and understanding the industry concerns, Deipak Doshii, MD, Imperial Group believes that the only way to penetrate the market is by offering ‘value’ to operations. In a retrospective mood, Deipak shares with Team StitchWorld the challenges he faces today and the strategy for survival.
SW: How do you see the market for technology today?
Deipak: The market today for technology is very slow; there are no major projects in garmenting or textiles due to various reasons like sluggish global market, higher input cost, and low buying power due to recession in global scenario. In addition, on the domestic front the TUF scheme’s slow rate of fund disbursement and uncertainty of TUF Scheme continuation has made investors adapt wait and watch approach on the new investments and projects.
On the flip side however, we hear that the Maharashtra Government has initialised a scheme for remote parts of Maharashtra like Marathwada, Vidharba and such areas by offering special facility to encourage investment in the industry and that includes 7% subsidy on interest and 10% additional subsidy on new investments. With 20% subsidy already being given by TUF, the total subsidy would work out to around 37%. With this additional incentive the Government expects number of large projects in the region with investment in excess of Rs. 600 crore to come up soon in the interior of Maharashtra.
SW: You have always been a garment technology provider…, why the shift to textiles?
Deipak: We are not changing track, only expanding the product offerings, as more and more companies are looking for backward and forward integration to address issues of lead times, consistent quality and cost advantage within the supply chain. Even today a majority of our products are for garment segment and most of my clients either have integrated units or are planning integration one way or the other. In fact, due to the demand and requirements from our existing and new clients our group thought it prudent to offer complete integrated projects with end to end solutions for the textile and garment industry.
The hard-core textile machinery market is already being serviced by many big and established players and it is not easy to penetrate this segment with conventional technology and machinery. Therefore, Imperial Group entered in this arena through innovative and technology superior products which are different from what most suppliers are providing. To ensure reliable services for the technology products for textiles and garments, the company has formed an entirely new team for the textile division keeping our existing apparel lines unaffected.
SW: What special do you have for the textile segment?
Deipak: Besides machines for spinning and weaving, we have value addition machines for textiles. To name a few significant products, we have Muratex, Turkey offering special machines for foil printing, embossing, flock printing, coating, etc. All types of laser cutting and engraving on textiles from Ot-las – Italy which ensures continuous operations with roll to roll process. In the Wet Processing category we have environment-friendly machines from Dilmenler, all of which add value to the washing and finishing process. These machines are primarily from Europe; however, our company is not averse to good Chinese products which many a time provide a sensible economy package as an alternative to European products, for example Taitan Looms and preparatory machines provide good options to price-conscious buyers. I can say with confidence that Imperial believes in offering “Innovative & Automation” products as a life line for the textiles and garments in future.
SW: When you say automated solutions, what exactly do you mean? Is the Industry really ready for such automation?
Deipak: I feel the industry in principle is ready for automation, for the viability as labour availability is getting difficult. We have introduced machines for automation in various diverse areas, especially machines for automation in Warehousing, ERP solutions, Automation for manufacturing of shirts and denims and finishing and packaging for textiles and garmenting. Then there are processing machines like Air Flow Dyeing Machines which require very less water and chemicals thereby minimising the effluent generation and treatment.
We also have loom data monitoring systems for weaving industry to monitor each individual looms and get the data sitting anywhere. The system monitors practically everything of the loom operation like stoppage time and reason for stoppage, production per shift/day, the efficiency and many more. All the information is caught directly from individual loom and the loom shed. It has two variants, one normal, the other is cordless.
On the garment industry side there are various automations, particularly in cutting room, finishing and packing areas, the examples are CAD systems, automated fabric spreading and cutting, ironing and packing lines, etc. In sewing section there can never be fully automation, however few important and difficult operations can be automated by combining together multiple operations. In addition, in sewing lines one can substantially reduce the material and sewn parts handling time by installing hanger system thereby improving productivity to great extent. We offer Smart MRT Hanger System to do the same. We suggest companies to train at least 10 people and not just two or three so that in case one or two leave the organization, the system does not become a liability.
SW: Among the various products offered, which of them according to you have the potential to be winners, and why?
Deipak: One of the machines I am really bullish on is automation for ironing, folding and packaging (all together in one machine) for vests and other undergarments, with the capacity of 16,000 pieces per day from NEW.MEC, Italy. In this automation even the polybag is made automatically as per the size of the garment, so you don’t have to even order bags for packaging, everything is computerized. All you need is one person for loading while the rest – ironing, folding, packaging, along with the attachment of barcode is done automatically.
Another automation I believe in is Smart MRT by which we can assure reduction of handling time by 30% in comparison to the existing bundle system; it can go up to 40%. Moreover every operation is recorded (by RFID) and every garment is tracked so that you don’t lose even one piece. Through RFID, the operator can monitor how much he/she is earning in how much time, which is an automatic motivation for the operator. In the textile segment I am confident about value adding machines from Muratex and Ot-las.
SW: Do you have the technical support in India, in case there is some problem in the machine?
