SRF is a multi-business entity engaged in the manufacture of technical textiles, fluorochemcials, fluorospecialities, packaging films and engineering plastics. Headquartered in Gurgaon, the Rs. 3,800-crore company, with a global workforce of around 5,500, has operations in four countries – India, the UAE, Thailand and South Africa.
SRF is the market leader in most of its businesses in India and also enjoys global leadership in some others. With a wide range of products it is not only the largest manufacturer of technical textiles in India but also a significant global player in tyrecord and belting fabrics. SRF’s product basket for technical textiles contains nylon tyre cord fabrics, polyester tyre cord fabrics, belting fabrics, coated fabrics, laminated fabrics, and industrial yarns.
The company is equipped with state-of-the-art R&D facilities for process innovations and product development. A winner of the prestigious Deming Prize, for its Tyrecord Fabrics in 2004 and for Chemicals Business in 2012. SRF adopts TQM for managerial efficiency and remains committed to creating a culture of excellence through people development and an employee-friendly approach.
In an exclusive interview to The Textile Magazine, Mr. Suresh Kannan, Business Head of Belting & Coated Fabrics, said: “Indian demand for technical textiles in most sectors is at its infancy. The per capita consumption of technical textiles in India is quite low at 700 grams, whereas in the US it is 10 kilos, 7 kilos in Europe and 2.5 kilos in China. With changing lifestyles, economic growth, urbanization and investment in infrastructure there is a huge potential for growth of technical textiles usage in India. There are also challenges in realizing this potential in terms of limited product penetration, low level of product awareness and lack of downstream units.”
Tyre cord & belting fabrics
The Nylon Tyre Cord Fabrics (NTCF) business segment has been a flagship business for SRF for several decades. Its first manufacturing plant was set up in Manali, near Chennai, in 1973. Since then, it had expanded by a combination of acquisitions (plants in Gwalior and Thailand), greenfield plant (Dubai) and brownfield expansion.
SRF invested in polyester tyre cord fabrics (PTCF) a few years ago. This segment which caters to the radial tyre segment of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles is beginning to find its feet both in the domestic and overseas markets.
It is believed that the foundation being built now could be used on a later day as a launching pad for further growth of business. In addition, the company has initiated development of new products in the polyester industrial yarn space, which would enable it to improve its profitability and widen its portfolio.
The NTCF segment, the largest business of SRF, mainly caters to bias tyres for the bus and truck segment. Current radialisation in this segment in India is 22 per cent only. It is estimated that radialisation would touch a level of around 30 per cent by 2013-14 and 50 per cent by 2017-18. This would stabilise thereafter, as has been observed in other developing economies of the world.
With infrastructure and mining sectors expected to grow substantially in the coming years, tyres for ‘off the road’ (OTR) vehicles, which are already witnessing high growth, are expected to grow to double digits on a sustainable basis. These tyres consume a large amount of NTCF per tyre, thus ensuring a reasonable growth rate.
It is, therefore, expected that in absolute quantity terms, demand for NTCF would grow marginally over the next five years, though the application portfolio would show a shift from buses & trucks to two-wheelers, OTR tyres and tractor tyres.
The passenger car (PC) tyre radialisation in India has reached a matured level now (over 90 per cent), which predominantly uses polyester tyre cord fabric (PTCF) as carcass for reinforcement. The car industry is expected to grow substantially in the coming years and, therefore, offers an opportunity to SRF to provide PTCF fabrics for radial tyres.
SRF is also a market leader in India and South Africa (where its plants are located) for belting fabrics used in conveyors, and has a significant global presence, being the second largest manufacturer in the world.
Coated and laminated fabrics
SRF manufactures laminated fabrics at its facility at Kashipur in Uttarakhand. The SRF FABFGLOW and HIGLOSS range of fabrics are used as both front-lit and back-lit media for billboard, banners and signages. With a range of fabrics under its kitty, it is perhaps the first Indian company to offer value-added signage products for different applications.
SRF is a pioneer in the field of synthetic coated fabrics in India, enjoying market leadership for more than two decades. It is one of the few global players which are vertically integrated in the manufacture of coated fabrics-right from its own polyester industrial yarn to final fabricated articles. The new state-of-the-art coated fabric line at Gummidipoondi near Chennai with a capacity of 170 lakh sq. metres per annum has already commenced production, and the products have been well accepted by the market.
This facility offers a wide range of products, including lacquered tarpaulins, fabrics for tensile structures, awnings, auto-canopies, hangar covers, etc. In addition, poly urethane (PU) coated fabrics have also been introduced for several applications.
SRF which offers the widest range of products in coated fabrics is poised to garner a major market share in India, and the coming year would see more rigorous efforts to build this segment.
Coated fabrics and laminated fabrics, through the investments made and being planned, are expected to grow substantially over the next few years to become the second largest segment in SRF’s Technical Textiles business. With changing lifestyles, urbanisation and massive investments in infrastructure, it is expected that products such as signages, awnings and hangar covers would see a double-digit growth. With the increasing usage of tensile structures with fabrics, as seen in stadiums, homes and exhibition centres, the high-end products are sure to grow to double digits.
SRF is one of the first large sector companies to foray into this area in a significant way, and it is expected that the company would be able to establish a leadership position in the domestic market in a short time. There are plans to enter the international market as well.
Industrial yarn business
With the commissioning of the polyester industrial yarn project a few years ago, SRF is able to offer a basket of industrial yarns (nylon and polyester) for conveyor belts, transmission belts, hoses, ropes, geo-textile applications, fishing nets, stitching threads, etc. The company continues to enjoy a significant market share in the critical segments of the industry.
Picanol machines aiding SRF growth
Picanol has its strong relationship with SRF for many decades and has supplied more than 100 machines for various applications. Recently Picanol installed 20 Optimax machines, six at SRF Trichy and 14 at SRF Gummidipondi plant, mainly to be used in belting and coating fabric. These machines are reinforced with capabilities like weaving with top beams, free flight grippers and double pick capabilities.
Picanol develops, produces and markets high-tech weaving machines. It provides the right platforms, Optimax fast flexible rapiers and OMNI-Plus-Summum airjets to stay ahead of competition, also in the demanding sector of technical fabrics.
Mr. Kasiviswanathan, Head of Indian Operations, Picanol, says: “We enjoy a healthy relationship with SRF. Although weaving machines for technical fabrics supplied to SRF are in smaller quantities, Picanol supports these machines by providing the same strong worldwide service to the organisation.”
Since 2001, all Picanol machines feature SUMO-direct drives as a standard. These drives reduce power consumption and expensive maintenance schedules. They also offer on-board speed control, amongst many other features.