By K. Gopalakrishnan
With rising demand, increasing cost pressure and demand for product innovations, Indian textile manufacturers need to improve their efficiencies by looking at process improvements across the entire manufacturing supply chain.
ERP solutions will play a critical role in integrating the various functions across the organization.
INTEX Consulting Group is one such global company specializing in ERP solutions for the textile industry. Mr. Rohit Pandit, Managing Director, Intex Consulting Group’s Indian operations talks about the increasing complexities of the different textile processes and how ERP solutions help address these various challenges.
TEXTILE MAGAZINE: To start with, can you give a brief note on the background of Intex Consulting?
Rohit Pandit: Intex Consulting Group is a global textile software consulting group based in Wuppertal, Germany. Intex has been solely focussed on providing consulting services around its core product – Intex ERP Business Suite for textiles – since 1995.
TM: When did Intex enter the Indian market? How is its relationship with VTMtex Virtual Textile Mill India (P) Ltd.?
RP: Intex entered the Indian market in 2001 with the establishment of its own 100 per cent subsidiary, VTMtex Virtual Textile Mill India (P) Ltd.
TM: What are the product and solutions offered by Intex globally and in the Indian market?
RP: Our main product is Intex, the innovative standard ERP software for textiles. Intex ERP has various modules like Sales & Dispatch, Production Planning & Scheduling, Stocks & Inventory, Purchasing, Costing, Laboratory & Recipes, Quality Control, Textile Technical Data and MIS/System Administration, as well as an open interface to Financial Accounting/General Ledger.
In addition, we have our own Plant Data Collection (PDC) modules like Intex Loom Monitoring, Intex Finishing Monitoring, Intex Online Fabric Inspection, Intex Online Scanning, etc. The solution also has various interfaces to other specialized systems like color matching/recipe management systems, automatic dosing systems, weighing systems, etc.
We have another solution – Intex all in one, which is designed for the SAP R/3 platform. This solution is ideal for big customers who have textile as well as non-textile interests. The solution is an optimum synthesis of our core modules of Textile Production Planning & Scheduling or MES-Manufacturing Execution System and the overall SAP solution.
We provide a one-stop shop for our customers. Our services comprise Sales & Marketing, Consulting & Implementation and Post-implementation support. This business model offers the highest level of comfort and investment security for our customers.
TM: Which are the major global markets in which Intex has its strong presence? Can you name some important global-level textile companies who are your customers?
RP: We are directly present in the European market through our German headquarters. Some of our important customers in Europe are Lantal Textiles AG, KBC GmbH, Mehler Texnologies GmbH, Suedwolle Group, etc.
India and China are our other important growth markets where we are directly present with our own subsidiaries. Reliance Industries Ltd. – Textile Div., Oswal Hammerle Textiles Ltd., BKS Textiles, Eastern Silk Industries Ltd., Bharat Silks, etc., are some of our important customers in India.
Besides, we also have direct subsidiaries in Brazil and Thailand and have some prominent customers in those markets – Tavex Corporation in Brazil, K Cotton in Thailand, and so on.
TM: How important is the Indian market for Intex?
RP: India is a strategic market for us and we are here for the long term. Our commitment stems from the fact that we have been here for more than a decade and continue investing in the market.
The Indian textile industry is at an important cusp, and from here on, the competition, demand, cost pressures and product innovations are only going to increase.
This would require textile companies to aspire for higher efficiencies and to look at process improvement areas across their manufacturing supply chain.
Therefore, we see a great opportunity wherein with our global experiences and our consulting knowledge in textiles we would be able to provide the right solutions to the Indian textile industry.
TM: How is the growth of the company since it started operations in India? Can you name some of the important customers who have implemented your software in India?
RP: In the last decade we have grown by 10-15 per cent on an average. We have already mentioned some important customers above.
TM: In your understanding of the Indian market, what is the level of adaptation of ERP systems in the textile industry? Do you see an increasing demand from customers for your products and solutions?
RP: This really depends on the context. The market is flooded with generic ERP software products which require a great degree of adaptation to be implemented in a textile environment. Our experience has been that this process perpetually remains “a work in process”. On the other hand, an industry-specific solution like Intex is much better positioned to provide the optimal solution with minimal adaptation effort and a faster overall implementation.
What we are seeing now is growing awareness and acceptance of the above facts in the Indian textile industry. This has a direct impact on the demand for solutions that we provide to the textile industry.
Another important aspect to consider is that the textile industry in India is enhancing capacities / investments going up the value chain in weaving & processing along with enhancing product innovations. The related complexities of the different textile processes also increase as you move up the value chain. This would also increase the demand for systems that can specifically address these various challenges.
TM: What are the main strengths and key differentiators of your solution offering? What are the advantages offered by Intex ERP solutions?
RP: Intex ERP is a standard system only for the textile industry. Therefore, we have many strengths and key differentiators to offer. Our main differentiator is our Planning and Scheduling solution across all textile production stages, i.e., from fibre to garments.
Our planning is based on a finite capacity model and online material availability. Our scheduling is not just a scheduling graphic board, but it is able to optimize production scheduling on the machines based on various textile product and machine parameters. Intex also offers intrinsic modules for production data control and monitoring.
The solution enables optimized planning, shorter delivery times, increased customer satisfaction, higher operational productivity, and cost transparency at various levels leading to better controls.
Our consulting knowledge and experience of implementations in textiles is another big strength. Consulting ensures an optimized business process re-engineering and improved information flow structures. The result is a much leaner, more efficient organization.
TM: How scalable is your solution?
RP: Intex is a modern client server application based on a 3-tier architecture. It has a modular structure and the customer can get started with a specific module / function and can extend the system subsequently.