Highly optimistic of future synergies under Nederman Group
Luwa India is a name synonymous with world-class air engineering solutions for the textile industry. The company which is celebrating the Silver Jubilee of its India presence in 2018-19 has grown over the years, adding several new products all along to become one of the preferred choices of the textile fraternity.
Established in 1935 and headquartered in Uster, Switzerland, the Luwa Group has its subsidiaries in Singapore, China, Turkey and the US, besides its presence in nearly 80 countries through a network of local representatives.
In an exclusive interview, Mr. Gottfried Abrell, CEO, Luwa Air Engineering AG, and Mr. P.K. Singh, President, Luwa India, shared detailed insights into the group’s recent performance, its product range, the Bengaluru factory, plans for ITMA 2019, general trends in the industry, etc.
The edited excerpts:
We began by asking about Luwa’s performance in 2018, responding to which Mr. Abrell said: “The year 2018 has been excellent for us, from every angle, whether it is business mix, spinning, weaving, synthetic fiber, other industries, etc. We were able to increase our market share. In textiles we have received a good number of large orders from countries like China and Vietnam. The going has been pretty good.”
And what were the key global markets driving this performance? “Almost all the markets where we have our presence have contributed, the highlight though was Vietnam. There are many Chinese firms that have now established their units in Vietnam. We already share an excellent rapport with many of them. We were able to bag several large orders in Vietnam,” Mr. Abrell said.
There is a growing feeling among a majority in the textile industry that while investments in China may be slowing down, Chinese companies are now setting shop in other countries such as Vietnam, taking advantage of the lower wages prevalent there and continue to dominate the market. Asked for his views on this strategy adopted by the Chinese companies, Mr. Abrell replied: “This is exactly right. The investments can not only be seen in Vietnam, but also in countries like Uzbekistan, Ethiopia and Central America.”
“We, at Luwa, have a proven track record. We have a very strong set-up established in various global markets. In fact, for a Chinese company that is setting up a spinning facility in the US, we are providing turnkey installation services. We have engineers on board who speak Chinese and other local languages. Similarly, we have engineers in Central and Latin America who speak Spanish. This kind of strength has been instrumental in Luwa becoming a global industry leader,” he added.
Going into details regarding Luwa’s success in different global markets, Mr. Abrell explained: “Our strategy has always been ‘global local’. We would not have been successful if we had been acting as a global company directing orders from Switzerland. Neither would we have been successful if we were serving only small local companies too. So, you see, it has been a combination of being ‘global’ and at the same time have a strong ‘local’ focus that has been behind Luwa’s success story.”
Luwa is also known for regularly adding to its product portfolio, the year passed by was no different. Pointing to the new products and solutions that were introduced during the year Mr. Singh observed: “We are focusing on energy saving solutions. For example, we have installed such a solution in Vardhaman. With varying external conditions, the fan speed is automatically adjusted. We have put in VFD inverters in the system along with sensors that do this work. We have developed algorithms in the system, which automatically calculates the speed. Customers can get 10-15% energy savings annually. This can be retrofitted in the existing equipment too. The payback time is roughly around 15 months for complete set-up of VFD along with automation system.”
Adding to it, Mr. Abrell said: “We have also sold two heat recovery systems to a large processing unit. We had the technology for heat recovery systems since past 7-8 years. However, we were selling it mainly in Europe. Now we want to start promoting it more aggressively in India, since the processing field is where investments are fast picking up in recent times.”
The product range that Luwa offers in India for the textile industry covers waste collection system, central vacuum system, air humidification plant, laboratory air-conditioning, overhead travel cleaners (OHTCs), TexGuard System for metal detection and fire protection, as well as heat recovery systems.
“Our aim is to serve the textile industry from every angle. We are a one-stop solution provider. Although in OHTCs, we had lost a bit of steam, we are coming out with a relaunch of the product. Our OHTCs which were earlier being made in Switzerland will now be made in our Bengaluru factory,” Mr. Abrell said.
