Double Pick Yarns

In case of making of Twill fabrics, one of the easisest ways of inserting two picks into the fabric would have been Double Pick Yarns, then inserting two picks , one after another.

The Double Pick Yarns can be easily made on a doubling machine , however, will require some special cutting on the drums to ensure that the two yarns are laid side by side on the cone. It should in no way wrap up with one another. In case of precsion winders, it would need two seperate slots on the guide finger , laying two yarns onto the cone at the same time side by side.

The Double Pick Yarns will then Double the Production in weaving and there will be a fully new kind of product which will now be available in the market.

Both the machine makers and the Industry will have to reorient itself, if they want to innovate and see the fruits of lateral thinking.

Anti Fungal Yarns

The new technology of compacting copper or silver into the extruded man man madee fibres has bought about a unique product of Anti Microbial, Anti Fungal and Anti Inflammatory fabrics. Incase of natural yarns, these are blended in a certain proportion or twisted .

Though , the yarns are now available for quite sometime, interestingly the trade has till not exploited these functional values into their product offerings. One still does not see in the markets garments with microbial resistance or under garments with fungal resistance.

The while Children Garment Industry could have actually been steered into this new development. The Under garment business by preference will choose only such yarns and the Hospital wear will be automatically microbial resistance wears. Towels will have no other choices, but to use such yarns. Socks will be anti fungal and handkerchiefs will be antimicrobial.

None of the Brands has traveled into this new space and quickly captured the innovation for their USP.

One still has to also wait and see that how effective these anti fungus, microbial and inflammatory properties are with respect to washing and usage over time.

SSM : Paradise Regained

Last year during this time, I wrote about SSM and its sliding numbers.

But this year, SSM has regained its legendary position in the winding machines segment.

The annual report talks on sales improvements in China, Bangladesh and India. Also on the advantages of cost now flowing in with manufacturing migration to China.

It is not so clear to me, as of now which segment of the market has SSM regained, but it does show that Stahle has proven to be a better investment against my predictions last year. The air covering machines should be the next best contributor to the bottom line.

On the other product range, except for soft package winders, the machines may not really be sustainable at the price levels, it is pitching in the global space. But , if prices do become rational factoring the China cost, perhaps, a much larger volume can be captured.

One product, which SSM is missing is the filament assembly winder. This could be the future for composites and Industrial yarns.

Anycase, well done SSM.

Orphans Get Commented on Eyes , Nose Lips ! Paid Ugly Duckling is also Cute.

This is a story on companies, which choose to sell their products on credit.

When I use to work in Silvasa, there was this certain behavior of companies, who would immediately find quality problems with the supply as soon as the goods were unloaded. The results was that the supplier was now trying to convince the customer for all the specifications. Yet the user would give him all such cosmetic issues that the supplier had no answer. Say a truck of POY landed with a texturizer. He would then find problems with the running of the POY, spin finish, broken filaments, etc etc.

However, where ever the customer bought POY with advance payment, the yarn much worst then the credit supplier was still ok.

Many a times, this was a deliberate attempt by the company to postpone the payments of the supplier. But also many a times, ,it was the incompetence of the user to run the yarn.

The more the incompetence, the more the user would resist the supplier and find umpteen issues with the quality.

On the other side, there were technical managers, who would say, get any yarn under the sun to us and we will run it. We know, how to run.

The same story happens to one and every product which is given Free For Evaluation process to a buyer. Even the best of the product is then commented for silly cosmetic features and usually rejected or poorly rated. All because the seller gave it free for Trial. If only the same customer would have bought the product, he finds all the value in it. Never ever make a mistake of giving anything free for Trials. No matter, how small and insignificant value it carries. The process of ownership has to be defined from the very first day, otherwise it will remain an Orphan and most likely kicked out.

The story is all about selling on Credit. A credit product is like an orphan, it has no mother , no father in the new company. It gets commented on Eyes, Ears, Nose lips etc. Whereas the same customer, if he pays upfront and gets the worst quality, yet finds the product, very nice and upto his standards.

Paid Ugly Duckling is also cute.

