Rieter’s Spun Yarn Systems develops and manufactures machinery and
systems used to convert natural and man-made fibers and their blends
into yarns. The business group generated sales of 861.7 million CHF in
the 2011 financial year and accounted for 81 per cent of Rieter’s
total sales with 3,594 employees.
Order intake of 775 million CHF by the Spun Yarn Systems Business
Group in 2011 was 36 per cent lower than a year earlier (1,217.9
million CHF). Sales by Spun Yarn Systems were 28 per cent higher at
861.7 million CHF. Demand was broad-based across market regions.
Customers in more than 45 countries ordered integrated installations
or single machines. Spun Yarn Systems has a product range that is
unique worldwide and a strong sales and service organization.
Both the company’s own units and its agents are firmly established in
the individual countries. The main markets were China, Turkey and
India. Substantial orders were also received from other Asian
countries as well as from Brazil and the US.
Spun Yarn Systems scored a particular success with the C 70 card and
with products that had been developed specifically to meet the needs
of the large Asian markets. These include the G 32 ring spinning
machine, the R 923 semi-automatic rotor spinning machine and the RSB D
22 drawframe, with which Rieter also successfully prevailed over local
competitors.
High inventory levels, flagging sales and declining yarn prices, as
also the political upheavals in the Arab countries, unsettled
customers in the second six months, and this resulted in order
postponements and cancelations. On the other hand, Spun Yarn Systems
was able to work off its very full orderbooks and shorten delivery
terms, which had lengthened enormously during the boom in 2010 to a
normal level. Spun Yarn Systems still had a healthy level of orders in
hand as at the end of 2011.
The business group substantially increased its output in the year
under review and reported disproportionately strong growth in
profitability. Good capacity utilization and continuous improvements
in manufacturing costs enabled Spun Yarn Systems to almost double the
operating result before interest and taxes in the year under review
from 42.4 million CHF to 81.2 million CHF.
New innovative products
Spun Yarn Systems presented an innovative product portfolio at the
ITMA textile machinery exhibition in Barcelona, featuring a series of
new products that are very important for the spinning process. These
included the Varioline blowroom line, the C 70 card, the RSB-D 45
drawframe, the R 60 fully automated rotor spinning machine and sensors
developed in-house for quality assurance of the yarns.
The J 20 airjet spinning machine, the production series of which was
launched at ITMA, attracted particular attention. The airjet spinning
process enables high productivity to be combined with low yarn
manufacturing costs with good quality and novel yarn properties. These
open up a wide range of possibilities in downstream processing and for
end-products.
Spun Yarn Systems is developing products with a good price/performance
ratio combined with good quality of the yarns produced in order to
meet the needs of the large domestic markets in China and India.
However, the familiar strengths of the Rieter brand with its long
tradition are also increasingly in demand in these markets. These
include low energy consumption, good raw material utilization and
reliable automation of the machines, which enable customers in China
and India to counteract the growing shortage of skilled spinning mill
personnel.
Spun Yarn Systems’ product pipeline is well filled and ensures that
important innovations will continue to come to the market in the years
to come. In the field of fundamental development Rieter co-operates
worldwide with universities, research institutions, strategic partners
and key suppliers.
Expanding global presence
In the year under review Spun Yarn Systems systematically pursued
localization of products and alignment of its organization to the
needs of major markets. This included construction of another facility
in Changzhou (China) and expansion of the Wing and Koregaon Bhima
sites in India.
In both China and India Spun Yarn Systems implemented additional
process improvements and systematically further expanded the
development, manufacturing and sales organization. This included
recruiting local personnel for key positions. Rieter also has a good
reputation as an employer at its Asian locations.
Spun Yarn Systems also invested in Winterthur Machine Works and the
Czech facility to increase productivity.