With world-class infrastructure and a dedicated team, Mothi Spinner has become a name to recon in the Indian textile industry. From its humble beginnings in 2001, Mothi is today a brand recognised for its consistent quality, product innovation and service to its customers. Mothi is an inspiring success story of a few young entrepreneurs from the hinterlands of India, who dreamt of setting up a small spinning unit, and the rest as they say is history.
Tamil Nadu has always been a spinning powerhouse in the country. Around 51% of the country’s spinning is supposed to happen here. Whenever the term spinning is used in conjunction with Tamil Nadu, people always think about cotton. But is it limited only to cotton? ‘No’ is the answer for there is a pocket in the state where viscose rules. The Pallipalayam region, comprising parts of Erode as well as adjoining Namakkal districts, is what we are talking about. The region is known for its viscose-focused textile mills. One company that has made a distinct mark in this domain is Mothi Spinner Private Limited.
With its stringent quality standards and focus on innovation, it has been gradually adding to its list of clients, both in India and overseas. With world-class infrastructure and a dedicated team, Mothi Spinner has become a familiar name across the textile industry. The establishment of the company makes for a fascinating read. It is the brainchild of five friends, who are now the directors of the company. All five of them had their own individual weaving units and were therefore dealing with yarn suppliers on a regular basis.
However, they were not satisfied with the quality of the yarn they were able to get in the market. This set them thinking. They decided to set up their own spinning unit. The result was the establishment of Mothi Spinner Private Limited. As the directors had their own weaving units to look after, they were in search of a competent professional to take care of the spinning unit. Luckily, they were able to get a dedicated professional in the form of K Sampath, the present day Vice President of the company. Sampath, a BTech in Textile Engineering, was an industry veteran, having had stints with reputed spinning mills across the country, when he joined Mothi Spinner as Factory Manager.
Blessed with impressive technical prowess and man management skills, he quickly charted his way up the ranks. His unwavering efforts have been the driving force behind the company touching new heights. We caught up with K Sampath at the company’s plant and got to find from him about the success story. In a detailed interview, he dwelt on a variety of topics including the company’s establishment, its focus on viscose, support from Birla Cellulose, strategies to deal with the corona virus pandemic and future plans, among others. Here are the edited excerpts.
The Roots
Our first query, but naturally, was about the early days of the company. “We started off with around 16,000 spindles. Remember that the five directors of the company, since they had their weaving units, were dealing with yarn and yarn suppliers, day in and day out. They were aware of the market trends. Their inputs helped us a lot. We grew gradually. Today we have a spindle capacity of around 1.8 lakhs across our four units. Our spindle capacity is expected to go up pretty soon as we have expansion plans lined up for the near future,” he informs. As mentioned earlier, the Pallipalayam region is known for being a nerve centre for viscose-based products. While there are several mills here, Mothi Spinner has emerged as a leading player.
It is not surprising that it is a name that has an instant recall among the textile fraternity in the country. What explains this bent towards viscose in a state that has been predominantly a cotton products player? Elaborating on the key reasons, Sampath says, “Yes, in this region it is invariably viscose. In our case, our five directors were using viscose for their weaving units. So, they knew the trends in the market. They had hands-on experience with respect to gauging quality and demand patterns in the market. They started the mill initially for their captive consumption. Today, we have reached a stage where about 60% of our produce is earmarked for captive consumption, while the rest is supplied to others.”
Dealing with Competition
It is a well-known fact that China is a strong player in the viscose domain. In such a scenario what has been the company’s strategy to remain competitive? Replying to this, Sampath says, “Yes, it is a fact that we need to accept. The pricing of the Chinese is extremely competitive. But this is where the experience of our management comes into play. They are always keeping an eye on the latest trends in the field. We make sure that our quality is top-notch. We are always working closely with our customers, listening to their specific requirements and coming out with tailor-made products. This kind of customer-centric approach has helped us carve a niche in viscose-based products with the result we keep getting repeat orders from our customers.”