Nederman acquisition
Nederman’s acquisition of Luwa has been top news in recent times. How significant is the announcement? How did it all start? Replying to the question, Mr. Abrell mentioned: “The whole thing started about 11 years ago when Luwa was purchased by a financial investor from Munich. Luwa has witnessed rapid progress in the last decade. Just like any several financial investors they wanted to exit and move on.”
Luwa is an excellent complementary fit for the Nederman Group. Combining Luwa’s strong market presence, particularly in the Asia Pacific region, and its proven world leading technical capabilities with the strong brand name and installed base within the strategically important fibre and textile markets, with Nederman’s global organization, will make the Nederman Group a more complete partner for its customers. This development will help develop Luwa’s as well as Nederman’s business globally.”
He added: “For Nederman, the acquisition will also help to get a firm foothold in Asia. You see, Luwa has been present in the textile industry in Asia for more than 50 years and with local service and manufacturing in India for the last 25 years and in China for 21 years. We are very well established in Asia. We see a lot of synergies in getting strong in Asia.”
Pointing out the advantages due to the acquisition to Luwa, Mr. Abrell observed: “One advantage is that they want Luwa to do business as usual. We now have a stable partner. We are looking for synergies. We also have similar customers. Nederman has lots of products for the other industries, apart from textiles, which we do not have. So, all in all it is a win-win situation for both of us.”
Eventful journey
In India, Luwa is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Recalling the company’s eventful journey over the years, Mr. Abrell remarked: “Initially, Luwa started here as a joint venture with Eastern Engineering. We will always be grateful to Mr. Anand of Eastern Engineering for helping Luwa to set up its operations here. Eastern was also our local selling agent. During 1998-2002, we started manufacturing by focusing on a few products, especially low technology ones, here. We were still importing the high technology items from our Swiss plant. We then started our own factory in Bangalore. Between 2003 and 2007, there were a lot of investments in India. We were the right fit for the industry, with high technology equipment at local price. Today, we are serving a wide range of customers. We have the right pricing and at the same time there is absolutely no compromise on the quality front.”
Asked to name a few projects that have been really challenging over the years for Luwa in India, Mr. Abrell stated: “Trident is a good example. I had just taken over in India in 2003. It was a large order for us. Our strength is that, irrespective of the size of the project, from the large ones to the smallest ones, we are always 100% focused. We serve from the heart and it has been a key reason for our success.”
State-of-the-art facility
Going into details regarding the company’s new plant in Bengaluru, Mr. Singh said that it was spread around roughly 6 acres. Around 150 people are presently employed in the facility.
Mr. Abrell added that the facility had the capability to step up production. It would be difficult to pinpoint our capacity, given the fact that we make several products and cater to different industries. However, this much I can tell you. We have never failed to accept an order due to lack of capacity. We can always manage. We have got the formula right for just-in-time production. Plus, we have the kind of organization that makes this kind of flexibility possible. The engineering tools is used here are the same as used in Switzerland. We have 100% confidence in our engineering technology. We can act quite fast.”
The Indian facility is catering to the company’s needs in key global markets. “We are catering to countries like Bangladesh and Indonesia from this plant. We have also supplied certain products to the US. We make TexGuard, our fire protection system, here and sell it around the world,” Mr. Abrell said.
“We are offering air handling units for different industries. Industry 4.0 is another area we are working on. Specially designed filters which consume less energy and occupy lesser space is another area that we are working on. The synergies with Nederman will definitely help us in all these areas too,” he added.
Speaking about Luwa’s sales and service network in India, Mr. Singh said that the spares are available centrally. You just need to call and we deliver them the next day. Prompt service has been another key to our success. We are serving our customers 95% of the time. For aftersales service we have a central contact point. Calls land up with our customer service coordinator. He then sends it to the respective regional engineers who in turn assign it to an engineer. We follow CRM. We are continuously trying to build on this system.”
Industry leaders often have this issue of consistently coming up with innovations in order to stay ahead of the curve and set new standards. It is no different in Luwa’s case too. Elaborating on the point Mr. Abrell explained: “We are always striving for improvement. Take for instance the humidification plant in a textile mill. More often than not, top management sees the system only as a utility. They always give importance to only production. We are therefore focusing on making data acquisition from our systems simpler, so that the top management and the managers can see for themselves the kind of difference our products are making. We want to bring to their attention that by properly utilizing our systems, ultimately their production keeps going up.”
