If you happen to uncover a Large Stone in India, then most likely a Textile Mill will show up. Indian Entrepreneurs love Textile Mills and besides 3000++ , more are always on the way. But this phenomenon is not just in India, it is spread across Indonesia and Thailand.
Most would joke in South India, that Bar Owners have now diversified into Textile Mills .
Such is the simplicity of the business, that with little extra money in bank with a business man and next thing , you get to know that he is a Mill Owner.
Some of these mill owners do not know, which if the front of the machine or which is the back of the machine. However, year after year, the number of spindles keep growing and next year , if you visit him, the mill has grown to 100,000+ spindles.
Most mill, say 90% run few counts like 20s, 30s and 40s and some have twisting capacities. For polyester DTY yarns, it is only 150 den or 300 den . Polyester staple Fibre is essentially 1.2 d x 38 mm.
Largely the textile across the globe is covered with these few yarns.
Therefore, the whole business of textiles is just about converting PSF or Cotton , or PTA to few textile counts.
The conversion cost is also known to the security guard on the front gate. So, as long as you can wind yarn on the cone, then already you are up and running.
Commodity yarns as these are, can be best described as Cave Man Textiles. Day in and day night, the same routine and same cycle to roll out bundles of yarns.
The most interesting thing about these mills/ plants is that despite running commodity yarns, none of them understands that at the end Profitability of such a business is largely dependent on the Productivity and if you don't push your machines to run at the highest speeds, there is no way, that at the end of the year, you can find a fat black bottom line.
Every 5% gain in speeds on the Ring Frame is a direct profit of 5% to the company. Unless and Until each year, the company gains in productivity, there is little chance that it has room for survival in coming time. All other cost will go up by minimum 5% each year and same is not matched with productivity profits, the company is up for grabs.
Which also means, unless and until the company regularly invests into machines which will yield higher outputs, the laggard assets will only loose out. Most cost in a mill are fixed and the Top line is largely the price of market x output. Market prices for commodities in a global space are not just cut throat, but volcanic.
In a kind of Cave Man Textiles, the job is largely production management with very little incentive on development and creativity. However, best production managers are those, who can drive the machines much much higher then the known limits to the industry and the machine configuration.
Quality in commodity is a very relative term and as long as the yarn runs perfectly well on the user machine, most other attributes are academic. Only for a certain set of customers, where special quality is managed and higher prices realized,perhaps, machines can be tweaked.
Another interesting thing about commodity yarns is that , say, if the plant produces 150 denier all round the year, then allow certain set of machines to run the same yarn with same settings and same speeds year after year. These machines will give yarn quality, which no one can match in the market. Somehow, machines love consistency and have a tacit " Do Not Disturb board " which most of us fail to read.
Cave Man Textiles are still a great engine of growth in developing economies and many cave time machine makers are happy serving these mill.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Nylon : New York + London => The Porn Yarn
Ny-lon gets it name from New York and London. When it was first made, it was a yarn that would unwind straight from New York to London . Perhaps, it would have been the first filament yarn.
I call Nylon, the Porn Yarn. Playboy girls are largely covered with nylon . From stockings to lingerie to nets and fancies, Nylon for its silky touch and silvery reflection has all the entrapping for a fashion cat.
Nylon was never a textile friendly yarn. With its poor feel, static cluster, and heat trap, it got quickly abandoned for more cooler yarns like polyester, viscose etc. etc.
Nylon socks still attack my foot and I don't find easily nice cotton socks anywhere. Socks, lingerie, elastics, and sewing threads have still continued to use nylon as the base yarn.
Nylon as long as was pin textured still had the bulk and handle for next to skin applications. But with disc texturizing, it is gives a petroleum extract feeling. Nylon should have technically gone the Air Texturizing route, however, very rarely is air texturized.
Socks and stockings out of Nylon are mal-wares of Textiles and should have long been replaced with other nicer yarns. Though polypropylene has been tried successfully, however, it still does not give a good feel. Cotton and polyester do not have the elastic hug and wool mixed with nylon is still used in cold countries.
Nylon is wonderful, when it comes to Industrial Applications, like Ropes, Cords, Tire Cords, Belting, Conveyors, Composites, parachutes, fishing nets etc. However, here again the technology is largely cabling and twisting. Heavy cabler and twister machines are power suckers. A rather simpler system would have been a winding application with single twist tube passing the package. Given the speeds of winding, the productivity would be anytime better and with the missing spindle, the power will be almost nil.
Same can be applied for spun yarns as well.
