JTA MAR-APR '20'20 Cover - Textile Association of India · Technical textiles are one of the most...

March - April 2020 Journal of the TEXTILE Association441

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1. IntroductionTechnical textiles are one of the most important typeswhich used in different textile applications that mustincluding high performance fibers from these applica-tions military, medical, communication and aerospace.Aramid fibers are a type of special high-performancefibers used in different fabric applications ranging frombullet-proof vests to trampolines, as it is the mostlyused type of fiber in these applications [1, 2]. A num-ber of chemical and physical bonds should be used inthese types of fibers in order to transfer the stressalong the fiber. In order to limit their deformation, itshould have high stiffness and strength. These types offibers can be used as reinforcing fibers in fiber-rein-forced composite materials which must possess hightensile and compression strength and low specific weight[3].

Kevlar® is a type of man-made synthetic fibers froma high modulus para aramid. It is an organic fiber inaromatic polyamide family [4]. It was developed andcommercialized by DuPont in 1971 [5].

This type of woven Kevlar fabrics with its high strengthare ideal materials for use in various structural andaerospace systems, as it applied for a high energyabsorption, it has the ability to resist high speed impactresults in its high strength to weight ratio, which makeit more efficiency than metals [6]. Aramid [poly (p-phenyleneterephthalamide), [PPTA] contains the poly-mer chains that was linked with benzene rings andamide bonds, which support the aramid fibers withhigh tenacity, high modulus and toughness, that makeit suitable for ballistic materials [7].

In order to form a composite structure from Kevlarfibers, it can be bonded with another material or vari-ous materials. This type of Kevlar fiber is suitable fordifferent industrial applications including body/vehiclearmour, cables, brake linings and asbestos replace-ment [4].

In textile industry application, Kevlar fibers are com-monly used due to its properties such as strength,abrasion resistance, flammability resistance, very lowelasticity, light weight, toughness and corrosion resis-tance [3]. Fabrics woven from Kevlar filaments mustbe in the right place to the group of technical fabricsand are flat materials with specific properties. Mul-tifilament yarns are used for the production of Kevlarfabrics, where filaments are glued together (roving yarn)into tape shapes to ensure compression and enhancedproperties of strength, evenness ...etc).

Analysis of the Mechanical Properties of Kevlar 29Woven Fabrics

Doaa H. Elgohary* & M. H. ElshakankeryDepartment of Spinning and Weaving Engineering, National Research Centre,

AbstractThe aim of this work was to investigate the impact of breaking load on the Kevlar 29 fabric dimensionsand determined the Poisson's ratio. Based on the wide width strength test values for both directions warpand weft deformations were presented and analyzed under tensile loading. The Poisson's ratios for threedifferent Kevlar 29 fabrics were determined using the relation between the contraction in crosswise directionand the extension strains in longitudinal direction. The relationship between the Poisson's ratio and variouslevels of extension exerted to the Kevlar 29 fabrics are derived in both warp and weft directions. A goodinvestigated between the experimental results and the values of the Poisson's ratios calculated and pre-sented. The best equation found to show its effect in various levels of extension on Poisson's ratios andrespective determination correlation coefficient (R) in both fabric directions warp and weft are inspected.

KeywordsBreaking Load; Elongation; High Performance; Kevlar; Weave Structure.

* All the correspondence should be addressed to,Dr. Doaa H. ElgoharyDepartment of Spinning and Weaving Engineering, Textile ResearchDivision, National Research Centre, 33 El Bohouthst.(Former El Tahrir St.),Dokki, P.O.12622, Giza, Egypt.Mobile : +20 1003531623Email : [email protected]

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March - April 2020Journal of the TEXTILE Association 442

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These types of yarns are inserted in the warp and weftdirections in order to get a fabric appearance uniform.Yarns made from Kevlar fibers have very low elastic-ity. The performance of these fabrics is based on theirgood mechanical properties, durability and stability. Theyare often used in several forms and for various appli-cations, but as a one-layer product such fabrics do notalways have suitable properties. Therefore their use isgenerally as part of a multiple. However, due to thesurface smoothness of multifilament yarns there is apossibility of interlacing point's displacement or yarnslippage.

These mechanical properties have been investigatedby many researchers. For woven fabric, Kilby [8],defined the Poisson's ratio and measured the tensilestrength of fabrics in a random direction. According tohis study he shows that there is a good relationshipbetween Poisson's ratio and fabric elasticity modulus.Also, Petterson and Backer [9], defined of the per-formed experiments. Thirwell and Treloar [10], calcu-lated the Poisson's ratio according to the measure-ments of the tensile strength attitude of nonwovenssamples in a range of test angles related to the maindirections. Hearle et al [11], calculated the Poisson'sratio and evaluated according to geometrical theoreti-cal analysis.

value of Poisson's ratio weave type and the number ofyarns per fabric. Jinyun et al [17], confirmed that thesignificant effect of Poisson's for knitted fabric underbreaking load deformation. Also this research investi-gates the relation between the experimental results andvalues of the Poisson's ratios.

2. Materials and MethodsThe experimental study was carried out by measuringthe extension of Kevlar 29 woven fabrics samples underthe breaking load force action. The values of the break-ing load force in warp and weft direction was recordedand in relation to the relative extension were mea-sured.

Three Kevlar 29 samples with different specificationswere investigated to show the breaking load and elon-gation characterization, three different yarn counts wereused for both the warp and weft directions, a plainweave structure is used for all samples, as shown inTable 2.1.

When a fabric is extended in one direction, it tends tocontract in the direction vertical to the stretch direc-tion. The yarns in the breaking load force direction ofare extended, and in the crosswise (non-loading) direc-

Table 2.1: Kevlar 29 Samples Specifications

Sample Code Warp Density Weft Density Weave Warp Count Weft Count Mass per Thickness/cm /cm Structure (Denier) (Denier) Unit Area (g/m2) (mm)

Sample 1 6 6 1475 1475 223 0.3266

Sample 2 6 6 Plain 1/1 3200 2800 419 0.561

Sample 3 12 12 610 610 171 0.23

Leaf [12], presented the relationship between both shearmodulus and Poisson's ratio for warp and weft direc-tions Also, its research shows the mechanical analysesattitude of plain weave structure for woven samples.Bao et al [13], study the error sources during themeasurements of the Poisson's ratio for tensile strengthtest on uniaxial textile samples.

Basset et al [14],decided that it's difficult to measurethe Poisson's ratio accurately of fabric which inter-preted according to the insufficiency of experimentaltechnique reliability. While sun et al [15], established atheoretical equation for estimating the Poisson's ratio inboth fabrics directions using geometry of fabric. Ac-cording to Hursa et al [16], two factors affect the

tion, the yarns have a longer geometrical curve, due tothe force increasing in the stretch direction. The con-sequence to this is the fabric width dimension decreased.This fact is called the Poisson effect or Poisson's ratio.The Poisson's ratio is the ratio of the reduction strainto the extension strain in the direction of the appliedload. In determining the Poisson's ratio of fabrics,devices for measuring the breaking load strength areused. The breaking load and elongation test were per-formed using universal testing machine (Zwick), andtest samples were done in both warp and weft direc-tions. A Raveled Strip Test, 200 mm was done accord-ing to Standard Test Method for Wide width tensiletest using ISO 10319 [18], to determine the breakingstrength and elongation, the loading rate for testing


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machine was set at 300 ± 10 mm/min. The Poisson'sratio P was calculated using the following equation :P= - e

x/e

y ... (1)

Where ex and e

y are the lateral contraction and the

extension strains respectively. Three samples weretested in both warp and weft directions on breakingload testing machine with the gauge length of 100 mm.Finally, the average breaking load, elongation andPoisson's ratio values were reported.

3. Results and DiscussionsIt is recognized that woven fabrics have not the samevalue when measured a physical and mechanical prop-erties in different directions. In another word, fabricmechanical properties in different directions are un-even or dissimilar. In this study, it is tried to investigate

the behavior of fabric breaking load and the variationsin Poisson's ratio during extension in warp and weftdirections under the breaking load force action. Theaverage breaking load and elongation obtained for dif-ferent sample in both main directions are presented.After applying the breaking load and elongation threeKevlar 29 woven samples were investigated with dif-ferent specification. The average results were pre-sented and evaluated for breaking strength and elonga-tion at break after three replicates for each sample inboth warp and weft directions Figures 3.1 and 3.2representing graph presentation for three samples inboth directions warp and weft obtained from the ten-sile strength machine. While Figures 3.3 and 3.4 rep-resenting the comparison of breaking load and elonga-tion between three samples in both directions (warpand weft).

Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3Figure 3.1: Breaking Load and Elongation for three samples at warp direction

Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3Figure 3.2: Breaking Load and Elongation for three samples at weft direction

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It is clear from Figure 3.3 that sample (3) gave thehighest breaking load value in both directions warp andweft followed by samples (2) and (1). Figure 3.4 showsthat sample (2) gave the highest elongation value inboth directions warp and weft but samples (1) and (3)are very close, this could attribute due to the fabricdensity and the number of fiber per yarn.

Figure 3.3: Comparison among breaking Load for threesamples at both directions

Figure 3.4: Comparison among Elongation for threesamples at both directions

The Poisson's ratio acquired for various samples atdifferent extension levels under the breaking load forceaction in both directions are shown in Table 3.1.

At warp direction for Poisson's ratios recorded thehighest values ranging from 0.1165 to 0.1482 com-pared to Poisson's ratios values at weft direction, which

Table 3.1: Poisson's ratio of warp and weft direction

Extension% Poisson's ratio of warp and weft directions

Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3

warp weft warp weft warp weft

1 0 0.0272 0 0.0176 0.022 0.0344

2 0.031 0.0528 0.022 0.0328 0.0415 0.044

3 0.077 0.0576 0.0465 0.0416 0.067 0.0592

4 0.0915 0.0696 0.059 0.0648 0.0975 0.0736

5 0.1225 0.1024 0.087 0.0744 0.133 0.0936

6 0.1172 0.1128 0.0975 0.0976 0.1271 0.1064

7 0.1165 0.1065 0.114 0.1128 0.1243 0.103

8 0.1275 0.1216

9 0.143 0.1236

10 0.1482 0.1264

11 0.137 0.1276

12 0.124


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ranging from 0.1024 to 0.1276. During the breakingload test, it is observed that some slippage and damagehappened throw yarn failures. These slippages anddamages on the tested sample that were the result ofthe fabrics ability to resist the breaking load. Breakingload may have influenced the result values becausechanges in the longitudinal and crosswise dimensions,also the errors occurred in the values of Poisson'sratios.

Table 3.2 shows the best equation found to the effectvarious extension levels on Poisson's ratios and re-spective determination correlation coefficient (R). Thetrend lines in Figures 3.5 and 3.6 are the fit lines be-tween extension and the Poisson's ratio in the bothdirections. The correlation coefficient (R) of the fit linefor the results in the samples warp direction are 0.949,0.989 and 0.9644 respectively, while that for the resultsin the samples weft direction are 0.9645, 0.9836 and0.9802 respectively. This means the correlation coeffi-cients in both directions are very close to unity. Thisindicated the second-order linear relationship betweenthe extension and Poisson's ratio.

As the Figures 3.5 and 3.6 shows, Poisson's ratios ofthe samples in the extension beginning are very small.After that, there is a higher changed of samples di-mensions in both directions. By reaching to the end ofcrimp increased for crosswise yarns, the rate ofPoisson's ratios increased slightly. This is due to as thefabric extends the crosswise yarns crimp begins toslightly increase, this due to these yarns are opened.As the pressure build up more deformation at the lon-gitudinal direction it affects both the crosswise yarnscrimp and side pressure by increase and continuousexchange of sample dimensions in both directions whichincreases the affect of breaking load in sample longi-tudinal.

Figure 3.5: Relationship between extension and thePoisson's ratio in the warp direction

Figure 3.6: Relationship between extension and thePoisson's ratio in the weft direction

By taking into consideration equation (1) of the Poisson'sratio, these curves in Figures 3.5 and 3.6 are as aresult of change in the rate of crosswise yarns crimpincreased lightly of sample under side pressure. This is

Table 3.2: Equation and correlation coefficient to effect extension on Poisson's ratios

Code Direction Equation R %

Sample 1 Warp y1 = -0.0013x2 + 0.028x - 0.0224 0.949

Weft y1 = -0.0013x2 + 0.0249x + 0.0015 0.964

Sample 2 Warp y2= 6E-05x2 + 0.0149x - 0.014 0.989

Weft y2 = -0.0009x2 + 0.0224x - 0.0065 0.9836

Sample 3 Warp y3 = -0.0014x2 + 0.0292x - 0.019 0.9644

Weft y3 = -0.0013x2 + 0.0238x + 0.0035 0.9802


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due to the rate of extension in longitudinal direction isapproximately constant.

The maximum tensile at peak of the curve occurs atthe maximum crosswise yarns crimp increased. Intensile test it happens slightly higher than the crosswiseyarns crimp at high level. This can be interpreted dueto the increase of crosswise yarns crimp which resultsin slightly more fabric contraction at the longitudinaldirection. This can be due to the change in the crosssection of yarns that is transform in the more flat orfilm shape. This effect is very small and ends verysoon after sample peaks under load.

The results of Poisson's ratio were compared in bothdirections; the calculated Poisson's ratio is presented invarious levels of extension at two directions samplesas shown in Figures 3.5 and 3.6. Generally, the Poisson'sratio calculated the higher values at the warp directionthan weft direction at various levels of the specimen'sextension. In addition, the Poisson's ratio of weft direc-tion increases at small extensions, reached to extensionat peak and then reduces. The differences occurred inboth warp and weft directions can be useful for usingKevlar 29 woven fabrics in the correct direction forspecific applications. But, with analysis of variance(ANOVA) of Poisson's ratio for two directions resultsconfirms that there is insignificant at the 95% or 99%confidence level as shown in Table 3.3.

4. ConclusionIn the present work, a thorough investigation into thevariations in Poisson's ratio of the Kevlar 29 wovensamples in both directions warp and weft during thebreaking load has been conducted. Poisson's ratio isaffected by the applied load and extension. This studybased on the wide width breaking tensile strength testresults of the longitudinal and crosswise deformationsunder certain load. The Poisson's ratios for three dif-ferent Kevlar 29 fabrics were determined using therelation between the side contraction and the extensionstrains. The relationship between the Poisson's ratioand various levels of extension exerted to the Kevlar29 fabrics are derived in both warp and weft direc-tions. The best equation found to affect various levelsof extension on Poisson's ratios and respective deter-mination correlation coefficient (R) in the two mainfabric directions is investigated. Considering thePoisson's ratio trend in warp and weft directions atdifferent levels extensions, it is shown that the maxi-mum value of Poisson's ratio in the warp directionhappens at lower values of extension compared to theweft direction, which make it useful in using Kevlar 29woven fabrics in the correct direction for a specificfunctional. But, with analysis of variance (ANOVA) ofPoisson's ratio for two directions results confirms thatthere is insignificant at the 95% or 99% confidence.

5. AcknowledgementAuthors would like to thank Dr. Khaled Ali Tawfik forhis assistance during the study.

Table 3.3: The varianceanalysis of Poisson's ratio results between both directions

Code Direction Average Variance MS F P-value

Sample 1 Warp 0.06611 0.0016 4.49E-05 0.0207 0.887

Weft 0.06946 0.0027 0.0022

Sample 2 Warp 0.085527 0.0017 7.6E-05 0.0354 0.852

Weft 0.089245 0.0026 0.0021

Sample 3 Warp 0.0643 0.0014 0.0006 0.2982 0.593

Weft 0.07655 0.0027 0.0020

P-value # 0.5 significant at the 95% confidence levelP-value # 0.1 significant at the 99% confidence level

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References1. Elgohary D.H., Abo El Amaim Y.A., The Influ-

ence of Using Different Textile Structures andYarn Counts on the Mechanical Properties ofWoven Sacks, Journal of the Textile Association,78(5), 301-308, (2018). ISSN 0368-4636.e-ISSN2347- 2537.

2. Sikkema D.J., Northolt M.G., Pourdeyhimi B., As-sessment of New High-Performance Fibers forAdvanced Applications. Mrs Bulletin, 579-584,(2003). DOI: 10.1557/mrs2003.169

3. Fayed A.I.H., Abo El Amaim Y.A., Elgohary D.H.,Investigating the Behavior of ManufacturedRocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) Armour NetScreens from Different Types of High Perfor-mance Fibers, International Journal of Science andResearch

8. 2088-2091, (2019). ISSN: 2319-7064.4. Bin Kabir R., Ferdous N., Kevlar-The Super Tough

Fiber, International Journal of Textile Science, 1,78-83, (2012).DOI: 10.5923/j.textile.20120106.04.

5. Rebouillat S., Steffenino B., High performancefibres and the mechanical attributes of cut resis-tant structures made therewith, High PerformanceStructures and Materials III, 85, 279-299,(2006).doi:10.2495/HPSM06028.

6. Zhu D., Mobasher B., Rajan S.D., Dynamic Ten-sile Testing of Kevlar 49 Fabrics, Journal ofMaterials in Civil Engineering, 23, 1-11,(2011).ISSN 0899-1561/0000/3-0-0/.

7. Lim J.S., Lee B.H., Lee C.B., In-Sik Han. Effectof the Weaving Density of Aramid Fabrics ontheir Resistance to Ballistic Impacts, Engineering,4, 944-949, (2012). http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/eng.2012.412A119.

8. Kilby W.F., Planar Stress-Strain Relationships inWoven Fabrics, Journal of Textile Institute, 54, 9-27, (1962). https://doi.org/10.1080 19447026308659910.

9. Petterson D.R., Backer S., Relationships between

the Structural Geometry of a Fabric and its PhysicalProperties, Part VII: Mechanics of Nonwovens:Orthotropic Behavior, Textile Research Journal.33, 809-816, (1963). DOI: 004051756303301007.

10. Thirwell B.E., Treloar L.R.G., Non-Woven Fab-rics. Part VI: Dimensional and Mechanical Anisot-ropy, Textile Research Journal, 35, 827-835, (1965).DOI: 004051756503500907.

11. Hearle J.W.S., Grosberg P., Backer S., StructuralMechanics of Fiber, Yarn and Fabrics, Volume1.Wiley-Interscience, New York (1969).

12. Leaf G.A.V., Analytical Plain Weave Fabric Me-chanics and the Estimation of Initial Shear Modu-lus, Journal of Textile Institute, 92, 70-79, (2001).https://doi.org/10.1080/00405000108659615.