Corporate Learning Series/ Communiations

> Here is an example of miscommunication in a company, the boss of the
> company initiates a mail to invite his staff to witness an eclipse and
> how his message is passed by employees at different levels in the
> hierarchy and finally how it reaches to the staff...
>
> Mail from CEO to General Manager:
>
> Today at 11 o'clock there will be a total eclipse of the sun. This is
> when the sun disappears behind the moon for two minutes. As this is
> something that cannot be seen every day, time will be allowed for
> employees to view the eclipse in the parking lot. Staff should meet in
> the lot at ten to eleven, when I will deliver a short speech
> introducing the eclipse, and giving some background information.
> Safety goggles will be made available at a small cost.
>
> Mail from General Manager to Department Head:
>
> Today at ten to eleven, all staff should meet in the car park. This
> will be followed by a total eclipse of the sun, which will appear for
> two minutes. For a moderate cost, this will be made safe with goggles.
> The CEO will deliver a short speech beforehand to give us all some
> information. This not something that can be seen everyday.
>
> Mail from Dept. Head to Floor Manager:
>
> The CEO will today deliver a short speech to make the sun disappear
> for two minutes in the form of an eclipse. This is something that
> cannot be seen every day, so staff will meet in the car park at ten or
> eleven. This will be safe, if you pay a moderate cost.
>
> Mail from Floor Manager to Supervisor:
>
> Ten or eleven staff are to go to the car park, where the CEO will
> eclipse the sun for two minutes. This doesn't happen every day. It
> will be safe, and as usual it will cost you.
>
> Mail from Supervisor to Staff:
>
> Some staff will go to the car park today to see the CEO disappear. It
> is a pity, this doesn't happen everyday.

Corporate Lingo.

Commonly Used Phrases at the Office -What they really mean ......... :-)

1.For your information, please. (FYI)

Meaning: I don't know what to do with this, so please keep it.

2. Noted and returned.

Meaning: I don't know what to do with this, so please keep it little while.

3.Review and comment.

Meaning: Do the dirty work so that I can forward it.

4.Action please.

Meaning: Get yourself involved for me. Don't worry, I'll claim the credit.

5.For your necessary action.

Meaning: It's your headache now.

6. Copy to.

Meaning: Here's a share of my headache.

7.For your approval, please.

Meaning: Put your neck on the chopping board for me please.

8.Action is being taken.

Meaning: Your correspondence is lost and I am trying to locate it.

9. Your letter is receiving our attention.

Meaning: I am trying to figure out what you want.

10. Please discuss.

Meaning: I don't know what the hell this is, so please brief me.

11.For your immediate action.

Meaning: Do it NOW! Or I will get into serious trouble.

12. Please reply soon.

Meaning: Please be efficient. It makes me look inefficient.

13.We are investigating/ processing your request with the relevant authorities.

Meaning: They are causing the delay, not us.

14.Regards.

Meaning: Thanks and bless you for reading all the crap.

Know The Natural Laws.

These are the unavoidable laws of the natural universe...

1. Law of Mechanical Repair: After your hands become coated with grease,
your nose will begin to itch.

2. Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least
accessible corner.

3. Law of probability: The probability of ‘being watched’ is directly
proportional to the stupidity of your act.

4. Law of the Telephone: When you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy
signal.

5. Law of the Alibi: If you tell the boss you were late for work because
you had a flat tyre, the very next morning or soon thereafter, you will have
a flat tyre.

6. Variation Law: If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were
in will start to move faster than the one you are in now. (Happens
every time).

7. Bath Theorem: When the body is fully immersed in water or in the shower,
the telephone rings.

8. Law of Close Encounters: The probability of meeting someone you know
increases when you are with someone you do not want to be seen with.

9. Law of the Result: When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't
work, it will.

10. Law of Biomechanics: The severity of the itch is inversely proportional
to the reach.

11. Theater Rule: At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the
aisle arrive last.

12. Law of Coffee: As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss
will ask you to do something, which will last until the coffee is
cold.

13. Murphy's Law of Lockers: If there are only two people in a locker room,
they will have adjacent lockers.

14. Law of Dirty Rugs/Carpets: The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich
of landing face down on a floor covering are directly correlated to the
newness, color and cost of the carpet/rug.

