‘International Denim Conference’ off to a deafening start

The first ever ‘International Denim Conference’ opened today to a rousing reception at the hallowed campus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad, also called as the ‘Denim Capital of India, from the more than 350 plus delegates, who include, industry leaders and stakeholders from the textile industry, present on the occasion.

The conference has been organised by Fibre2fashion, the leading global B2B website for the textile, apparel and fashion industry in conjunction with the Ahmedabad chapter of the Textile Association of India (TAI), which is the foremost textile professional body in India & the largest in the world. The morning began with registration of all the delegates, who have come from across the length and breadth of India and abroad.

At the inaugural session of the conference were present, Mr Maheshwar Sahu - IAS and Principal Secretary, Industries & Mines, Govt. of Gujarat and also the Chairperson of the conference, Mr Sanjiv Shah, CEO – fibre2fashion, Mr Naishad Parikh, Advisor - Arvind Ltd, the biggest denim producer in India, Robin Anson - Managing Editor, Textiles Intelligence, UK, Dr PR Roy, convener of the conference, Mr TL Patel and Mr VJ Trivedi, President and Honorary Secretary, respectively of TAI.

Mr TL Patel gave the welcome address by welcoming all those sitting on the dais and all the delegates from across India and abroad.

Dr PR Roy, Director of fibre2fashion and President Emeritus of TAI, began the proceedings by announcing the theme of the conference. He began by saying, denim is a subject that does not need to be introduced, but needs to be experienced, touched and felt to understand the fabric. He said, India used to cultivate cotton and indigo was also used to dye cotton and wool more than five thousand years back, however in the intervening period, it did not witness much commercialization.

He informed that India is still struggling to find a sustainable cotton policy and at the same time, China is reducing its cotton acreage in order to increase food output, which could prove to be an opportunity for Indian denim manufacturers to take the lead. He further informed that globally, denim consumes 14 percent of the cotton produced worldwide and expects Indian denim output to touch one billion meters in a few years.

He spoke about a new strategy called ‘Blue Ocean’, which emanated from France and implies; “Why compete with everybody. Let everybody swim in the red ocean and you swim in the blue ocean, where there is less competition”. Denim manufacturing in India, he said, was born in the 1980’s from the need to compete with the decentralized sector also called denim the ‘New face of Indian textile & apparel industry’. He concluded by saying that, new innovations are needed to sustain denim for a longer period of time.

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Launch of Entrepreneur Pro PR-1000 with 3D technology

Brother International Corporation is raising the bar on industry trends and technological advancement once again, this time by introducing the first 10-needle home embroidery machine in 3D.

As the first company in the niche sewing and embroidery industry to incorporate 3D video into their product launch, Brother continues to impress their customers with excitement and innovation. Although 3D technology is taking over movies, television and even video games, there are few companies who have used it to promote their products.

The Entrepreneur Pro PR-1000 is an impressive, sixth generation machine. It is the result of more than 100 years of Brother research and innovation. The technology built into the 10-needle embroidery machine makes it easy to learn, use, and operate.

It is the fastest home embroidery machine yet since a 10-color, 50,000 stitch-count design can be completed up to 12% faster than a 6-needle machine and up to 30% faster than a single-needle machine. This means an embroiderer can be more productive than ever before. Other impressive features include:

• New InnovaChrome LED Color Thread System: Underneath each of the thread spools is a full color LED light which mimics the color of the thread that belongs on the spool for each design, eliminating any guesswork as to what color thread should be used. The lights also double as a visual status system. They also flash when a design has been completed. Coupled with audio cues, the system allows an embroiderer to limit their supervision of the machine, as these cues give the operator the freedom to do more than one task at a time in their work room.

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Demand for new Picanol weaving at high level in Q3

During the third quarter of 2010, the Picanol Group recorded a consolidated turnover of 96.51 million euros. This represented an increase of 63% compared to the consolidated turnover of 59.34 million euros realized in the third quarter of 2009.

Following on from the first half of this year, demand for new Picanol weaving machines also continued at a high level in the third quarter of 2010. Amongst other things, this is a consequence of continued strong demand in Asia (mainly China) and the effect of the favorable euro exchange rate. Furthermore, sales of spare parts and weaving accessories also profited from the positive market situation in the third quarter.

The Industries Division also experienced an increase of activities in the third quarter. Through making full use of the advantages delivered by its new molding line (Proferro) and by focusing on the continued development of its controller competences (PsiControl Mechatronics), the group was able to complete several new projects across various different sectors.

During the third quarter of 2010, the Picanol Group recruited 150 additional temporary workers for its production unit in Ypres – taking the total of temporary workers being hired in Ypres to 200 since the start of 2010. The Picanol Group remains on the lookout for skilled technicians and CNC operators. The third quarter also saw the registered office of the group moved to the Karel Steverlyncklaan 15 in Ypres.

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Nishat Mills to install Monforts Energy Towers

Pakistan’s fully vertical integrated textile producer, Nishat Mills, has ordered six Energy Towers from Monforts to ensure significant energy savings.

To combat ever increasing energy costs, Pakistan’s vertically integrated fabric producer, Nishat Mills has ordered six Energy Towers from A. Monforts Textilmaschinen.

The towers will be installed on three existing Monforts, Montex stenters at Nishat’s Lahore finishing facility.

Fresh air passed through the towers heat recovery system is heated by the exhaust air of the stenter, before re-entering the stenters chambers.

With the Monforts heat recovery system capitalising on the high temperatures of the exhaust air, savings of up to 30% on energy costs can be achieved.

The Monforts Towers each housed within a 1.3 m x 1.7m x 2.9 m high enclosure, have been designed for retrofitting to existing stenters or hot flues where access is restricted above the units.

They are built as a ‘stand alone’ unit for installation alongside the stenter.

Ordered through the local Pakistan representative Al Ameen, its six Monforts Towers are scheduled to be installed before the end of the year.

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Machinery makers seek end of sops on second-hand imports

A demand to end fiscal sops on imported technology, particularly from China, has been made by the domestic machinery manufactures to the government in order to curb the unrestrained import of second hand textile machinery.

An expert cited that such an import of second-hand and low-priced Chinese looms is the biggest hurdle in country’s textile growth. A pre-budget memorandum submitted recently to the government by Textile Machinery Manufacturers' Association (TMMA) says that according to the planning commission, no subsidy should be offered to import any second-hand machinery.

In this regard, the association has recommended the Textiles Minister, Mr. Dayanidhi Maran to restrict the import of second-hand textile machinery, and subsidy under the Technology Up-gradation Fund (TUF) scheme should not be offered to such imports. It also suggested the removal of distortions in the excise duty structure in 2011-12 Budgets.

In addition to this, TMMA made further suggestions, including uniform rate of eight percent excise duty on all items of textile machinery as well as imposition of less than four percent taxes on parts, components and accessories in order to encourage its domestic textile machinery.

The industry has been held back by decades-old technology, which is less efficient, consumes more electricity and requires high maintenance. In the year 2008-09, around 1354 second-hand looms have been imported in India.

Original Source: Machinery makers seek end of sops on second-hand imports @ Fibre2fashion

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