The Saurer Group, driven by its passion for customers, is keen on further strengthening its operations in India, one of the most important ring spinning markets of today and tomorrow. A new chapter for Saurer in India opened with the delivery of the new plant built by Shah & Talati at Vadodara in Gujarat to the local management team on July 28.
The new project covers 85,000 m2 of land and houses world-class production facilities for two premium ring spinning brands of Saurer – Zinser and Texparts. Built to cater to both the domestic and export markets, the project includes a sourcing hub for the whole group and service stations for several units like Saurer Embroidery. The official project inaugural ceremony is planned for a later date.
Asked about the significance of the new plant and its associated benefits for Saurer in the Indian textile market, Dr. Martin Folini, Saurer Group CEO, said: “India is one of the most important ring spinning markets in the world, and with the establishment of our new facility in Vadodara, we would be in a better position to cater to our customer needs.”
Being closer to the customer is essential, and the plant location would allow Saurer to speedily supply not only the Indian market but also the entire South-East Asian markets. The Saurer Group, driven by its passion for customers, consistently invests in innovations that foster customer profitability.
Dr. Folini is very proud of the whole team that made this happen “When we announced the land purchase in November 2014 and set the target to move in and start production by the end of July 2015, people looked at us in awe. Now the facility is handed over to us. The new project would also see the Saurer Group contribute proudly to Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.”
Mr. Ralph Knecht, GM of Zinser Ring Spinning unit, has been closely associated with the project. Providing a brief outline of the project, he said: “The Indian textile market is highly sophisticated with challenging customers. The new project in India would allow us to blend German technology with Indian experience and provide our customers with the latest generation of world-class products combined with our passion for innovation and quality.”
He added: “Saurer products have always been well received in India. Domestic manufacturing, combined with world-class quality and much shorter delivery time, will give us clear advantages.”
Referring to Zinser products to be manufactured at the new facility, Mr. Knecht observed: “In the initial stage, the factory will manufacture the new Zinser models 71 and 72, both for conventional and compact ring spinning. With up to 1920 spindles, this will be the longest ring frame in the world. Next step would see all the variations of Zinser ring spinning machines and superior automation to be produced at the facility, making Zinser the only ring spinning machine manufacturer with 4 ring spinning technologies – conventional short staple, compact short staple, conventional long staple and compact long staple. This is also complementing the already existing Zinser speed frame production in India allowing attractive packages, including automation.”
Mr. Joerg Spahlinger, CEO Saurer Components, is highly optimistic about the new project in India. Asked about how the new facility would provide for growth of Saurer Components, he said: “The new factory in India would facilitate production of weighing arms and spindles with a doubled capacity and would also include the addition of a stamping facility within the premises. This would allow us to efficiently cater to all our customers and give us more flexibility.”
Texparts is the clear technology leader offering highest quality weighting arms for all machine types and all processes, from speed frame and short staple to long-staple weighting arms for worsted ring frames. Next to weighting arms, Texparts also manufactures high-speed spindles in India, catering to the high-end spinning market where spindle speeds >20.000 rpm are the rule rather than the exception.
Mr. Arun Mishra, General Manager of the Vadodara facility, expressed his excitement on the developments in Vadodara when he observed, “the continued support and dedication of Saurer’s top management along with that of the ‘Indigo Project Team’ has allowed Saurer to have the facility ready in record time!”
Mr. Vineet Goel, CFO, Saurer India, is delighted over the support and encouragement by the Indian team and leadership leading to achieving the target date. Not forgetting the well-planned and great work by Shah & Talati, along with all the contractors, for achieving the timelines.
Saurer believes in setting new standards and remains dedicated to providing breakthrough innovations to foster customer’s profitability. At ITMA Milano, Saurer will be present at Hall 2 booth 109 and 104, showcasing a wide range of innovations.
The Saurer Group is a leader specialising in machinery and components for yarn processing. It combines the spinning brands Schlafhorst and Zinser, the twisting brands of Allma and Volkmann, pre-spinning brand Jintan and the Saurer Embroidery brand along with the Saurer Components Division consisting of brands such as Accotex, Daytex, Fibrevision, Heberlein, Temco and Texparts.
With annual sales of around 1 billion EUR, 4,000 employees worldwide and locations in Switzerland, Germany, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, the US, China, India and Singapore, the group is well positioned to serve textile industry centres around the world.