New launches planned
Asked about Luwa’s plans for ITMA 2019, Mr. Abrell replied: “It is an extremely important occasion for us. We would get to meet and interact with top management people from around the world and show them our products and solutions. We can show them how big a company we are. Visitors to our stall can look forward to a few important launches.”
Queried as to how does he see 2019 and beyond for Luwa, Mr. Abrell said: “For us, as market leaders, our performance depends on the general trends in the industry. However, we are focused on serving our customers, through both good and not so good times. We all know good times cannot always prevail. Although I feel that 2019 may not be a boom year for the industry, we would like to continue with our sharp focus on serving our customers.”
Sharing his views, Mr. Singh stated: “Whenever we were to be not busy with projects, which is rare, we use the lean time to improve our key business areas and consolidate our position. There are four key factors that have helped us grow. Firstly, we are flexible. Secondly, we are able to offer customized solutions. The third thing is that we offer the same quality for any size of investment and for any customer. And finally, we own the responsibilities. If something went wrong, we accept the mistake and stand with the customer to solve the issue. This has been our success mantra.”
Mr. R. Anand, Chairman, Eastern Engineering
On a visit to a well-known cotton spinning mill in Italy in 1982, I was amazed to see the cleanliness in the mill there, and when I asked my host about this he proudly remarked that cleanliness was maintainable with the latest technology in air engineering. I learnt more about this technology from later meetings with Prof. Dr. Urs Meyer and Dr. Simone Creux of the Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich.
Eastern Engineering later entered into a collaboration with the company that supplied the textile air engineering systems of Luwa. It needed several meetings to persuade Luwa to start making the product in India.
Luwa India Pvt. Ltd. was considered one of the most successful joint ventures in textile air engineering in India. During the years of the joint venture, customer support from Luwa was exemplary and the Swiss work ethics in the working of Luwa India was adopted by the local team from the first project itself. This was one of the turning points for the Indian mills and helped in producing high quality cotton yarn for the global market.
I and my family are proud of our association with the Hesta Group. Luwa, Switzerland’s own journey from July 16, 1935, has been that of ingenuity and competence, and we are pleased to have played a role in ensuring the benefits of the concept – Total Air Control (TAC) reached our textile industry.
Mr. Gurudas Aras, Director, Textile Engineering Group, A.T.E. Enterprises Private Ltd.
Luwa and A.T.E. have 8 decades of experience in the textile industry, and both enjoy great reputation. The association between Luwa and A.T.E. began way back in July 2009. The 10 years of association of the two companies has added a lot of value and synergy in offering air engineering solutions to the textile industry. The experience of both complimented each other. A.T.E. is known to have world-class principals in its portfolio, and Luwa perfectly pitched in for the humidification products both in spinning and weaving.
Luwa, being a global leader in the field of industrial air engineering, provides turnkey solutions to its customers for their different application needs. Years of experience, profound knowhow and local manufacturing according to Swiss quality standards have led Luwa to provide customised solutions, which are now trusted by over 1,000 customers in India. The new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility of Luwa opened a couple of years back near Bangalore is one of the best in the country.
Over the years, Luwa became the first-time introducer of many new types of equipment. Lately, prefabricated units in India are very popular, which Luwa had introduced more than 20 years ago, and then had extensively promoted and executed this style of air handling units to many big textile mills.
A.T.E.’s industry domain knowledge and process knowledge supported by strong sales force and Luwa’s manufacturing and air engineering knowhow have helped the Indian textile industry immensely in choosing the right type of humidification solutions which are economical, energy efficient and very effective.
On the occasion of its 25 years completion in India, A.T.E. Enterprises, Luwa’s decade-old channel partner, wish the entire Luwa team all the grand success in the years to come.
