For over five decades, Voltas has been at the service of India’s textile industry. The company has been focused on continuously adding value by offering technology solutions in just about every textile segment. There is a constant focus on enhancing the customer’s yield on his investment, as well as the globally competitive quality of his output.
If there is one thing that stands out in Voltas, it’s their penchant for identifying, nurturing and developing win-win business relationships. This then lies at the core of Voltas’ proud and long standing 50 year plus relationship with principal partner Lakshmi Machine Works. A sales and service partnership that has grown over the years, securing an enviable market share of over 60% in spinning, despite the onslaught of multinational competition. Voltas is proud to represent as many as 20 principals offering end to end products and solutions across the spectrum of spinning and post-spinning needs. Trusted by over 3,500 end customers, Voltas continues to gain ground in frontline technologies such as compact spinning and digital printing.
In a recent interview, Mr. C. Kamatchisundaram, Vice President – Textile Machinery Division, Voltas Ltd., spoke in detail on the industry scenario and the company’s commitment to the textile industry.
Excerpts:
It continues to be a challenging year for the spinning industry. What are your views on the performance during the year so far?
Yarn export has been a major driver of market sentiments in the spinning industry for the last few years. It is obvious that the sentiments would be down when there is a slowdown in exports and the volatility of the raw material prices added to the difficulties. Yes, it has been a challenging year for the industry from the perspective of operations. However, the spinning industry had gone through such cycles in the past and sprang back strongly which we are sure would happen this time too. Further, the long-term potential is still quite strong and accordingly the investments in green field or brown field projects continued in the current year also at the same rate as previous years.
How has the year been for Voltas? Which are the segments that have been performing well this year?
The order booking has been quite healthy for us across the segments – spinning, knitting, processing and finishing, etc. In fact, in circular knitting, printing, soft flow dyeing and finishing there is a definite uptick. This augurs well even for spinning as the investments in downstream processes would increase the demand for yarn in the domestic market and reduce dependence of the spinning industry on exports to some extent.
What are your views on excess capacity in the spinning industry and need for upgradation of technology by spinning mills?
As a leader in providing end-to-end textile solutions, we feel this situation would come to pass and the revival would happen soon. Further, there are always opportunities in adversities, and this situation may lead to two developments: a) consolidation in the spinning industry as the efficient mills would find ways to remain competitive and manage their operations irrespective of the market conditions. The efficient mills would also focus on modernization / upgradation / automation and invest in these areas. b) The stimulus package announced by the Government would help accelerate investments in downstream processes creating more need for quality yarn in the domestic market. This would again call for further investments in new spinning machinery.
We believe that the long-term outlook for the spinning industry in the country would be bullish irrespective of whether it is spurred by export of yarn or export of finished goods like garments and apparels. It is also encouraging to note that the Government is talking on FTAs and road shows for promotion of textile exports. This would further add to the confidence level of the industry across the value chain.
Accordingly, we feel that the industry would continue to invest on 3-3.5 million spindles every year, of course with a mix of upgradation in capacities and new projects. This may go up further if our country enters into FTAs with consuming countries in Europe or the US.
Voltas has a large portfolio of clients from the spinning segment, importantly a very long association with the market leader LMW and other component manufacturers. How is Voltas geared up to cater to the needs of the spinning industry?
Our principals LMW and the principals in the components business like LRT, LCC, Kluber, Elgi, LEDL and ALIL are fully geared up in terms of technology and capacity to meet the varied needs of the industry and to spin various types of products. LMW, the market leader for many years, has regularly launched many state-of-the-art products which have become very attractive in the market.
Voltas is also fully geared to handle this situation. The management has ensured that we have a deep reach and better focus to engage with our principals. Our constant interactions with our principal help us to be better equipped to cater to the customers. We are present in every textile cluster in the country with resources for sales and services to enable us to respond to customer needs very quickly. We have increased our presence to 16 different locations across the length and the breadth of the country. As industry veterans and experts we understand the value chain and are present at the required touch-points across this spectrum. We also have stock centers for ring travellers and lubricants in 10 different locations across the country. We are truly a single-window solution provider for customers for every need – be it machinery, allied machinery, accessories, components or services. Recently, we have also set up a separate team of technologists to cater to the service needs of the customers in spinning process. We have also helped our customers by providing services on power conservation by focusing on all areas in a spinning mill. We are geared up to extend these services further.
Capability building to better serve the customers is a continuous process in Voltas, and we have been continuously upgrading our capabilities in all these areas.
You have recently added Veejay Lakshmi, a leading Indian manufacturer of TFOs and winders, to your portfolio. Can you say a few words on the new partnership?
The proud association with Veejay Lakshmi commenced from April 2016. Veejay Lakshmi is a leading manufacturer of top class TFOs which is well known for productivity, quality and more importantly for significant power saving. Voltas, with its wide network across the country, is obviously the ideal partner for sales and services. With effective sales promotion, we have booked significant orders within a short period, including those from some of the leading mills in the country. The partnership has started on a very good note and it would only get stronger as we go forward.
Weaving segment has witnessed strong growth in the last few years with many major projects being executed? Do you expect continued growth in the weaving segment? Voltas is representing Rifa, one of the leading Chinese weaving machinery manufacturers. Where do you see an opportunity in this segment?
