Sharper focus on providing quality & reliable manufacturing solutions for textile industry
Batliboi is among the pioneering groups of companies in India that have been around for more than a century. Started way back in 1892, Batliboi has a strong manufacturing footprint and an equally strong marketing business. The Batliboi Group of companies is primarily in the engineering industry and covers areas of machine tools, air engineering, textile machinery, air-conditioning & refrigeration, environmental engineering, wind energy, motors, international marketing and logistics. Its manufacturing facilities are located at Surat, Bangalore and Thane in India and at Peterborough in Canada.
In the marketing business, Batliboi represents some of the leading global machinery manufacturers across the entire machine tools and textile industry value chain. With a rich heritage of 120 years, it has continuously kept pace with the evolving technology and industry requirements. The company is known for providing reliable products and solutions. Textiles is an important industry vertical for Batliboi both from a manufacturing and marketing business viewpoints. We met the Senior Management Team at Batliboi to know about the company’s current business and future plans.
In 2012-13, the business handled by Batliboi Group globally was Rs. 530 crores. The company’s textile business in particular has witnessed an upsurge due to global demand for textiles from India. Opening of new sectors in home textile also contributed positively for the Textile Machinery Marketing Division.
Mr. Nirmal Bhogilal, Chairman & Managing Director, Batliboi Ltd., said: “At Batliboi, our emphasis is on growing all our businesses, manufacturing and marketing both organically and inorganically through strategic acquisitions in our related areas.”
Air Engineering Group
In the sixties, Batliboi ushered in a concept of controlled humidity in textiles mills in India as a means to optimize quality and productivity. The company’s continued commitment to this field for the last six decades has made it a leader in the design and supply of air engineering systems and equipment. Today, Batliboi manufactures the entire range of air engineering equipment which include high efficiency fans, air washer systems, chiller packages, rotary drum filter, rotary water filter, fibre recovery and condensing systems and other auxiliary equipment. The precise control of environmental conditions in the production halls are ensured by sophisticated automatic controls from Sauter AG, Switzerland. The Batliboi Air Engineering Group is among the foremost players in the Indian textile engineering industry. It is a well known supplier for a wide range of world-class equipment and a leader in textile air engineering system.
“The Air Engineering Business is expected to improve further considering the increase in the enquiry level for proposed green field projects, expansion in spinning and weaving sector and overall positive market scenario. The new focused approach in applications for non textile sector will also offer growth opportunities for the division in the coming years. Also the buoyant situation in the international yarn market is a big opportunity for the Spinning Sector. After a slow down, capacities are being added in Andhra Pradesh and new projects are being finalized particularly in North India, Gujarat and MP which will be new areas of growth opportunities”, says Mr. Daniel Vaz, CEO – Air Engineering Group.
Textile Machinery Group
Batliboi has assisted modernization of the Indian textile industry by identifying some of the important global machine manufacturers and offering technology that is relevant to the Indian market. The Textile Machinery Group serves the spinning, knitting, processing, garment printing and technical textile industry. Batliboi supplies the latest generation of equipment from companies like Saurer Schlafhorst, Mayer & Cie, Loptex, Loris Bellini, Mario Crosta, Ferraro, Ratti, Icomatex, Avioli, MHM, Brazzoli and PLM who are world leaders in their respective fields. The company also supplies spinning accessories from renowned companies like Nitto and lubricants from Castrol.
Mr. Edwyn Rodrigues, CEO, Batliboi Textile Machinery Group, says: “Our strength lies in our ability provide end to end advice and solutions starting from equipment selection, commercial advice and solutions on import, machine supply, installation, training and after sales service. To ensure quality service, we engage qualified textile / electronic engineers and invest in providing them relevant training. Our Training and Service Center at Tirupur is another initiative to enhance our total service offerings. Our policy is to represent companies who are probably among the top 2 in their respective segments and more importantly they must be at the forefront of technology and research. We work with companies who are focused on quality and should continuously engineer their products to meet market needs”.
It is this philosophy which has enabled the group to buck the current trend and show growth and profits even in a difficult year for the industry.
The Indian textile industry has gone through a learning curve when it comes to buying textile machinery. There was a short period when the industry preferred low cost options purely to reduce their initial investment but quickly realized the downside. Today, the industry understands the importance of working with companies which continuously focus on quality and innovation.
“It’s not important just to look at the initial investment but consider the complete lifecycle cost, which is the maintenance and running cost. This is the reason why our Principals have remained global market leaders. These companies don’t compromise on quality and are backed by very strong research and engineering which help them understand the customer and market requirements, develop machines accordingly”, says Mr. Rodrigues.
