Textile mills in the Coimbatore region in Tamil Nadu have always been known for their focus on quality and penchant for innovation. In several instances, the innovation is driven by the second generation of entrepreneurs who have recently taken over the reins. Chenniappa Yarn Spinners Private Limited, with its wide range of products, is a good example of a company where the young generation is driving forward the growth momentum. The company, which has a spinning as well as knitting division, has made a name for itself through its focus on sustainable initiatives and product diversification. Varun Subramaniam, a second-generation entrepreneur, who is currently the director of the company, provides further insights about how the company has been at the forefront in many respects
Chenniappa Yarn Spinners was established in 2005. Providing a brief overview of the early days of the company, Director Varun Subramaniam says, “The company was started thanks to the vision of my father who is still an integral part of our growth. Before the establishment of Chenniappa Yarn Spinners he was already running a knitting job work unit. We started this enterprise as part of our backward integration initiative in 2005. Since then, we have been adding and updating technology on regular intervals. We started with 12,000 spindle capacity. In 2012 we added another 4,000 spindles. In 2017 we added another 5,600 spindles. Recently this year, i.e. 2021 we have added 2,400 spindles, bringing the total spindle capacity to 24,000 as of now.”
“With the introduction of 600 rotors for open end yarn spinning and adding machineries to our knitting capacity, we have a fabric production capacity of 6 metric tons per day and with respect to yarn we are somewhere around 14 metric tons a day,” he adds. Varun joined the business immediately after completing his Masters in Business Administration from the US. “I had studied automation engineering as part of my degree course. After seeing the acute labour shortage issue and the significance of manpower in our industry, I decided to study the subject in detail as I felt that the future is all about automation. After my engineering I worked a year in our factory to understand the voids and to equip myself better before I went to the US for my higher education,” he informs.
A Wide Portfolio
The company offers a wide range of products. Elaborating on the range, Varun says, “We work with 100% cotton yarns. Apart from that we also offer all types of fancy mélange yarns and other multi-blend yarns.” The company’s range of fancy yarns includes 100% cotton mélange, grindle yarn, slub or injection slub yarn, neppy mélange, flaky mélange, snow mélange and certified yarns. The blended mélange yarn variety offered by the company includes polyester blend, viscose blend, tri-blend yarns, modal blends, micro-modal blends and bamboo-cotton blends.
“With respect to open ended (OE) yarns, we have specifically set up an exclusive facility inside our factory to promote sustainable yarns. We are manufacturing 100% recycled yarns in this OE facility,” he adds. According to Varun, Chenniappa Yarn Spinners predominantly caters to the domestic market. “Around 90% of our sales are to the domestic market. The rest 10% caters to the export market depending on the season. This is again on a merchant export basis. Some of the countries where we export to include Sri Lanka, Egypt and Greece,” he mentions.
Sustainability Measures
The company has been a trendsetter of sorts in the region when it comes to sustainability initiatives. Sharing details on this subject, Varun states, “Sustainability is the buzz word in all industries. It is also the need of the hour as we need to be concerned about the health of our planet and future generations. We have always focused on bringing in sustainability in our products as well as process facilities. Our campus is one of the greenest in the industry as we believe that a green place is an happy place. In fact 60% of the energy (2.2 MW) that we consume is wind-generated. We are planning to now go in for a solar power plant.”
“Once this happens, and we begin to generate the rest 40% through the solar plant, we will be running on 100% renewable energy. We hope this happens soon since there is a conducive environment for such green investments,” he adds. Continuing further, he says, “We are also working with a lot of certification programs and promoting certified products. For example, we are working with Cotton Made in Africa. This certification is helping support the livelihood of farmers in the underdeveloped regions of Africa. Similarly there is the Better Cotton Initiative, which is greatly helping Indian farmers. We are also working with GRS certification.”
The company is also engaged in the production of man-made fibres (MMFs). “The manufacturing process of MMFs is not as sustainable as that of natural fibres. As such, we are using recycled raw material in the manufacturing process to improve the sustainability quotient. In our polyester blend products we preferably use fibres made out of recycling PET bottles. In our OE facility we produce recycled yarn, which is a zero dyeing and minimal water usage product. Only one-fifth of the water is required for post-spinning processing of our OE yarns. That is almost equal to saving 40 litres of water per kg of fabric or 10 litres of water per garment directly,” Varun elaborates.
Highlighting the steps taken by the company to improve sustainability with respect to the production process, Varun informs, “We have set up comprehensive power as well as spindle monitoring systems. All our team members are very conscious about energy consumption right from the top management to the operator at the floor level. We constantly check the dashboard of the systems and study the statistics. This focus has now become part and parcel of our working culture.” he says, and adds, “With these initiatives around 5-6% of our direct energy consumption has reduced. But if you were to calculate the indirect savings, it will be even more.”
Training the Workforce
Varun is of the strong belief that the company’s employees are its biggest strength. The mill has staff strength of 400+ professionals at any given point in time, with about 60% of the workforce being women. The company is also working closely with government projects such as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana. “We are a certified training centre. Thanks to initiatives such as PMKVY, we are an up-skilling centre. While earlier the workforce here would be usually from the state of Tamil Nadu, now with the migrant workers coming into the state, we can say we are now among the few organisations that have been contributing towards up-skilling of the workforce from different parts of the country,” he points out.
Varun adds that the company’s proactive HR policies, including providing hostel facilities, were instrumental in Chenniappa Yarn Spinners surmounting the challenge posed by the pandemic. “Our entire team was very supportive. We made sure none of our workers from other parts of the country left the hostel. We provided them with food and accommodation and kept them safe throughout the lockdown period. It took us about 3-4 months to return to a normal working pace but the effects are still prevalent,” he reveals.
Future Plans
When asked to spell out the future plans of the company, Varun is clear that the focus will be on adding to the product portfolio. “Our priority in the immediate future is for expansion in our product range rather than any further addition in production capacity. With our robust research and development we are always trying to come out with innovative products and hope to continue with this drive. With the textile industry showing positive and sustainable growth trends, we look forward to an exciting time ahead,” he says.