15. Law of Location: No matter where you go, there you are.

16. Law of Logical Argument: Anything is possible if you don't know what
you are talking about.

17. Brown's Law: If the shoe fits, it's ugly.

18. Oliver's Law: A closed mouth gathers no feet.

19. Wilson's Law: As soon as you find a product that you really like, they
will stop making it.....

Experience Talks - Yarn Dyeing.

Some time back , one of my agents mailed to me that one of our large customer was about to migrate to " Dyetubes" against " Dyesprings". On further researching, this was the story.

This customer is one of the largest yarn dyer in SE Asia. He had been using dyesprings or the last 20 years , but for quite some time was experiencing a very unique problem in dyeing, wherein the packages on the upper end of the column would have black particles on the surface between two packages and these would get washed out easily with normal water. Which means, the dyeing was not a problem, however, the black particles were sitting between one package and the other and only middle up of the column of dye packages.

As usual, all Industry Experts set in action and the following got tried.

New Set of Chemicals to remove the black particles.

Higher pump pressure.

Longer washing cycles.

Then someone advised, well, it was coming from the winding machine , as the dyer was using random winder . He changed his winder to precision winder , but the black particles remained intact.

Another expert stepped in and said, well the other companies use Non Compressible Dyetubes and this customer is using Dyesprings, therefore he has a problem. The non compressible dyetubes will have some space between the two packages and the washing cycle therefore would remove the black particles . Customer was quite impressed and he wrote to me for the supply of Dyetubes for the trials.

After listening to the full story, I was convinced, there was some simple issue , which no one is able to see , because if black particles are coming only above middle length of the column, then it has something to do with either the pump pressure or there was some detioration of dyes or detioration of chemical as black would mean carbon deposits and this can come only on breaking of carbon chains.

Nevertheless, I flew to the customer and audited the whole process again. Everything was normal. The density of packages, the flow , the time, the chemicals, washing cycle etc etc. And yet the packages on top and middle end of column of dyeing machine would show these black particles, which got washed out with water.

I recalled that when I was entering the factory, I had seen ahead of me a Truck carrying Coal for the boiler. So, I inquired with the customer , did he change lately from the oil boiler to coal boiler. He confirmed that on account of rising oil prices, the whole industry was moving to coal boiler.

Next thing I did was to go the creel of packages awaiting dyeing. The packages had deposits of carbon lined against the wall, some seen with naked eyes and some could be brushed with force.

It was clear within minutes that the Boiler was the culprit and not the dyeing machine, nor the winding machine , nor the dyesprings, nor the chemicals or auxiliaries. But, how all the local industry experts in that country had tried all the stunts, without trying to think logically that if the process had a weakness, then it would show on all the packages and not just selectively. And ofcourse changing dyesprings to dyetubes was making the system still poorer and weaker.

The pump pressure would force the carbon particles for all packages till the middle level of the column and thereafter the force was never enough to remove the carbon deposits. This was causing the black particles to remain there and get washed out only when the package was removed and washed.

The department was then sealed against outside air and the water being used in dyeing was also sealed against any chance of carbon invasion.

The customer Dyed Happily Ever After.

Moral of the Story : Whenever you see Black or other washable deposits on your product line, there has to be some source of carbon pollution around. Before tampering with your machines and processes, check for carbon, sulphur or another pollutant in the environment.

Corporate Learning Series / Dogs Life.

A butcher watching over his shop is really surprised when he saw a dog coming inside the shop. He shoos him away. But later, the dog is back again. So, he goes over to the dog and notices he has a note in his mouth.

He takes the note and it reads "Can I have 12 sausages and a leg of lamb,please. The dog has money in his mouth, as well".

The butcher looks inside and, behold, a ten dollar note. So he takes the money and puts the sausages and lamb in a bag, placing it in the dog's mouth.

The butcher is so impressed, and since it's about closing time, he decides to shut up shop and follow the dog. So off he goes.

The dog is walking down the street when he comes to a level crossing. The dog puts down the bag, jumps up and presses the button.

Then he waits patiently, bag in mouth, for the lights to turn. They do, and he walks across the road, with the butcher following him all the way.

The dog then comes to a bus stop, and starts looking at the timetable. The butcher is in awe at this stage. The dog checks out the times, and then sits on one of the seats provided.

