Well set to enter newer growth segments
Mafatlal of Gujarat, a reputed name in the textile vertical, recently decided to modernize its processing division. In its endeavour to retain leadership position in the country’s fabric market, Mafatlal Industries Ltd., a flagship company of the Arvind Mafatlal Group, is all set to enhance its presence in prints and yarn dyed shirting fabric, including linen, across the country.
Over the last couple of years, the company has completely modernized its processing facilities. The state-of-art processing facility includes latest CBR and mercerizing from Goller. A new capex is underway to increase its annual capacity from the existing 24 million metres to 40 million metres from its two integrated composite units at Nadiad and Navsari in Gujarat.
The President & Business Head of Mafatlal Industries – Textile Division, Mr. V.K. Maheshwari, shares some information in an exclusive interview to The Textile Magazine: “We, at Mafatlal, have a very strong network of more than 300 dealers in the country who service almost 30,000 retailers across the nation. Whites are our biggest strength today. We see a huge growth in demand for our products and henceforth are scaling up our capacities.”
The company’s top management took time in deciding the right solution for their needs. One of the largest producers of Whites in the country, Mafatlal cautiously examined its options and later came out with an investment strategy. A number of brands found their way into the Nadiad plant, but the one brand that attracted most attention was Goller.
Goller of Germany was incorporated in late 1940s with the main focus on metal handling and manufacturing of application-oriented machinery. Soon they developed special skills and experience in the field of textile machinery.
For almost 60 years Goller has been involved in manufacturing dyeing and finishing machines. In recent years, it became one of the most recognized and finest brands for all continuous open width applications. Innovations made by Goller in desizing, scouring, bleaching, mercerizing, dyeing, and of course, washing for both woven and knitted goods are benchmarks for the industry.
The German company was acquired by the Chinese major Fong’s in 2006. This enabled the Fong’s Group to offer its customers a wide range of premium machinery from the same source.
During the interactive session with Mr. Maheshwari we sought the reason why Mafatlal had chosen Goller machines, “Goller is well known for producing quality machines for many years. It is value for money.”
Most important for the textile industry, however, are the advantages of this new process technology. Besides reproducibility and quick results because of the continuous process and excellent fabric performance, the environmental aspects have to be considered.
The continuous bleaching process of fabric saves a substantial amount of precious water and energy. So it is absolutely in line with the efforts of Goller to minimize the usage of utilities for the benefit of the customer as well as the environment.
The all-new Goller combi range and Goller mercerizer installed at the Nadiad plant will enable Mafatlal to increase its monthly capacity of two million metres to three million metres.
“We are moving ahead on the growth path, taking several steps to modernize our machinery, strengthen the team and improve product quality. We will continue to invest to achieve more and more milestones,” asserted Mr. Maheshwari.
The Perfecta mercerizer and the Effecta washing range are some of Goller’s well-known models. The installation base of Goller machines is expanding rapidly in India. A.T.E. has been directly handling the sales and aftersales of Goller machines since the last couple of years.
The Indian agent has been greatly responsible for the brand awareness in the domestic market. Fong’s Group has been closely working with A.T.E. for more than six years now. Mr. Rajendran of A.T.E., stated: “We started our relationship with Fongs National Engineering company in April 2008. Since then both the teams synchronized well as our main focus was customer satisfaction. Within six months we tied up with Goller for promoting their wet finishing machines.”
“We at A.T.E. have rich experience of handling wet finishing machines for more than 50 years. Mr. Adam Jozwik from Fongs Europe is taking care of the sales activities in the Indian market, and the team from Goller, China, is completely supporting him. We at A.T.E. are taking care of the aftersales services,” said Mr. Rajendran.
Goller machines have a huge customer base in India with good references like Arvind, Birla Century, Mafatlal, NSL, Vardhman Hammerle, Monti, Swan, Bharath Vijay, Sri Krishna, Royal Processors, etc. Recently A.T.E. bagged an important order from MI Industries, whose greenfield woven fabric project is coming up near Delhi, and is supplying continuous bleaching range, mercerizing and pad-steam ranges.
Talking about the future prospects of Goller machines in the Indian market, Mr. Rajendran said: “While Goller has well established this merceriser, especially in the yarn dyed fabric segment, we are in the process of establishing their other machines in the market. As such, the business is progressing in a positive manner, and we do hope that the business potential for wet finishing is indeed growing. Our idea is to offer the technology from Germany which is manufactured in China and the aftersales service support from India (A.T.E.). The Indian market is excited with our concept.”