13. Bao L., Takatera M., Shinohara A., Error evalu-ation on measuring the apparent Poisson's ratiosof textile fabrics by uniaxial tensile test, Sen'iGakkaishi, Abstract published in Textile ResearchJournal, 71,185-186, (1997). DOI: 004051759706700114.

14. Bassett R.J., Postle R., Pan N., ExperimentalMethods for Measuring Fabric Mechanical Prop-erties: A Review and Analysis, Textile ResearchJournal, 69, 866-875, (1999). DOI: 004051759906901111.

15. Sun H., Pan N., Postle R., On the Poisson's Ratiosof a Woven Fabric, Composite Structures, 68, 505-510, (2005).doi: 10.1016/j.compstruct.2004.05.017.

16. Hursa A., Rolich T., ErcegovicRazic S., Deter-mining Pseudo Poisson's Ratio of Woven Fabricwith a Digital Image Correlation Method, TextileResearch Journal. 79, 1588-1598, (2009). DOI:10.1177/0040517509104316.

17. Jinyun Z., Yi L., Lam J., Xuyong C., The PoissonRatio and Modulus of Elastic Knitted Fabrics.Textile Research Journal. 80, 1965-1969, (2015).DOI: 10.1177/0040517510371864

18. BS EN ISO 10319 "Geosynthetics - Wide-widthtensile test", (2008).

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1. IntroductionGarment sector is amongst the various labour intensivesegments that offer opportunities for workers to enterin the world's labour force. As per the report by UnitedNations conference on trade and development, apparelindustries provide prospects for nation to industrializetheir economy and move away from commodity de-pendence [1]. Tandon and Reddy, state that appareland textile industry is an essential element of the worldmarket. This industry provides employment to ten mil-lion workers out of which large number are womenwho are located in almost two hundred nations [2].Textile and apparel industry have a greater impact onthe employment and economic performance especiallyfor women.

Textile and apparel industries make export diversifica-tion available for developing countries and help them toavail their low labour cost advantage. Hence, for In-dian scenario, garment and textile industry are going toplay a major role as employment providers to womenas well as it would immensely contribute in the nationalforeign exchange earning of the country.

1.1 Indian demographyAccording to Census 2011, the total population of Indiahas reached 121 crores. It comprises of 62.31 croremales and 58.74 crore females [3]. India facts statesthat the most populated states of India include WestBengal, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtraand Bihar [4]. The present study is planned in UttarPradesh which has the highest population with 16% oftotal Indian population [5].

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Develop-ment (OECD), conducted a survey for adult skills andreported that "about 10% of new graduates have poorliteracy skills and 14% of them have poor numeracyskills" [6].

1.2 Socio economic status of womenAmerican Psychological Association states that in asociety, measurement of socio-economic condition isthe sum total of occupation, income and education.Further-more, socio-economic status suggests inequal-ity in distribution and access to available resources.Inequality with women in terms of wealth and their lifeis present globally. Low socio-economic status of thewomen effects the society as a whole in terms ofeducation, poverty and health status [6]. World HealthOrganization states that, "the adverse impact of lowsocio-economic status on health is compounded forwomen by gender inequities" [7].

Training and Production in Sewing : A Step towardsWomen Empowerment

Yasha Malick* & Dr. Sangita SainiDepartment of Home Science at Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Deemed University,

AbstractUpliftment of women is the major issue that can be achieved through imparting skills that already exists in them. Itwould hence make them capable to support their family in a better way there by empowering them. Developmentand realization of their capabilities and skills will support women to become confident, self-dependent and financiallyself-sufficient. This study is related with upgrading the sewing related skills of women so that they can generaterevenues to support their family. The study was conducted in a semi urban slum in Agra. Twenty-five women wereidentified with sewing machine and registered for sewing training. Market survey was conducted to identify the stitcheditems in demand. The items that are in trend, require low investment as well as do not loose there acceptability rapidlywere identified. Training was followed by production for each selected item. After assuring the appropriate skill leveland quality of the items, production was undertaken. Produced items were marketed at the different areas of Agra.It was found that women could earn significant amount of money in each production cycle. The level of confidencein trainees noticeably enhanced as their income increased, inspiring other women to learn sewing skills to generateincome and support their livelihood.

KeywordsLivelihood, Market Survey, Sewing Machine, Sewing, Skill-development, Training, Women.

* All the correspondence should be addressed to,Yasha Malick,Department of Home Science at Dayalbagh Educational Institute,Deemed University,Uttar Pradesh, India.


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1.3 Need for skill developmentOur country has a huge population and according toInternational labour organization, only 10 per cent ofcountry's population are receiving skill training (2%formal vocational training and 8% non-formal training).This proportion is very low as compared to other coun-tries like Germany 75%, Korea 96%, United Kingdom68% and Japan 80% [8]. In India hence there is animmense need to provide vocational skill training inorder to increase its work force. Skill development isan essential tool for the future of Indian economicdevelopment [9].

1.4 Importance of sewing skillsAs per the Community Based Health Project, eco-nomic empowerment is one of the most fundamentalcomponents of women's empowerment. Training ac-tivities can only lead to qualify as economic empower-ment if they advance women's financial status in ameaningful and sustainable way. With the knowledgeand skills acquired through vocational training activi-ties, women would be able to pursue better work andutilize social opportunities to the utmost [10].

Generally, "sewing" is viewed as an activity for stitch-ing personal cloths only, but there are many peoplewho have achieved optimum success and financialupliftment by utilizing their sewing skills. Women cangenerate enough income by making use of sewing skillswhich can thus help them to become not only finan-cially independent but also, they can contribute in eco-nomic productivity of the nation.

1.5 Objectives of the studyThe prime objectives of the study are (a) to upgradeskills related to sewing among women, (b) develop-ment of product according to market demand, (c) or-ganize sale of the produced items, (d) to assess impactof sewing training on the revenue generated, and (e) toassess the change in the confidence level of the women.

This study is highly significant as it would be helpfulfor the organizations wanting to work with skilled peoplein the related areas. It would ultimately provide guid-ance to stream line entrepreneurs and improve thesocio-economic status of the women.

2. Research MethodologyThe present study was an experimental work. Thestudy was done at a semi urban location. Women re-siding around the selected area, owning personal sew-ing machine were identified for imparting training. Total

25 women were selected for imparting the skills. Theirsewing skill level was assessed by evaluatingthe qual-ity of basic sewing tasks like hemming, straight runningstitch and straight machine stitching. Market survey ofthe local market was done to identify the demand ofthe stitched products. Women were trained for two tothree weeks where sewing techniques desired for eachselected item were imparted. They were tested fortheir stitching in order to development the final prod-ucts.

To gather significant data regarding women's financialstatus and their confidence level, two set of question-naires were used. One questionnaire was for assess-ing the financial status while the other was for assess-ing the confidence level of the selected sample. Bothset of questionnaires were used before initiating thetraining. After three cycles of production, both sets ofquestionnaires were applied again. The impact of trainingand the intervention on the revenue generated wereassessed.

3. Results and Discussion3.1 Skills upgradedWomen of the selected area were registered for thesewing training and their prevailing sewing skills weretested for assessing inputs desired for upgradation. Mostof the women knew both hand sewing and machinestitching technique but, their quality in stitching neededinputs. Women were trained by demonstrating the righttechniques to be followed by them. They were askedto repeat the same sewing techniques practising themagain and again to achieve finishing and quality in thelearnt techniques. Production was undertaken once thewomen excelled in the techniques. There was a needto provide proper direction for the prevailing skills andinterest. Some skills which need to be emphasized forsewing any kind of stitched product for market levelare given in table 1.

Table 1: sewing skills desired for stitched production ofthe market level

Sr. No. Basic Sewing Skills

1 Straight Stitching

2 Preparing corners and inverting them

3 Ironing

4 Proper packaging

5 Finishing of the items


3.2 Production and sale of itemsProducts were selected on the basis of market demandwhich was identified by local market at Agra. Theproduct selection was made on the basis of parameterslike low investment, small items size and current fash-ion trends. On the basis of these criteria, three itemswere identified in the present study for production,a) Cushion cover b) Potli bags c) Wrap around skirt(Fig.1).

These items were selected because the production costof the selected items was low, time required for pro-duction of single item was relatively less, the items arerelatively easy to stitch. They did not require high leveltraining to achieve accuracy in stitching.

Training and upgradation of sewing techniques, whichwere specific for each selected item, was carried forone to two weeks. After training, production of theselected items was carried (Figure 1). Each item wasevaluated for desired quality parameters mentioned inTable 1. Two trainees from the group were trained forjudging the suit-ability and quality of the raw materialto be used for the particular products.

Figure 1 : Images of the items selected for production.

Figure 2 : Women doing production.

Item I: For the first production cycle, cushion cover setwas selected. Training of cushion cover was impartedfor two weeks. Production was accomplished by 16women in 54 hours (total 18 days @ 3hours per per-

son), 150 sets of cushion covers (5 in each set) wereproduced. Total in-vestment on cushion cover was Rs.15,570/-. Out of the 150 sets, 126 were sold at Rs.24,480/- in Agra and return on investment was Rs.8,910/-. The profit earned was divided among all thewomen who produced the item. Cushion sets (24 innumber) of about Rs. 3,840/- are in the showroom forsale.

Item II : Potli bags were the next selected item. Two-week training for potli bags were provided to 24 train-ees to carry out production. The production was car-ried out as per quality parameters (Table 1). Traineeswere motivated to contribute some money desired forsecond pro-duction. Eleven thousand four hundred ru-pees (Rs. 11,400/-) were arranged while four thousandfive hundred rupees (Rs. 4,500/-) was contributed bythe trainees (@ one hundred eighty-seven each). Total342 potli bags were manufactured in 42 hours (spreadin 14 days @ 3 hours per person). Out of the totalamount 186 bags have been sold at Rs. 22,320/- inAgra. The return on investment was Rs. 6,600/-. Profitearned has been divided amongst all the women in-volved in IInd production cycle. In this production cycleRs. 275/- profit other than wages were distributed toeach woman. 153 potli bags of Rs 12,480/- are lying inthe market.

Item III : Third item selected was wrap around skirt.The item was adopted from the long skirt. Duringproduction 156 skirts were manufactured by 25 womenin 42 hours (14 days @ 3 hours per person). Totalinvestment in pro-duction was Rs 23,100/-. Traineescontributed seven thou-sand two hundred rupees(Rs. 7,200/-) and rest of the money (seventeen thou-sand one hundred) was arranged for production. Outof 156 wraps around skirts produced, 120 skirts weremarketed at Rs. 33,000/-. Return on investment wasRs. 9,900/-, amount was divided within all the traineeswho manufactured the wrap around skirt. About Rs.396/- profit other than wages was earned by eachwoman.

The compiled sale details and stock details of all itemsare given below in Figure 3a and Figure 3b respec-tively.

The data present (Figure 3a) clearly reflect that about67% produced items in all three productions have beenmarketed. Figure 3b shows that from the first produc-tion cycle very few (24 sets) of cushion cover of totalestimated (Rs.3,840/-) remain in stock. In case of

DESIGN


second production 153 potli bags of about Rs. 12,480/- are lying in stock, whereas from the third productiononly 36 wraps around skirts were in stock which wereexpected to be sold for Rs. 9,430/-. This dead stock isexpected to be marketed at festive occasions and islying with different shopkeepers. The money recoverwill further be added (about Rs. 27,750/-) to the gen-erated income of the group.

Figure 3 : Compiled a) sales of the produced items andb) expected sale from stock lying in the market (in Rs.)

3.3. Impact of production on the revenue gener-atedData obtained from each production was analysed andis represented in Fig. 4, shows income earned by womenthrough sewing.

After intervention gradually the earning got improved.In first production cycle, when cushion cover wasproduced an average additional amount earned by eachwoman through sewing was Rs. 1100/-. Potli bagsproduced in second production cycle generated anadditional income of Rs. 2,440/- per women. Similarlywrap around skirt which were the third produced itemby women provided an added earning of Rs. 2,380/-per person. This money was an increase on to herregular income.

Figure 4 : Revenues generated by sewing during intervention.

3.4 Confidence level of womenChange in confidence level of the women was as-sessed by comparing results achieve from the respon-dents by filling the self-prepared questionnaire, beforethe study and after the completion of three productioncycles. Data obtained is presented in Figure 5.

Figure 5 : Change in confidence level of women afterthree production cycles.

It can clearly be interpreted from the above figurethat, after intervention women who stitched clothes fortheir family members increased and a higher confi-dence level was noticed in all the trainees. They wantedto utilize free time to earn some money using the sew-ing skills. Before training only six women thought thatsewing could support their livelihood whereas afterintervention, nearly all the women (93%) were of theopinion that sewing could support a livelihood for theirfamily.

The figure suggests that most of the women (93%)after intervention wanted to adopt sewing as a profes-sion and they (20 in number) were interested to starttheir personal boutique. The women after interventionfelt that they were better than those who did not knowsewing. The data suggested that, the women believedthat sewing as a skill could support their family in-come. The respondents felt that other members in theirfamily should also learn it. Initially only three womenout of 25, could give sewing training to others, butafter intervention, 17 women indicated that if needarose, they were confident in their ability to train otherwomen with sewing skills.

3. ConclusionStatus of women in India demands high skilled training.Employment rate of women is quite low in India hence"Sewing" is a technique which can be quite useful toempower women and to increase their confidence in

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them-selves. Training for sewing based activities, ifimparted in an organized manner with emphasis onmarket demand and quality consciousness could be-come a good source of income for the women to earnand support their families. Increased participation ofwomen in the production pro-cess could bring a greatchange in economic status of the families living in lowsocio-economic conditions and would also fulfil thedemand of the society at large. The study demon-strates that right quality of product could be achievedthrough upgradation of skills. The study also demon-strated that quality in production would ensure marketand adequate return on investment. Each productioncycle led to improvement in financial status and signifi-cant return on investment were acquired. The effortsbrought about a major shift in confidence of respon-dents.

Women empowerment is an issue which can be ad-dressed through activities and skills which women roundthe globe already possess. The present study is re-stricted to sewing however, other skills can also beworked upon. Related studies could be planned on longterm basis, in order to make women self-reliance andself- confident. Only sewing training is not sufficient,there is a need to make people realized the immensescope of sewing further use. To encourage participa-tion of women, central and state government shouldintegrate and involve women in their welfare schemes,in order to achieve fruitful results.

References1. United Nations Conference on Trade and Devel-

opment, & Appelbaum, R. P.(2005). TNCs andthe Removal of Textiles and Clothing Quotas. UCSanta Barbara: Center for Global Studies. Re-trieved April 18,2016 from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3p4354z8.

2. Tandon N., & Reddy E. E., A Study on EmergingTrends in Textile Industry in India. Int. J. Adv.Res. Technol. 2 (7), 267, (2013).

3. Census 2011. (2011). India at Glance - PopulationCensus 2011. Retrieved April 18,2016 from http://www.census2011.co.in/p/glance.php.

4. Indiafacts. (2011). Census 2011 Population Per-centage of States. Retrieved April 10,2016 fromhttp://indiafacts.in/india-census-2011/census-2011-population-percentage-of-states/.

5. Organisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment (OECD). (2015). Youth, Skills andEmployability. http://doi.org/10.1787/9789264234178-en.

6. American Psychological Association. (2008).Women & Socioeconomic Status.http://doi.org/10.1007/SpringerReference_61607.

7. World health organization. (2009). Women andHealth Today'sEvidence Tomorrow's Agenda.Switzerland: World Health Organization.

8. International Labour Organization Headquarters.(2011). Labour Market Performance and theChallenges of Creating Employment in India. Re-trieved April 18, 2016 from http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_emp/@emp_policy/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_162963.pdf.

9. Zahid, T. (2014, April). Skill Development Needof the Hour, will be the Defining Element in India'sGrowth Story - timesofindia-economictimes. TheEconomic Times. Retrieved May 20, 2016 fromhttp://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-0429/news/49493697_1_skill-training-national-skill-development-fund-ncvt.

10. Community Based Health Project. (2014).Women's Vocational Sewing Program EvaluationReport, (January). Retrieved March 3, 2016 fromhttp://communitybasedhealthproject.org/wordpress/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2012/09/Womens-Vocation-Sewing-Program-Evaluation-Report.pdf.

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1. IntroductionThe Egyptian summer is hot and dry in most of thecountry, and humid in the Delta and along the Mediter-ranean Coast. In recent years, the hot and humidityhave spread to Cairo most months of the year [1].Textile fabrics are considered as a second skin forhumans which plays a crucial part in protecting hu-mans from the severe and ever-changing atmosphericconditions like ultraviolet rays, hot temperatures andhigh humidity. Accordingly, the close proximity of clothesto the human skin as well as their performance duringdaily use has raised many questions. From those ques-tions comfort related one have risen due to the longperiods of time where people from different age groupswear those clothes. From those different age groups,one stands out in particular, namely the age group thatis from 6 to 18 years. In Egypt ages from 6 to 18 yearsare usually associated with the period of primary andsecondary schooling [2]. Schooling is an important partof the children uprising, where the child spends around6-8 hours per day in the school and thus spends roughly

around one-third of his childhood span in school [3].Moreover, In Egypt all public and mostly all privateschools have a unified uniform which in turn meansthat any issues related to physiological comfort of theuniforms have an increasing importance in the child'slife due to the prolonged time those students are sub-jected to those fabrics.

Based on aforementioned facts and in line with thegrowing interest in physiological comfort as a competi-tive criterion of fabrics which are used in apparels,many studies were concerned with the dilemma ofhow to achieve physiological comfort and at the sametime maintaining adequate functional performance offabrics [4, 5].

Comfort may be defined as "a neutral state in whichan individual experience no pain or discomfort" [6].This state is encompassing equilibrium of physiological,psychological and physical aspects between a personand his environment. [6, 7].

In general comfort and its relation to clothing can berelated to; [7-10].