Mr. Neeraj Jain, Joint Managing Director, Vardhman
Sharing his congratulatory message on Luwa completing its 25th year in India, Mr. Neeraj Jain, Joint Managing Director, Vardhman, said: “Vardhman has been associated with Luwa for more than 25 years. We have worked on a number of projects and the experience is productive and satisfactory. Luwa being a global player is continuously upgrading the technology as per changing requirements of customer. With their technical expertise they are able to give state-of-art and customized solutions to the textile industry. Their decision of putting up a manufacturing plant at Bangalore has helped them optimize the cost, reduce lead time and improve the service levels. On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, the Vardhman team extends their good wishes for all their future endeavors.”
Mr. Durai Palanisamy, Executive Director, Pallavaa Group
Based out of Erode, Tamil Nadu, the Pallavaa Group has been in the textile industry for over four decades now. The group is well known in the market for its quality yarns and fabrics. The group is also exporting its products to key global markets.
Pallavaa Group’s association with Luwa started in 2003. “We started with our OE plant at Sri Cheran Synthetics and later on with our weaving division – VSM Weavess. Ever since we have never looked at other alternatives. Luwa is our preferred partner for our HVAC requirements,” Mr. Durai Palanisamy, Executive Director of the group, said.
Speaking about the experience of working with Luwa, Mr. Durai stated that it is always a delight to work with Luwa. “Their product quality and the precision of their components is really top notch. Their service is also outstanding. Their project execution is flawless. It makes the job of our project management team easy. At present, we have a Luwa plant running in 130,000 spindles ring spinning and 450 airjet looms. Apart from this Luwa plants are running in vortex spinning as well.”
Throwing light on why they chose Luwa over others in the air engineering space, Mr. Durai explained: “Luwa is the leader in air engineering. It’s easy for someone to follow the leader, but very tough for the leader to stay at the top by setting the industry benchmark. Luwa has continued to hold the leadership position driving the entire industry. Luwa constantly comes out with many innovations that benefit the industry as a whole. So, it is our privilege to be associated with Luwa.”
He added: “Congratulations to Luwa on its completing 25 years in India. It’s no ordinary feat as we have seen many companies come and go. We wish them all success, and I’m confident that they will continue to innovate and excel in the years to come.”
Mr. Vasudevan, Executive Director, Manufacturing Operations (Group), Himatsingka Seide Ltd.
Himatsingka Seide Ltd.’s association with Luwa dates back to 1987. Commenting on the experience of working with Luwa, Mr. Vasudevan, Executive Director, Manufacturing Operations (Group), Himatsingka Seide, said: “Luwa has been a partner for air engineering solution from the inception of our unit in Doddaballapur in 1987. Our experience working with them has been very good in terms of their capability, aftersales and all related aspects.”
Considering the options available in the air engineering space, why did the company choose Luwa in the first place? Replying to this question, Mr. Vasudevan observed: “When we started, there were not that many options to choose from. However, Luwa has proved to be the best in the field today and, as a policy, we always associate with the best in the field. The biggest benefit is assurance on performance. They have a solution for everything in their field.”
Congratulating Luwa on completing its 25 years of successful presence in the Indian market, Mr. Vasudevan remarked: “Luwa has established itself very well in the market with all units, big and small. They have an irrefutable reputation based on the solutions they provide as well as their focus on quality and service. On the occasion of their Silver Jubilee anniversary, I wish them continued growth and excellence in whatever they do.”
Mr. G.V.K. Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Kallam Textiles Ltd.
Kallam Textiles Ltd. (formerly Kallam Spinning Mills Ltd.) has been associated with Luwa since 2014. According to Mr. G.V.K. Reddy, Joint Managing Director of the company, the first order for Luwa in the Guntur region was placed by Kallam Textiles Ltd.
Speaking on the experience of working with Luwa, Mr. Reddy said: “It has been a pleasure working with Luwa. Our first association with Luwa had been for a humidification plant during the expansion of our ring spinning plant from 22,000 spindles to 44,000 spindles. In 2008 we had put up an OE plant for which Luwa had supplied the humidification plant. In 2010 we had expanded ring spindles from 44,000 to 52,000 units with more auto cone winders and TFOs (as post-spinning section). Luwa again supplied the humidification plant. In 2012 we had put up a greenfield weaving project in Addanki with 250 air jet powerlooms. Luwa took the order amidst stiff competition, and subsequently successfully installed and commissioned the plant.”
