Picanol NV, a Belgium-based textile machinery conglomerate’s glorious journey into the Indian textile industry – a vivid saga of over the last few decades, quizzed by our Special Editor, Ganesh Kalidas and fondly answered from annuls of precious memory by Mr. P. Kasiviswanathan, Executive Director of Picanol India. With a special insight into Picanol’s tryst with Indian market during the last decade.
Picanol’s presence in India has been long, starting from 1956, looms were supplied through its Indian distributors/agents.
Mr. Kasiviswanathan, a B.Tech graduate in textile Technology with MBA marketing up his sleeve, who started as a Sales Engineer proudly says he has been associated with Picanol NV for the last 25 years in one way or the other growing alongside the company. He recalls having sold 6 different generations of Picanol weaving machines since he started his journey with Picanol.
Picanol has been represented through agent until end 2007 on January 1, 2008, it started its wholly-owned subsidiary in India headquartered in Delhi. Mr. Kasiviswanathan has seen India moving from customs duty levy regime on textile machinery to a zero duty regime, to the subsidy era.
He says the Indian Government has come a long way supporting the growth and development of the textile industry and has facilitated Picanol’s timely entrance, consolidation and growth story.
India was and has been one of the top three markets for Picanol NV. Hence the decision to move from an agency distribution business model to establishing its own footprint was to consolidate the position and grow further in the Indian peninsula.
From a manpower strength of 20 in 2008, Picanol now has over 40 qualified and specially trained personnel to handle the Indian operations with headquarters in Delhi and branch offices in Mumbai and Coimbatore; also has been expanding their reach and presence in regional areas where their newer and older clients are present.
Mr. Kasiviswanathan calls it their ‘MANTRA’ “to be present physically in the regions where they sell their machines”, this mantra has spun and woven the Picanol success story so far. Hence Picanol has Hub and Spoke kind of office setup when it comes to smaller cities and towns. They have satellite offices in Bhilwara, Surat, Ahmedabad, Kolhapur, etc., with plans to expand as and when newer clients are acquired in different parts of India.
Though the Indian textile industry is predominantly a spinning segment, the weaving segment is growing at a steady pace. With zero customs duty together with State and Central subsidy the weaving segment is growing by leaps and bounds. Hence Picanol has been bringing in their state-of-art weaving machines with value adds as per the market and client requirement.
Picanol has a presence in almost all the textile segments, say, weaving be it Denim, Sheeting, Shirting, Bottom wear, Home furnishing, Technical Textile or Terry, one will find Picanol’s share of weaving machinery.
Apart from supplying state-of-art machinery units which are up to date when it comes to tech and quality, the aftermarket sales team plays a major role in just not supplying quality spares but also addresses the upgradation requirement while servicing and maintenance routines. The service setup in India for Print repair is one of the best in the world, which includes Testing, simulation runs, etc.
With its favourite slogan, “Let’s grow together”, the company has been constantly working on the growth of the customer by providing quality product & solution and extending their support as permanent Partnership on supplier – customer relation.
Picanol’s Airjet and Rapier technology is truly state-of-the-art with flexibility to meet the different needs of the market has been a strong point when it comes to unique selling point of Picanol’s sales strategy and pitch. This helps Picanol to leverage strong customer confidence and loyalty, building a strong brand image to sustain and consolidate its presence in the Indian sub-continent.
With nearly 22,000 new installations apart from second hand Picanol machinery installations in India, most of these second-hand machinery are being serviced by Picanol India. Needless to say it has the world’s best electronic PCB repair center set-up in India outside of Belgium, with dedicated engineers to test, repair, and upgrade them. The systems to test the repaired PCB in simulators meant to test in extreme conditions are part of this center.
Keeping in mind the customers need to keep the cost low and the efficiency high, Picanol India has a dedicated aftermarket team to counsel the existing customers for the newer technology available and upgradability of the existing units the cost and benefits thereof.
Since Picanol’s foray into the Indian peninsula, the list of its clientele has been steadily growing with names like Vardhman Textiles, Nahar Group, Alok Industries, Bombay Rayon, Mandhana, Bombay Rayon, Trident Group, Century Denim, KG Denim, Subhlakshmi Synthetics Ltd., Sangam Group, Partap Group, Ginni Internationals, ETCO & Ultra Denim, etc.
Key milestones achieved in the last decade so to say would be a single largest installation of 500 machines for Trident in Sheeting segment and many more reference project; with nearly 22,000 new machines installation in India in itself means a major mile stones achieved by Picanol.
The solid presence in India and advanced technology of Picanol is a definite edge over the competition. Hence Picanol is set to consolidate and grow in the Indian market.
The steady advancement of technology in Picanol looms has been the major driving force and India being Picanol’s top three markets make them the clear market leader in India beyond any doubt and will stay a market leader in the future too.
