Eight-day marathon customer road show held across the country
The Saurer Group has taken the next big step of setting up a Saurer manufacturing facility in India to complement the existing joint ventures. The group and its management has always been optimistic of the India growth story and has shown strong commitment towards this market.
The setting up of a new a manufacturing facility is a huge step forward in reinforcing Saurer’s commitment to the Indian market. Saurer also organised an eight-day marathon customer road show across India in all major markets, including Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Rajkot, Nagpur, Madurai, Coimbatore and Vijayawada.
Dr. Martin Folini, CEO of Schlafhorst and Zinser, disclosed that Saurer is investing on a new large factory in Baroda. In November 2014, it bought 85,000 sq.m. of land in Baroda and is coming up with a new production hub there which is expected to be commissioned by mid-2015.
In the initial stage, the new factory will manufacture the new Zinser models 71 and 72, both for conventional and compact ring spinning. With up to 1,920 spindles, the Zinser 72 will be the longest ring spinning frame in the world. The ring frames produced in India are meant for local as well as export markets.
Saurer Components’ Halol factory will move to the same campus and will produce weighing arms and spindles with a considerably increased capacity.
The Saurer Group has had a successful year in India and overseas in 2014, and is looking forward to continuing on this growth rate this year also. Growing activities in India have allowed the group to grow considerably faster than the local market. The group has consistently invested in innovations that cater to customer needs and has taken up the task of continuous improvement with excellent services.
Mr. Daniel Lippuner, CEO of Saurer Group, says: “The Saurer Group is very proud to contribute to Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. India has definitely been an important market for us. We were honored to be associated with the Welspun project at Anjar, where we supplied AC X5 winders for the single largest spinning unit under one umbrella in India. We have also undertaken an increasing number of rotor installations in India. Furthermore, the components unit has also been highly successful and is now one of the key suppliers to KTTM and the Toyota Group”.
Says Dr. Folini: “Zinser Textile Systems has also performed very well during 2014 with growth figures being well above the market average in India as well as in other export markets. The excellent features and impeccable quality of the Zinser roving frame developed by ZTS is well known in the market. This year too looks to be very promising for the company”.
Our close co-operation with KTTM as one of its main components suppliers for ring has been a successful growth story. We are honored to be associated with such a distinguished company. Moreover, Texparts in Europe launched the PK2630 SEH arm some time ago, and this is well suited for LMW and Rieter machines and offers the same excellent qualities of the PK 2630SE series. On the consumables side, Accotex has launched the Accosmart; a double-layer ring spinning cot combining the best qualities of soft and hard spinning cots”.
Dr. Folini added: “Globally, India & China along with Turkey have been the most important markets for Saurer during the course of the year with several new projects been undertaken in the region. North Africa, although considerably smaller, has shown great potential in the last year as well. Saurer has a unique portfolio to cater to the increased need for automation. We are the only company offering complete automation from roving with transport system to ring and linked winding”.
As is well known, the Saurer Group was acquired by the Jinsheng Group from Oerlikon. This marked the birth of the new Saurer. Mr. Lippuner has spearheaded much of this transition in the last two years along with his team.
Mr. Lippuner observes: “A smooth and disruption free transition from Oerlikon resulted in the birth of the new Saurer. We have come a long way since, but most visibly with our new look – both externally as well as internally. With redefined branding and a new set of binding values, our aim is to set new standards in the textile industry. Our innovations are driven with a primary focus on customer needs. At ITMA Asia 2014 we exhibited first results of this where we, after just a year as new Saurer, were the only company launching 3 completely new machines on the show – (Zinser 72 Impact, Schlafhorst BD6 – a semi-automated rotor spinning machine and JSC326 Card – the new Jintan Carding machine). We have recently launched the new generation of Schlafhorst winders – the Autoconer 6, which offers 6% higher efficiency and 6% lower energy consumption combined with other excellent new features”.
The acquisition of Jingsheng Group by Saurer has had a very positive impact on the later’s business prospects in the Chinese market. Jinsheng is a major player in China and this has opened doors for Saurer. This collaboration has given us the opportunity to test our products in the Jinsheng Mill under real mill conditions, says Mr. Lippuner.