“Our spinning unit preparatory was expanded with a greater number of cards. Since it was already a constructed building, Luwa offered the “Tex pack” system. It was very competitively priced and saved a lot of civil work. The performance has been excellent. In 2016 the spinning preparatory had to be expanded, for which we have removed old humidification plants and replaced them with Luwa plants. All the systems supplied by Luwa from 2004 till date are working very satisfactorily. Luwa is also upgrading the technology from time to time by offering technical consultancy without any hesitation,” Mr. Reddy explained.
Highlighting the benefits offered by Luwa, he observed that although they had worked with other companies in the air engineering space, Luwa had been a reliable partner. “They keep enough cushion to expand the plant by 20-25% in future by changing fan motors and changing blade angles. They never compromised on the quality of material and sizing of components despite stiff competition. They have given us energy-efficient fans. The rotary air filters are more durable. Even after 14 years of operation we found they are performing well. The design managers from Luwa visit us at regular intervals and suggest changes to the existing plants with economical solutions.”
Congratulating Luwa on completing its 25 years of presence in India, Mr. Reddy said: “In 2004 everybody had advised us against opting for Luwa, giving reasons such as they were very expensive, the plant consumes a lot of power, etc. On the contrary, their solutions offered a greater number of air changes in the department. The production reached its expected levels. We wish Luwa all the best in the years to come. They should supply humidification systems not only to the Indian textile industry but also to the entire global market from the Bengaluru plant.”
Mr. Abhishek Gupta, CEO, Trident Group
The Trident Group has been associated for more than a decade and a half with Luwa. Mr. Abhishek Gupta, CEO, Trident Group, had this to say about Trident’s association with Luwa: “We take immense pride in being of its prime customers. Luwa’s quality stands out through our long international experience because of its profound knowhow and intensive research and development.
The company working with Luwa has been wonderful. Excellence is its prime focus and is certainly its hallmark. It has fully come up to the expectations, be it customized/tailored or regular requirements.
Luwa India is a leading player with its state-of-the-art machinery bringing in the best of innovation. It has set highest quality standards resulting in a trail of achievements. It has always endeavored to be at the forefront through its edge in technology. It is one of Trident’s exceptional suppliers because its offered services which are highly accredited for promptness, flexibility, high quality, reliability and cost-effectiveness.
Mr. Gupta said: “We, at Trident Group, heartily congratulate Luwa on its successful completion of 25 years and leaving an impressive footprint in India. It has made its name not only for innovation and best services but also for excellent industry-wide practices, resulting in customer satisfaction and quick aftersales service follow up. We wish Luwa all the very best for all its future projects”.
Mr. B.B. Sharma, CEO, Sintex Group
Sintex is a globally recognized manufacturer of structured fabrics for high-end fashion shirting. The group’s fibre-to-fabric facility (Kalol) is one of the largest weaving units in India that produces fabrics for some of the most renowned global brands in the fashion industry. Sintex has also emerged a major exporter of yarn constituting 60-65% of its total sales. The company is exporting to over 20 countries globally.
Sintex has been associated with Luwa since the beginning of its first project in 2014. “Working with Luwa is like having peace of mind. Personally I am having vast experience of more than 20 years of using the Luwa system in various organizations I worked for. One good thing about Luwa is their superior quality of product and aftersales service. In addition, I want to highlight that Luwa never disowns any issues which may prop up during operation, and they always ensure that it is solved to the entire satisfaction,” stated Mr. B.B. Sharma, CEO of the company sharing his experiences of working with Luwa.
Mr. Sharma added: “Our first preference is always Luwa for various reasons. One of them is the flexibility of the system which they offer, superior design, excellent product quality, very good aftersales service and lower power consumption. Luwa extends all support as and when we need it and will remain our preferred partner for air engineering needs.”
Mr. Sharma complimented Luwa for its completing 25 years in India and wished it many more successes in the coming years.
Mr. Dinesh Nolkha, Managing Director, Nitin Spinners
Nitin Spinners has been associated with Luwa for the last 13 years. Speaking about the experience of working with Luwa, Mr. Dinesh Nolkha, Managing Director of the company, said: “It has been very good experience working with Luwa. It has a very professional and dedicated team fully committed to its products and services.”