Thermal comfort or Thermo physiological comfort; iswhere our minds are in contend with our thermal set-

Enhancing the Physiological Comfort of SeasonalSummer School Uniforms in Egypt

K. Nassar*1,2 & Abou-Taleb EM1

Department of Weaving and Spinning, Faculty of Applied Arts, Helwan University, Egypt1

Department of Textile Engineering, Faculty of Applied Arts, Badr University, Egypt2

AbstractThe climate in Egypt is known for its high temperatures in most of the country and high humidity in parts like theDelta and coastal regions. Accordingly, any clothes used during this period should have the ability to provide bothphysiological comfort and functional performance for the wearer. Those functions become increasingly important ifthe clothes in questions are uniforms worn for a considerable amount of time on a daily basis like school uniforms.To evaluate both physiological comfort and functional performance of those fabrics multiple samples were used. Allsamples had the same fiber type for warp yarns and same warp and weft densities. The samples differed in their wefttypes as cotton and PET microfiber were used. Moreover, Plain 1/1, Twill 2/2 and, Twill 3/1 were used as variablesfor fabric construction types. Those samples were tested for horizontal wicking (mm/sec), UPF, weight (g/m2), relativewater vapour permeability (%), and thermal insulation (TOG), and air permeability. (cm3/ cm2/sec). Overall, resultshave shown that samples with PET microfibers in their wefts showed better performance in testing results whencompared to cotton samples. Additionally, fabric structure of Twill 3/1 scored the highest in every testing categorywhen compared to Twill 2/2 and Plain 1/1.

KeywordsSchool uniforms physiological comfort, fabric thermal insulation, fabric, Relative water vapour permeability, UPF -microfiber.

* All the correspondence should be addressed to,K. Nassar,Department of Applied Arts,Helwan University, Egypt,Tel: +201271779239E-mail : [email protected]


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tings. Accordingly, climatic conditions, internal heatproduction, and body heat loss contribute to thermalcomfort. Heat balance can be achieved by clothing byits ability to control, balance, and maintain both heatand moisture loss from the skin surface. Moreover,adequate thermal insulation is needed in cold climaticconditions and this is affected by the fabric thicknessof and the number of layers used of this particularfabric. Additionally, fiber type, fiber density and drapeamong play an important part in achieving good ther-mal insulation qualities.

Sensorial comfort or tactile comfort; is how clothesfeel when they come in close proximity to the wearer'sskin due to special the presence of sensory receptorson the skin surface which are affected by three mainstimuli. These stimuli are mechanical contact withobjects, temperature changes due to heat flow from orto the body, and chemical and damaging abuses. Ac-cordingly, different fabric types, construction, and fin-ishing play a vital role in the fabric sensorial properties.

Body movement comfort; is ability of a textile to allowfreedom of movement, reduced burden, and body shap-ing, as required which is affected by physical proper-ties like tensile, shear, compression and bending.

As a result, physiological comfort is determined byboth the fabric's physical and mechanical propertiesand accordingly fabric specifications have a paramounteffect on the physiological comfort [11].

Moreover, there is a link that can be associated be-tween physiological comfort and protective performanceof fabrics. This can be attributed to the role of fabricsas a protective barrier against hazardous environments.Those imparted protective properties can be classifiedaccording to the nature of the hazard, such as protec-tive gear against flame/high temperatures and high-speed projectile impacts such as protective clothes usedby fire fighters and police/army forces respectively.This protective feature of fabrics, due to its impor-tance, can be extended to traditional and non-technicaltextile like school uniforms to combat and protect fromthe changing weather conditions such as ultraviolet,

excess temperatures and humidity which characterizemost of Egypt's weather [3].

It can be concluded that one major contributing aspectto physiological comfort is the ability of the fabric toremove excess moisture. This excess moisture, knownas perspiration, is a byproduct of physical activitiesexerted by humans to facilitate the effective coolingdown of our bodies. Under comfort conditions, vapouruptake is the primary mechanism in play to achieveadequate performance of textiles. On the other hand,high performance textiles used in conditions where thebody starts to sweat under heavy physical loads needto achieve effective mechanisms for liquid uptake, trans-portation and evaporation [12, 13].

Thermo-physiological properties of clothing can beeffectively assessed by using testing equipment thatmimics the presence of skin layered with a fabric (skinmodel type) where the "breathability index" can bededuced from the ratio between evaporative resistanceand thermal insulation [14].

Therefore, this study aims to analyze the effect offiber type and fabric structure on the physiologicalcomfort of school uniforms.

2. Materials and MethodsTo evaluate the effect of weave structures and wefttypes on the physiological comfort of school uniforms,6 samples were produced with different weave struc-tures and weft types as listed in Table (2.1).

For all samples, warp material was polyester microfiber,yarn count was 150/288 denier, and warp density was30 yarn/cm. On the other hand, 2 weft materials wereused namely, cotton and polyester microfiber.Yarn countfor cotton was 30/1 Ne, for polyester microfibers 150/ 288 denier. Weft density was 26 picks/cm. All fabricswere plain 1/1, twill 2/2, and twill 3/1. All sampleswere tested for weight, UPF and horizontal wicking.For testing the physiological comfort, the skin modeltest (Permetest) was used but only for the best scoringtwo samples.

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3. Results and DiscussionResults of fabrics weight, horizontal wicking and UPFtests for all samples are listed in Table (3.1).

Table 3.1 : Results of fabric weight, horizontalwicking and UPF tests

No of Fabric weight Horizontal UPFsample g/m2 wicking

mm/ sec

1 183.3 1.4 62.1

2 179.3 2.5 64.8

3 177.3 2.3 68.1

4 180.6 4.3 91.5

5 172.6 3.9 104.1

6 170.3 3.7 104.8

Figure 3.1 : Relation between fabricsconstruction andfabric weight of all samples

As shown in Figure (3.1), fabrics which have polyestermicrofiber wefts have recorded less weight comparedwith fabrics made of cotton wefts. This can be ex-plained by the specific density (g/cm3) of tested samples.By reviewing the law for specific density shown in

Equation (1) it can be deduced that there is a directlyproportional relation between specific density andweightwhere the density of polyester and cotton is1.38 gm/cm3 and 1.54 g/cm3 respectively.

weightSpecific density = -------------- Eq. (1)

volumeMoreover, the weight of plain 1/1 fabrics are morethan that of twill 2/2 and twill 3/1 respectively. Thiscan be explained by reviewing the number of intersec-tions where the plain 1/1 fabric has the maximumnumber of interlacements when compared to all struc-tures. As a result, more weft length is consumed whenthe plain 1/1 sample is woven which in turn is trans-lated in higher g/m2. Figure (3.2) illustrates the inter-lacement diagram of plain 1/1, twill 2/2, and twill 1/3structures.

(a) (b) (c)Figure 3.2 : interlacement diagram of (a) plain 1/1

(b) Twill 2/2 (c) Twill 3/1 structures

Figure 3.3 : Relationship between fabrics constructionsand horizontal wicking of fabrics

Table 2.1 : Specifications of produced samples

No. Warp fiber type Weft fiber type Warp density Weft density Weave type

1 Plain 1/1

2 cotton Twill 2/2

3 polyester Twill 3/1

4 microfiber polyester microfiber 30 yarn/cm 26 picks/cm Plain 1/1

5 Twill 2/2

6 Twill 3/1


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Figure (3.3) represents the relationship between rawmaterials of weft and horizontal wicking of fabrics. Itcan be observed that fabrics with polyester microfiberwefts have recorded a higher rate of horizontal wickingfor all weaves. This may be attributed to the fact thatpolyester is a hydrophobic fiber which means themoisture cannot be transmitted through it except bywicking and in polyester microfibers. Moreover, theintra fiber spaces inside the polyester microfiber yarnforms numerous capillary tubes promoting capillaryaction and thus more wicking is achieved unlike samplesmade of hydrophilic cotton wefts where moisture isalso transmitted through it by absorption which dimin-ishes the chances of moisture to be transmitted bywicking.

Moreover, the wicking rate of plain 1/1 weave fabricis higher than that of the twill 2/2 and twill 3/1 weavefabrics for polyester microfiber fabrics. This result canbe explained by the higher packing factor of plain 1/1fabrics when compared to twill 2/2 and 3/1 fabrics aslisted in Table (3.2). Packing factors of the sampleswere calculated based on Equations (2) and (3). Ac-cordingly, the more the packing factor, the more inter-section points are present which act as a routing pointto the flow of the water which in turn is translated inhigher wicking rates.

fabric weight (g/cm3)Fabric density = ----------------------------- Eq. (2)

Thickness (cm)

fabric densityPacking factor = ---------------------- Eq. (3)

fiber density

Figure 3.4 : Relationship between fabrics constructionsand the ultraviolet resistance

Figure (3.4) represents the relationship between rawmaterials of wefts and the ultra violet resistance. Fromthe figure it can be seen that the fabrics with polyestermicrofiber weft have recorded a higher value of UPFwhen compared to the fabrics which have cotton in theweft. Through further inspection this can be explainedby the close inspection of the composition of fabricfibers, where fibers can have different radiation-ab-sorbing properties. Fabric's ability for blocking UVradiation depends on fiber chemistry. It was found thatfibers with large conjugated aromatic polymer systemare more effective in blocking UV radiation. Accord-ingly, polyester microfiber has a high protective factoragainst the transmittance of UV light [15-17]. More-over, polyester microfiber wefts consist of 288 fila-ments, these filaments are finer, which leads to bemore uniform, which in turn leads to more compactfabrics and thus cause an increase in the number ofreflective surfaces of light in the unit area, which leadsto more reflection of the ultraviolet spectrum.

Table 3.2 : Results of packing factors for all test samples

No. Weave type Fabric weight Thickness Fabric density Packing factor(g/cm2) (cm) fabric weight (g/cm3) fabric density

Thickness (cm) fiber density

1 Plain 1/1 0.01833 0.033 0.55 0.36

2 Twill 2/2 0.01793 0.031 0.58 0.38

3 Twill 3/1 0.01773 0.030 0.59 0.38

4 Plain 1/1 0.01806 0.025 0.72 0.52

5 Twill 2/2 0.01726 0.023 0.75 0.54

6 Twill 3/1 0.01703 0.022 0.77 0.55


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The UPF of twill 3/1 and twill 2/2 are higher than plain1/1 for all samples that due to the float length in twill3/1, and twill 2/2 are more than that in plain 1/1. Thisleads to make the fabric surface of twill reflective.

To evaluate the overall properties of all samples anddetermine the best samples in regard to the studiedquantative variables radar chart was used as shown inFigure (3.5).

Figure 3.5 : Radar chart of functional propertiesfor all samples

From Figure (3.5), it can be observed that samples (5)and (6) scored the highest in the investigated attributeswhich promoted further investigation of their water-vapour resistance, thermal insulation and air permeabil-ity to evaluate their physiological comfort.

From Table (3.3), it can be observed that the air per-meability results of sample (6) recorded the higher valuewhen compared to sample (5). This can be explainedby the fact that the float length in twill 3/1 is more thantwill 2/2. As observed in Figure (2).

Permeability index is an indicator to physiological com-fort and is calculated according to Equation (4) [9].I

mt = 60 (Pa/K) R

ct/R

etEq. (4)

where Rct and R

et are the thermal insulation and the

water-vapour resistance of the fabric respectively. Ahigher I

mt value indicates a higher water-vapour per-

meability and thus, improved comfort.

As listed in Table (3.4), it can be observed that watervapour permeability index of sample (6) is higher thansample (5) moreover, the relative water vapour perme-ability of sample (6) is more than that of sample (5),which can lead to determining the sample 6 as the bestsample of the physiological comfort properties.

That can be explained by inspecting the float length ofboth samples which reveals that the float length oftwill 3/1 found in sample (6) is more than that of twill2/2 found in sample (5). Moreover, as listed in Table(3.2) the packing factor of sample (6) is marginallyhigher than that of sample (5) which combined withthe higher float length of sample (6) lead to a largercontact area between the wearer skin and the fabricresulting in better water vapour permeability index.

4. ConclusionIn this study, multiple samples with varying fiber typesand fabric structures were used to study the physi-ological comfort of school uniforms. Results showedthat samples which have polyester microfibers in warpand weft achieved higher values in horizontal wickingand ultraviolet resistance (UPF) than those with cottonyarns for their weft. Moreover, it was found thatsamples with the fabric structure of (twill 3/1) achieved

Table 3.3 : Results of relative water-vapour resistance, thermal insulation and air permeability tests

No of Relative water vapour water-vapour Thermal insulation Air permeabilitysample permeability % resistance pa.m² w1 mk.m2.W-1 cm3/ cm2/sec

(5) 92% 1.7 16.6 1.92

(6) 95.4% 1.17 14.7 2.76

Table 3.4 : Results of water vapour permeability index

No of Relative water vapour water-vapour resistance Thermal insulation Water vapoursample permeability % pa.m².w-1 mk.m2.W-1 permeability index

(5) 92% 1.7 16.6 60*16.6*10-3/1.7=0.58

(6) 95.4% 1.17 14.7 60*14.7*10-3/1.17=0.75


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higher water vapour permeability index and recordedthe best results in air permeability.

References1. Egyptian Meteorological Authority, Weather Fore-

cast, Egyptian Meteorological Authority, 6 Oct.2019, http://www.ema.gov.eg/.

2. Egyptian Ministry of Education, 21 Oct. 2019,http://www.moe.gov.eg/.

3. Shruti, Gupta, et al., A Study on Satisfaction Levelof Fundamental Features of School Uniforms, IJSR,6 (4), (2017).

4. Li, Peijing. Designing an Elementary School Uni-form with Functions of Fit, Comfort, and RoadSafety, Fashion Practice, 11 (2), 222-243, (2019).

5. Öner, E., and A. Okur. Thermophysiological Com-fort Properties of Selected Knitted Fabrics andDesign of T-Shirts,The Journal of The TextileInstitute, 106 (12), 1403-14, (2015).

6. Splendore, R., et al., Thermo Physiological Com-fort of a PES Fabric with Incorporated ActivatedCarbon, International Journal of Clothing Sci-ence and Technology, 23 (5), 283-293, (2011).

7. Kothari, V K., Thermo-Physiological ComfortCharacteristics and Blended Yarn Woven Fabrics,Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research, 3(1), (2016).

8. Sinclair, Rose. Textiles and Fashion: Materials,Design and Technologies. Woodhead PublishingLimited, (2015).

9. Song, Guowen, editor. Improving Comfort inClothing. 1 edition, Woodhead Publishing, 2011.

10. Duru, Sena Cimilli, et al., Innovation in the Com-fort of Intimate Apparel." Textile ManufacturingProcesses, (2019).

11. Splendore, R., et al., Thermo physiological Com-fort of a PES Fabric with Incorporated ActivatedCarbon: Part I: Preliminary Physical Analysis,International Journal of Clothing Science andTechnology, 22 (5), 333-42m (2010).

12. Abu-Rous, M., et al., Fabric Physical Propertiesand Clothing Comfort, IOP Conference Series:Materials Science and Engineering, 459 ,(2018).

13. Chinta, S. K., and Pooja D. Gujar, Significance ofMoisture Management for High PerformanceTextile Fabrics, International Journal of Inno-vative Research in Science, Engineering andTechnology, 2 (3), (2013).

14. Bogus awska-B czek, M., and L. Hes., EffectiveWater Vapour Permeability of Wet Wool Fabricand Blended Fabrics, Fibres & Textiles in East-ern Europe, 1(97), (2013).

15. Alebeid, Omer Kamal, and Tao Zhao, Review on:Developing UV Protection for Cotton Fabric, TheJournal of The Textile Institute, 108 (12), 2027-2039, (2017).

16. MahbubulAlam, Mohammad, and Mohammad TajulIslam, A Review on Ultraviolet Protection ofTextiles, International Journal of EngineeringTechnology Science and Research, 4 (*), (2017).

17. Akgun, Mine, Ultraviolet (UV) Protection of Tex-tiles: A Review,UNITECH '10 GABROVE, (2010).

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EFFLUENT TREATMENT PEER REVIEWED

1. IntroductionWater will undoubtedly remain a precious resource asthe basic need of mankind. The ongoing global climaticchanges have resulted in an enormous potable watershortage. This situation will worsen in the coming de-cades; arid and semi-arid regions would be affectedthe most. People are becoming increasingly aware ofthe need to conserve water due to its shortage, henceare finding ways and means to recover and reusewastewater by suitably treating it.

Grey water is a non-toilet component of domesticwastewater that comes from showers, bathtubs, wash-ing machines, and kitchen sinks [1]. Laundry waste-water is one kind of grey water generated from thewashing machines, which consists of a high concentra-tion of surfactants, bleaches, dirt in the form of sus-pended solids and possibly grease. Chemical oxygendemand (COD) is expressed as the mass of oxygenconsumed over a volume of solution in mg/L and itsmain application is quantifying the amount of oxidizable

pollutants found in any source of water. The laundriesfrom households and hotels contain effluents withchemical oxygen demand (COD) values ranging be-tween 400-1200 mg/L [2]. The components of the un-treated grey waters tend to have harmful effects onsoil, underground water, plants, and also on the waterbody to which they are discharged. The aquatic ani-mals and plants suffer due to the increasing amount ofpollutants that get discharged along with the untreatedwastewater, which has been a common cause in de-veloping countries of South Asia. As per CPCB stan-dards (India), permissible limits of BOD <30 mg/L andCOD<250 mg/L has been finalised on land for agricul-ture and marine disposal. Surfactants are the majorcomponents of detergents found in domestic wastewa-ter that possess a hydrophilic head and a correspond-ing hydrophobic tail. Surfactant molecules in aqueoussolution accumulate over different interfaces, viz.; liq-uid/liquid, solid/liquid, or even liquid/air interfaces, therebyincreasing the distance between the water moleculesrendering a reduction in its surface tension [3]. Reduc-tion of surface tension in surfactant-rich grey watermay change the underlying soil structure, as an exten-sion to the soil-water environments. Interaction be-tween laundry wastewater and the saturated soil hasbeen studied to quantify the soil hydraulic conductivityin different soil samples [4].

Studies in Laundry Wastewater Treatmentusing Ceramic Membranes

Vandana Prabhu & Anand V. Patwardhan*Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology

AbstractThis study was conducted to evaluate the applicability of ceramic membranes for treating laundry waste-water at ambient conditions. Two modes of ultrafiltration were used to carry out the study, viz., (i) dead-end mode, and (ii) cross-flow mode. Two different feed types, viz., (i) wash water and (ii) rinse water, wereall used for ultrafiltration experiments. Dead-end mode filtration was operated at 5 barat a fixed stirringspeed of 700 rev/min. Cross-flow mode of filtration was carried out at 5 bar with initial recirculation forproper mixing. All ceramic membranes were cleaned by passing hot deionised water (50 °C) after each batch.The separation efficiencies of the ceramic membranes were analysed w.r.t. pH, conductivity, COD, turbidity,TDS, and surface tension. High COD, turbidity and TDS rejection of almost 70%, 90%, and 85%, respec-tively were observed in the treated water, after membrane treatments. The results indicated that the treatedwater can conveniently be reused for a fresh laundry wash cycle or toilet flushing, but not for drinkingpurpose.

