To introduce new products & technologies
Luwa India, a global leader in air engineering that provides comprehensive tailor-made solutions for various air needs of the textile industry, is preparing to move into a bigger and better facility by February 2016. From the existing one acre plant in the industrial suburb of Yeshwanthapura, in north-west Bangalore, the company intends to shift into a new six acre plant in Nelamangala, north of Bangalore City.
Established in 1935 and headquartered in Uster, Switzerland, the Luwa Group has subsidiaries in Singapore, China, Turkey and the US, besides its presence in over 75 countries through a network of local representatives. The company set up its Indian headquarters in Bangalore in 1993, after which it branched off into other Indian metros as well.
Luwa India’s marketing arm is the Mumbai-based A.T.E. Enterprises Private Ltd., with expertise in industrial sales, distribution and service, and operates in various domains, including textile engineering. Being the marketing agent of Trutzschler and other textile machineries, A.T.E. uses the synergy for marketing Luwa products to almost a similar set of customers. It helps to introduce Luwa to new customers and market the Luwa concept to them, besides providing customers technical support as and when needed. It also helps Luwa to be more visible in the market by organizing seminars, conferences, etc.
Luwa India which has a strong foothold in the domestic market with more than half of the market share has set its sights on the neighboring international market. “We plan to cater to many SAARC countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal along with a few ASEAN countries like Indonesia and Thailand through our Singapore office. We can cater to the different needs of the spinning, weaving, knitting and POY sector of the textile industry through our air-conditioning and humidification plants,” said Mr. P.K. Singh, President, Luwa India Pvt. Ltd.
Overseas business is expected to contribute 25 per cent of the annual turnover. Luwa India takes care of these markets through the local agent’s offices located in these destinations, like Colombo, Dhaka, Bandung, etc.
With its current investments Luwa India expects to break even in the next six-seven years through the new plant. From the industry point of view, the upcoming facility will have a new range of products like new series high efficient fans, CE certified electric panels, direct drive overhead travelling cleaners, Tex-guard, metal and fire protection system, MCV and heat recovery system. The existing infrastructure will be scaled up to improve production of newly-designed filters, fans, air washers, dampers, fiber depositing plants, Texpac units and electrical components. Hi-tech machinery items are being imported from Switzerland.
For the first time Luwa is showing at ITMA 2015 the MultiCell Filter MCV which is based on its proven filtration technology, and incorporates leading edge developments, fulfilling the latest requirements of the textile manufacturers. The technology of MultiCell Filter MCV is patented, and with its modular and space saving concept, it is perfectly suitable for machine exhaust air cleaning of blowroom and carding machines as well as in air-conditioning plants for the dust and fly filtration of the room return air. The new Luwa MultiCell Filter MCV opens up many opportunities to reduce the required floor space of air-conditioning and filtration plants in textile mills. Besides, Luwa is displaying its new efficient and power saving Axial Flow Fan Series B6XX and the reliable TexGuard System for metal detection and fire protection. Luwa India intends to bring all these technologies to India in coming months.
Domestic and international presence
With a team of 30 design engineers to execute specific customer needs and a network of more than 60 service engineers to provide after-sales service, Luwa India has built a clientele base comprising big business houses like Sintex, Welspun, Trident, Vardhman, Raymond, Himatsingka, Kallam Group, Pallava Group and Chiripal Group.
The upcoming exhaustive infrastructure will give the company a vantage point. On the one side, the infrastructure will help the company to provide manufacturing hub for its overseas offices, and on the other the infrastructure will help it reorient itself to meet the increasing demand and requirements of domestic customers for Luwa quality products.
The company plans to further strengthen its domestic presence and reach out to textile companies across all the spectrum. To an extent, the company plans to shed its conservative image that its offerings are ‘not so affordable’ and are meant for big investments.
Now, it’s found that out-of-the box thinking will help to reach out to clients across all segments and also in small textile hubs like Ichalkaranji, Erode, Bhilwara, etc., where there are new investments on 24-36 loom sheds. Some amount of brainstorming led the core team on till they felt that the answer lies in tweaking processes.
When the company took stock of the situation, what seemed most visible is that many of its products are still being imported. So, understandably, in the new factory these will be manufactured in-house based on the Luwa drawings and designs with emphasis on production as per Swiss quality. This will help cut costs and increase the volume of domestic production by 25-30 per cent. It is hoped that this cost cutting will help further strengthen the position in the domestic market.
Till now, Luwa India’s hi-tech offerings like automation system, hi-quality control system and industry-specific sensors to monitor and control temperature and humidity have been USPs. “Now the company plans to further add to that series new versions of the control system in the coming year with emphasis on remote monitoring and standardize many procedures to make them more efficient and affordable,” reasoned Mr. Singh.
Luwa as a brand stands for well-engineered and innovative systems and solutions meeting the requirement of textile and allied industries. The company customizes the required climate conditions to ensure efficient operation of manufacturing facilities. It has the wherewithal to offer a variety of services, including air-conditioning, humidification and ventilation plants, FDP plants, heat recovery system, textile labs, OHTCs, vacuum systems and fire and metal detection systems with the latest digital control engineering of Swiss standard.
Vision 2020
Mr. Gottfried Abrell, Group CEO, said Luwa’s vision for 2020 is to establish itself worldwide as a most innovative system provider to the textile industry with emphasis on eco-protection and energy-efficient and economically-effective solutions. It aims to become a most valuable customer-oriented company in the textile air-conditioning segment.
“Our long-term plan is to become one of the global hubs for manufacturing Luwa products with Swiss quality standards. With this we will be able to meet the rising demand for Luwa products and systems worldwide with timely deliveries and to maintain high quality standards. This will also result in lower cost of manufacturing and affordability across all sectors of industries,” concluded Mr. Singh.