By Ganesh Kalidasan
K M Knitwear, part of a Rs. 400-crore group, was started in the early
1990s under the guidance and leadership of the veteran entrepreneur,
Mr. K.M. Subramanian, its present Managing Director. KMK today is one
of the leading manufacturers and exporters, exporting world-class
textile products under the banner of “KMK” for the past 15 years.
Headquartered in the textile town of Tirupur, KMK is a 100 per cent
export-oriented company concentrating mainly on the European
sub-continent. Further its export capability is supported by its
progressive attitude towards forward and backward integration. The
company has developed a comprehensive vertical set-up with in-house
capacities for all processes, from knitting to final garment
production.
KMK is equipped with its own set-up, from spinning and processing to
finishing unit. The machinery line-up uses the most exclusive
equipment sourced from the best vendors. The company posts an annual
turnover well in excess of $35 million in garments.
Throughout the company’s two decades of operation, it has always been
in the forefront when it comes to assimilating new technologies and
machinery into the existing facilities. It has cutting-edge testing
facilities, state-of-the-art machinery and the capacity to produce a
wide range of cotton yarn under the banner Jeyavishnu Spintex Private
Ltd. Moreover, the management understands the importance of high
quality raw material. Since the raw material has a direct impact on
the final product, different cotton centres in India are regularly
visited to evaluate the quality of cotton on a first-hand basis before
procurement.
Quality checks are carried out during every stage of production. They
form an integral part of KMK’s activities. All company staffs are
trained adequately to ensure consistent quality. Experienced
technocrats are involved during every audit of quality, and customer
quality requirements are adhered to strictly.
The other ways of ensuring consistent quality include following the
Bale Management System meticulously, thanks to the high volume cotton
testing equipment that JVS has installed and usage of autoconers with
automatic contamination clearers.
A vertically integrated company, K M Knitwear has the necessary
in-house facilities for all processes right from knitting, dyeing,
printing, embroidering, cutting, sewing and up to final packing. Hence
the company is well equipped to handle any kind of order with varying
styles, designs, quantity, lead times and requirements while retaining
consistent quality throughout. To keep pace with the latest
developments in the industry, KMK has an exclusive Sample Division
with an experienced and dedicated team.
“High quality in the products and commitment to delivery schedules
goes a long way in establishing a good customer-manufacturer
relationship”, says Mr. Subramanian.
KMK’s product range is an extensive ensemble of all types of garments.
It manufactures exclusive knitted and woven garments for women, men
and children and is well-equipped for manufacturing value-added items
such as jackets, shirts, pants, shorts, ladies tops, blouses and
skirts.
KMK’s automated Barudan multi-head Japanese embroidery machines with
124 heads elegantly handle any design with own punching, designing,
applique cutting and roll fusing, and the company sets new trends with
its unique and delicate designs, thus emerging as one of the laudable
fore-runners in this segment.
Its placement printing division provides value-added processing with a
capacity of 10,000 pcs/day. Azo-free dyes and chemicals are utilized
for printing. Plastisol, glitter, pigment, high density, non-PVC, foil
printing and flocking are the part processes of this screen printing
arena. The designs evolved by indulging in creative and fresh ideas
are eye-catching and enthralling.
The strong in-house production line of K M Knitwear with more than a
thousand machines, specializing in outer and inner garments, meets a
capacity of one million pieces per month. Its warehouses have storage
of 300 CBM.
A thorough product inspection is carried out at each and every single
stage starting from spinning. Yet an overall checking of garments is
done in the finishing department to ensure error-free and
contamination-free products. All the garments are subjected to metal
detection to ensure removal and absence of metal in the final product,
since the ultimate target is customer satisfaction by providing them
safe and secure garments.
Jeyavishnu Spintex
Jeyavishnu Spintex Private Ltd., part of the KMK Group, is a
vertically integrated spinning unit with stunning infrastructure and
production capacity of 30,000 kg/day. It maintains uniform,
incomparable quality from mixing of cotton to error-free yarn.
It’s the first spinning unit to receive the best four certifications –
ISO 9001, ISO 14001, SA 8000 and OHSAS 18001 – to prove it all. The
spinning unit works towards delivering perfect product with
state-of-the-art house-keeping and maintenance. This is how the unit
can take an output of 30 tons of quality yarn per day.
The company machinery comprises 36,000 spindles of LR spinning, 14
units of Schlafhorst Auto coners AC5, modern laboratory with Uster
testing machines, Sieger yarn conditioning plant and optical
contamination clearer.
Jeyavishnu Tex Processors
Jeyavishnu Tex Processors Private Ltd. is the dyeing plant that
operates on the world’s best air-flow technology with a capacity of 20
tons/day. The fabric takes a dip and douse in this dyeing unit
travelling into colour and temperature-controlled drying. Qualified
chemists take care of the colour accuracy at the modern computerized
laboratory.
Social commitment
K M Knitwear not only redefines fashion but also commits itself to
social reformation.
• The garment unit has made a foray into wind energy generation with
its strong focus on the need for environment-friendly green power.
• The reverse osmosis plant operates against water pollution by
treating effluents of the processing unit completely, leaving zero
discharge.
• The company extends its arms in contributing to the development of
homes for orphans, old people and mentally retarded children in
Tirupur city.
• KMK also provides free medical check-up to both its employees and
the community in general.
• KMK holds life membership in NIFT TEA, the knitwear fashion
institute that makes men skilled garment technicians, for which it has
been given the recognition as state-of-the-art garment technology
unit.
• Mr. Subramanian has started a charitable trust to serve the public
in different areas, like assisting the poor for education, running
public libraries, recreation centres and free health camps for the
poor, and building homes for old age people and mentally challenged
persons and orphanages.