Focus on energy efficiency for higher profits
Volatile prices and sporadic shortages of energy as well as commodities and stricter environmental legislation put textile producers of south India under pressure to adjust to the changing scenario.
A sense of uneasiness was brewing among textile players of Tamil Nadu upon losing the competitive edge, hence the need for a change. This led to the formation of Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF) a common platform for textile producers of Tamil Nadu.
Unlike many existing associations that speak on behalf of a particular vertical within the textile industry, ITF aims to be the common voice of the entire textile fraternity of Tamil Nadu. ITF acts as a platform where like-minded entrepreneurs not only discuss problems within the industry but also factors affecting an organic growth within the organization.
ITF represents the interests of some 540 manufacturers spanning across the entire textile value chain. Its members include spinners, weavers, knitters, processors/finishers and garmentors from all over the State. All its members are decision makers hailing from different verticals assembled to contribute to the betterment of this industry.
ITF has taken the initiative to support and spread sustainable development and to interconnect all activities and projects of the textile industry, in order to pool the resources (first of all know-how) and to push all its members to promote sustainable development.
Especially in the textile industry, in order to be competitive one has to be sustainable. Sustainability means public awareness of the future in many different fields: environment, society, economy. What could be more sustainable than Solar? The ITF core team is in serious talks with a number of investors to implement roof-top solar on a wide scale that would result in savings of hundreds of megawatts for the State annually.
Its biggest success since its inception was the incubation of 24&7 energy monitoring systems. ITF has signed an agreement to join their efforts in a ‘made-to-measure’ energy saving campaign that aims at a higher and customized energy efficiency solution for everyone. A considerable immediate saving for textile mills and less release for our planet.
In an exclusive interview to The Textile Magazine, Mr. Prabhu Dhamodharan, Secretary of ITF, said: “Not all enterprises are similar in size and manufacturing processes are different too. We at ITF believe in tailor-made solutions when it comes to enhancing the profitability of a company by achieving manufacturing excellence. We were able to strike an unbelievable deals with Philips for supplying lakhs of pieces of LED bulbs and also with Elmeasure for EMS systems. Buying huge quantities gave our member considerable savings while opting for power-saving LED lights and EMS systems. This was highly appreciated by textile companies associated with ITF. We believe in ‘collaborative growth’”.
With group purchase of power, energy savings initiatives to reach 10 per cent reduction in energy and with air audit along whit group purchases of capital goods, ITF already achieved Rs. 550-crore savings for industry.
ITF has helped the industry in training nearly 17,000 workers under various skill development schemes and giving employment in various units and also planning for next phase of training 50,000 workers.
The Federation has created separate groups for discussing various types of yarns, market trends and market intelligence is being circulated to members every 10 days about the price trend and stock levels in mills.
ITF’s key role played in the following areas:
- to provide a forum for discussion of matters appropriately within the common interest and concern of textile companies.
- to act as spokesman for the Tamil Nadu textile industry in issues relating to raw materials (cotton and man-made fibres).
- to perform the functions of a liaison agent between the textile industries and governments and intergovernmental organizations interested in the textile industry.
- to submit suggestions with datas to Commerce Ministry on various FTAs
- to engage experts for continuous inputs on trade policy area
- to get better understanding by making delegation visit to various consumer markets
ITF also supports its members with technological advice over the whole manufacturing process as we believe that first class machines also need first class consulting and support. ITF has organized many workshops by roping in several OEM’s to different textile hubs that has resulted in creative new developments, minimizing human error, enhanced productivity index and increased social awareness among various classes.
Recently, ITF submitted the idea of “global textile fair” to the Prime Minister and now it’s in the active consideration of the Textile Ministry. With less than 2 years since inception and more than 500 members already in its pocket, one can only hope to expect great initiatives and reforms in the future from ITF.