Deipak: The problematic area is software while hardware is highly reliable if one chose hardware of reputed good make. However, even then problem has been addressed easily as the manufacturers can directly access the software and do the repairing from anywhere in the world.
To support the easy functioning of all equipment and solutions, we have a team of 75 people and branch offices in most manufacturing centres, which is our core strength. Smaller teams, within the larger group are trained to handle the needs of over 21 brands in different applications from spinning to finishing and cutting to packing.
Today it is important to offer solutions, not machines… Adopting the strategy which most international technology providers are following, we first inspect a factory and talk to its management to understand their need and offer them a solution. Let us take the case of an automatic cutter, we survey the factory and check present way of doing things, their requirement in terms of styles, quantity, fabric consumption, whether they have CAD system. Based on the findings we make a presentation and show them how much they can save on fabrics, manpower, space as well as increase in volume and consistent quality by using auto cutter. The findings are then converted into hard-core savings for the factory to see before talks on prices and ROI are done. We believe in convincing the buyer that the offer and deal if implemented will bring him advantage and value much more than the investment made on the machinery.
SMART MRT
The Overhead Hanger System from Singapore Machinery Company, a pioneer in the field, is among the most sought-after from the wide range of offerings from Imperial Sewing Systems. The Unit Production System from the company is not only popular for its robust design and working, but also due to being cost-effective, at the same time. Although assembled in Singapore, all the critical components of the system have been manufactured in Japan. “The most striking advantage of the SMART MRT system enables drastic improvement in throughput time, along with reduction in Total Cycle Time from 3 days to less than a day,” avers Deipak Doshii.
Smart MRT Unit Production System consists of an overhead transportation system that automatically route and deliver cut pieces to each sewing workstation sequentially. Some of the advantages of Smart MRT UPS are – increased productivity by at least 30% over the traditional bundle system. Real time information regarding employee performance, efficiency, productivity, WIP and all other aspects related to the sewing floor are recorded simultaneously for effective planning.
All unnecessary manpower requirements are removed by providing high labour yield through the system. Throughput time from 2-3 days to just 2-3 hours and work in progress to just 20 hangers per station can be maintained through Smart MRT. Maintaining accountability and quality becomes easier as at the end of the line the product is less crumbled and soiled. All the advantages help in saving time, cost and resources and helps in better planning.
NEW. MEC
Specialized folding and packing equipment for all kinds of apparel products, has always been the niche of NEW. MEC since 1992. Today with more than 20 years of experience in the field of Industrial Automation, the company provides solutions ranging from folding, automatic packaging, palletizers to folding and packaging machine for laundry. “Everybody is concerned with reducing the sewing times and handling times, but there is a lack of focus towards optimizing operations of packaging and folding, which are still mostly manual in nature,” states Deipak Doshii.
The core of the technology from the company is “from article to the box”, i.e. only one operator is sufficient to run the machine, starting from the finished article to ironing, folding, packaging, labelling, bar-code and finally the discharge into baskets or boxes with a great saving in time and money.
The PG-BETA-B the folding and packaging machine for knitted upper-wear and underwear, from NEW. MEC, has evolved into a unique folding and packaging machine, with bags made within it from neutral or pre-printed film. The complete process-control is subdivided in modules hence each function can be individually adjusted as per its parameters with ease and precision. This aspect also enables folding and packaging of products with different dimensions and sizes, by a single machine.
OT-LAS
Ot-las laser technology used in today’s trendy and demanding market place is also among the most sought-after technologies marketed by Imperial Group. The technology creates array of designs and effects on textile substrates in roll-to-roll continuous operation, used in various applications like home textiles, furnishings, decorations, fashion fabrics and many more. In addition the technology also can be used in decoration of other base materials like leather, ceramics, wallpaper, wood, glass and stoneware.
For more than 25 years Ot-las has been developing, in close interactions with national and international customers, specialized laser solutions for all production demands from cutting and piercing to engraving and decorating. It transforms all types of fabric, from single to continuous rolls, with no limitation on the height of rolls, which they process with high level productivity. Despite interacting with the structure of the fibres, Ot-las technology preserves the fabric hand, enhancing the decorative appearance.
Muratex
With value addition being the latest strategy for moving up the value chain, solutions for all kinds of printing requirements from Muratex, have been successfully fulfilling the needs and expectations of the textile industry. Established in 1970, the Turkish pioneer has always been known for producing special textile printing, embossing and calendaring equipment. “The company not only has the Turkish expertise in finishing and value-addition but always keeps the criteria of low-cost and high quality in mind, while producing all its technologies,” adds Deipak Doshii.
The Continuous Hot Foil Printing Machines from Muratex is not only known for the quality of prints it delivers, but the ease of use in these times of skill shortage, due to the presence of features like pneumatic squeezing system, PLC control, touch screen operator panel and remote control. The foil printing machine is also capable of producing equally good Flexo prints. The machine is also equipped with a 3 chamber dryer unit 5.5 metre long, using 9 infrared dryers for the purpose. With both the upper and lower cylinders hardened with Chromium for longer life, the machine can print at the maximum speed of 20 metres per minute.
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