Setting new benchmarks in product quality, innovation and automation
Reshmi Industries, the flagship company of SNG Group, has made rapid inroads into the market with its range of winding solutions for the post spinning and sewing thread industry including high performance cone / cop winders and precision winders for dye package / rewinding / assembly winding and lastly the volume segment which is the drum winders.
The company headquartered in Coimbatore, is known for its strong R&D focus. It had visitors making a beeline to its booth to take a closer look at its high-performance cops winder during ITMA 2015, held in Milan. It is now ready to rock at Barcelona with not one, not two, but 6 new fully automatic winders.
We caught up with Mr. Vishnu Sajan, the company’s young Sales Director and got to know from him about the new launches, apart from the company’s history, products, performance in recent times, its manufacturing facility, key export markets, its participation in ITMA 2019 and future plans, among others.
Edited excerpts:
A quick look at the company’s history, Reshmi’s journey began in 1965, when Mr. K.G. Balan, grandfather of Mr. Sajan, was working in the technical department with a leading textile conglomerate. “Back in those days there were more number of European machines being imported to India with limited spare supply. Mr. Balan knew the difficulty in obtaining these spares which was both a tedious, as well as expensive process. This triggered an urge in him to set up his own textile machinery company and subsequently in 1965, he started SNG Engineering Works in Chalakudy in Kerala. These spares were manufactured at much cheaper costs and supplied in the Indian market. In the next few years, Mr. Balan moved into manufacture of sewing threads and post spinning machinery. My father, Mr. K.B. Sajan joined the business subsequently in the 1980s. It was also during that time that they decided to move to the engineering hub of Coimbatore and started Reshmi with the focus on post spinning and sewing thread machinery. Mr. K.B. Sajan has been the driving force for Reshmi to where it is today. His expertise over the years in the field of winding with our strong R&D & technical team, who are constantly involved in research and innovation of new products has guided the company in the right path. Our new generation of winding machines named the Alpha series are equipped with latest winding technology and are energy efficient solutions available in the market today. From its modest beginnings in its early days, till date, the company has grown rapidly, with a staff strength of over 300 personnel, manning its modern facilities”, Mr. Sajan narrated.
Manufacturing facility
The company has a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility which is right now spread across 70,000 sq. ft. “We are expanding another 20,000 sq. ft., as we are trying to bring in more facilities. We also have an exclusive Technician Training Program for Mechanical / Electrical and Quality Assurance at the training center located in Peelamedu, Coimbatore, where all our technical trainees have to undergo a 30-day training program,” Mr. Sajan added. The manufacturing facility features the latest technology in all areas of production like manufacturing, quality assurance, supply chain management, R&D and human resources.
Another unique feature of the company’s premises is the presence of a product showroom in which the customers can take trials of all products on display. Customers can bring in their own yarn and see how the machine works before choosing the right winding solution.
Riding high
“We had a tough first quarter due to the industry taking time to adapt to the new GST regime. However, with our wide range of products, we could achieve our targets. Reshmi has always had an upper hand in the post spinning and sewing thread industry being the preferred choice of the customers. Our new range of high-performance cop winders and precision assembly winders have been widely appreciated by customers for its performance, quality and being cost-efficient when compared to our competitors. We hope that this year would be better for the industry”, explains Mr. Sajan.
Almost 75% of the company’s overall sales comes from India and the rest from export markets. Its key global markets include Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Pakistan, Turkey and Iran.
Adding further Mr. Sajan felt that going forward markets such as Uzbekistan, African and South American countries have good growth potential. The company is looking forward to meeting potential customers, agents from these regions during ITMA 2019.
Going into the details regarding the changes that he had brought into the company since the time he took over as the Sales Director, Mr. Sajan said: “Reshmi has been working towards only one goal which is ways to improve what it already offers. We realise that automation is the only way forward. Industry 4.0 is the future. Reshmi is introducing its entire product range automated by ITMA 2019.”
Geared up for ITMA 2019
Preparations are in full swing at Reshmi for participation in ITMA 2019. “Our R&D and technical teams are working round the clock to engineer products that will shape Reshmi’s future, we are optimistic we will have a good show,” Mr. Sajan said.
The company has been a regular participant in the event. “Reshmi has been participating since 2003. Our first ITMA show was at Birmingham, although we had participated in the Indian edition, i.e., ITME much earlier. Further on, we have been at all ITMA expos worldwide till date”, Mr. Sajan pointed out.
Speaking about the benefits that the company has derived from the event, Mr. Sajan observed: “It is a fantastic platform to reach out to customers worldwide, meet and understand their requirements as we pioneer in offering customised winding solutions. ITMA has been providing a great opportunity to meet customers from around the globe. I would also like to thank ITMA for helping us find partners to promote our products in countries where we did not have our presence earlier.”
While the company has been participating in ITMA since 1992, the 2015 Milan edition was particularly memorable, according to Mr. Sajan for a few reasons. “It was the first time that we managed to showcase our entire product range. It was also memorable that we were able to display our first fully automated machine. We were able to connect with our customers in various countries, i.e., Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Iran, Argentina, Turkey and Egypt at the event”.
At ITMA 2019, the company will be showcasing automation in its entire product range.
Reasons for automation, Mr. Sajan explains: “With severe labour shortage gripping the textile industry worldwide, it is no longer an employer’s market; it is now an employee’ market. This has forced companies to raise wages and to offer other benefits to retain workers. Earlier, these incentives were only offered by major ones but now even those in the small and medium sectors are forced to offer such incentives. While the industry is growing, labour shortage is increasing faster. In this background, we feel the only solution is automation.”