KeywordsLaundry wastewater, ceramic membrane, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration

* All the correspondence should be addressed to,Prof. A. V. PatwardhanDepartment of Chemical EngineeringInstitute of Chemical Technology,Mumbai.Mob.+919167980788Email : [email protected]


EFFLUENT TREATMENT

Treating laundry wastewater before it is released intoany aquatic resource or land will significantly lead to apositive effect on those associated with it. Severaltreatment methods have been applied to treat deter-gent wastewater, such as chemical flocculation or co-agulation-flocculation process, foam fractionation, ad-sorption, Fenton oxidation, aerobic biodegradation, andmembrane technology [5-9]. Our work is concernedwith the application of ceramic membrane technologyfor treating domestic laundry wastewater.

Water consumption for both industrial and domesticpurposes has increased by leaps and bounds, leading toa shortage of good quality potable water [10]. On anaverage, laundry requires 15 L of water (for one washcycle) to clean 1 kg of cloth load and discharges about45 L of wastewater (including wash and rinse cycles)daily [11]. This figure will drastically increase if laun-dry washing of every household is considered. Thewastewater generated from laundry if treated can beeasily reused for toilet flushing and even gardening ofthat very household which seems to be a reasonablygood option to save potable water.

A common misconception about relative cleanliness ofgrey water for home garden irrigation has led to reuseit without sufficient treatment which has resulted innumerous environmental pollutions and health problems[12, 13]. Pressure driven membrane processes such asmicrofiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) have beensuggested as green means of surfactants recovery atcritical micelles concentrations (CMC). If the surfac-tant concentration is below CMC value then fine ultra-filtration and nanofiltration (NF) are reported to beeffective for surfactant removal but are not completelydevoid of all the surfactants, hence an additional treat-ment must be applied to make it potable [14, 16-18].These treated waters can conveniently be used fortoilet flushing or gardening or even reused for washingfresh laundry for one cycle. There have been numer-ous cases in the literature where membrane technol-ogy has been used for surfactant (detergent) removalsuccessfully [15, 20-22]. Reuse of grey water is nowbecoming common in many arid and semi-arid regionsin the world, especially in the Arab countries [19].The interactions between the surfactant and ceramicmembranes have been investigated because of their

Table 1: Laundry wastewater membrane treatment over the last two decades.

Sr. Reference Treatment Membrane details Pre- SeparationNo. treatment efficiency

1 Application of tubular ceramic Ultra ceramic, tubular Yes COD = 89.5%membranes for reuse of filtration module, cross-flow Turbidity = 96.5%wastewater from buildings. TDS = 92.5 %(1998)

2 Treatment of domestic Microfiltration polymeric, hollow No COD = 95%wastewater using micro- fibre module in Turbidity = 79.5%filtration for reuse of series, cross-flow TDS = 86 %wastewater (1999)

3 Laundry wastewater Ultra UF: ceramic & Yes COD = 98.9%treatmentusing coagulation filtration hollow fibre in series Turbidity = 77%and membrane filtration and Reverse with RO: polymeric TDS = 99 %(2005) Osmosis & spiral wound,

cross-flow

4 Demonstration of a Ultrafiltration polymeric, flat sheet, Yes COD = 75%treatment system for cross-flow Turbidity = 98 %purification and reuse of TDS = 97.5 %laundry wastewater. (2009)

5 Treatment of laundry Ultrafiltration polymeric, flat sheet, No COD = 88%wastewater using dead-end mode Turbidity = 90 %polyethersulfone/ TDS = 82 %polyvinylpyrrolidoneultrafiltration membranes.(2015)


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effective detergent rejection and purer water flux.Performances of ceramic UF membranes at differentoperating conditions with two or more types of surfac-tants, using as feed surfactant solutions at concentra-tions close to the CMC and below it, have been studied[17, 20]. Porous ceramic membranes have manyadvantages like good thermal, chemical, and mechani-cal resistance, controllable microstructure, and haveless hazardous impact on the environment [23]. Alumi-nosilicate porous ceramics fabricated from partiallysintered, dry-pressed powder compacts are excellentcandidates for membrane supports from the standpointof raw material cost, simple processing, chemical sta-bility, and excellent mechanical properties [24-26].Kaolin is the most popular raw material for aluminosili-cate-based ceramics due to its easy availability andoccurrence in nature [27, 28]. Table 1below, demon-strates a few examples of the use of membranes intreating laundry wastewater over the last two decades.

In the present case, a kaolin-alumina based ceramicmembrane with a boehmite separation layer wassynthesised in the laboratory. Two separate laundrywastewater samples, viz., wash water (WW) and rinsewater (RW), were collected from a washing machine,for ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) purposes.The synthesised membrane was utilised for UF and acommercial membrane was utilised for NF. The objec-tive of this work was to evaluate the applicability ofthe ceramic membranes in the recovery and reuse ofcleaner water from domestic laundry wastewater.Depending on the separation efficiency of the ceramicmembranes, one can further carry out the same jobusinga continuous mode operation in-line with a wash-ing machine to reuse it for a fresh laundry wash. Onecould alternatively use this treated water for toilet flush-ing or gardening purposes.

2. Materials and Methods2.1 Ceramic membranesKaolin-alumina based disc-shaped ceramic membranesupports of 47 mm diameter, using o-phosphoric acidas an inorganic binder and starch as an organic poreformer, were synthesised in the laboratory, schematicfor the procedure is as shown in Figure 1. After cool-ing, the fired ceramic was polished with silicon carbideabrasive paper to provide a uniform and smooth sur-face. The average pore size of the membranes was~1 m [29].

Figure 1 : Block diagram explainingmembrane synthesis

These microporous supports were then dip-coated withboehmite sol. The coated supports were dried at roomtemperature for 12 h, placed into an oven for 12 h forfurther drying at a temperature of 1050C. The ceramicdiscs were further sintered in a muffle furnace at6000C. A ramp of 50C/min was induced and the tem-perature was maintained at 6000C for 2 h [30]. Thefinal dimensions of these circular discs were 47 mm indiameter and 3 mm in thickness. The discs weregiven a wash with distilled water to remove the left-over powder if any. These membranes werecharacterised for pure water flux, porosity, density,permeability, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).Commercial 1kDa ceramic membranes of the 47 mmdiameter procured from Sterlitech Corporationwere usedfor NF studies. Both ceramic membranes(UF andNF) were put to use in astirred type dead-end filtrationsetup of 750 mL capacity.

2.2 Characterization of the synthesised membrane2.2.1 Membrane density and porosity measurementThe ceramic membrane was immersed in deionisedwater for 24 h. Excess water was wiped with tissuepaper. The wet membrane was weighed. Thereafter,the membrane was vacuum dried in an oven at 1000Cfor 5 h. After drying, the membrane was weighedagain. Membrane density was calculated as per Equa-tion 1 [25].

where r is defined as density (g/m3), mdry as the weightof dry ceramic disc (g), d diameter of the sintered discand l thickness of the disc.

Membrane porosity, (e, %) has been defined as the


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volume of the pores over the total volume of the po-rous ceramic disc. It usually is determined by the gravi-metric method, considering the weight of liquid watercontained in the membrane pores, and is shown inEquation 2 [25].

2.2.2. Pore size and Hydraulic permeability calcu-lationThe permeation experiments (pure water flux) werecarried out in a dead-end mode stirred cell. Poresize(r in m) and hydraulic permeability (Lhin L/m2.h)calculations were evaluated from the slopes of thewater-flow through the membranes versus pressuregraph, by the Hagen-Poiseuille equation (Equation 3):

The hydraulic permeability of the ceramic membrane(L

h) was evaluated using linear regression of the flux

versus applied pressure. All the experiments wereconducted for at least three different membrane samplesprepared. The pure water flux was determined at 500kPa pressure[29].

2.2.3 SEM studySEM (Make: Leo 1430 vp) was carried out to studythe surface morphology and also to determine surfaceporosity. SEM images from the top and side sectionsof the membrane were captured.

2.3 Laundry wash1 kg of unclean lab aprons was loaded in a top-loadedsemi-automatic washing machine (at ICT Mumbaihostel) with 15L of fresh tap water. A measured quan-tity of (8 g: 1 scoop) of detergent powder was addedto the water-dipped clothes, as per the standard in-structions of the detergent in use. 1L of sample washwater after the cycle was collected for membrane-filtration experiments and analysis-purpose. Then, freshtap water was added to the wet clothes for the rinsecycle. 1L of sample rinse water after the rinse cyclewas collected for analysis and membrane treatment.Thus, samples of wash water (WW) and the first rinsecycle, rinse water (RW), were collected. The WW hasa large quantity of surfactant (detergent) and dirt, hence

was treated with UF followed by NF. The RW has anappreciable amount of surfactant but very less dirt hencewas treated with just NF (Table 2 and Figure 2).

Table 2: Analysis of water samplesbefore membrane treatment

Parameters Tap water Wash water Rinse water

pH 7.80 10.99 10.02

COD (mg/L) 47.00 553.00 390

Turbidity (NTU) 0.10 42.50 20.2

Conductivity (mS/cm) 10.20 4.47 2.90

TDS (mg/L) 140.30 790.00 552.00

Surface tension (mN/m) 69.00 32.00 48.00

Figure 2: Block diagram for membranetreatment of real samples

2.4 Membrane filtration experiments using realsamplesKaolin-alumina based disc-shaped ceramic membranesupports of 47 mm diameter, using o-phosphoric acidas an inorganic binder and starch as an organic poreformer, were synthesised in the laboratory [29]. Thesemicroporous supports were then dip-coated with boe-hmite sol to fabricate a membrane, both as mentionedin chapter 4. The theoretically calculated pore size ofthis membrane was ~3 m, roughly 30-35 kDa [29].Let us consider this to be membrane 1.

Commercial 1kDa ceramic membranes, roughly of 0.1m pore size and 47 mm diameter procured fromSterlitech Corporation, USA, were used for fine-UFstudies. Both these ceramic membranes of 47 mm diaand ~3.5 mm thick were put to use in a stirred typedead-end filtration setup of 750 mL capacity which hasa constant stirring speed of 700 rev/min. The filtrationsetup is the same as those were mentioned in previouschapters. Let us consider this membrane to be mem-brane 2.


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Commercial 1kDa tubular ceramic membranes werealso used that were procured from Tami industries,France. Let us consider this to be membrane 3.Membrane specifications are as follows:

◆ Number channels = 7◆ Hydraulic diameter = 2 mm◆ External diameter = 10 mm◆ Length of tube = 1178 mm◆ Available surface area = 0.06 m2

The tubular ceramic membrane was used in the NF/UF continuous setup, custom made, fabricated fromthe Microfilt India Pvt. Ltd. Its feed tank capacitywas 5 L and the experiment was carried out at a feedinlet flow rate of 50 L/h.

The UF, as well as NF experiments using the laundrysample waters (WW and RW), were studied using thedead-end mode stirred cell at room temperature. Thecorresponding fluxes were calculated using equation 4.

where J is the pure water flux in L/(m2 h), V is thevolume of water sample permeated in litres, A is thearea of membrane in m2 and St is the time for perme-ate collection in hours. Flux data of tap water werecollected at varying pressures viz., 100, 200, 300, 400,and 500kPa. Since at 500kPa, flux was considerablygood for both NF and UF membranes,the permeateflux of laundry wastewater samples was calculated ina 15 min interval of time at 500 kPa using Eq. (4). Flux(J) values were calculated for: tap water (TW), washwater (WW), rinse water (RW) and also for the per-meate sample from UF (M1) membrane that wassubjected to NF (M2) treatment. The membrane filtra-tion experiments of the WW and RW samples werecarried out as shown in Figure 2.

2.5. Water sample analysisThe samples collected from the wash cycle, rinse cycle,as well as tap water, was tested for surface tensionusing Krüss K-8 tensiometer, Chemical Oxygen De-mand (COD), pH, conductivity and turbidity to knowthe initial sample parameters. These analyses werecarried out for their respective permeate samples aswell, as shown in Table 2.

2.6 FTIRThe presence of chemical functional groups in the watersamples before and after membrane filtration was iden-tified by FTIR spectra (Model Perkin Elmer Spectrum400,U.S). The scans for each membrane samples werecollected in the spectral range of 4000-500 cm-1.

2.7 Membrane cleaningAfter each membrane run, the membranes were cleanedby passing hot deionised water (500C) through them ata trans-membrane pressure of 100 kPa for 60 min.The membrane cleaning was carried out in forward(normal) mode. After the cleaning step, fresh tap waterwas passed through the membranes, until the initialflux was restored. There was no need of backflush forcleaning. No commercial detergent was used duringcleaning to avoid any interference in laundry wastewa-ter analysis [16].

2.8 Membrane reusabilityThe UF and NF membranes were consecutively usedfor three to four different filtration trials. During thecourse, the flux nature of the water sample was ob-served to decide the membrane reuse.

2.9. Water recovery and its reuseThe NF treated waters, both WW and RW, wereanalysed by testing for parameters like COD, pH, tur-bidity, TDS, surface tension, and FTIR as mentioned insection 2.5 and 2.6. The values were compared withthose of tap water. The permissible limits of theseparameters in water were also checked as per CPCBstandards (India) and a suitable application was rec-ommended.

3. Results and Discussion3.1 Membrane characterization of the synthesisedmembrane3.1.1 Membrane density and porosity measurementMembrane density of the synthesised membranes wascalculated by using equation (1). The density valuesvaried between 655.1 kg/m3 to 702.3 kg/m3. Mem-brane porosity was calculated using equation (2). Theporosity values of the coated ceramic membranes variedbetween 30 to 32% consistently.

3.1.2 Pore size and Hydraulic permeability cal-culationThe results of membrane permeation experiments testedwith pure water flux (PWF), at different trans-mem-brane pressures, (Figure 3). Effective membrane areawas calculated to be 1.4521 10-3 m2. The flux experi-


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ments were carried out up to 500 kPa starting from100 kPa. Beyond 500 kPa the discs developed cracks.Therefore, it can be concluded that the membranes arefunctional up to 4.5 500 kPa, which means they aremechanically strong up to 450 kPa. Based on the PWFvalues obtained at the respective trans-membrane pres-sures, a graph of flux versus pressure was plotted(Figure 3). This plot of flux versus pressure satisfiesEquation (3) and thus slope can be represented asSLOPE = r2/(8mL). The average pore radius (r) of thesynthesised membrane was deduced thereafter and wasfound to be : 0.1mm. This is a theoretically calculatedvalue of the average pore radius. Many trials wereperformed, in calculating similar r values for each batchof membranes synthesised. Average pore radius valuesranged between 0.09 - 0.1 m, thus falling in ultrafil-tration range.

Figure 3: Pure water flux test of the synthesisedmembrane to calculate permeability (Lh)

and average pore size (r)

The membrane permeability at 500 kPa, as calculatedusing equation (3) and was 0.2970 L/(m2.h.kPa).

3.1.3 Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)The morphology of the membrane depends on the sin-tering temperature. Figure 4 represents the surfacemorphology of the ceramic support sintered at 12000C,followed by dip coating with boehmite sol. It is seenthat there is uniform pore distribution in these ceramicdiscs. The structures are consolidated. As reported in[29], pore size before dip coating was around ~1 m.Post dip coating, there was an obvious reduction inpore size that has been confirmed by the PWF testscarried out.

Figure 4 : SEM image of the dip-coatedceramic membrane

3.2 Membrane filtration experiments using realsamples3.2.2 Effect of transmembrane pressureThe effect of transmembrane pressure on tap waterpermeate flux was studied by conducting experimentson UF and NF membranes at different TMP rangingfrom 100 to 500 kPa and at a constant stirring speedof 700 rev/min. The results are shown in Figure 5. Itwas observed that the flux increased with an increasein the trans-membrane pressure (SP). The increase influx was due to higher driving force (SP) applied onthe membrane surface that overcomes the membraneresistance and the pressure drop of the solution on themembrane surface, be it UF or NF. Since both themembranes showed considerably higher flux values at500 kPa, the membrane filtration experiments with realwater samples viz., wash water and rinse water, werealso carried out at 500 kPa.

Figure 5 : Tap water permeate flux data forUF and NF membranes


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Table 4(b): Rinse water (RW) sample analysis data postmembrane treatment

Parameters Membrane 1 Membrane 2 Membrane 3

pH 8.17 7.89 7.02

Conductivity 1.05 1.75 1.87(mS/cm)

COD (mg/L) 112 92 89

Turbidity (NTU) 7.7 5.8 5.2

TDS (mg/L) 116 98 76

Surface tension 54 59 62(mN/m)

We can see from Table 4(a) and Table 4(b) that thewater qualities were drastically improved going by thereduction in the pH, COD, Turbidity, TDS, conductivityand pH values whereas an increase in the surfacetension.WW permeate from UF shows a considerabledrop in values of the parameters measured, hence canconveniently be used for toilet flushing purpose forwhich such a water quality is permissible. The valuesof the concerned parameters were further reducedpost NF treatment of both, WW permeate sample afterUF and RW. Hence one can consider this treatedwater for domestic gardening or else for a fresh laun-dry wash cycle, as the parameters in consideration arewithin permissible limits.The overall summary of rejection efficiency of mem-branes is given in Table 5.

3.3.2 FTIRThe separation efficiencies of the membranes used forthe treatment of laundry wastewater has been illus-trated in the FTIR images taken at various stages ofexperimentation, (Figures 6(a) and 6(b)). The C=O(carbonyl) bonds were present in WW water samplesbefore UF (Figure 6(a) & (b)) as shown by the peaksranging between 1626 -1637 cm-1 wave number, alongwith peaks of large fatty alkyl group corresponding to2850 - 2950 cm-1, 1115 - 1186 cm-1 corresponding tosulphonate group (presence of anionic surfactants) and833 - 865 cm-1 corresponding to para-substituted ben-zene sulphonates.

Table 3 : Properties of the synthesised membrane (UF) and commercial membrane (NF)

Membrane Pure water Porosity Wash-water flux Wash water Rinse-waterflux (L/m2.h) @ (%) (L/m2.h) @ 500 kPa permeate from UF flux (L/m2.h)

500 kPa (L/m2.h) @500 kPa @500 kPa

UF 148.53 32 - 35 117.48 N/A N/A

NF 54.25 24 - 27 N/A 53.44 51.67

3.2.2 Permeate fluxes of various water samplesUsing Equation 4, the flux values of TW, WW, andRW at 500 kPa have been evaluated in Table 3 below.

