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The Textile Magazine
APRIL 2012
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67
machine, the R 923 semi-automatic
rotor spinning machine and the RSB
D 22 drawframe, with which Rieter
also successfully prevailed over lo-
cal competitors.
High inventory levels, flagging
sales and declining yarn prices, as
also the political upheavals in the
Arab countries, unsettled custom-
ers in the second six months, and
this resulted in order postponements
and cancelations. On the other hand,
Spun Yarn Systems was able to
work off its very full orderbooks
and shorten delivery terms, which
had lengthened enormously dur-
ing the boom in 2010 to a normal
level. Spun Yarn Systems still had a
healthy level of orders in hand as at
the end of 2011.
The business group substantial-
ly increased its output in the year
under review and reported dispro-
portionately strong growth in prof-
itability. Good capacity utilization
and continuous improvements in
manufacturing costs enabled Spun
Yarn Systems to almost double the
operating result before interest and
taxes in the year under review from
42.4 million CHF to 81.2 million
CHF.
New innovative products
Spun Yarn Systems presented an
innovative product portfolio at the
ITMA textile machinery exhibition
in Barcelona, featuring a series of
new products that are very impor-
tant for the spinning process. These
included the Varioline blowroom
line, the C 70 card, the RSB-D 45
drawframe, the R 60 fully automat-
ed rotor spinning machine and sen-
sors developed in-house for quality
assurance of the yarns.
The J 20 airjet spinning machine,
the production series of which was
launched at ITMA, attracted partic-
ular attention. The airjet spinning
process enables high productivity
to be combined with low yarn man-
ufacturing costs with good quality
and novel yarn properties. These
open up a wide range of possibili-
ties in downstream processing and
for end-products.
Spun Yarn Systems is develop-
ing products with a good price/
performance ratio combined with
good quality of the yarns produced
in order to meet the needs of the
large domestic markets in China
and India. However, the familiar
strengths of the Rieter brand with
its long tradition are also increas-
ingly in demand in these markets.
These include low energy consump-
tion, good raw material utilization
and reliable automation of the ma-
chines, which enable customers in
China and India to counteract the
growing shortage of skilled spin-
ning mill personnel.
Spun Yarn Systems’ product
pipeline is well filled and ensures
that important innovations will
continue to come to the market in
the years to come. In the field of
fundamental development Rieter
co-operates worldwide with uni-
versities, research institutions, stra-
tegic partners and key suppliers.
Expanding global
presence
In the year under review Spun
Yarn Systems systematically pur-
sued localization of products and
alignment of its organization to
the needs of major markets. This
included construction of another
facility in Changzhou (China) and
expansion of the Wing and Kore-
gaon Bhima sites in India.
In both China and India Spun
Yarn Systems implemented addi-
tional process improvements and
systematically further expanded the
development, manufacturing and
sales organization. This included
recruiting local personnel for key
positions. Rieter also has a good
reputation as an employer at its
Asian locations.
Spun Yarn Systems also invested
in Winterthur Machine Works and
the Czech facility to increase pro-
ductivity.
w
spinning