Continuing further he added: “We will be launching 6 new products. These include:
* ‘Precitube’ – This will be the world’s first high-performance tube/cops’ winder with a fully automated cops transport system and labelling machine. This system known as the ‘AUTOLAP’ ensures a smooth transport of cops/tubes without the intervention of the operator. In this day and age where labour is both difficult to find, as well as expensive, this product has come as the perfect solution.
* We will also be the first in India to launch ‘Precithread’ – a high performance automatic cone winder in 2 models, viz., “V Cone – PT64 C” & “Y Cone – PT 64Y C”. With this fully automatic model, customers can wind 5,000 metre cones in a matter of just 5 minutes flat when coupled with Reshmi’s E-Gear technology for changing the different crossing ratios. These products are at par with European products. With a pricing that is around 50% of that of European products, the return on investment will be much higher.
* Also, we will be showcasing our new 54 series dye package precision winder with ‘Dyna Flex’ winding technology. The Dyna Flex algorithm enables a 15-20% increase on dye package density. It also features uniform density with zero patterning and the flexibility to switch between winding modes: random/precision/step precision via machine terminal. 64 Series precision assembly winder with auto doffer for maximum productivity and reduce work force. 64 Series is also available with Dyna Flex winding technology.
* Reshmi’s new range of energy efficient drum winders named 39 series for dye package winding/rewinding and assembly winding with optional auto doffing system will also be showcased at ITMA.”
Best of both worlds
In his reply to the question as to why should a customer buy the company’s products, given the fact that it is fighting it out in a highly competitive field, Mr. Sajan said: “At ITMA 2019 I invite visitors to come and take a close look at our products, Seeing is believing. Reshmi’s products are made using technology similar to European products with equal or better productivity, but at a far lower price and with low maintenance. The price advantage is more than 50%.”
Another strong point of the company is its aftersales service support. In India the company’s service teams are strategically located in Delhi, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, apart from Coimbatore. “Overseas we have our agents who have service engineers trained at our training facility in Coimbatore periodically. We also ensure that a minimum stock of spares are stored with our respective sales partners. This is the easiest possible way to reduce the downtime,” Mr. Sajan observed.
New portal
The company is launching a new portal – ‘Reshmi E-Spares’ during ITMA 2019, to take customer support to the next level. “Our customers globally, can access the portal, using their unique login ID. Once logged in, customers have direct access to Reshmi Spares Team, this ensures faster booking of the spares and faster despatch with an online tracking system.” Mr. Sajan said before adding, “In today’s fast paced business environment, a portal like this will make things a lot easier for our customers. Reshmi’s E-Spares goes live Summer 2019.”
The company’s R&D department is continuously working towards bringing in more improvements. “The entire world is moving towards Industry 4.0. We are also working towards making our machines 4.0 compliant. Our winders are equipped with data collection terminals which gather key data and online production data to mobile devices. However, Industry 4.0 has a much wider dimension to it. In countries like India most of the companies are still in the research stage when it comes to adopting Industry 4.0. There is no doubt that it is the future. Our team is working towards enabling our machines also compliant to those standards. You will definitely hear something on that front from us in the near future.”
Vision 2025
So, where exactly is Reshmi Industries headed to in the future? What is the company’s Vision 2025? Mr. Sajan responded saying: “ITMA 2015 at Milan had given us a chance to getting a firmer footing in the global market. We are excited to show our products to our customers. As mentioned earlier, our goal is to provide customers the latest winding solutions with the best “Performance, Quality and Minimum Cost”. From being an Indian competitor just about arriving at the global stage, we have now moved one level up and are very confident that our products can match the best on the global stage. We are sure that by the next ITMA, we will be firmly placed as a global brand, if not already. We are constantly working on every single aspect of the product, whether it is quality, technology, aesthetics or performance. Providing world-class products at a price that is unimaginable for the competitors is our goal and we are moving in the right direction.”
“As I mentioned earlier, seeing is believing. Visitors can take a closer look at our products at Hall No. 7, Stall No. D202 at ITMA 2019,” Mr. Sajan signs off.
Dyna Flex: 54 Series
Dyna Flex is the updated Version of Reshmi’s Alpha Series Precision Soft Package winder.
This winding technology ensures a 15 – 20% increase in dye package density with unchanged dyeing recipes
Some of the Key Features include:
* Flexibility to Switch between Winding modes- Random/Precision/Step-Precision
* Sleek Machine Terminal Equipped with 10inch Touch screen & Online Production Monitoring System
* Online Yarn Tension Control system
* Optional Auto Doffer
64 Series AW
Reshmi’s 64 Series Assembly winder is the Updated version of Alpha series Precision Assembly winder with the Auto Doff system to obtain maximum productivity and reduce workforce
Key features include
* Flexibilty to switch between Winding modes – Random/ Precision / Step Precision
* Propeller Winder Technology using Rotating blades for best unwinding properties
* Sleek Machine Terminal Equipped with 10 inch Touch Screen & Online monitoring System
* Available Traverse 6,7 and 8inch
* Auto Doffer
Precitube
Reshmi’s PT 64T High perfomance cops winder otherwise known as precitube is updated with Fast Removal of Slit drum for easy maintenance and removal of yarn wrap.
We have incorporated a “false start” System to reduce the Machine Downtime during the tube loading
Electronically synchronised lubrication system according to the yarn speed
Launching the World’s first fully automated Cops transport system known as the Autolap
Precithread – V Cone/Y cone (Kingspool)
Reshmi’s New High perfomance Cone winder is equipped with E-Gear Technology for changing the different Crossing Ratio’s
The Take up tube assymetric with respect to the plane can be compensated easily