3.3. Water sample analysis post membrane treat-ment3.3.1 Rejection efficiency of membranesWash water sample was initially passed through theUF membrane, its permeate was further passed throughthe commercial NF membrane. Whereas, the rinsewater sample was passed directly through the NFmembrane as the presence of detergents/surfactantswas lesser than that of wash waster sample, as de-picted in Figure 2. The WW sampler equired a neces-sary UF treatment as it visibly had high turbidity in theform of dirt along with surfactants going by its surfacetension values as in Table 2. The collected permeateswere analysed for pH, conductivity, COD, turbidity,TDS and surface tension, results of which are men-tioned in Table 4(a) and 4(b). Wash water (WW) sampleanalysis data post membrane treatments is tabulated inTable 4(a), and rinse water (RW) sample analysis datapost membrane treatment is tabulated in Table 4(b).

Table 4(a): Wash water (WW) sample analysis data postmembrane treatments

Parameters Membrane 1 Membrane 2 Membrane 3

pH 9.92 9.23 9.82

Conductivity 1.53 2.74 1.43(mS/cm)

COD (mg/L) 397 172 123

Turbidity 12.3 4.2 3.9(NTU)

TDS (mg/L) 249 101 92

Surface tension 49 57 60(mN/m)


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Figure 6 (a) : FTIR images pre- and post- UF

Figure 6 (b) : FTIR images pre- and post- NF

3.4. Reusability of the membranesAfter each filtration experiment with the synthesisedmembrane (UF), it was cleaned as mentioned beforein the cleaning procedure. The initial pure water fluxwas restored for consequent three trials, beyond whichthere was visible increase flux. Such an abrupt in-crease is undesirable as it poses a question to theseparation efficiency. A similar trend was observed inthe filtration experiments using the commercial NFmembranes. There were visible cracks observed onthe membrane surfaces, after the third trial at 500kPa.As mentioned earlier regarding the mechanical strengthof the synthesised membrane, 450 - 500 kPa is itsthreshold pressure limit, beyond it can break at anypoint of time. The same reason holds for the develop-ment of cracks for the commercial nanofiltration mem-branes as well. It can be therefore stated that themembranes can be reused for an average three timesin succession under 500 kPa.

4. ConclusionThe use of ceramic membranes for recovering purerwater from the laundry wastewater seems to be prom-ising in future. The permeate fluxes of both UF andthe NF membranes were directly proportional to driv-ing force (DP) and inversely proportional to the MWCOof the membranes. The performance of the synthesisedUF membrane and the commercial NF membrane wasevaluated by observing the trends in fluxes of various

Table 5: Rejection efficiency of membranes

WASTEWATER (WW) No treatment Membrane 1 Membrane 2 Membrane 3

COD (mg/L) 553 397 172 123

Rejection efficiency (%) 29.1 69.9 78.7

Turbidity (NTU) 42.5 12.3 4.2 3.9


TDS (mg/L) 790 249 101 92


RINSE WATER (RW)

COD (mg/L) 390 112 92 89


Turbidity (NTU) 20.2 10.7 5.2 41


TDS (mg/L) 552 116 98 76



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water samples. Both membranes have appreciablemechanical strengths as they can withstand 450-500kPa of pressure, for an average of three filtration tri-als. The wash water sample subjected to UF, signifi-cantly lowered COD, conductivity, pH, turbidity andTDS and increased surface tension value of the per-meate obtained. This water can be utilised for toiletflushing purpose. A similar trend was observed in NFtreatment of the permeate obtained from UF as wellas of the rinse water. Almost 75 - 80 % COD removalwas obtained by NF treatment. The parameters suchas COD, pH, conductivity, and TDS of the NF treatedwaters are well within permissible limits and thus, thistreated water can be satisfactorily used for housegardening as well as a for a fresh laundry wash cycle.The results obtained in this work displays potentialapplicability of membrane technology in the recoveryand reuse of water generated from laundry waste.This technology can be scaled up for its use on alarger scale on a continuous system instead of a batchsetup.

5. AcknowledgementVandana Prabhu gratefully acknowledges Pidilite-M.M. Sharma endowment fellowship (No.ICT/Acad./7415) for the financial support, as well as the INN-TEQIP fund for sponsoring for the analytical instru-ments. The authors deeply thank Dr Ajay D. Sharmaand Dr Ketan S. Kulkarni for their constant supportand timely help during the course of experimentation.

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4. Misra R.K., Sivongxay A. Reuse of laundrygreywater as affected by its interaction with satu-rated soil. J. Hydrol.,366, 55-61, (2009).

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6. Tripathi S.K., Tyagi R., Nandi B.K. Removal ofresidual surfactants from laundry wastewater: Areview. J. Disper. Sci. Technol., 34, 1526-1534,(2013).

7. Martins R.C., Nunes M., Gando-Ferreira L.M.,Quinta-Ferreira R.M. Nanofiltration and Fenton'sprocess over iron shavings for surfactants re-moval. Environ. Technol., 35, 2380-8, (2014).

8. Schouten N., van der Ham L.G., Euverink G.J.,de Haan A.B. Selection and evaluation ofadsorbents for the removal of anionic surfactantsfrom laundry rinsing water. Water Research.,41,4233-4241, (2007).

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10. Sumisha, A., Arthanareeswaran, G., LukkaThuyavan, Y., Ismail, A. F., Chakraborty, S. Treat-ment of laundry wastewater using polyether sul-fone/ polyvinyl pyrrolidone ultrafiltration mem-branes. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf.,121, 174-179,(2015).

11. Ciabattia I., Cesaro F., Faralli L., Fatarella E.,Tognotti F. Demonstration of a treatment systemfor purification and reuse of laundry wastewater.Desalination, 245, 451-459, (2009).

12. Gross A., Azulai N., Oron G., Ronen Z., ArnoldM., Nejidat A. Environmental impact and healthrisks associated with greywater irrigation: a casestudy. Water Sci. Technol.,52, 161-169, (2005).

13. Ankley G.T., Peterson G.S., Lukasewycz M.T.,Jensen D.A. Characteristics of surfactants intoxicity identification evaluations. Chemosphere,21, 3-12, (1990).

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15. Giagnorio, Mattia, Antonio Amelio, Henrik Grüttner,Alberto Tiraferri. Environmental impacts of de-tergents and benefits of their recovery in the laun-dering industry. J. Clean. Prod., 154, 593-601,(2017).

16. Šostar-Turk, Sonja, Irena Petrini, Marjana Simoni.Laundry wastewater treatment using coagulationand membrane filtration. Resour. Conser. Recycl.,44, 185-196, (2005).

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reuse of wastewater from buildings. Water Sci.Technol., 38, 373-382, (1998).

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TEXPERIENCE

Analysis of Labour Cost in Spinning Units

S. Srinivasan is ECMA with M.Tech inTextile Technology from MadrasUniversity and a MBA fromAhmedabad (Gujarat University).

He has a long experience of about 32years- in Textile manufacturing in Indiaand Abroad.He has exposure to all thesections of the textile units,viz. Spinning,Weaving, Processing, Circular andWarp Knitting, Polyester Melt spinning,Texurising, Embroidery, Garments andUtilities.

He was involved in the Production andSales of textile products likeShirting,Suiting, Dress Materials, Sarees,Dhoties, Towels, Blankets,Embroideries, T-Shirts, Jogging Suits,Leggings, Army Uniform, andMosquito Nets etc.

As a part of his career, he was Headinga Management Services Section of aComposite Textile unit and during thetenure,had exposure to Cost AccountingRecord Rules(1977),Short Term ProfitPlanning involving, Product Costing,Product Mix Selection using LPtechniques,Inventory Management,Budgetary Control (and VarianceAnalysis), MIS, Quality Assurance,Supervisor's and Weaver's Training.For a short period of two years, hewas in-charge of a PlasticManufacturing unit also.

He retired as Director (Operation) andhas been a Practicing Cost Accountantsince 2011.

E-mail: [email protected]

Mr. S. Srinivasan

Textile Spinning Mills operate in a highly competitive market in which, theselling price is determined by the market and the profit is wafer thin. Thissituation compels the units to save each and every cost-element. Labourcost being one of the major cost-element, the mills therefore pays seriousattention to minimise this cost.

"Labour"-being a Human-Resource, the various steps taken by the Man-agement on "Labour" has to be agreed by the Trade Unions. The Unionsafter tough negotiations, agree for, a) wage -rates for different categoriesof labour and b) the work load under the specified facilities to be providedto carry out the job (the facility may be like the tools like knee brake,material handling equipment, ambient conditions etc). The trade unionsciting various reasons, including difficult economic condition in which la-bourers live, bargain for higher wages. Management cite difficult marketsituations and try for productivity linked wages as a via media solution, tokeep the labour cost at a bay. A thought provoking quote by Mr. ArvindBuch-the Ex-Leader of the" Textile Labour Association"-Ahmedabad, in atextile conference at ATIRA is worth quoting here. Quote:

"[All employers want "more work and less pay",All employees want "more pay and less work",Ultimately we end up in "less work and less pay",But I want"more work and more pay"]"End

Nowadays all firms try their best to take out the best from their employ-ees. The move that started from IT Industry has spread to other industriesas well. It has been realised that "Employees are partners in Progress".The trend in collective bargaining agreement has been "more work andmore pay".

But having decided the wage rate, the work load, the production rate, thewaste levels and the product mix, it is the responsibility of the Manage-ment to utilise the labour fully as the golden rule in Cost reduction exerciseis "Fuller utilisation of resources used". This means to reduce the labourcost per unit produced, the idle time should be zero.

The variations in the work load for different categories of labour, thespindle capacity, the achievable utilisation level of the different sectionsetc. all need to be looked into, to attain zero labour idle time. These issuesare considered in the illustrative example given below, taking a singleoutput viz. Yarn of 40s Carded. But the exercise has to be done by theindividual mills for any other count or product mix or processes, using theactual wage -rates applicable. The same procedure may be followed toachieve nil (or nearly nil) labour idle time. In the step by step procedure,the reader should specifically notice the reduction in the cost per Kg ofyarn in every step.

In the illustrative example, SITRA (2010) Norms are taken as reference.The assumption in, a) Utilisation of the sections, b) Waste Multipliers(considering waste levels in each section) and c) the productivity in dif-ferent sections areas per the Norms. The 40s Ne cotton carded yarn ofRing Frame is taken as the final output, in all the calculations.


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Table-1: Assumptions for the Utilisation,Waste Multiplier and Output.

Sections Utilisation% Waste Output/Multiplier 8 hrs(for 1Kgyarn)

Ring Frame (RF) 95 1.00 110 gm/spindle

Speed Frame (SF) 92 1.02 4.05 Kg/spindle

Draw Frame (II) 95 1.03 840 Kg/del[DF(iI)]

Draw Frame (I) 95 1.03 781 Kg/del]DF(i)

Card 92 1.035 370 kg/card

Blow Room (BR) 92 1.08 1500 Kg/scutcher

Input 1.15

The process line considered in the above exercise is:Chute Feed Cards (with AWES), Two del DF(I), Sin-gle Del DF(II), Speed Frame (120 spindles), Ring Frame(1260 spindles). The cards and DF(II) are with autolevellers and the cards, DF(i) and DF(ii) are with autodoff.

For a small Spinning unit, the cost/Kg is worked out tothe register the effect of small capacity on cost. TheSpindle capacity of 12,600 (10 Ring Frames (RF) eachof 1,260 spindles is considered.

To begin with, the output (at RF) is calculated, fromwhich the quantity required at the output stageOf each section (back-processes) is calculated, usingthe respective waste multiplier (WM).

Table-2: Output required in each section

Section Waste Output Kg Formula Remarksmultiplier Req'd/shift(WM)

RingFrame 1.00 1,317 spindles X(gm/ss) 12600*0.

X utilisation% 110*0.95

SpeedFrame 1.02 1,343 RF Kg X WM 1317*1.02

DrawFrame(II) 1.03 1,357 RF Kg X WM 1317*1.03

DrawFrame(i) 1.03 1,357 RF Kg X WM 1317*1.03

Card 1.035 1,363 RF Kg X WM 1317*1.035

BlowRoom 1.08 1,422 RF Kg X WM 1317*1.08

Input 1.15 1,515 RF Kg X WM 1317*1.15

The direct labour (tenter) load allocation in varioussections in a Spinning Unit is, in terms of no: of spin-dles or deliveries or machines per tenter, subject to

maximum of certain Kgs of output. The no: of tentersrequired per shift is calculated based on both the cri-teria, and whichever is high is taken as the no: oftenters required. In calculating the no: of spindles/del/machines required, the utilisation% of the section istaken into account.

Table - 3: Tenters Required per Shift (8 Hrs)

Section Output Kg Req'd spindle Tenter Tenter load # tenter/sftReq'd/shift /del/mc name

RingFrame 1,317 12,600 Sp RT 2520 Sp 5(WN-5)

SpeedFrame 1,343 360.4 (WN-1) ST 360 Sp 1.00(WN-6)

DrawFrame(II) 1,357 1.70 (WN-2) DT(II) 6 del 0.28(WN-7)

DrawFrame(i) 1,357 1.83 (WN-3) DT(I) 8 del 0.23(WN-8)

Card 1,363 4.00 (WN-4) CT 12 mc/ 0.34(WN-9)4,500 Kg

BlowRoom 1,422 BT 4,000 Kg 0.386(WN-10)

Input 1,515 MA 1,500 Kg 1.03(WN-11)

Tenters Code: RT = Ring Frame Tenter, ST = SpeedFrame Tenter, DT(II) = Draw Frame Tenter(II-Pass),DT(I) = Draw Frame Tenter(I-Pass), CT = CardTenter, BT = Blow Room Tenter, MA = Material At-tendantWN-1: Output req'dper shift/Kg per spdl.shift/utilis'n%= 1343/4.05/0.92 = 360.4WN-2: Output req'd pershift/Kg per del.shift/utilis'n%= 1357/840/0.95 = 1.70WN-3: Output req'd per shift/Kg pervdel.shift/utilis'n%= 1357/781/0.95 = 1.83WN-4: Output req'dper shift/Kg per card. Shift/utilis'n%= 1363/370/0.92=4.00WN-5: Reqdspindles (i.e. col3)/tenter load in spindles(Ice col.5) = 12600/2520 = 5.0WN-6: Reqdspindles (i.e. col3)/tenter load in spindles(Ice col.5) = 360.4/360 = 1.00WN-7: Reqd del. (i.e. col3)/tenter load in del. (Icecol.5) = 1.70/6 = 0.28WN-8: Req'd del. (i.e. col3)/tenter load in del.(I.e. col.5)= 1.83/8 = 0.23WN-9:Reqd cards.(i.e. col3)/tenter load in mcs.(Icecol.5) = 4.00/12 = 0.33.The output of 4.00 cards at 370Kgper mc.sft = 1,480 Kg which is less than the maxpermissible load of 4,500 Kg per CT. Therefore, theload of 12 cards for a CT is taken.WN-10: Output req'dper shift/ Kg per BR.shift/util-isn% = 1422/4000/0.92 = 0.386WN-11: Output req'd pershift/ Kg per BR.shift/utilis'n%= 1422/1500/0.92 = 1.03


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Table-4 : Cost/Kg yarn

Section # tenter/sft Minimum Min.#reqd/day Rate Tot Rs/day#req'd/sft (3 shifts)

Ring Frame 5 5 15 700 10,500

Speed Frame 1.00 1 3 600 1,800

Draw Frame(II) 0.28 1 3 600 1,800

Draw Frame(i) 0.23 1 3 600 1,800

Card 0.34 1 3 600 1,800

Blow Room 0.386 1 3 600 1,800

Input 1.03 1 3 500 1,500

TOTAL 11 33 21,000

Total Kg/day=1,317X3=3,951

Dir. Labour Cost/Kg (Rs) = Tot cost/(Kg per day)= 21,000/3,951 = 5.32

In Table-4, the idle time% for the various Direct La-bour Categories is:

[Here the definition of Labour Idle time (%) is, thetime for which the tenter is paid, less the time forwhich the tenter gives the standard output, the differ-ence expressed as % w.r.t the time for which he ispaid.]. Man hrs paid = Min.# required per day (i.e.col4)X 8 Output hrs = # tenters per shift (I,e. Col2) X3X8

Table - 4a: DL idle % as per Table-4the idle% is shownin decimal.

Dir. Section Man-Hrs paid Output Hrs Idle%Labour

RT RF 15X8=120 5X3X8=120 (120-120)/120=0

ST SF 3X8=24 1X3X8=24 (24-24)/24=0

DT(II) DF(II) 3X8=24 0.28X3X8=6.72 (24-6.72)/24=0.72

DT(i) DF(I) 3X8=24 0.23X3X8=5.52 (24-5.52)/24=0.77

CT Card 3X8=24 0.34X3X8=8.16 (24-8.16)/24=0.66

BT BR 3X8=24 0.386X3X8=9.26 (24-9.26)/24=0.61

MA BR 3X8=24 1.03X3X8=24.72 (24-24.72)/24=(-0.03)

The negative idle fig in MA is small and can be madezero with adjustment in BR-utilisation or by rate adjust-ment. In further calculations the idle time for MA istaken as zero.

Table 4a indicates that the Direct Labour (DL)-RT, ST,MA are fully utilised with zero idle time, but the DL-DT(II), DT(I), CT and BT have idle time, respectively72%, 77%, 66% and 61% which is quite high.

One of the tools available to reduce the idle time is tocombine two nearly similar jobs for one category oflabour. As DT (II&I) are idle, DT(II) should handle

the job of DT(I) also in each shift and therefore DT(I)is not employed. With this rearrangement, the changein the cost is shown in the following table.

Table-5: Cost with common labour fortwo types of machines.

Section # tenter/ Minimum Min.#reqd/ Rate Tot Rs/daysft /sft #req'd day day (3 shifts)

Ring Frame 5 5 15 700 10,500

Speed Frame 1.00 1 3 600 1,800

Draw Frame(II) 0.28 1 3 600 1,800

Draw Frame(i) 0.23 0 0 600 0

Card 0.34 1 3 600 1,800

Blow Room 0.386 1 3 600 1,800

Input 1.03 1 3 500 1,500

TOTAL 10 30 19,200

Total Kg/day - 3,951Dir. Labour Cost/Kg (Rs) = Tot cost/(Kg per day) =19,200/3,951 = 4.86

I.e. reduction from Rs. 5.32 to Rs. 4.86 per Kg yarn.The idle% of the common DT has come down from[(6X8=48) less (6.72+5.52=12.24) /48=]74.5% to[3X8=24 less (12.24)/24=]49 %. The same approachfor CT and BT is not possible as the nature of thesetwo jobs differ and further, the work areas of Cardand BR are far apart. Therefore, there is no changein the idle time of these categories of direct labour.

