In business, there are some who just follow the rest and others who believe in thinking out of the box. Indo Texnology is one such company which believes in offering solutions through an in-depth understanding of the challenges faced by textile mills at the ground level. The company is focused on providing solutions in process and systems automation.
Indo Texnology was started in 2007 by a team of professionals who had decades of experience in the textile industry. Their understanding of the industry and processes and the practical challenges faced by textile mills helped them think out of the box and offer solutions, which in some cases have been the first of its kind in the world and even patented.
One such solution that was launched at India-ITME is the Sortlink system. The Sortlink is a complete process of cop sorting, which is automated avoiding manpower and possible errors. There is potential to save 12 to 24 people per day for a 25,000 spindle capacity. This can be a retrofit attachment to any existing automatic winder and saves the effort of manual sorting.
Mr. Thirupathi, CEO of Indotexnology and one of the founding members, says: “The Sortlink system has received maximum attention at India-ITME. The industry has been looking for such solution. It is a patented and a unique solution, one which the Indian textile industry can pride itself in. We have a few trial installation and will get into commercial production soon”.
Automation can be both process and systems automation. Process automation would be a combination of mechanical, electronic and software embedded. It could be an independent solution or an attachment to the existing machine. It primarily eliminates human error and inefficiencies in the existing system and integrates with the other systems that are in place.
Mr. Thirupathi observes: “Even now, the labor cost in India is not a deterrent , but the ability to attract people and retain them is a big challenge for companies. Hence we are trying to deskill the operations so that there is minimal human dependence”.
Automatic waste collection and baling
One of the first solutions offered by Indo Texnology was automatic waste collection system and automatic baling. Although there were similar solutions offered globally by European manufacturers, they came at a high cost and very few companies in India could afford such expensive solutions. Indo Texnology came up with a more affordable solution which was more suited for Indian conditions.
The first installation was made at Loyal Textiles. This was subsequently followed by installations at Shanmugavel, Shiva Bannariamman Group and many others. Today, Indo Texnology has more than 100 such installations in some of the top Indian mills, including SEL, Vardhman, Trident and Nahar.
The system that Indo Texnology offers is a fully automated balling and not a manual system. The uniqueness is that it can be installed even in the existing old mills as well as part of the new projects.
In a mill there are different types of waste which are saleable (comber waste, licker-in droppings, etc.). Normally it is collected at different locations manually and then packed in gunnies and baled. All this is done in a hazardous environment. Now silos are provided, so that the waste gets collected automatically and baled accordingly to the type of waste.
Initially, automatic waste collection and baling systems were part of only very large mills of a lakh spindles, but now Indo Texnology has installed it even in small mills with just 15,000 spindles.
Automatic cone packing
Another indigenous development by Indo Texnology is an automatic cone packing machine which is integrated with the mill information or ERP systems at the customer end. This is more suited for large mills as it needs to be customized and configured to suit their requirement. It’s a product for the future, says Mr. Thirupathi.
Automatic cone packing system can wrap, packs in cartons or racks, labels, barcodes and integrates the data with the mill information system or ERP for inventory control, invoicing and financial processing.
Spinnova
Spinnova is another interesting product from Indo Texnology which is an online spindle level monitoring systems. Individual spindles, machine and utility power points are monitored continuously for deviations. The integrated information helps mills optimize power, manpower, material and machine conditions. “Ring frames typically account for 60% of your investment, labor and power. It would be important to focus at the spindle level to monitor the performance”, he observes.
Finally, with all the process and system automation solutions, Indo Texnology also offers a fully integrated ERP solution. TexManage integrates the machine level information to its ERP so that the top management gets a comprehensive view. The company has 12 installations till date with two overseas installations in Indonesia. The interesting point to observe is that three out of these 12 are SAP customers who have now installed modules such as planning operation of TEXMANAGE.
The main advantage of TEXMANAGE is that it is developed and implemented by people with expertise in textiles, and the basic data from the production floor is automatically collected and integrated with the ERP. So the customization and implementation process is relatively made convenient and foolproof.
Indo Texnology has carved a niche for itself as a solution provider to specific problems in the textile industry. Mr. Thirupathi adds: “Our customers are happy that we are able to understand their specific problems and challenges and have been able to come up with suitable solutions. We want to grow organically and support customers”.