Rotor Spinning – BD the pioneer
In this segment, Batliboi represents Saurer Schlafhorst offering its semi automatic rotor spinning machines. These machines are extremely productive and spin precisely the quality required in downstream processing. The BD machines also offer smart savings potentials, e.g. in energy consumption, in raw materials management and in logistics costs. “Fundamentally we have understood the market and clients requirement, what are they looking for and what raw materials they can use. Today the BD machine is the most viable machine in semi-auto rotor spinning segment. We have a 80% market share in this segment”. The recently introduced BD 448 which has 448 spinning positions is a big hit in Indian market. In the coming months, you will also see another model which is in keeping with Saurer Schlafhorst’s philosophy of continuous innovation”, says Mr. Rodrigues.
The sales and service team is in continuous discussion with the clients in identifying new applications, working with new fibers, reducing the cost of production and improving customers’ profitability. Recently, one of the customers in the South produced mélange yarns for knits on the BD rotor spinning machine. This is true innovation. The customer believed in it and we worked with them to achieve it”, adds Mr. Rodrigues.
Knitting & processing machinery
In this segment, the name Batliboi is synonymous to Mayer and Cie. The company has been representing Mayer and Cie since the 1980s and has a very strong leadership position in the Knitting segment. Batliboi’s Knits Group is primarily involved in servicing the knit sector in India. It is a leader in the supply, installation and service of circular knitting machines from Mayer and Cie, who are international leaders in the field.
What is less well-known is Batliboi’s equally long association with leading dyeing and finishing machine manufacturers starting with Scholl & Ruckh. The recent principals in dyeing / finishing are equally pioneering and have a great passion for quality.
Mayer & Cie has been in India for well over three decades, and since 1982 the company has been working with Batliboi Ltd. The two enjoy a three-decade-old strong relationship. With over 2,000 Mayer and Cie machines operating across the country, India becomes one of the most important global markets for the company.
In fact, Mayer and Cie has created a platform called the Competence team which comprises people from R&D, marketing, service and support divisions, including chief technicians and technical people from 4 key countries. This team meets twice a year to get ground level information and customer feedback and expectations, which are then utilised for further product development. The marketing and service team of Batliboi are part of this competence team since inception offering valuable market information which help in development of new products and further enhancing the efficiency and productivity of existing models machines.
In fact, one of the most revolutionary technologies in recent times from Mayer and Cie is the SPINIT system which can spin and knit in one go. The roving is fed directly into the knit machine and the spinning and knitting process takes place on the machine itself. This avoids two expensive processes, i.e., ring spinning and winding, apart from packing and transportation of yarn.
These machines have been undergoing trials for the last couple of years and will get into field tests now. “We are talking to our customers about these machines. We have given some samples and customers are very enthusiastic. India being a big spinning market we want to offer the best product for this market”, says Mr. Rodrigues.
Batliboi also provides complete consultancy and training for the industry. The company has established a modern training centre at Tirupur with the goal of being a complete resource provider to the knitting industry. “We listen to customers, understand their requirements and offer efficient solutions. The new markets for Circular Knitting Sector opened will help to increase sales. Our supplier has also introduced machines which are reliable and address the Indian market needs. This sector will show a robust growth in coming years.”
Batliboi represents leading brands in the dyeing and processing segment like Loris Bellini, Mario Crosta, Ferraro and has added a few more international reputed suppliers to complete the offering. The new products are expected to contribute significantly in the years to come.
While the Processing Sector continues to be most challenging, it also has maximum opportunities. Customers have realized the importance of Pollution Control Systems and this will enable the industry to re-open their earlier planned projects. Some important breakthroughs were made on account of projects finalized for two of the division new suppliers of Yarn Dyeing Machines and Fabric Dyeing Machines respectively.
The solutions offered by Loris Bellini of yarn dyeing for e.g., reduce the amount of effluent by about 20%. This automatically means a similar reduction in the investment and operating cost of the effluent plant and process. Their unique process utilises the real source of reduction of water consumed unlike the mistaken traditional concept of an unrealistically low material to liquor ratio.
After-sales service
Service has been the biggest strengths of Batliboi. Mr. Rodrigues observes: “Our service team is twice the size of our sales team. We have a fully equipped service facility and electronic test bench in Tirupur and Mumbai and very soon in Ludhiana. We believe in service and training, 80% of which is done on the site. We have operators coming for training even from Bangladesh and our engineers travel all across the world to service customers. Its not just about selling a machine but the overall experience is more important.
Three of our major principals in Knits and Processing, utilise Engineers from our service team for their installation and service operations overseas.
“We started selling machines since the 1940s and strengthened our presence over the years. We have the strength and complete back up of a large organization. We have the expertise and understanding of what goes into importing of machineries, which is of great help to our customers. We want to further improve on our service levels to support our customers”, according to Mr. Rodrigues.
Batliboi is committed to invest, diversify and expand its operations in terms of volume and quality and help engineer a strong and prosperous textile industry in India. What is really interesting to note is that, despite being a 120-year-old company, Batliboi is still very agile and hungry for growth. The company is actively exploring growth opportunities in manufacturing and trading keeping in mind the requirement of its customers.