Another method to reduce idle time is to run one ortwo shifts only in a day to feed all the three shifts, thusavoiding the employment in III (and II) shift-as thecase may be). The DF (II &I) for two shifts and Card& BR will be operated for one shift and rest of thesections including MA will be operated for all threeshifts. The change in DL -idle% and the cost/Kg canbe seen from the following table. This arrangementwill need more storage containers like Card and DFcans and more storage space for them. In BR, morebin-space will be required.

Table-5: One (or two shift) working to feed three shifts.

Section # tenter/ Minimum # Shifts/ Min.#reqd Rate Tot Rsshift reqd/sft day /day /day

Ring Frame 5 5 3 15 700 10,500

Speed Frame 1.00 1 3 3 600 1800

Draw Frame(II) 0.28 1 2 2 600 1200

Draw Frame(i) 0.23 0 0 0 600 0

Card 0.34 1 1 1 600 600

Blow Room 0.386 1 1 1 600 600

Input 1.03 1 3 3 500 1500

TOTAL 10 25 16,200


Total Kg/day3, 951

Dir.Labour Cost/Kg (Rs) = Tot cost/(Kg per day) =16,200/3,951 = 4.10

I.e. reduction from Rs.4.86 to Rs.4.10 per Kg yarn.

Table - 5a: The idle% has come down as follows:

Dir. Labour From To

Dir. Labour 49 % [(2X8=16) less (12.24)]/16=]23.5%.

CT 66 % [(2X8=16) less (12.24)]/16=]23.5%.

BT 61 % [1X8=8 less(9.26)/8=(-16%)

The negative idle % of 2% for CT and 16% for BTmay be compensated by higher work load of 2%(4500X1.02 = 4,590Kg per CT) and 16% (i.e.4000X1.14= 4,560 Kg per BT) respectively with the correspond-ing increase in rate for CT from Rs 600 to (600X1.02=)612 and for the BT, the rate from 600 to (600X1.1=)700 approx. (I.e. a case of productivity linked wagerise). In case of CT, the negative idle % is just 2% andtherefore, higher utilisation of the card section will re-move the negative idle% and thus higher rate can beavoided. In case of BT, the negative idle % is quitehigh (16%) and therefore, higher utilisation to that levelis not possible and therefore, higher wage rate is theonly option. (Like higher utilisation, higher productivityrate may also give the same result). The Spinning millmay try a combination of both, to reduce the increasein wage rate to save cost.

The cost/Kg with this revision in the rates for CT andBT are:

Table-6:

Section # tenter/ Minimum # Shifts/ Min.#reqd Rate Tot Rsshift reqd/sft day /day /day

Ring Frame 5 5 3 15 700 10,500

Speed Frame 1.00 1 3 3 600 1800

Draw Frame(II) 0.28 1 2 2 600 1200

Draw Frame(i) 0.23 0 0 0 600 0

Card 0.34 1 1 1 612 612

Blow Room 0.38 1 1 1 700 700

Input 1.01 1 3 3 500 1500

TOTAL 10 25 16,312

Total YarnKg/day 3,951

Dir. Labour Cost/Kg (Rs) = Tot cost/(Kg per day) =16,312/3,951 = 4.13

I.e reduction from Rs. 4.86 to Rs. 4.13 per Kg yarn.(orincrease from 4.10 to 4.13 per Kg due to the raterevision.)

With these adjustments, all the DL except DT (com-mon) has zero idle time. DT(common) still has 23.5%idle time. Like engaging DL for one or two shifts a dayto get output for three shifts, we can consider, engag-ing them for 5 days in a week and get the output for6 days in a week and work out the idle% in thatscenario. Following is the working is done for DT(common) only.

Table-7:

Dir. Req'd Kg/shift Kg for 6days # DT(C) del/DT/ Kg/DT/sftLabour (3X6=18 shifts) /day shift

DT(II) 1356 24408 6 6X840=5,040

DT(i) 1356 24408 8 8X781=6,248

Both 2712 48816 2 5,644(avg)/person

WN-12: Paid in a week for 2 persons i.e for output of5,644 X 10 = 56, 440Kg but utilised them for the outputof 48, 816 Kg. Idle% = (56440-48816)/56440 =13.5%.With this arrangement the idle % of DT is re-duced to 13.5%. To eliminate the idle time, one optionis to not to pay for the idle time thereby save thecost..But such option is impractical to implement. Atthe most, if the wages are paid on daily basis, thewages paid per week can be taken for 5 days (insteadof 6 days).

Table-8

Section Min.#reqd/day Days/week Rate/sft Rate/week Tot Rs/week

Ring Frame 15 6 700 4200 63,000

Speed Frame 3 6 600 3600 10,800

Draw Frame(II) 2 5 600 3,000 6,000

Draw Frame(i) 0 0

Card 1 6 612 3672 3,672

Blow Room 1 6 700 4200 4,200

Input 3 6 500 3000 9,000

TOTAL 25 96,672

Total Yarn Kg/week 3951X6 = 23,706

Dir.Labour Cost/Kg (Rs) = Tot cost/(Kg per day) =96, 672/23,706 = 4.08I.e. reduction from Rs.4.13 to Rs.4.08 per Kg yarn.(ordecrease from 4.10 to 4.08 per Kg) is due to adjust-ment in the # days worked in a week and the corre-sponding (lesser) wages per week.N.B (i): Rate/week = (Rate per shift) X (days perweek). E.g. for DT: 600X5 = 3,000

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N.B (ii): Tot Rs/week = Rate per weekXMin#req'd/day Still DT idle time is 13.5%. Extending the logicfurther, on working for 4.5days in week (i.e.9 shifts)one can save Rs 600 (i.e.2X0.5X600) in a week or asaving of Rs. 0.025/Kg. Then the Cost/Kg of Yarnwill be = (4.08-0.025=) 4.055

For 9 shift working per week, the payment of DT isfor the output of 5644X2x4.5 = 50, 796Kg.Then, theDT-Idle time% = (50,796-48816) /48816 = 4% whichis small to be ignored.If payment as per daily atten-dance is not possible,the management should be satis-fied with the cost per Kg of Rs. 4.10/Kg and utilise theidle time of DT for some other activities like, machinecleaning. Machine maintenance,waste cleaning etc.andsave casual labour employed for these activities andbenefit from the saving in the casual labour cost.

Alternatively, for 7 day working, if 1/6 of the workforce is employed, some fractions of employees arise(when the total # of direct labourer in a section is lessthan 6 or NOT in multiple of 6). If casual workers canbe employed at the same rate, the idle time% and costworking will be:

Table - 9:

Section Min.#reqd/day Days/week Rate/sft Rate/week Tot Rs/weekRing Frame 15 7 700 4900 73,500

Speed Frame 3 7 600 4200 12,600

Draw Frame(II) 2 5 600 3,000 6,000

Draw Frame(i) 0 0

Card 1 7 612 4284 4,284

Blow Room 1 7 700 4900 4,900

Input 3 7 500 3500 10,500

TOTAL 25 111,784

Total Yarn Kg/week 3951X7 = 27,657

Dir.Labour Cost/Kg (Rs) = Tot cost/ (Kg per day) =111,784/27,657 = 4.04

i.e. reduction from Rs. 4.08 to Rs. 4.04 per Kg yarn.N.B: 7-day working and 9 shift working in week oralternatives and mutually exclusive.

For 7 days working per week, the payment of DT,isfor the output of 5644X2x5 = 56,440 Kg but got the

output of (2712X3X7=) 56,952.Then, the DT-Idle time%= (56,952-56440) /56440 = 0.9% which is negligible.

A similar approach can be taken to reduce the cost ofrelievers. In case of Doffers, Ancillary workers, keep-ing in mind that their employment is not in proportionto the volume of output, the cost reduction exerciseshould be taken.

Plant Capacity:The plant capacity can also be increased, to reduceidle time of Labour and thereby reduce the cost oflabour per Kg of yarn.

The capacity should be an integer multiple of the abovecapacity (of 12,600 spindles) for which the idle time ofall the Direct labour is brought to zero (it may be adifferent spindle capacity in some other cases). Theadvantages of lower capacity are, a) smaller outputwhich may be sold with relative ease than higher out-put, b) less investment (suitable for a Small or a Me-dium Scale unit), c) ease of management control andso on.

Conclusion:A spinning unit, considering its product mix, processflow, process parameters like hank, utilisation & pro-duction rate in different sections, agreed work load/assignment and the wage rate should work out its owncalculations, to reduce the idle time of its work forceto minimise the labour cost per unit output. In thisarticle, for some direct labour, an increase in wagerate to have "nil" idle time was suggested. Without theincrease in rate, when only the standard output is ob-tained, a shortage may arise. Like in EOQ (EconomicOrder Quantity) model, a shortage may be allowed, ifthe cost of shortage is less than the cost of wagerise…but usually the shortage cost is high and shouldbe avoided. It should be noted that the wage ratestaken here are, only for illustration.

Author.CMA, S.Srinivasan, M.Tech(Textiles),FCMA,MBA.E-mail: [email protected]

❑ ❑ ❑

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The series of chapters under the title, 'Graphene A Wonder Material' are being published in the Journal of the TextileAssociation. The nanomaterial Graphene has been attracting a lot of attention over the past few years. Thankful toits unique combination of a simple structure of bonded carbon atoms with its multitudinous and complex physicalproperties. This series covers the extraordinary features of graphene, its different methods of preparation and isolation,useful applications in various fields of science and technology, its science involved in the technology of textiles, andfinally ending up with its future prospects.

This series is written primarily as an introductory text for the readers of those interested or already working ingraphene and putting up its essence in the textile related areas, who wish to acquire a broad knowledge of grapheneand its application in textiles.

The previous chapter briefly described most recent advances in graphene-based biosensors by selectively highlightinga variety of different examples for the detection of some molecules of biomedical interest. Biosensors can be utilizedfor the identification of biological analytes such as antibodies, enzymes, organelles and microorganisms. Graphene isa carbon material in a honeycomb structure with one atom thickness that is successfully being employed in thedevelopment of new biosensors.

The present chapter discusses the applications and the recent progresses of graphene and graphene-based materialsin tissue engineering. To give better instruction into exploring potential applications of graphene-based materials fortissue engineering, this chapter has been organized in a property oriented structure. This chapter summarizes anddiscusses graphene applications in the tissue engineering field based on their mechanical, electrical, chemical, andother properties.

Chapter 19GRAPHENE A WONDER MATERIAL : Tissue Engineering

Saptarshi Maiti, Pintu Pandit, Geetal Mahajan, R. V. Adivarekar & M. D. Teli

Graphene, is a single layer of sp2 bonded carbon at-oms arranged in a hexagonal lattice, which is a 2Dbuilding block of other allotropes of carbon with varieddimensionalities. Since its first groundbreaking discov-ery and characterization in 2004, graphene has gainedhuge popularity on the horizon of materials science andtechnology. Graphene and its major chemical deriva-tive, graphene oxide (GO), have been intensively in-vestigated since its discovery. It has been demonstratedthat graphene and GO have a large theoretical specificsurface area, high Young's modulus, excellent thermaland electrical conductivities, and unique optical proper-ties. Such extraordinary properties rendered grapheneand GO for a tremendous number of applications innanoelectronics, nanocomposites, sensors,supercapacitors, energy storage devices, etc.

Tissue engineering is a scientific field to reproduce orregenerate damaged tissues or whole organs. To achieveits goal, it uses a combination of cells, engineeringscaffolds, and biologically active molecules to assemblefunctional constructs that restore, maintain, or improvetissue function. Therefore, developing novel suitablescaffolds to fabricate functional complex tissue con-structs is crucial in tissue engineering. An ideal scaf-fold can carry active biomolecules, generate properphysiological signals, stimulate mechanical propertiesof the native tissue, and provide a substrate to inter-face with living cells, guiding cell attachment, prolifera-

TEXNOTE

tion, and differentiation.

Graphene and GO, as 2D materials with large surfaceareas, can provide sufficient substrates for cellularinteraction as well as can carry large number ofbiomolecules, including DNA, enzymes, proteins, orpeptides, through either covalent bond or non-covalentinteraction, such as ?-? stacking. In addition their ex-ceptional mechanical and electrical properties enablesuch materials to enhance the mechanical strength oftissue substitutes and to apply electrical signals. Hence,graphene and GO are excellent candidates for tissueengineering.

Properties and Applications in Tissue Engineer-ingGraphene derives its outstanding properties from itsunique chemical structures where the carbon atomsare arranged in a sp2 hybridized orbital. The sp2-hy-bridization is the combination of one s-orbital with onlytwo p-orbital to form three new sp2 hybrid orbitals thatcontribute together to have a planar configuration. Thisperfectly planar nature of graphene with a huge spe-cific surface area of approximately 2630 m2/g, and thestrong strength of C-C bonds gifts graphene strongmechanical properties with a Young's modulus of 1100GPa and a fracture strength of 130 GPa. It has beenfound that graphene has a very high electrical conduc-tivity of ~10000 S/cm and thermal conductivity of ~5000


TEXNOTE

W/m/K, combining with an ultrahigh intrinsic mobilityof ~200000 cm2/v/S.

In addition, the electronic structure of graphene alsoenables further chemical modification. The highly densep electrons on the graphene plane can interact withmany biomolecules containing aromatic structuresthrough p-p stacking. The hydrophobic graphene canalso absorb various organic molecules or hydrophobicpolymers through van der Waals interaction. For GO,besides the above non-covalent p-p stacking and vander Waals interaction, abundant oxygen functional groupscan be used to functionalize GO with various mol-ecules or biomolecules through both non-covalent in-teractions including hydrogen bonds and ionic interac-tions, and covalent bonds with chemical interactions.Thus, graphene and GO can be easily combined witha variety of bioactive materials to obtain desired char-acteristics that can meet the requirements of tissueengineering.

Mechanical Properties and ApplicationsThe superior mechanical properties of graphene andGO can be used to prepare graphene-based compos-ites with an enhanced mechanical strength for tissueengineering applications. Graphene and GO enhancedbiomaterials have been widely utilized in bone tissueengineering. With the incorporation of such kind ofextraordinary materials biocomposites have been greatlyimproved in mechanical strength. While it is well knownthat stiff substrates can promote bone differentiation,graphene-based composites can enhance osteogenicdifferentiation. For example, hydroxyapatite (HA) isthe major organic part of bone, which can supportbone regeneration. After being incorporated with GO,HA/silk fibroin (HA/SF) composites had better me-chanical properties with higher compressive strengthand modulus, and GO-HA/SF had been demonstratedto promote attachment and proliferation of mousemesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and to stimulate ex-pression of the osteogenic gene osteocalcin, thus pro-moting differentiation of MSCs into bone. GO has alsobeen reported to significantly boost the tensile strengthof poly (L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and HAnanofibrous matrices. The PLGA/GO/HA matricescould serve as mechanically stable scaffolds for cellgrowth and could functionally promote alkaline phos-phatase activity, the osteogenesis related gene expres-sion, and mineral deposition, acting as excellent andversatile scaffolds for applications in bone tissue engi-neering. Besides HA, graphene and GO have also beenreported to enhance the mechanical properties ofhydrogels and biopolymers. In addition, a GO coatingcould improve the biomedical properties of collagenscaffold including surface structure, compressive

strength, and osteoblastic cell ingrowth, with enhancedbiocompatibility and biodegradability. It has also beenreported that a very low concentration of GO couldreinforce biocompatible polymer polypropylene fuma-rate with a significantly enhanced compression andflexural strength, which was suitable for applications inbone tissue engineering.

In addition to mechanical strength enhancement,graphene can also improve the toughness of hybridmaterials for load-bearing implant applications to re-generate bone tissue. Natural bone, as a major load-bearing part, undergoes micro-cracking under every-day normal physiological load that stimulates the boneremodeling process to stop propagation of micro-cracksand finally produces new bones at the affected area.Such toughening mechanism can be mimicked usinggraphene-based composites. The strong interactionbetween graphene or GO and matrix materials canbridge cracks and impede crack propagation, resultingin enhanced toughness.

Electrical Properties and ApplicationsThe conductive nature of graphene-based materialsbrings in good conductivity of many bio-hybrids thatcan be used for specific electrical signal-related tissueengineering applications. Due to the electrical charac-teristics of the neural system, the electrical propertiesof graphene-based biohybrids have been utilized in theneural tissue engineering field. Graphene as a scaffoldhas been reported to promote the adhesion and neuraldifferentiation of human neural stem cells (hNSCs). Apossible mechanism was attributed to the electricalcoupling between graphene and the hNSCs, which couldaffect the bioelectricity of NSCs to promote the matu-ration of NSCs. Tang et al. investigated the impact ofgraphene on the formation of a functional neural net-work. They demonstrated graphene could support thegrowth of functional neural circuits, improve neuralperformance and electrical signaling in the neural net-works.

Cardiac tissues are electrically conductive, and thegraphene-based composites own enhanced conductiv-ity that can match the conductive properties of cardiactissues or provide electrical simulation for cardiac re-pair, thus they have many applications in the cardiactissue engineering field. In vivo studies have shownthat the electrical conductivity of graphene-based ma-terials could upregulate the expression of cardiac spe-cific markers, significantly improving the repair effi-ciency of several heart functions. Conductive graphene-based scaffolds could further promote the cardiac dif-ferentiation and increase the metabolic activity ofcardiomyocytes to realize better cardiac functions, when


TEXNOTE

applying electrical simulation.

The excellent electrical properties of graphene-basedmaterials have also been widely used in skin and muscletissue engineering. The conductive nature of graphene-based hybrids is allowed to provide electrical simula-tion that can be combined with the improved mechani-cal strength to further enhance differentiation of myo-blasts into myotubes. Roger's et al. presented findingson a potential artificial muscle material based on mono-layer GO that exhibited a fast response upon an elec-trical stimulus. Zang et al. fabricated a novel artificialmuscle actuator using a laminate of crumpled grapheneand dielectric elastomer. When applying a direct-cur-rent voltage of 3000 V between the graphene films,the elastomer developed an electric field that inducedthe Maxwell stress. The stress deformed the laminateby reducing its thickness and increasing its area over100%. They demonstrated the actuation was fast andthe graphene-elastomer laminate could restore its origi-nal state once the voltage was removed.

