With sales of Rs. 3,500 million, Sportking is well on its way to becoming one of the biggest brands at all stages of the textile process, from yarn and fabric manufacture to apparel production and retailing, not only on the Indian market but worldwide.
Sportking is a corporate group based in Ludhiana. The group’s portfolio covers the entire textile value chain, from yarns, fabrics and apparel to retailing, and also features a training facility for textile technologists. Based on the powerful vision of its founder Raj Kumar Awasthi, CEO and Chairman, the group regards its mission as investment in socio-economic growth: on the one hand through outstanding performance, on the other by adapting to modern technologies in business and training. This is what brings Sportking and Rieter together.
Group CEO Munish Awasthi is not only continuing to pursue the existing business in the spirit of his father, but has also implemented a series of expansion plans in a wide range of sectors along the value chain.
Yarn manufacture is the Sportking Group’s most important business segment. A wide range of yarns are produced, from cotton, manmade fibers, raw white and dyed blends to various fancy yarns such as crochet and chenille yarns. Its first spinning mill was built in 1989 under the name of “Sportking India Ltd.”.
The group now operates five spinning installations with 1,50,000 spindles in and around Ludhiana, manufacturing manmade fiber yarns and blends. Five more spinning mills with a total of 1,20,000 spindles for manufacturing cotton, polyester/cotton and blended yarns are being installed in Bathinda.
The group has a daily knitting capacity of 2,000 kg of fabric in various knitting constructions. It is vertically integrated and owns two dyeing plants for fiber and yarn with a capacity of 10 tonnes/day each. The making-up facilities in Ludhiana produce a wide range of apparel for men, women and children. The product range includes thermal underwear, T-shirts, pants, tracksuits, sweaters, shorts, leisurewear, jackets and other garments. The company has its own design team and development center for creating new designs and products. It has branches throughout India and its full range of apparel is on offer in 60 outlets. The group has developed its vision further, and through the Sportking Textile Engineering Institute it provides a forum for exchange of technical know-how in the fields of textiles and fashion.
Investment in technology and growth
Development of the Indian spinning industry, which currently meets 25 per cent of the global demand for yarn, and the growing domestic demand for yarn were the basis for the group’s decision to expand its spinning capacity by a further 120,000 spindles. Two facilities with 28,800 spindles each have already been installed, and a further three are currently being set up. Rieter is proud to have the opportunity to install a complete spinning mill with Rieter machines for the third time.
The second installation with 28,800 spindles is equipped with Rieter’s latest VARIOline blowroomline. The C 70 high-performance cards deliver carded slivers in the optimal, required quality with an output of up to 95 kg/h. Two Rieter combing lines with the new SB-D 11 single-head draw frames, the OMEGAlap combing preparation machine and the highly productive E 66 combers complete the process.
Each machine supplies top-quality combed slivers with noil extraction rates of up to 17% at an output of up to 1,700 kg/h. Four RSB-D 22 double-head autoleveler draw frames featuring Rieter’s mill proven autolevelling system produce drafter slivers with very low CV values. The ring spinning mill is equipped with 22 G 32 ring spinning machines, each of which produces 206 g of Ne 30 cotton yarn per spindle and shift on 1,440 spindles.
As well as state-of-the-art machinery, the Sportking Group has a productive workforce and management with a very high standard of technical know-how and leadership ability, who are able to structure processes and workflows in such a way that the maximum yield can be obtained from the available raw material with the Rieter machines.
A partnership – Sportking and Rieter
“The world has suddenly become smaller, so any company wishing to grow has to think globally, since the competition is no longer limited to the domestic market,” says Raj Kumar Awasthi.
The group’s vision of boosting socio-economic growth through quality and adaptation to the current state-of-the-art offers Rieter the opportunity to co-operate closely with the Sportking Group in order to achieve high quality in yarn manufacture. Sportking is one of those highly regarded customers in India which offers Rieter a platform for the use of its latest products and innovations.
(This article has been reproduced from the recent edition of Rieter’s customer magazine, LINK)