“We have chosen Luwa for its very long-lasting experience in the textile humidification and air engineering sector. They have been continuously upgrading their products and bringing new automation and technology to manage air and humidity in the best possible manner. We have also observed that Luwa India is working very rigorously to reduce the power cost of our industry,” Mr. Nolkha said referring to the reasons why the company has chosen Luwa.
He added: “We heartily congratulate Luwa India on its successful completion of 25 years in India and wish for a strong performance and convey our best wishes for its continued success in the years to come.”
Mr. Sudhakar Chowdhary, MD, Mohan Spintex India Ltd.
Mohan Spintex India Ltd. (MSIL), headquartered in Vijayawada, is counted among the country’s largest vertically integrated textile groups. The company which counts several top names as its clients exports close to 50% of its produce to key global markets.
Mohan Spintex has been associated with Luwa for the last four years. Mentioning that the experience of working with Luwa has been quite good, Mr. Sudhakar Chowdhary, MSIL’s Managing Director, pointed out the advantages and benefits that Luwa offers, saying: “We have 2 plants of Luwa working at our weaving plants. These were supplied in 2014 and 2016. We have placed repeat orders with them for two more plants for our upcoming weaving plant. The main reason why we chose Luwa over other suppliers is because they offer a complete solution to air handling. They have been able to offer us the precise solution based on our needs right from the design stage to execution and commissioning. Due to their expert design and supply of world-class equipment and automation, we have been able to get the required consistent air condition in terms of temperature and relative humidity. Additionally, in our experience the maintenance cost has been very low backed up by their good service.
Mr. Chowdhary conveyed his hearty congratulations to Luwa on its completion 25 successful years in India. “We expect them to continually improve upon their technology and offer still better air handling equipment to the textile industry in coming years,” he said.
Mr. A.K. Mohota, MD, Pee Vee Textiles
Pee Vee Textiles Ltd. (PVTL) is a leading name in the textile industry with its spinning and weaving divisions. PVTL has been associated with Luwa for the last 15 years. According to Mr. A.K. Mohota, Managing Director of the company, it has been satisfactorily conditioning more than 100,000 spindles, open end & vortex, as well as more than 550 looms through the Luwa plants.
Throwing light on why Luwa was the company choice, Mr. Mohota said: “Luwa is committed for performance guarantee. They believe in safe design. Unlike other suppliers, consistency of conditions are maintained in the Luwa plant, and even the first plant supplied to us meets the specified conditions.”
Mr. Mohota added that India is expected to be a global textile powerhouse, and Luwa’s presence, with updated indigenisation, will go a long way in fulfilling the objective. “Luwa has been fair in pricing, which we expect to continue. Modern technologies would require better controlled conditions, air conditioned, and we believe Luwa is ready to incorporate this. We wish Luwa at least a further 25 years of active association with Indian textiles as a channel partner.”
Mr. Munish Avasthi, Managing Director, Sportking
Sportking’s association with Luwa dates back to 2005. Mr. Munish Avasthi, Managing Director of the company, summed up his experience of working with Luwa in one world – “Excellent”.
Listing out the reasons for choosing Luwa despite the choice of many companies available in the air engineering space, Mr. Avasthi said: “Air engineering plays a very critical role in a spinning unit, especially in cotton spinning, in maintaining the quality of the yarn produced, smooth and trouble-free running of the machines, and in maintaining the ambient conditions inside the department. We have found that Luwa fulfills all these requirements to our full satisfaction with its superior design and efficient customer service standards.”
Congratulating Luwa on its completion of 25 years in the Indian market, Mr. Avasthi said: “We wish Luwa a very bright future. We are sure that with its superior work practices, designing and engineering skills it will continue to provide innovative and cost-effective solutions to the textile industry, especially in terms of power saving.”
Mr. Siddharth Agarwal, Managing Director, Sagar Group
The Sagar Group has been associated with Luwa for the last six years now and, according to Mr. Siddharth Agarwal, the company’s Managing Director, the experience has been quite good.