India Customer road show
The Group embarked on its 2015 Customer Day road show recently, covering eight major textile cities in India, from Chandigarh and Ludhiana in the north, Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Rajkot in the west to Coimbatore, Madurai and Vijayawada in the south. The group invited the customers to interact on the “New Standards in Staple Fibre Spinning”.
The turnout for the event was overwhelming with almost 3,000 participating customers.
Mr. Lippuner, in his welcome address, said: “Although ITMA in Milano will take place later this year, we have so many new innovations as well as exciting news about the development of the Saurer Group in India and we want to share this with our customers. Especially as not everybody may have the opportunity to travel to Milan in November”.
He added: “An important part of the machinery business is the services and original parts business. This is integrated in all machinery business units. Our original parts ensure continuous efficiency and quality in production and our service goes far beyond traditional concepts; trainings, preventive maintenance, updates and upgrades. Saurer will be re-launching the brand SUN (Service Unlimited) during the ITMA. I am very pleased that I have received such positive feedback for our service team from many major customers during my customer visits in the last few days”.
The textile industry is facing numerous challenges at present like rising salary costs in industrial regions combined with shortage of labour. This is putting a lot of pressure on yarn production and is bringing forth increased automation. Also the increasing pace of fashion with constant changes in materials and lot sizes with short lead times, demands the highest flexibility in production. Saurer approaches these challenges by creating breakthrough innovations to foster customers’ profitability combined with passion for customers, innovation and quality. The current R&D efforts concentrate on maximizing the production per sq.m. of the occupied factory space. And when it comes to examples in flexibility, the Autocoro 8 is leading the way in its segment, allowing production of up to five lots simultaneously. With the E3 label, triple value added (energy, economics, ergonomics), Saurer is ensuring that all innovations take the essential customer demands into consideration.
Mr. Peter Goelden, Product Manager for winding, presented at the event new Schlafhorst Autoconer 6 for the first time to the worldwide customers. In addition, Schlafhorst Autocoro 8 and BD 6 rotor spinning machines were also presented along with the Zinser speed frames and the new Zinser ring spinning machine.
Enhanced energy savings and increased efficiency on AC 6 along with the huge advantages of the ACO 8, like the new quick start function, especially in markets where power cuts are more of a rule than an exception, promise immense potential.
Saurer Components introduced facts on PK SE series which is now available for hexagonal (PK SEH), round (PK SE) support rods, Texparts Zero Underwinding as well as the Texparts Rings for high speed spinning, which are both very popular in the Indian market. A large amount of local and foreign product experts remained at the customer’s disposal answering queries throughout the day.
Furthermore, Saurer’s new ACO 8 rotor spinning machine presented at ITMA Asia is now setting new standards in productivity. The company has a unique portfolio to cater to the increased need for automation. Since the birth of the new Saurer, the company has been redefining its brands to set new standards in the textile industry.
“Our innovations are driven with a primary focus on customer needs. ITMA Asia exhibited first results of this where we, after just a year as new Saurer, launched three completely new machines, the Zinser 72 Impact, Schlafhorst BD6 – a semi-automated rotor spinning machine and JSC326 Card, the new Jintan Carding machine. We have recently launched the new generation of Schlafhorst winders, the Autoconer 6, which offers six per cent higher efficiency and six per cent lower energy consumption combined with other excellent new features”, said Dr. Folini.
Sharing his views on the market revival in 2015, he said: “India is one of the world’s top countries in yarn spinning, in terms of both quality as well as speed. Once the downstream industry invests in quality equipment allowing a higher output on garments and fabrics instead of exporting, the industry will profit from this. However the question that remains is what will happen with TUFS and will this influence the investment activities this year.”
“A smooth and disruption free transition from Oerlikon resulted in the birth of the new Saurer. We have come a long way since, but most visibly with our new look – both externally as well as internally. With redefined branding and a new set of binding values, our aim is to set new standards in the textile industry. Our innovations are driven with a primary focus on customer needs. At ITMA Asia 2014 we exhibited first results of this where we, after just a year as new Saurer, were the only company launching 3 completely new machines on the show – (Zinser 72 Impact, Schlafhorst BD6 – a semi-automated rotor spinning machine and JSC326 Card – the new Jintan Carding machine). We have recently launched the new generation of Schlafhorst winders – the Autoconer 6, which offers 6% higher efficiency and 6% lower energy consumption combined with other excellent new features”.
– Mr. Daniel Lippuner, CEO, Saurer Group