Support from Birla Cellulose
The company shares a long standing relationship with Birla Cellulose. “They have been our raw material supplier right from the beginning. They have always been a pillar of support for us. They have The Textile Research and Development Centre (TRADC) where a lot of research is carried on cellulose fibre products. Whenever there is any kind of request from a customer for a special type of yarn, they have helped us out. Similarly, they also help us connect with potential buyers, i.e. those with requirements of any special type of yarn,” Sampath shares.
According to him, the demand for viscose has been rising steadily in the domestic market. “Viscose is in demand. There is the comfort factor for the end-user. There is the shine factor, better drape, superior dye absorption, etc. These are some of the reasons why viscose is becoming more popular by the day,” Sampath points out. “We are constantly getting feedback from the customers of our weaving units. They are very happy about the fabrics made out of our yarn. The price margins are also good so far as the domestic market goes,” he adds.
The company also exports about 15% of its total production. “While we do export, we feel that first of all there is enough demand in the domestic market to cater to, plus the fact that sometimes it does not make sense to export, particularly when the margins are not attractive. We are very happy catering predominantly to the domestic market. There is consistent demand and we are sure it will keep rising in the near future,” Sampath reveals. While the competition is getting more intense in the viscose segment too, the company is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that it stands out from the crowd.
A Preferred Partner
Listing down the key reasons which make Mothi Spinner the preferred choice, Sampath mentions: “With us you are assured of the highest standards of quality. We have an exclusive quality assurance team that takes care of the product during every stage of production. We have an experienced team, taking care of the quality assurance department. All the necessary quality testing equipment is available at our units. Without this kind of focus, we could not have gained such a positive reputation in a relatively quick span of time.”
“We get feedback from several weaving units that their buyers ask them specifically for fabrics made out of Mothi Spinner yarn. This is the biggest testimonial for our expertise in this field.” Sustainability initiative is another area where the company has been focusing on right from the time of its inception. Around 60% of the power used in units is wind-generated. There are also plans for utilising solar power for certain operations in the near future,” he adds.
Overcoming the Pandemic Challenge
The pandemic has had a major impact on the textile industry globally. It was no different in the case with India and Mothi Spinner too did feel the pinch, before things came back on track. “It won’t be wrong to state that we had to struggle during the initial days of the pandemic. Things came to a standstill. There was a lot of apprehension among the workforce to return to the mill. We had to educate and assure them that we had installed all standard operating procedures in place. Things such as hand sanitizers, masks and social distancing are being still strictly followed in our units. “Gradually, after around two months of the pandemic, things began to get better. The workers too understood the kind of efforts that we were taking for health and hygiene. We hope that with the vaccination drive going on, things will return to complete normalcy in a few months’ time,” Sampath observes.
Social and Business Initiatives
K Sampath has launched an initiative called ‘MEET’, which stands for Mothi Enriched Employees Trust, to serve the socio-economically deprived segments of the society. “The way it works is like this: I personally contribute a sum of money from my salary every month. The employees contribute a part. It could be anywhere between Rs 10 to Rs 600. It is purely voluntary. There is no compulsion. The employers also contribute a part. The money that is collected is used for various philanthropic purposes,” he explains.
“God has given us so much, so I feel that it is our bounden duty to give back something to the society. This is our humble initiative towards that objective,” Sampath points out. The company has charted out a well-mapped out future growth strategy. Plans are afoot to add to the capacity in the near future. “We plan to add another 1 lakh spindles by 2023. We are also planning to have an exclusive area for testing new samples soon. As mentioned earlier, we are always open to new ideas and we look forward to making further progress,” Sampath says, winding off the interaction.
—
The Mothi Group is an integral part of the cherished family members of Birla Cellulose. Our two decade long association has truly been magical. We are delighted to see the Mothi Group grow more than 10 times in their capacity since they began their journey with us in 2001. They are Visionaries who clearly saw Viscose as the most sustainable fibre of the future and dedicated their 100% capacity in its production. They have been pioneers on many fronts like Quality, Sustainability and focus on Specialty products. Their relentless focus on Innovation and continuously creating new benchmarks is worth emulating. We at Birla Cellulose share the same work ethics and values of the Mothi Group. This shared ethos is the foundation on which our association has been built. We are confident of the continued success of the Mothi Group and wish them all the very best.
– Suraj Bahirwani, Global Sales Head, Birla Cellulose