The Coimbatore-based TeFoc has made a distinct mark for itself as a leading supplier of critical accessories to the spinning sector. The company represents some of the leading global brands in the textile domain in the Indian market. At the recently held Texfair 2019 in Coimbatore, its stall was a beehive of activity thanks to the live demo of the Sobone auto doffing robot.
“We are happy to have TeFoc as our partner in India. We came to India sometime around 2016. At that point of time we faced some difference between the Indian spindle type and the Chinese ones. It took our R&D department another couple of years to develop a robot specifically for the Indian market. By 2017 we had our first customer here,” said Felix Wang, Sales Manager, Sobone, looking back at the journey of the company.
According to him, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and India are Sobone’s key markets. He also disclosed: “It was our Chairman’s idea to come out with a mobile doffer. He wanted to develop a doffer that could handle multiple ringframes. We had launched the first robot in China in 2009. Till date 2,600 of our auto doffing robots are running worldwide.”
Going into details regarding some of the advantages offered by the auto doffing robot, P. Samuel Ravichandran, Managing Director of TeFoc, explained: “First of all, as compared to the fixed models, with our mobile auto doffing robot, the overall investment is vastly reduced. You then have the advantage, vis-à-vis maintenance cost wise too. With the other type of system, multiple machines have to be maintained. Each machine can have hundreds of parts. The cost therefore shoots up. With us you just need only 1 or 2 robots that can take care of several ringframes. The consumed parts are less in number. The maintenance cost is also reduced significantly.”
Talking about the return of investment (ROI) the machine offers, Ravichandran said: “On an average the ROI is 3 years. You will also need to look at the multiple benefits that the robot offers. There are large savings in terms of labor. Plus, you need to take into account the fact that you don’t need to handle the cops manually. Remember, manual doffing is one of the most tedious tasks in a mill. With this robot you are providing the workforce in a mill with a much more comfortable work atmosphere.”
He added: “We have already completed around 20 installations successfully in India. We expect the numbers to increase manifold once people become more aware and confident about the system. Some of our key customers include top names in the industry like Rajaguru, Sangeeth Textiles and Vignesh Yarns. In fact, in Sangeeth Textiles and Vignesh Yarns we had installed the system around 1½ years back. All our customers are happy with the machine’s performance.”
Samuel Ravichandran felt that there is huge market potential for the product in India. “Both India and China have huge potential for this machine. A lot of people are showing interest. Sobone has come out with a very good product. It has been offering fantastic technical support services to its customers here. We expect the sales figures to go up quite rapidly in the near future.”
Felix Wang disclosed that, apart from India, the company felt that Bangladesh is another market with excellent potential for the product. “Vietnam where a lot of Chinese investments are happening, is another good market for us.”
So, what next for Sobone in the Indian market? To this Felix Wang replied: “In the pipeline is a yarn loading machine for autoconers. We are planning to come out with a smart spinning system and also set up an office in India, most probably in Coimbatore, for service and spares.”