Nylon Threads form the best industrial threads for leather and heavy applications. However, time has now come for replacement of these threads with composites like carbon with polyamides or steel with silk etc.
Nylon Fibre could never make it far. Best was about blends with wool. However, for the carpet industry, it was still an unexplored area. Nylon Fibre Woolen blend carpets would have the silky touch and reflectance properties with great washing and bending properties. Blankets is another Area, where low weight and higher heat conductivity can be useful.
Heat Insulation ropes/ fabrics made out of Nylon Wool ,rather then Glass wool, specially for home interior piping are anytime better option.
I call Nylon, the Porn Yarn. Playboy girls are largely covered with nylon . From stockings to lingerie to nets and fancies, Nylon for its silky touch and silvery reflection has all the entrapping for a fashion cat.
Nylon was never a textile friendly yarn. With its poor feel, static cluster, and heat trap, it got quickly abandoned for more cooler yarns like polyester, viscose etc. etc.
Nylon socks still attack my foot and I don't find easily nice cotton socks anywhere. Socks, lingerie, elastics, and sewing threads have still continued to use nylon as the base yarn.
Nylon as long as was pin textured still had the bulk and handle for next to skin applications. But with disc texturizing, it is gives a petroleum extract feeling. Nylon should have technically gone the Air Texturizing route, however, very rarely is air texturized.
Socks and stockings out of Nylon are mal-wares of Textiles and should have long been replaced with other nicer yarns. Though polypropylene has been tried successfully, however, it still does not give a good feel. Cotton and polyester do not have the elastic hug and wool mixed with nylon is still used in cold countries.
Nylon is wonderful, when it comes to Industrial Applications, like Ropes, Cords, Tire Cords, Belting, Conveyors, Composites, parachutes, fishing nets etc. However, here again the technology is largely cabling and twisting. Heavy cabler and twister machines are power suckers. A rather simpler system would have been a winding application with single twist tube passing the package. Given the speeds of winding, the productivity would be anytime better and with the missing spindle, the power will be almost nil.
Same can be applied for spun yarns as well.
Nylon Threads form the best industrial threads for leather and heavy applications. However, time has now come for replacement of these threads with composites like carbon with polyamides or steel with silk etc.
Nylon Fibre could never make it far. Best was about blends with wool. However, for the carpet industry, it was still an unexplored area. Nylon Fibre Woolen blend carpets would have the silky touch and reflectance properties with great washing and bending properties. Blankets is another Area, where low weight and higher heat conductivity can be useful.
Heat Insulation ropes/ fabrics made out of Nylon Wool ,rather then Glass wool, specially for home interior piping are anytime better option.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Design : The New Brand Paradigm
Perhaps, when " Branding " would have been first used for Product and Market Sensitivity. Design was an intrinsic function. Much of it was subdued by attributes, which linked it to reliability and functionality. Most brands got the acts right and peaked on deliverables. And the Brand Paradigm has moved to " Design "
Now " Design " Practically defines the Brand.
South Korea is the only country in the world, which has has the subtlety to recognize that the next generation of product lines would only be " Design " Delights.
Again within South Korea, the one company I admire most is " LG" . Fighting Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Nokia , etc etc and though may still not be the top brand, but the fighting strategy of LG was always "Design" . Considering that almost all product offerings had the same features and same technical specifications, it was only the unique Design, which would keep LG ahead in the race has made them unique.
When I was to change my Hand Phone in the year 2008, I made a general spec of what I wanted and it was simply something which could make a call, sent sms, but without the keyboard and take a picture . After surveying the whole range of product range, I found Nokia was too complicated to understand, Motorola was loosely placed, samsung was ok , but LG had a cute design . However, during that time, there was No Touch Screen . I accidentally came across a Phone, " Prada" . Never did I imagine that Prada was also linked to Hand Phones and not just fashion accessories. It incidentally was the only phone at that time with Touch Screen. Little further exploration and guess what? The phone was made by LG. Prada now runs my communication faculties and still none of my friends and associates have been able to find an equivalent match , nor Prada is easily available.
If you research further LG offerings, you will find that almost all its offerings have a distinct design, which is unmatched by any other product in the global space.
This is only an example of how " Designs" are shaping up Brands and positioning themselves into he murky world of marketing.
South Korea is the first country in the world, which has taken up officially " Design " as the key market differentiators and the Industry is recognizing it as a very major attribute of Product Integrity.
Industrial products have so far failed to factor " Shopfloor Vista " as a product key integrator and hence work experience is insipid and dull in many factories.
