The Textile Magazine
OctoBER 2011
|
77
conveyor belt, lining fabric, para-
chute fabric, etc. Also we had ma-
chines running on stretch denim,
woollen suiting and cotton sheeting
fabric at highest speed. Terry towel
loom running was to showcase our
diversifed product range. We had
looms running on furnishing fabric
as well.
TM: Have there been any path
breaking innovations showcased
this year by Picanol?
KV: We have built a new airjet
loom on a fresh new platform which
will help us build on it in the coming
years. Our focus was on reducing
air consumption on the loom, which
will directly reduce power consump-
tion is most critical when any deci-
sion of going for weaving machines.
This new machine focuses on main-
taining optimum pressure inside the
machine in order to make sure mini-
mum air consumed. The machine is
user-friendly and comes with a new
electronic system called Picanol
Bluebox. Another important issue
facing customers today is managing
waste. We have introduced a system
called Cordless by which wastage
can be completely eliminated in air-
jet machines. In case of rapier loom,
we have launched a new machine
in the Optimax range which elimi-
nates wastage on one side. Another
important innovation is positive
guided gripper system which gives
signifcant speed advantage in case
of wider loom width.
TM: How was the overall re-
sponse during the 8-day event?
And more specifcally, how was
the response from Indian visitors?
KV: Very encouraging, I would
say. Almost all expected custom-
ers came to ITMA from India. It
was not just courtesy visits, but they
spent quality time in the Picanol
booth understanding the new devel-
opments. Whenever our new Omni-
plusSummum was running at 2011
rpm, the booth was packed with cus-
tomers, which goes to show accept-
ance of our products by customers.
We had very good quality visitors
from India.
TM: This year’s ITMA wit-
nessed record number of visitors
from India. Do you see this as a
signs of revival in the Indian do-
mestic market sentiment? What is
your perception of growth in the
Indian domestic market, particu-
larly in the weaving segment?
KV: In India, more than 75% of
market for both spinning and weav-
ing industry today is domestic mar-
ket focus which they feel is safe and
stable. On the weaving front, we can
classify upper segment or organ-
ised sector who has modern spin-
ning capacity and some have gone
Mr. P. Kasiviswanathan with the dynamic Picanol India team
ITMA 2011
[exclusive feature]