The conductive composites containing graphene canpromote neural differentiation of hNSCs due to electri-cal coupling between graphene and hNSCs. The elec-trical conductivity of graphene-based composites canupregulate the expression of cardiac specific markersto improve the cardiac repair efficiency. Moreover, theconductive composites offer opportunities to provideelectrical stimulation, which can induce respective dif-ferentiations for different tissue engineering applica-tions and enhance metabolic activity of both nerve cellsand cardiomyocytes. The conductive composites canalso be used to fabricate biosensors and artificial skinsand muscles.

Chemical Properties and ApplicationsThe chemical properties of graphene-based materialsregard their original chemical characteristics as well astheir capability for surface functionalization. The largespecific surface area of 2D planar structured grapheneallows loading or interacting with various chemicalcompounds and biological species via either chemicalbonds or non-covalent interactions for tissue engineer-ing applications.

Both functionalized and unmodified graphene and GOcan augment stem cell osteogenesis for bone tissueapplications. Kumar et al. studied the performance ofgraphene nanoparticles with various surface chemicalmoieties in promoting stem cell osteogenesis. Theydemonstrated the amine-functionalized GO (AGO)exhibited the most significant effect in augmentinghMSC proliferation and osteogenesis, which was at-tributed to the synergistic effect of oxygen-containingfunctional groups and amine groups on AGO enabling

a favorable stem cell response. Graphene could alsoremarkably accelerate osteogenic differentiation with-out commonly used additional bone growth factors. Thismight be due to the fact that graphene can increasecalcium deposit or local dexamethasone concentrationvia p-p stacking between the aromatic rings in thebiomolecules and the graphene basal plane.

The chemical properties of graphene-based materialshave also been used in the skin and tissue engineering.The incorporation of GO into PLGA/collagen hybridfibre matrices obtained a more hydrophilic surface thatprovided a suitable microenvironment to significantlyenhance the attachment and proliferation of skeletalmyoblasts, indicating that GO-impregnated hybrid ma-trices had potent effects on the induction of spontane-ous myogenesis. It has also been reported that thedifferent oxidation states of GO and few-layer graphenewere responsible for their subtle but differential effectson HaCaT human skin keratinocytes.

Therefore, the chemical properties of graphene-basedmaterials render a hydrophilic surface and provide asubstrate to adsorb ECM biomolecules, both of whichcan greatly enhance the cell-ECM interaction and pro-mote adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation of cellson the substrate. Proper surface oxidation orfunctionalization of graphene-based materials bringsabout a specific interaction with cells, enabling corre-sponding tissue engineering applications.

Other Properties and ApplicationsIn addition to the above three dominant properties, otherunique properties of graphene-based materials, includ-ing surface morphology, impermeability, and photother-mal effects, make them suitable for some specificapplications in the tissue engineering field.

Wrinkles and ripples exist universally in graphene-basedstructures. Both wrinkles and ripples can increase thesurface roughness of graphene-based materials, facili-tating strong absorption of proteins and enhancementof cell growth and differentiation. Lu et al. prepared aself-supporting graphene hydrogel film as a platformfor bone regeneration. They found graphene couldeffectively enhance the osteogenic differentiation, mainlydue to the rough surface morphology combining me-chanical properties of self-supporting graphene hydro-gel, as rough and disordered surfaces have been re-ported to induce bone cell differentiation.

The impermeability of graphene allows graphene act-ing as a biocompatible anticorrosion coating to protectmetallic biomedical devices that have been widely usedin the tissue engineering field, such as bone implants.Graphene coating could enhance both the


TEXNOTE

biocompatibility and hemocompatibility of implant ma-terials. Zhang et al. conducted both in vitro and in vivoexperiments to demonstrate the use of graphene coat-ing as an effective protection film under biologicalenvironments. Their results opened up the potential ofapplying graphene to protect metal devices in biomedi-cal applications.

The photothermal effect of GO can be used to fabri-cate a near-infrared (NIR) light-triggered active scaf-fold for reversible cell capture and on-demand release,which may have future applications in tissue engineer-ing and cell-based therapy. Li et al. fabricated such ascaffold by combining GO and thermo-responsivepoly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAAm). They dem-onstrated the 3D hybrid porous hydrogel could effi-ciently capture cells not only through the bioadhesiveGO but could also release the cells upon an NIR lightstimulus, realizing better dynamic control on cells thantraditional passive cell depots.

The intrinsic wrinkles and ripples of graphene can in-crease the surface roughness of graphene-based com-posites, which is helpful for adsorbing biomolecules toinduce the interactions between graphene and cells,leading to the enhancement of cellular adhesion, prolif-eration, and differentiation. The impermeability andphotothermal property of graphene and GO enable themto be used either as a potential protective coating formetal implants or to fabricate a smart active scaffoldto dynamically manipulate cells.

SummaryThis chapter describes various applications of grapheneand graphene-based materials in tissue engineering. Dueto the unique 2D chemical structure, graphene basedmaterials have fascinating mechanical and electricalproperties, versatile surface chemistry, and many otherintrinsic properties including rough morphology, imper-meability, and photothermal effects. Such excellentproperties render graphene and graphene-based mate-rials to be extensively applied in the field of tissueengineering. This chapter is based on the properties ofgraphene and GO and discusses about the effect ofeach property on their applications. It has been clari-fied that in most case the functions of graphene-basedmaterials in tissue engineering applications are attrib-uted to the synergistic effect of two or even moreproperties. It not only provides an overview of tissueengineering applications of graphene and graphene-based materials, but also, more importantly, gives anoutlook to extend their biomedical applications in thefuture.

Bibliography1. Zhao H., Ding R., Zhao X., Li Y., Qu L., Pei H., Yildirimer

L., Wu Z. and Zhang W., Drug Discovery Today, 22,1302-1317, (2017).

2. Geim A. K. and Novoselov K. S., Nature Materials, 6,183-191, (2007).

3. Zhu Y., Murali S., Cai W., Li X., Suk J. W., Potts J. R.and Ruoff R. S., Advanced materials, 22, 3906-3924,(2010).

4. Bunch J. S., Van Der Zande A. M., Verbridge S. S.,Frank I. W., Tanenbaum D. M., Parpia J. M., CraigheadH. G. and McEuen P. L., Science, 315, 490-493, (2007).

5. Schedin F., Geim A. K., Morozov S. V., Hill E. W., BlakeP., Katsnelson M. I. and Novoselov K. S., Naturematerials, 6, 652-655, (2007).

6. Vincent M., De Lázaro I. and Kostarelos K., Genetherapy, 24, 123-132, (2017).

7. Shadjou N., Hasanzadeh M. and Khalilzadeh B.,Bioengineered, 9, 38-47, (2018).

8. Yang Y., Asiri A. M., Tang Z., Du D. and Lin, Y.,Materials today, 16, 365-373, (2013).

9. Venkatesan J., Pallela R. and Kim S. K., Journal ofbiomedical nanotechnology, 10, 3105-3123, (2014).

10. Lu J., He Y. S., Cheng C., Wang Y., Qiu L., Li D. andZou D., Advanced Functional Materials, 23, 3494-3502, (2013).

11. Du Y., Ge J., Li Y., Ma P. X. and Lei B., Biomaterials,157, 40-50, (2018).

12. Nyambat B., Chen C. H., Wong P. C., Chiang C. W.,Satapathy M. K. and Chuang E. Y., Journal of Mate-rials Chemistry B, 6, 979-990, (2018).

13. Guo R., Zhang S., Xiao M., Qian F., He Z., Li D., ZhangX., Li H., Yang X., Wang M. and Chai R., Biomaterials,106, 193-204, (2016).

14. Silva G. A., Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 7, 65-74,(2006).

15. Ahadian S., Ramón-Azcón J., Chang H., Liang X., KajiH., Shiku H., Nakajima K., Ramalingam M., Wu H.,Matsue T. and Khademhosseini A., RSC Advances, 4,9534-9541, (2014).

16. Frontiñán-Rubio J., Gómez M. V., Martín C., González-Domínguez J. M., Durán-Prado M. and Vázquez E.,Nanoscale, 10, 11604-11615, (2018).

17. Kim J., Kim Y. R., Kim Y., Lim K. T., Seonwoo H., ParkS., Cho S. P., Hong B. H., Choung P. H., Chung T. D.and Choung Y. H., Journal of Materials Chemistry B,1, 933-938, (2013).

18. Podila R., Moore T., Alexis F. and Rao A. M., RSCadvances, 3, 1660-1665, (2013).

19. Li M., Liu Q., Jia Z., Xu X., Cheng Y., Zheng Y., Xi T.and Wei S., Carbon, 67, 185-197, (2014).

20. Li W., Wang J., Ren J. and Qu X. Advanced Materials,25, 6737-6743, (2013).

❑ ❑ ❑


UNIT ACTIVITY

The Textile Association (India)

Successfully organised Vapi Seminar onOPPORTUNITIES FOR TEXTILE INDUSTRYIN CHALLENGING SCENARIO

After its enormous success in Vapi, The Textile Asso-ciation (India), Mumbai Unit once again organized OneDay Seminar on "Opportunities for Textile Industry inChallenging Scenario" on 29th February, 2020 at HotelFortune Park Galaxy, Vapi (Gujarat).

The seminar was inaugurated by Mr. Rajnikant S.Bachkaniwala, Chairman, Palod Himson Machines Pvt.Ltd.

Chief Guest, Mr. Rajnikant S. Bachkaniwala, Chairman,Palod Himson Machines Pvt. Ltd. and other dignitaries

on the dais lighting the lamp

Chief Guest, Mr. Rajnikant S. Bachkaniwala deliveringhis inaugural address

At the inaugural session, Mr. Rajnikant S.Bachkaniwala, Chairman, Palod Himson Machines Pvt.Ltd. was the Chief Guest inaugurated the Seminar. Mr.Vilas Gharat, President, TAI Mumbai Unit; Mr. V. C.Gupte, Chairman, TAI Mumbai Unit; Mr. G. V. Aras,

TAI - Mumbai Unit

Director, Textile Engineering Group, A.T.E. EnterprisesPvt. Ltd. & Seminar Chairman; Mr. Haresh B. Parekh,Seminar Convenor; Mr. Navin Agarwal, Seminar Jt.Convener; Mr. A. A. Bambardekar, Works Director,Raymond Limited (Textile Division Vapi) was the Guestof Honor; Mr. Vikas Saran, Vice President, TAIMumbai Unit & Director-India Operations, SaurerTextile Solutions Pvt. Ltd., and Mr. A. V. Mantri, Hon.Secretary, TAI Mumbai Unit were present on the dais.

Inaugural Session:

Mr. V. C. Gupte, Chairman, TAI, Mumbai Unit wel-comed the Chief Guest, Key Note Speaker and Guestsof Honour. He also welcomed the Awardees, Speak-ers, Press, Media and delegates.

Mr. Vilas Gharat, President, TAI, Mumbai Unit saidthat our Unit always takes keen interest in the latestdevelopments in the textile industry and had organisedseminars on important topics like weaving, fabric form-ing, etc in Vapi region which were very successful. Hefurther said that Mumbai Unit recently organised twoimportant International Conferences on the latest topicof "Textile 4.0" which were very successful and ap-preciated by all.

Mr. Haresh B. Parekh, Convener of the Seminarwhile giving the highlights said that this seminar isorganised to discuss the Opportunities for the textileindustry in the challenging scenario. The Speakers andPanel Members will show the roadmap for the oppor-tunities available in the upcoming trends of businessand he was sure that the interaction in the seminar willbe highly productive and beneficial.

Mr. G. V. Aras, Director, Textile Engineering Group,A.T.E. Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. delivered the Key NoteAddress and said that there are lot of opportunities inthe textile industry but we are not able to grab themto prove ourselves in the international market. We don'thave the capacity for bulk manufacturing which canfulfil the requirements of big buyers. He also explainedthat due to logistics and disintegrated activities in thetextile industry causing the increase in the cost ofproduct.

He also emphasized that due to Corona Virus prob-lems in China the production capacity has been consid-erably reduced and hence Indian textile industry hastremendous opportunity to increase the productivity andgrab the international market.


UNIT ACTIVITY

Key Note Speaker, Mr. G. V. Aras addressingthe gathering

Guest of Honour, Mr. A. A. Bambardekaraddressing the gathering

Mr. A. A. Bambardekar, Works Director, RaymondLimited (Textile Division Vapi) while addressing thegathering said we must adopt new technology to re-duce the cost which will automatically increase ourprofitability. He further said that the young studentsshould enter in to textile industry as they have innova-tive ideas and explained that working of his entire unitcan be accessed on a mobile app developed by thisnew generation.

Mr. Madhubhai Mangukia, Chairman & ManagingDirector, Yamuna Machine Works Pvt. Ltd. receiving The

Lifetime Achievement Award by the handsof Chief Guest

Mr. Haresh Panchal, Managing Director, RabatexIndustries receiving The Industrial Excellence Award

by the hands of Chief Guest.

The Textile Association (India), Mumbai Unit felici-tated Mr. Madhubhai Mangukia, Chairman & Manag-ing Director, Yamuna Machine Works Pvt. Ltd. with"The Lifetime Achievement Award" and Mr. HareshPanchal, Managing Director, Rabatex Industries with"The Industrial Excellence Award" for their outstand-ing contribution in the field of textile industry.

Releasing Book of Papers by Chief Guest and dignitar-ies on the dais

Dignitaries Sitting in the Auditorium


UNIT ACTIVITY

Mr. Navin P. Agrawal, Jt. Convener of the Seminargave the introduction of the Chief Guest.

Mr. Rajnikant S. Bachkaniwala, Chairman, PalodHimson Machines Pvt. Ltd. while giving his inauguraladdress said that whenever there is a crisis there is anopportunity. The Global Corona virus problem in Chinahas given the Indian textile industry an opportunity whichwe should not miss. India has the potential and theyoung generation now has to take up this task and plana strategy to achieve success.

Mr. A. V. Mantri, Hon. Secretary, TAI, Mumbai Unit,proposed Vote of Thanks.

Technical Session:During the technical session, following papers werepresented by the eminent speakers.

Mr. Vikram Shah, Vice President, Rabatex Industriespresented the paper on "Advanced Development inPreparation of Fabric Sampling".

Mr. Apurva Jariwala, Branch Head - Surat, TextileEngineering - Fabric Forming, A. T. E. EnterprisesPvt. Ltd. presented the paper on "New Developmentsin Warp Knitting".

Mr. Babasaheb V. Alugade, Regional Sales Man-ager, Picanol India Pvt. Ltd. made the presentation on"Latest trend in Weaving".

Mr. S. Ramasubramanian, Dy. General Manager,Batliboi Textile Machinery Group presented the paperon "Revolutionary Continuous Modular Overflow Wash-ing Range Wanny by Pentek, Italy".

Mr. Badruddin Khan, Sr. Manager - Product Man-agement Team, Multi Commodity Exchange of IndiaLtd. (MCX) presented the paper on "AwarenessProgramme on Kapas & Cotton Price Risk Manage-ment".

Mr. Deepak Sabarad, Sr. Sales Manager, Voltas Lim-ited presented the paper on "Whole Garment by ShimaSeiki".

Mr. N.S.K. Srinivasan & Mr. Hasmukh Shah, UmtaManagement & Texstyles Academy made the presen-tation on "Smart Textiles an Opportunity for TextileIndustry In Challenging Scenario".

Panel Discussions:

At the Panel Discussion Session,L to R: Mr. Sumit Gupta, Deputy Director,Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS),

Mr. Vikas Sharan, Director - India Operations,Saurer Textile Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Rajiv Ranjan,Executive Director & CEO, Hindoostan Mills Ltd.,

Mr. Pratik R. Bachkaniwala, Director, Palod HimsonMachines Pvt. Ltd., Mr. R. R. Patil, CEO & ManagingDirector, Gokak Textiles Ltd., Mr. Navin P. Agrawal,Vice President, Textile Engineering-Fabric Forming,

A.T.E. Enterprises P. Ltd.

A Panel Discussion on the topic 'Developments inTextile Industry to meet Emerging Market Trends' wasfeatured as the last event of the seminar. The discus-sion moderated by Mr. Rajiv Ranjan, ED & CEO ofHindoostan Mills Ltd., had leaders from the textileindustry on the panel who came up with some radicalthoughts which could be helpful to the textile industry.

Mr. Sumit Gupta, Dy. Director, Global Organic Tex-tile Standards (GOTS) talked about the importance ofcompliance to global standards in today's business es-pecially as our business grows in the field of organictextiles.

Mr. Vikas Sharan, Director-India Operations, SaurerTextile Solutions Pvt. Ltd., stressed upon the impor-tance of working towards increasing our scale andcompetitiveness in the field of apparel manufacturingand branding especially in the current scenario of anopportunity to increase our market share in this field.

He also touched upon the importance of taking stepsto increase India's global market share in man-madefibre products, where we are lagging. He talked aboutthe importance of logistics playing a pivotal role incatapulting India to that platform from where rapid andon-time delivery to any destination in the world couldbe possible.


UNIT ACTIVITY

Mr. Pratik Bachkaniwala, Director, Palod Himsonmachines Pvt. Ltd., spoke upon the subject as a wholeconcept. He said that to meet the demands of themarket we not only need to focus and innovate uponthe product services, supply chain, logistics, marketing,finance and distribution network but most importantlyalso focus on the importance of attitude building whichis very critical in today's marketplace.

Mr. R. R. Patil, MD & CEO, Gokak Mills Ltd., tookup the point on cost effectiveness for increasing ourcompetitiveness. Power cost being a major burden inthe current scenario, companies could look at solarpower, where the rates are going down every day, asa major cost reducer.

Mr. Navin Agrawal, Vice President, Textile Engineer-ing-Fabric Forming, A.T.E. Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., spokeabout the need to upgrade to modern machines withhigh productivity and automation to maintain cost and

quality competitiveness. Productivity was becoming akey factor across the entire textile value chain. Healso stressed upon the need for skilling workers throughproper training so as to increase their efficiency tomeet global standards.

The talk by the panellists was followed up with somevery good questions and comments by members of theaudience. Mr. Gurudas Aras talked about the impor-tance of various associations across the industry valuechain putting up a united face to the world while Mr.Rahul Bhajekar mentioned about the need of integrityin doing business today. This was followed by probingquestions from the group of students and others at-tending the seminar on the issue of employment in theindustry and other topics which was ably handled bythe panel members.

The seminar was a grand success and was attendedby over 225 delegates.