Machine makers to Accessories to Utilities have to redefine the designs to make the work place " A Visual Functional Paradise "
Technology embedded and Design Delights will rule the world.
Now " Design " Practically defines the Brand.
South Korea is the only country in the world, which has has the subtlety to recognize that the next generation of product lines would only be " Design " Delights.
Again within South Korea, the one company I admire most is " LG" . Fighting Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Nokia , etc etc and though may still not be the top brand, but the fighting strategy of LG was always "Design" . Considering that almost all product offerings had the same features and same technical specifications, it was only the unique Design, which would keep LG ahead in the race has made them unique.
When I was to change my Hand Phone in the year 2008, I made a general spec of what I wanted and it was simply something which could make a call, sent sms, but without the keyboard and take a picture . After surveying the whole range of product range, I found Nokia was too complicated to understand, Motorola was loosely placed, samsung was ok , but LG had a cute design . However, during that time, there was No Touch Screen . I accidentally came across a Phone, " Prada" . Never did I imagine that Prada was also linked to Hand Phones and not just fashion accessories. It incidentally was the only phone at that time with Touch Screen. Little further exploration and guess what? The phone was made by LG. Prada now runs my communication faculties and still none of my friends and associates have been able to find an equivalent match , nor Prada is easily available.
If you research further LG offerings, you will find that almost all its offerings have a distinct design, which is unmatched by any other product in the global space.
This is only an example of how " Designs" are shaping up Brands and positioning themselves into he murky world of marketing.
South Korea is the first country in the world, which has taken up officially " Design " as the key market differentiators and the Industry is recognizing it as a very major attribute of Product Integrity.
Industrial products have so far failed to factor " Shopfloor Vista " as a product key integrator and hence work experience is insipid and dull in many factories.
Machine makers to Accessories to Utilities have to redefine the designs to make the work place " A Visual Functional Paradise "
Technology embedded and Design Delights will rule the world.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Humidity Or Hawa Pani
When I started my career with a spinning mill, I found it interesting, when the shift in-charge would call the in-charge for Hawa Pani ( Humidity )
The lack of right humidity would cause a havoc in spinning. Ends breaking in spinning, simplex running a muck, drawing roller lapping and carding loading etc etc.
Humidity is a major cost center in spinning. A power guzzler and a necessary evil. But again like everything else in Textiles, Humidity and its controls have remained basically unchanged in the last 100 years.
If Hand phones merged a Camera and a FM radio and Internet on a small device, then the message was that it only needs some lateral thinking to get other accessories merged into the basic machine.
There was no reason that the Humidification could have not been localized on the machine itself and not a large separate plant eating away so much of power.
The integrated machine would have a small fan and a water dehumidifier sitting right on the top of it. Thereby ensuring that the fiber gets enough humidity as desired and fully controllable on the user machine.
While for Ring Frames and Simplex could still have a split conditioning wherein the machine frame has a duct running across the machine and enough dehumidifier points.
This also avoids the use of outside air, which normally is a source of blackening of the yarn.
The air change would be managed with suction fans etc.
The investment into humidity plant runs into few hundred thousand dollars and the operational cost is a drain on profitability.
The lack of right humidity would cause a havoc in spinning. Ends breaking in spinning, simplex running a muck, drawing roller lapping and carding loading etc etc.
Humidity is a major cost center in spinning. A power guzzler and a necessary evil. But again like everything else in Textiles, Humidity and its controls have remained basically unchanged in the last 100 years.
If Hand phones merged a Camera and a FM radio and Internet on a small device, then the message was that it only needs some lateral thinking to get other accessories merged into the basic machine.
There was no reason that the Humidification could have not been localized on the machine itself and not a large separate plant eating away so much of power.
The integrated machine would have a small fan and a water dehumidifier sitting right on the top of it. Thereby ensuring that the fiber gets enough humidity as desired and fully controllable on the user machine.
While for Ring Frames and Simplex could still have a split conditioning wherein the machine frame has a duct running across the machine and enough dehumidifier points.
This also avoids the use of outside air, which normally is a source of blackening of the yarn.
The air change would be managed with suction fans etc.
The investment into humidity plant runs into few hundred thousand dollars and the operational cost is a drain on profitability.
e-F@ctory For Synthetic Spinning
Synthetic spinning could have actually been made much more simpler and cleaner then the current process. Synthetic fibres unlike cotton have exactly the same staple lengths, the same tenacity, elongation, moisture and uniformity.
