Silvano Rufo
Vice President Marketing Rieter Components
China and India are the biggest in terms of spindle population
Rieter Components provides technology components and service facilities both for spinning mills and machinery manufacturers. The business group is represented on the market through four brands: Bräcker, Graf, Novibra and Suessen.Silvano Rufo, vice president marketing, Rieter Components, talks about the latest technologies and achievements of the company.
What are your expectations from the ongoing India ITME 2016? How has the response been so far?
The fair is an opportunity to meet all our customers and show them our latest innovations. The exhibition helped us find out how the business moves in our segment. We are getting good response for our business. This year, we had many exhibitions. In 12 months now, this is the fourth big exhibition after ITMA in Italy, ITM in Turkey, and ITMA Asia in China.
Which other fairs do you plan to attend in 2017?
The next major fair would be ITMA Asia in 2018, which will be most probably in Shanghai. Next year, we will participate at the smaller fairs worldwide. Besides exhibitions, we also host our own symposiums, where we invite customers exchange information to share with us information on our new products.
What kind of impact will automation and robotics have on the textile and apparel manufacturing industries in Asia, especially countries like India, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka?
The textile industry is labour intensive, but automation will have a positive impact. Textile industries in these regions provide employment opportunities to people. If we look for the demand from the markets, it is up to the customers if they are willing to adopt automation then we encourage their decision and are prepared to deliver what they expect in any situation.
Which of your latest technologies are being well received by Indian clients?
There are many of them. LENA Spindles by Novibra reduces energy consumption and noise and is well received by our customers. We were allowed to develop brochures with testimonials on the energy saved using LENA since energy consumption is also an issue in the textile machinery business. It is one of our star products.
Elite compact spinning has also been very well received. We were celebrating as Rieter the sales of 15 million spindles. If you compare with total spindle volume in the market, this is a big share. We celebrated 10 million Elite spindles and 5 million Com4 spindles. Rieter is able to fulfill customer requirements in terms of all the compact systems. Out of the 10 million spindles sold for Elite, about 70 per cent were delivered to our Indian customers. This shows our customers trust the Rieter systems.
How big is India as a market for Premium Textile Components? Where do you see the market growing?
After China, in terms of spindle capacity, India is the second biggest market. But we should also not underestimate Far Eastern Areas, Turkey and North and South America. We have a global presence. Just looking at the figures, China and India are the biggest in terms of the spindle population.
There are changes taking place worldwide. But in total, fibre consumption is increasing. As long as fibre consumption is increasing, the textile machinery business will continue to grow. It is not easy to predict all the cycles however, we are looking forward to do good business.
Do these countries have skilled manpower and technical expertise to deal with automation?
This is all about training. It is not a barrier; we can provide training to the companies who are opting for automation. If customers want to go for automation, we are able to fulfill their needs with the help of our service solutions, products and training.
What were the top 3 innovations that you witnessed at India ITME?
In spinning, innovations are moving in the direction of energy saving. Increasing production is also a big challenge along with addition of product which requires off-the-sales training and connection of spinning mill to mobile devices. However, all these things will be required in the future. We are well-prepared to meet the demands.
How would you describe the technologies used in India versus its contemporaries like China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Indonesia?
Indian spinners, as well as all other, use good machineries and have high level producing outputs. They are setting benchmarks as far as yarn production and quality is concerned.
What are your expectations from the next India ITME?
It is nice to be here. Every counter has its own pros. It is somehow different from the exhibitions held in other countries. A better infrastructure for the next India ITME in 2020 would be nice.
Published on: 17/01/2017
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
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