Along comes a bus. The dog walks around to the front, looks at the number, and goes back to his seat. Another bus comes. Again the dog goes and looks at the number, notices it's the right bus, and climbs on.

The butcher, by now, open-mouthed, follows him onto the bus. The bus travels through the town and out into the suburbs, the dog looking at the scenery.

Eventually he gets up, and moves to the front of the bus. He stands on 2 back paws and pushes the button to stop the bus. Then he gets off, his groceries still in his mouth.

Well, dog and butcher are walking along the road, and then the dog turns into a house.

He walks up the path, and drops the groceries on the step. Then he walks back down the path, takes a big run, and throws himself against the door.

He goes back down the path, runs up to the door and again, it throws himself against it.

There's no answer at the house, so the dog goes back down the path, jumps up on a narrow wall, and walks along the perimeter of the garden. He gets to the window, and beats his head against it several times, walks back, jumps off, and waits at the door.

The butcher watches as a big guy opens the door, and starts abusing the dog, kicking him and punching him, and swearing at him.

The butcher runs up, and stops the guy. "What in heaven's name are you doing? The dog is a genius. He could be on TV, for the life of me!" to which the guy responds:

"You call this clever? This is the second time this week that this stupid dog's forgotten his key."

----Moral of the story----

You may continue to exceed onlookers' expectations but shall always fall short of the boss's expectations! ! It's dog's life after all......... *

Value of Sales Experts .

Most companies look at Sales Guys as mere suppliers rather then an infinite pool of information and many a times an invaluable rich experience behind them.

Each time, I visit a client, I always give some tip to the customer. Now it is upto him to make the best use of it or simply delete it . After having travalled to more then 50 countries and having visited 5000 factories in my life, perhaps, I had become much wiser and experienced then most people sitting opposite to me. Having seen and solved the most unimaginable complexities of either the machines or the management, I knew exactly within 10 minutes of talking to my client, what was missing and would subtly hint him.

But the irony remains that most companies do not value the Tips that are given to them on their business processes or on the technologies. Simple reason " Change Is Disruptive And Dangerous". However, in the long run the same companies then pay a very heavy cost of complacency.

Here is a small story , which gives a good example of how even a simple sales expert working in a clothing store knows his products and clients related issues.

Joe had suffered from really bad headaches for the last 20 years. He eventually decides to go and see a doctor.

The doctor said, 'Joe, the good news is I can cure your headaches. The bad news is that it will require castration.

You have a very rare condition, which causes your testicles to press on your spine and the pressure creates one hell of a headache. The only way to relieve the pressure is to remove the testicles.'

Joe was shocked and depressed. He wondered if he had anything to live for. He had no choice but to go under the knife. When he left the hospital, he was without a headache for the first time in 20 years, but he felt like he was missing an important part of himself. As he walked down the street, he realized that he felt like a different person. He could make a new beginning and live a new life.

He saw a men's clothing store and thought, 'That's what I need... A new suit.'

He entered the shop and told the salesman, 'I'd like a new suit.'

The elderly tailor eye d him briefly and said, 'Let's see... size 44 long.'

Joe laughed, 'That's right, how did you know?'

'Been in the business 60 years!' the tailor said.

Joe tried on the suit it fit perfectly.

As Joe admired himself in the mirror, the salesman asked, 'How about a new shirt?'

Joe thought for a moment and then said, 'Sure.'

The salesman eyed Joe and said, 'Let's see, 34 sleeves and 16-1/2 neck.'

Joe was surprised, 'That's right, how did you know?'

'Been in the business 60 years.'

Joe tried on the shirt and it fit perfectly.

Joe walked comfortably around the shop and the salesman asked, 'How about some new underwear?'

Joe thought for a moment and said, 'Sure..'

The salesman said, 'Let's see... size 36.

Joe laughed, 'Ah ha! I got you! I've worn a size 34 since I was 18 years old..'

The salesman shook his head, 'You can't wear a size 34. A size 34 would press your testicles up against the base of your spine and give you one hell of a headache.'

Joe castration problem was solved by a mundane clothing sales expert. Though the Doctor was still sharpening his knife to reach out his Testicular.

Same is the story of most companies, which get a advised from all their travelling salesman, but still have to get their testiculars removed as they trust the consultant, specialist or local opinion leader more then the Experienced Salesman.