We are quite happy about the investments in the weaving sector, especially in top segments, as it augurs well for other parts of the value chain. The yearly imports were almost at around 20,000 looms, mainly in rapier and airjet looms albeit dominated by low-cost rapier looms. Voltas has played a significant role in the investments of high-speed rapier looms in the clusters in Maharashtra till 2015. From 2016, we have enhanced our focus on airjet and created good installations of wide and narrow width airjet looms in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Leading mills have recognized the good performance of Rifa looms and approved of the fabric produced from these looms for their consumption. We look forward to multiplying these successes not only in weaving clusters but also in the mill sector.
Knitting is another segment which is expected to witness significant growth in the coming years. Currently Voltas represents a leading global brand Terrot and also has a stake in the company. What are your views on the future growth opportunities in the knitting segment?
Voltas has grown significantly in 2015 and 2016 in the circular knitting space with the products from Terrot – Germany and Pilotelli – Italy. The industry is moving towards open-width fabrics and we are strongly placed to address the needs in single jersey, double jersey, Jacquard and spacer fabrics. Our principal Terrot has also launched the Corizon brand to knit directly from sliver which yields very high specialty fabrics with good feel and texture. In addition we also have partnered with the Longxing brand for electronic flat knitting machinery.
Dyeing and processing has traditionally been a strong segment for Voltas and, we see Indian textile companies increasingly investing on high quality solutions. Voltas represents the best global brands in this segment. How do you see growth in this segment in the coming years and how is Voltas geared up to take advantage of the emerging opportunity?
Let me answer the second question first. With the thrust on exports of finished goods and the anticipated increase in consumption of branded goods in India, the need for high quality fabric dyed, printed and finished with high quality color and finish would increase manifold. This would call for investment on high quality machinery in dyeing, printing and finishing machinery. The stringent norms on effluent treatment would accelerate this investment, making this a high growth potential area.
Voltas, sensing this opportunity early, is very well placed to address this area as we have partnered with THIES, Germany, a leader in soft flow dyeing machinery, EFI Reggiani, Italy, a pioneer in digital and rotary printing machinery, and BRUECKNER, Germany, a leaders in finishing machinery.
We also have a huge installed base of all these machinery in leading mills and process houses which enables us to be strongly placed to leverage the potential uptick in this sector.
In addition, we also represent FADIS, Italy for precision winders, WUMAG, Germany, for drying cylinders, PLEVA for auto controls like size pick-up, dye pick-up, etc., and HANSA, Germany, for foam mixers, E+L of Italy for slit opener, K+Z of Thailand for Print shop equipments, Rapid for laboratory equipments and Runian for blanket polishing machinery.
We have a fully established local service set up for most of these areas to provide installation, commissioning, life cycle services and technological services.
What are your thoughts on the garmenting business and how is Voltas preparing for the emerging opportunity?
Voltas, as an engineering solutions provider, continuously looks for adding value to our existing customers and to add new customers through new solutions. Times are changing for the better in the garmenting space, and the garmenting industry has started looking for advanced solutions now. Sensing this opportunity, we have made an entry partnering with Kuris, Germany, for automatic fabric cutting machinery, and Ask Me, Taiwan, for chest printing machinery. We shall continue our efforts and enhance our presence in the garmenting industry going forward.
Finally, the Technical Textile segment which again holds a lot of promise but investments have not matched expectations. How do you see the story of the Indian technical textiles unfolding and what are the solutions Voltas can offer for this segment?
I think what holds Voltas in a different league than the competition is our expertise and ability to sense opportunities early. Voltas entered into the technical textile space before a decade through partnership with DILO, Germany, a pioneer in offering complete solution for manufacture of needle punched non-woven fabrics. The centers of excellence on technical textiles created in almost every institute in the country are equipped with the machinery from Dilo supplied through the Voltas. In addition, we have also supplied Dilo solutions to many installations, especially in the North and West.
However, investments on high-end project for technical textiles have been sporadic. While a lot of investments on low end machinery have gone into the projects for making low quality product for the packing industry, investments in other areas are yet to begin in a big way.
Going forward, we believe that there would be good investments in autotech, artificial leather, filtration fabrics, etc. We are fully equipped to meet the needs of customers in this space with our partnership with DILO for non-woven fabric production, Brueckner for coating and finishing and Reliant, UK, for composites.
For the success of any machine, the most critical factor is service. Can you share Voltas’ philosophy on after sales service to customers? How do you plan to further improve your service support resulting in lesser downtime and higher productivity?
Yes. Service is the backbone of Voltas. Our expertise in providing value-added services across the value chain spectrum has helped in building this as strong brand equity. We have more than 175 service engineers placed in various locations across the country to respond to the service needs of the customers for all the products quickly ensuring that the down time of the machinery is practically nil. In addition to basic services, we also provide technological services through our highly capable technologists who have exposure in the entire spinning process. Our technologists are capable of, and have delivered services to enhance productivity, improve quality, conserve power, etc. We have also many testimonials from our customers appreciating us for the range of services provided by our service team.
Finally, your thoughts on INDIA ITME 2016?
ITME is a very big show for us. We along with our principals are creating a major impact with an array of new products and extensive participation.