India’s growing economic prosperity is resulting in a growth in the domestic textiles and garments sectors, and as consumers become wealthier they are demanding better quality.
These changes represent great opportunities for entrepreneurs, given the enormous size of the Indian population, but this also requires heavy investment in the best technology and, in turn, a keen eye on the part of equipment manufacturers and suppliers to recognise trends and supply solutions to meet them.
“This is all happening very quickly, and the changes are profound ones,” says Mr. Gurudas Aras, Director of the Textile Engineering Group at A.T.E. Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. “But there is no doubt the developments are all very positive ones, and we ourselves are very confident that with our brand names and the quality of the technology and service they and we can supply, the future is a very promising one for us.”
The A.T.E. Group of Mumbai is a formidable force today in India’s textile and garments industry. It started off as a modest operation. Founded as Associated Textile Engineers in 1939 by S.H. Bhagwati, it initially sold textile machinery in India. In 1954 the founder’s son, Atul Bhagwati, joined the company and began importing European textile technology from leading overseas manufacturers.
In 1973 the company started its first joint venture with a European company for manufacturing, beginning with rotary screen printing machines, followed soon by another venture for manufacturing flyers for textile spinning and a little later the other joint ventures.
A.T.E. representation of A. Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH began in 1975, and in 1997 it entered into a manufacturing agreement with the company to assemble Monforts stenters under the Motex brand name at its factory in Ahmedabad.
Mr. Aras says that till 1990s, the stenter technology in India was very basic. The equipment used by most producers being essentially two side frames with a pin chain, the fabric was stretched between them to give the desired finish and width. The stenter was regarded as being just a drying medium with hot air.
The year 2007 saw a complete restructuring of the A.T.E. Group, and A.T.E. Enterprises became the sales, marketing, distribution, and after-sales service business.
“Although we face competition in the stenter sector with other manufacturers, from Europe, the Far East and locally, there is no one who can offer the same level of quality and technical support,” says Mr. Aras.
“A.T.E. has over the course of many years built up a service strength that is dedicated to supporting Indian manufacturers, and with Monforts we also have the great advantage that we have three sources we can draw on, namely, Monforts in Germany, which produces the Montex 6500, Motex and the Monforts joint venture in China, Monfongs, which produces its own version of the Montex 6500. So, in this way we offer the best and the fastest options possible. Monforts has created its own competition. There is no other competitor like this in the market, and Monforts has the largest stenter population in India. This is backed up by 10 A.T.E. offices throughout the country, for we maintain a presence in all the important textile centres.”
Mr. Aras further says that the strength of the Monforts brand in India is now leading the way to producers investing in the company’s continuous dyeing technology. Three or four years ago, India’s textile sector was undergoing expansion and producers began looking for complete end-to-end solutions.
Monforts used the strength of its stenter brand to enter the continuous dyeing sector, and supplied us with complete support. One of the most significant moves came when Monforts organised a conference in Germany dedicated to continuous dyeing, and invited a very large group of potential customers from India so they could see the machinery at work and talk to the people there.
It was enormously effective and has helped to open the Indian market for the Thermex continuous dyeing range. Monforts is now the largest supplier of continuous dyeing machines in India.
“These machines come from Germany respectively the Montex plant in Austria, and as with the stenters we enter into an after-sales service agreement with our customers in which we undertake to keep the machines in good health, with preventive maintenance and fast delivery and installation of spare parts. All this of course helps maintain Monforts’ reputation in the market”, adds Mr. Aras.