In January 2022, Dr. Uwe Rondé took over as CEO of the Saurer Group. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience in the machine tool business and in the manufacturing industry, he will consistently drive forward Saurer Group’s strategy for the future. We talked to him about how he assesses the state of technological innovation at Saurer Group, the competitiveness of its products and how he sees the future.
Dr. Rondé, coming from another industry and looking at Saurer Group, what do you see?
I see a globally positioned company with long tradition. With its high-technology products, Saurer Group is a world market leader in most product lines in a truly competitive environment. I have had the pleasure of meeting many of our employees in Germany and Europe and also in India, the US and China. And what has made a lasting impression on me is their long-standing loyalty and commitment to Saurer. This and the knowledge of the almost 170-year history of our company make me humble and at the same time also confident for the future. So, looking at Saurer, I see a strong team that is highly committed to our customers, our products and our services. I see a promise that is kept every day – we deliver.
You mentioned the competitiveness of Saurer. Would you like to elaborate what you see as key elements of Saurer’s success?
I mentioned the long experience of the worldwide Saurer employees. When you add our innovative strength and deep knowledge of the textile value chain, you have a very powerful combination. For example, I was very impressed with our air spinning machine, Autoairo. It was introduced in 2019 and the sales release has followed this year after extensive and successful market trials. I have been told that we may have set the benchmark for air-spinning machinery development time. At the ITME show in December we will show a miniature of the Autoairo, a fully functional plug-and-play trial machine, which will remain in India, enabling our customers to take trials in their own factories. This shows how convinced we are of the value that the Autoairo will have for customers. We are very much looking forward to presenting some of our latest innovations at the ITME in December.
Saurer is a solution provider. How does Saurer define this?
Solution provider in Saurer’s terms means much more than just a machine supplier. Customer focus at Saurer translates into studying the challenges at hand to find an individual solution, best suited for the customer’s needs. This could mean an investment proposal for a new mill, but it can just as well mean increasing the productivity or quality in the existing mill with upgrades, updates, automation or software. Sometimes the solution to customers’ requirements may be to replace a machine, train the team or just replace a single part. Our sales team consults the customer and offers competent advice on a customer’s terms.
The discussion on Industry 4.0 has emphasised the importance of digitalisation and automation. How do you see Saurer’s position in these fields?
Interconnectivity and data management have become a vital part of any solution today. Our mill management system, Senses, consolidates production data and true to Saurer’s approach of a solution provider it allows our customers to include third-party machines. Digitalisation has also revolutionised traditional services such as site visits, in-person training and machine trouble-shooting. Remote service is becoming a standard tool alongside the regular visits. Our twisting team can access a fully digital read-out of the error log and identify any issues, enabling specialists to offer immediate advice, saving valuable time.
The importance of digitalisation will constantly increase and the development will speed up. The lack of skilled and unskilled labour is becoming a worldwide issue and has made automation essential. Saurer provides customised automation solutions for spinning and twisting mills that increase the efficiency of machine loading and package transportation, enabling the customer to allocate the staff to more vital tasks. Our automation engineering department is directly connected to all our machinery developers, giving us a competitive edge.
Sustainability is not just a buzz word anymore but has become a development requirement for the industry of today. How do you see this changing your strategy and vision?
Saving resources has always played a major role in the Saurer vision. With the E³ product development philosophy, Saurer ensures that each new machine generation uses less energy and supports customers to save resources or space. We also participate in enabling the industry as our twisting machines prepare yarns for usage in wind energy industry or 5G technology. As an environmentally conscious company, we also aim at improving our own worldwide facilities and reducing our footprint continuously.
The EU Green deal and the legislation will set standards for future textile production in Europe. Recycling within the concept of circular economy will be a real challenge for the textile value chain. How do you see this changing the industry?
Saurer prepares its customers for production within the circular economy. We enable spinning mills to use a wide variety of recycled and regenerated fibres in their production. Our rotor-spinning machines are worldwide leading in processing recycled fibres. We have cards specialised in the preparation of recycled fibres and our textile technology laboratory is continually supporting our customers in optimising their yarn production and yarn quality.
However, the new requirements being defined will force a certain mindset change of the industry. For instance, the discussion on recyclability will require the spinners to consider their material composition already at the spinning stage. The new legislation, once in force, might be a wake-up call for many textile producers as it will not just affect European manufacturers but also anybody who exports to Europe. Many questions are still unanswered as the laws are being formulated, but we already know that the impact will be notable.
How about the future? Where do you see the potential for Saurer looking forward?
I trust in our committed employees and our innovative strength. Our success confirms that we are on the right track. My vision is to take this to the next level by integrating knowledge from other industries I personally know. Overall, the next generation of textile machinery will have more connectivity, intelligence and sensorics on-board and we need to prepare for this. Every day, we also need to live our first core value: customer in focus. The products and solutions that we deliver need to offer real, measurable value for our customers. So this is where our potential for tomorrow is fulfilled: by optimising our machines and applications in a continuous process, innovating and going that one step further.
Finally, how do you see the Indian market and its importance?
Saurer has a strong presence in India today. One of our worldwide production facilities for ring and roving frames as well as components is in Gujarat where we produce high-speed spinning machinery for the local market as well as for export. The decision to produce in India was based on the importance of the domestic ring market. India is the second-largest spinning market in the world, and when it comes to spinning speeds, most likely number one. And the requirements on the yarn quality are equally high. This makes the Indian market challenging, but at the same time a great fit to our spinning portfolio.
We are also very pleased to play a major role in developing further the rotor spinning market in India, where we see an increasing number of recycling activities in the last years. The twisting market in India has been very important to us since years and our wide portfolio of twisting solutions is also welcomed by our customers. Our sales and service team in India is experienced and, as I hear from our customers, also very much valued. We have sales and service locations in all important spinning hubs in India, close to our customers. As a group, we are very much looking forward to participating at the ITME and meeting our customers.