Pointing out to the key reasons behind the Sagar Group choosing Luwa over other companies in the air engineering space, Mr. Agarwal stated: “Luwa has an edge on the technology front and its equipment are of best available quality offered at a very reasonable price. The advantage is almost no maintenance with reasonable power consumption. Luwa is also an excellent service provider.”
Mr. Agarwal added: “Sagar Group congratulates Luwa on the completion of its 25 years in India and hopes for its sustained progress in the coming years. Expectations from the industry are growing higher and higher in this competitive world, and one has to address power consumption of the plant responsible for humidification, waste handling and room conditioning system. Better designing, energy efficiency and low maintenance costs are the issues, besides ensuring continuous running of the plant with a standby system to avoid interruptions, especially for spinning units which run 365 days of the year. De – humidification at low cost is the long pending expectation of the textile industry.”
Mr. Haresh Ranipa, Director, Sanvi Spinning Mill Pvt. Ltd., Soyal, Gujarat
Sanvi Spinning Mill Pvt. Ltd., located at Soyal, Gujarat, has made a name for itself as a leading supplier of quality yarn.
Congratulating Luwa on its 25th anniversary celebrations in India, Mr. Haresh Ranipa, Director of the company, observed: “We are associated with Luwa for the last three years when our plant’s first phase was started with 19,536 spindles capacity to our perfect satisfaction. Therefore, in 2017 too we have once again gone with Luwa’s humidification plant for our second phase installation of 18,240 spindles.”
Listing out the reasons for choosing Luwa, Mr. Ranipa said: “We are very much satisfied with the plant, as till date we had only minor problems in the three years of its working. Luwa solved these problems by guiding online through the team viewer or sending any technician working at nearby sites. Secondly, with the effectiveness of the humidification plant and maintaining proper air-changes in the whole department, has led to less fly generation, and we get much better working conditions. We are able to maintain the good working environment, better yarn quality, less breakdown and longer life for machine spares. Energy consumption wise too, the plant is showing good results with slight adjustments made by us. It is consuming just 15.5% of total energy consumed by the entire plant on an average count of 30.5. Our plant’s energy usage is 0.402 unit/kg of yarn. In a nutshell, I can say that Luwa’s plant is more efficient than all other plants which are 
available in India.”
Mr. Ashu Jain, Director, Sharmanji Yarns Pvt. Ltd., Ludhiana
The Ludhiana-based Sharmanji Yarns has been associated with Luwa since 2007. The experience of working with Luwa has been excellent, Mr. Ashu Jain, Director of the company, listed down the advantages offered by Luwa by saying: “As we all know that the role of air engineering is very critical in a spinning unit, especially in cotton spinning, with respect to quality of the yarn produced, working performance of the machines, working environment and ultimately the smoothness of the production. We had experienced that the overall design concept and equipment section of Luwa is far ahead of others, which gives them an edge over others.”
Congratulating Luwa, Mr. Jain said: “We wish Luwa a very bright future and hope them to go in the same direction, with further focus on effectiveness of dust & waste removal, as well as on power consumption, as approximately 15-20% of total power consumed in a spinning unit is by the H. plant.”
Mr. Navneet Grover, Director, Grosspinz Fabz Pvt. Ltd., Gujarat
Grozzspinz Fabz Pvt. Ltd., with interests in spinning and knitting, has been associated with Luwa since 2016. “We placed the first order with Luwa for our new spinning unit in Gujarat in 2016. In 2017, we placed another order for our knitting unit,” Mr. Navneet Grover, Director of the company said.
“The experience of working with the company has been quite good. That’s the reason we placed a repeat order. We congratulate Luwa on completing this milestone and wish for its continued service to the industries it caters to,” he added.
Jathar Textiles, Ichalkaranji
Jathar Textiles has been associated with Luwa for the past five years. According to the Director of Jathar Group, Mr. Vishnu Jathar, the Luwa team has supported the company a lot in designing and execution of its two plants.
“The Luwa plant’s performance and service is the best in the industry. After 4 years also, our shed efficiency percentage is above 95%. Technical support is the strongest point of Luwa. We wish Luwa continued exemplary success in the future,” he said.
By M.K. Prabhakar & K. Gopalakrishnan