Given the profile of the fiber, the spinning does not really need a rigorous set up for parallelism and homogeneity. Which practically means, that on the carding machines, the sliver only needs a set of extended draw rollers and is already good enough for feeding the simplex machine in conventional spinning.
The blow room with a simple bale opener and fibre individualize r is good enough to chute it into a Carding Engine. Current blow room with beaters etc is not required at all. However, a good carding engine will deliver a good yarn spec.
Drawing is totally superfluous for synthetic spinning. The whole purpose of drawing is getting the right hank and homogenizing the sliver line. Homogeneity is not required for man made fibers and paralleling is already enough in the carding stage and can be further extended by having a set of draw rollers on the carding machine itself.
So, if one is spinning on MVS system, then the carding cans can be directly used on the machine and you are ready with spun yarn.
Carding and MVS is already a spinning mill. All it needs is less then 50 operators to give a production same as that of 25,000 spindles of ring spinning.
A good designer would rather have a track laid out for central repository of card cans so the cans move automatically on getting loaded. From the central repository, they get automatically moved to the MVS with a blue tooth call and replaces the runout can. A robot hand then fixes the sliver into the chute of MVS, which sucks and does the needful.
Cans to have artificial intelligence loaded on it to respond to all wireless calls and the toy motor then drives it to the calling station. All of which is programmed automatically with the requirement of the machine. ( If you can control a toy aircraft and toy cars with radio waves, then moving cans is another child`s play)
Final packages from MVS get picked by the moving belt on the top of the machine and is unloaded directly at the end of the machine, where the Trolley collects it and makes it pass the water shower chamber and then a small RF chamber for getting the right conditioning
Conditioning machines in the current form are a disaster. ( Next Blog Coming soon on this system)
Packaging is already well automated. Only that at the MVS winding head, after doffing ,it should have a bar coding system on the cone to track it all the way till the warping machine.
A control room with a closed loop vision system monitors the process and vision sensors show real time quality of yarn.
The extension of this mill is the Polyester staple fibre plant or viscose stable fibre plant itself, where after the cutter, one needs to chute the fibre directly to the carding and no blow room would be required. From the carding , follow the MVS route. Hence a PSF/ VSF plant is now making synthetic yarns by just adding two sets of machines.
Given the profile of the fiber, the spinning does not really need a rigorous set up for parallelism and homogeneity. Which practically means, that on the carding machines, the sliver only needs a set of extended draw rollers and is already good enough for feeding the simplex machine in conventional spinning.
The blow room with a simple bale opener and fibre individualize r is good enough to chute it into a Carding Engine. Current blow room with beaters etc is not required at all. However, a good carding engine will deliver a good yarn spec.
Drawing is totally superfluous for synthetic spinning. The whole purpose of drawing is getting the right hank and homogenizing the sliver line. Homogeneity is not required for man made fibers and paralleling is already enough in the carding stage and can be further extended by having a set of draw rollers on the carding machine itself.
So, if one is spinning on MVS system, then the carding cans can be directly used on the machine and you are ready with spun yarn.
Carding and MVS is already a spinning mill. All it needs is less then 50 operators to give a production same as that of 25,000 spindles of ring spinning.
A good designer would rather have a track laid out for central repository of card cans so the cans move automatically on getting loaded. From the central repository, they get automatically moved to the MVS with a blue tooth call and replaces the runout can. A robot hand then fixes the sliver into the chute of MVS, which sucks and does the needful.
Cans to have artificial intelligence loaded on it to respond to all wireless calls and the toy motor then drives it to the calling station. All of which is programmed automatically with the requirement of the machine. ( If you can control a toy aircraft and toy cars with radio waves, then moving cans is another child`s play)
Final packages from MVS get picked by the moving belt on the top of the machine and is unloaded directly at the end of the machine, where the Trolley collects it and makes it pass the water shower chamber and then a small RF chamber for getting the right conditioning
Conditioning machines in the current form are a disaster. ( Next Blog Coming soon on this system)
Packaging is already well automated. Only that at the MVS winding head, after doffing ,it should have a bar coding system on the cone to track it all the way till the warping machine.
A control room with a closed loop vision system monitors the process and vision sensors show real time quality of yarn.
The extension of this mill is the Polyester staple fibre plant or viscose stable fibre plant itself, where after the cutter, one needs to chute the fibre directly to the carding and no blow room would be required. From the carding , follow the MVS route. Hence a PSF/ VSF plant is now making synthetic yarns by just adding two sets of machines.
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