TAI M.P. Unit organized Program on Union Bud-get 2020-21

On 2nd February, 2020, a Program on Union Budget2020-21 was organized by The Textile Association (In-dia) M. P. Unit jointly with The Madhya Pradesh Tex-tile Mills and others.

The speakers included Dr. Jayantilal Bhandari, CASubhash Deshpande, Dr. Kamlesh Bhandari, Dr. P. N.Mishra, etc. They werewelcomed by Shri KailashAgrawal, Shri Ashok Veda and M. C. Rawat etc.

Dr. Jayantilal Bhandari speaking on the occasionstated that with a view to increase the spending power

TAI - M. P. Unit

of the middle class, dual system of taxation has beenintroduced. The younger generation, which is not in-clined to save for the future will be benefitted and willhave more money to spend. The disinvestment ofRs.2.10 lakh crore will certainly provide extra fundsfor infrastructure developments in the Country. Thepresent GDP is around 5% and to achieve the targetof US$ 5.00 trillion economy by 2025 appears quitedifficult with the present growth rate.

CA Subhash Deshpande highlighted the proposed pro-visions of Section 10(23)C of the Income Tax Act,which requires all the Charitable Trusts presently avail-ing Section 12 AA benefits to re-register themselvesafter 30th June, 2020. This will be a big task for theDepartment as well as for the Trusts. He welcomedthe revised provisions regarding Capital Gains Tax,removal of Dividend Distribution Tax and facelessappeals, etc.


UNIT ACTIVITY

Dr. Kamlesh Bhandari was critical of the Budgetprovisions and was of the view that it will dis-incentivizesavings and disinvestment of LIC will be a setback tothe LIC policy holders. He was of the view that in-stead of giving tax relief to corporate sector, it shouldhave been given to unemployed youth by way of anallowance.

Dr. P. N. Mishra emphasized for equitable distribu-tion of wealth, total abolition of personal tax, introduc-tion of agricultural income tax for high income groups,etc. Shri M. C. Rawat explained the Budget provisionsrelating to Textile Sector including National TechnicalTextiles Mission, introduction of Scheme of RoDT,removal of Anti-dumping Duty on PTA, introduction ofNIRVIK Scheme for exporters, etc.

At the end Shri Awadhesh Sharma proposed the voteof thanks.


UNIT ACTIVITY

TAI WB Unit successfully celebrated 69th An-nual Conference

The Textile Association (India) West Bengal Unit cel-ebrated, 69th, Annual Conference on "Scope and Pros-pect of Natural Fibre based Textile Manufacturing" onSaturday the 7th March, 2020 at Kennedy Hall, De-partment of Jute and Fibre Technology, University ofCalcutta,Kolkata.

Sri Manmohan Singh, President Jayashree Textiles(Grasim Industries) lighting the inaugural Lamp along

with National President Mr. Ashok Juneja andMr.A.K.Mukherjee (Hon. Secretary W.B. Unit)

Conference Souvenir is released by theDignitaries on the dais.

Shri JiwrajSethia, President - TAI West Bengal Unitdelivered his welcome Address. Prof.Sadhan ChandraRoy, Chairman TAI West Bengal Unit highlighted indetailed about the Conference.

Conference was inaugurated by Shri Manmohan Singh,President and Unit head, Grasim Industries Ltd., Jaya

TAI - W. Bengal UnitShree Textiles, Rishra, West Bengal and National Presi-dent, Shri Ashok Juneja were the guest of honor forthis function.

A group photo. L to R: Shri JiwrajSethia,President TAI W.B. Unit, Shri Ashok Juneja, National

President TAI,Shri. Manmohan Singh, PresidentJayashree Textiles (Grasim Industries)

and other Members of Executive Committee.

Prof.AnirbanDutta, E.C. Member felicitating ShriJiwarajSethia, President, TAI W.B. Unit.

View of the Audience

Shri Ashok Junejapresented his special keynote ad-dress and highlighted about the TAI activities on this


UNIT ACTIVITY

special occasion. Dr. N.C. PAN, Director, Nation In-stitute of Natural Fibre Engineering and Technology(NINFET) (ICAR), Kolkata addressed the gathering.Also Prof. (Dr.) Debasish Das, Head, Department ofJute and Fibre Technology, University of Calcutta ad-dressed the gathering.

Shri Asoke Kumar Mukherjee, Honorary Secretary TAI,West Bengal Unit proposed the vote of thanks.

About 200 participants were present from Textile, Jute,Garments and Hosiery Industries, Research Scientist,Professors, lecturers of education Institute and studentwere also present from various Textile Institute. Con-ference was a great success.

Eight papers were presented on various topics, whichwere enjoyed by participants papers distributed for

presentation in two sessions. First session was chairedby Dr.Sadhan Chandra Roy and 2nd session waschaired by Dr. Sunil Sett. Manmohan Singh mainlydiscussed about the need of use Natural Fibre likeFlux, Hemp and Wool for eco-friendly aspect of thesefibres.

National President TAI Shri AshokeJuneja narrated thepast and present scenario of the Textile Association(India) by computer disc in detail about the activities ofthe Association in India.

Mementos were presented to Shri Manimohan Singhand Sri Ashok Junea on behalf of West Bengal Unitfor the remembrance of the very occasion.

Conference ended with a Lucky Draw among the stu-dents and participants.

TAI developed Online Membership Registration Form

The Textile Association (India) developed an Online Membership Registration Form, whichis uploaded on TAI website www.textileassociationindia.org/membership/

It is made simple to enroll Life Time / Patron Membership online.

Following process is to fill-up the form:◆ Open TAI website, click on Membership on Main Menu Bar.

◆ Click on Application Forms, where there are two sub-menu titles (Manual Form andOnline Form).

◆ Before filling the Online Form, Bank payment transaction is required for New Members.

◆ Also, Scan copy/file of your Photo and Aadhar Card should be kept ready for attaching tothe form.

◆ Clicking on Online Form, A MEMBERSHIP Online Registration Form will appear.

◆ Entire form to be filled and ensure that all columns are filled. There are some MandatoryFields. If any columns are not filled in, it will show an error.

◆ Once fully filled Form is SUBMIT ted, a reply will be seen asYour FORM is received successfully. Thanks.Confirmation of membership is subject to the approval of the Scrutiny Committee.

In case, if you are unable to open the website, please write below link in Browser to fill-up theform.https://www.textileassociationindia.org/membership-online-form/

For any assistant, please contact TAI Central Office.


By Vilas GharatPresident, TheTextile Association (India) - MumbaiUnit

AuthorVilas Gharat

It is unpredicted or unplanned life we all are observingsince 23rd march 2020 & still not aware how long itmay continue. There are many respectable people hasbeen giving various statistics & forecasts which is veryinformative / valuable. I just would like to share howI take it just for your information.

Corona Varese is created by Humans & can spread byHumans only. It is nothing to do with Nature & henceI take it as Wake-Up Call to Humans. I believe that isnot Disaster but it is Corrector. If you observe last fewdays compare to last many years your priorities arechanged about life & you are easily fulfilling all essen-tial requirements.

We are in Lockdown condition with borders of move-

ments sealed by humans as against all other creaturesare free to cross all borders set by Humans. Hencemy humble request to all human beings to restart youractivities with re correcting yourself. List out what areessentials to leave active & healthy in your personal aswell as professional life. We should ask questions our-selves.

◆ How many times you have opened your Ward-robe?

◆ How many times you have used your vehicle?◆ How much money you have spent for hoteling?◆ How much money you have spent on new clothes

or fancy items.◆ Many more questions……... ?

Many of us may not be getting maid services but wehave been sharing all daily work as family together.Hence let us re-design activities for excellent future.CORONA has given us opportunity to correct beforerestart. CORONA has taught us how to remain in ourboundary with restrictions.

The industry experts are giving their valuable inputs forbetter future but as a dedicated textile worker I appealmy friends working in textile units to just to think of mytake for future. This is for your kind information thatIndian Textile Industry flourished in 1st& 2nd WorldWar. And its 3rd World War not against any human orcountry. It is against our wrong behaviour againstNature.

1. We have sufficient Raw Material & Skilled Work-force to feed our nation.

2. We have been making varieties of fabric. Wehave different machines with different technologyfor these Products.

3. Please prepare list of products you can make outof your present set up & establish products as perpresent requirements with desire specifications.

4. You may get specifications from Textile Ministry/ WHO / DGSD / ATIRA etc.

5. There are requirements of Urgent Nature to fightout present situation & it is an opportunity for us.

6. Similarly, there are huge requirements of essen-tials in all Hospitals or Camps.

7. Educate workers with corrected work practices.8. CORONA taught us to be self-sufficient in keep-

ing cleanliness for 24*7 is key success.9. Let us Lockdown our Ego for stress-free life &

come out as winner. So, be creative not Critic.

Lockdown

NEWS


NEWS

A technical seminar entitled "End-to-end solutions forcarpet manufacturing" was jointly organised by A.T.E.and J Zimmer, Austria, at The Ramada, Alleppey onFebruary 11, 2020.

In Kerala, Alleppey and Cherthala are well known forthe manufacturing of door mats from coir and jute. Infact, Kerala's coir and coir products are said to be thefinest in the world. Following the worldwide shift to-wards eco-friendly products, there is an increasingdemand for Kerala's coir products in internationalmarkets - especially in Africa, Latin America and theMiddle East. This global demand is encouraging theentrepreneurs in the coir industry to make use of thelatest technologies in digital printing automation. Entre-preneurs are also looking at materials other than coirand jute to increase the varieties of home textiles theyhave to offer.

Considering the growing interest among customers inadvanced technologies for carpet manufacturing, A.T.E.Enterprises, along with J Zimmer, Austria, organisedthis technical seminar. The seminar was supported byAYM Syntex - a premium carpet yarn manufacturer,and Jaysynth Group - one of the largest manufacturers

A.T.E. conducts seminar on End-to-end solutionsfor carpet manufacturing

of ink and chemicals for digital printing in India.

The seminar was a resounding success. The ownersand representatives of more than 35 carpet manufac-turing companies in and around Alleppey attended theseminar.

The function was inaugurated with a welcome addressby Mr. M.Rajinikanth, Deputy General Manager, A.T.E.,with a short introduction about A.T.E. and Zimmer.Mr. Martin Basset, Sales Manager of J Zimmer spokeabout various digital printing technologies such asChromojet and Colaris. Mr. Basset also explained thecost economics of carpet printing, which was particu-larly interesting for the audience. Mr. Ashok Swamy,General Manager, A.T.E. then gave the audience anoverview about A.T.E.'s capabilities to provide end-to-end solutions in carpet manufacturing. Attractive printedcarpet samples were also displayed at the event.

These presentations lead to a lively round of questionsand answers, which saw active participation by theaudience.

"Sensation, Reflection and # Lit, highlight thisyear's theme of United by Indigo"Latest offering of innovative, stylish & high-perfor-mance denim & apparel for India

An exclusive glimpse into Arvind'sProject Indigo Liferepresenting an indigo inspired lifestyle

Arvind unveils "United by Indigo" -Festive 2020 collection

Denims have evolved in the past 150 years from beingMiners Workwear to Poor Man's Utility, to a hallmarkof rebellious youth, into high fashion sensibilities. To-day, Denims have found acceptance as Lifestyle Ap-parel and people from all walks of life, gender & agegroups wear Jeans as a 24X7 product. Be it for work,party or play, denim is in demand!


NEWS

Indian Jeanswear market has been consistently grow-ing in double digits. Jeans have made inroads intoCorporate Wear. Women's changing lifestyle & prefer-ences are favoring Jeanswear. Youngsters transitionseamlessly from their work routines into the party &out door mode, in the same pair of Jeans. Demands onaesthetics, performance & functionality of Denim fab-ric & Apparel are expanding very quickly.

Stimulated by the acceleration in the sector, Arvind, the$2 billion textile-to-technology conglomerate, announcedthe launch of its latest collection, United by Indigo - acollection for the forthcoming Festive 2020 Season InIndia, that thoughtfully balances the legacy of authenticdenim with future possibilities to capture the essenceof the present-day global trends.The Lycra Company,a market leader in functional & performance speciality- stretch yarn technology, Co-hosted today's event. Theyhave been Arvind's Innovation partner since many yearsand have collaborated to deliver multiple unique &successful products to the Indian market.

At the unveiling held in Mumbai today, Arvind Denimsdebuted the INFIKNITY Range, representing infinitepossibilities in Indigo Inspired active wear Lifestyle,using a range of technology adaptations in Knitting.Also on display were the latest up-dates on the alreadypopular range of MUTANTS that blend the rugged-ness & durability of traditional Jeanswear with com-fort & supple softness of real knits. The widely ac-knowledged BLOCKBUSTER range of Denims thatDemocratized Jeans for a wider Indian population, werealso on display. Apart from these, up-dates in theAZURITE, BOOMERANG & SELF-EDGE range ofproducts were well appreciated.

At the core of the collection is the centralthemeof"Sensation", with surfaces & hand feel that teaseour senses & make us feel plush, warm & cared for.

Talking about the latest United by Indigo Festive 2020collection,Mr. Aamir Akhtar, CEO, Arvind Denims said,"This collection celebrates the potential of collabora-tions and technology lead innovation. We are constantlyinspired by the Consumer's free spirited pursuit of anexperiential lifestyle. Our shared passion & love forIndigo unites and binds us. The Indian Festive Seasonis a celebration of the Human spirit. We have chosenthree mood boards, namely Sensation, Reflection and#LIT that represent our view on the season."

Arvind recognizes the criticalrole oftrade channel part-ners in expanding its reach into the Indian DenimMarket. It actively collaborates with its Channel Part-ners to study & respond to emerging consumer trendsacross all segments of the denim market.Caring forthe environment, Economic & Social Impact, are away of life at Arvind and it is a pioneer in makingdenims increasingly sustainable and eco-friendly.

For further information, please contact:Arvind Ltd.Khantil ShahHead - Corporate & Brand [email protected]

Six Degrees BCWNandniSharma / DebanginyParasarTel: 09851340340 / [email protected];[email protected]


NEWS

◆ ColorJet launches initiative to encourage industryto help fight against COVID-19

◆ ColorJet initiates with a contribution of Rs 5 Lakhsto PM Cares Fund

◆ Initiative sees successful response from industrypartners across the globe

In response to the honourable Indian Prime MinisterShri Narendra Modi's call to donate to the PM CaresFund, to help fight the Covid-19 menace, wide formatinkjet digital printer manufacturer Colorjet Group, hasstarted a campaign to help the government by encour-aging its associates, customers and industry partners tocontribute to the fund.

"People from all walks of life expressed their desire todonate to India's war against COVID-19. Respectingthat spirit, the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance andRelief in Emergency Situations Fund has been consti-tuted. This will go a long way in creating a healthierIndia. Kindly contribute to the PM-CARES Fund," PMModi had said while launching the fund.

To kick off this initiative, ColorJet has donated INR500,000 to the PM Cares Fund and has alsocreated adedicated page to donate on the ColorJetwebsite. Allcontributions getdirectly transferred to the PM CaresFund, with ColorJet acting only as an intermediate.ColorJet will also be giving certificates of appreciationto all donors.

ColorJet has set a goal to generate contributions amount-ing to INR 2.5 million and till date the donations have

ColorJet Launches Initiative Encouraging PrintingIndustry to Contribute for PM Cares Fund

totalled INR 725,816 received from 118 donors, withdonations also pouring in from industry partners in UAE,USA, Japan, etc.ColorJet is reaching out toits associ-ates, partners and customers in the inkjet printing in-dustry through conference calls, emails and social media.

"ColorJet being an industry leader has been playing aproactive part in the fight against the Corona Viruspandemic. At the onset of this outbreak, we took sev-eral initiatives to protect our employees by maintainingsocial distancing and regular sanitisation. We decidedto launch this campaign to motivate all our industrypartners to donate generously for this cause. Only bycoming together, we will be able to fight through thesedifficult andunimaginable times," Mr.Smarth Bansal,DGM-Product & Brand at ColorJet said.

"The ongoing COVID-19 crisis is making an unprec-edented impact on the world and it is not going to passin a hurry and it will take its time and toll on us. At thistime, when the society is facing such an immense crisis,whatever individual efforts we put is good, but bycoming together, our collective synergy can help over-come this crisis better. We are constantly monitoringthe situation and would be ready to cooperate with thegovernment in any capacity to help fight this pandemic,"Mr.Madhu Sudan Dadu, Chairman at ColorJet added.

To contribute, please visit:www.colorjetgroup.com/covid19

Media Contacts:Mr Faisal ShakeelColorJet India LtdCell: +91 78279-57563E-mail: [email protected] RaoTaurus CommunicationsAhmedabadCell: +91 98250-38518E-mail: [email protected]

The creative approach to supercharge your brand


NEWS

Dear TAI Members,

At the outset, the Managing Committee conveys theheartiest congratulations to all members of the TAI onthe 81st anniversary of the Incorporation Day of ourassociation. Established on 9th April 1939, we are theoldest association of technocrats, formed by and forthe technocrats. In all these years, TAI has extendedits services to the industry with your support & valu-able contribution.

We also wish to convey our thanks to all organizations,which have supported us during these years in one orthe other way.

It is our privilege that in the past our All India TextileConference, which is organized annually for the last 75years, was inaugurated by various eminent personali-ties including Hon. President, Prime Minister, CabinetMinisters, Governor & Chief Ministers of various states.

TAI also had an opportunity to confer Honorary Mem-bership for their distinguished contribution towards thegrowth of textile Industry of India to highly respectedpersonalities like Shri Nazir Ahmed, Shri KasturbhaiLalbhai, Shri K.M.D. Thackercy, Shri Gulzarilal Nanda,Shri homo Modi, Shri G. D. Birla, Shri G. D. Ambekar,Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, Shri Arvind Mafatlal, Shri NavalH. Tata, Shri Padampat Singhania, Shri Neville Wadia,Hon. Maj. R. P. Paddar, Shri Gaur Hari Singhania, ShriDhirubhai H. Ambani, Shri K. K. Birla, Shri AbhaykumarS. Kasliwal, Shri Mukesh D. Ambani and such manymore.

It is my proud privilege to lead such a prestigious as-sociation where we have had esteemed prior Presi-dents like but not limited to Late Dr. Nazir Ahmed,Late Shri Homi Modi, Late Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, LateShri N. V. Ullal, Late Maj. R. P. Poddar, Shri J. JRandheri, Shri R. K. Dalmia, and Shri M. K. Mehra,Shri R. K. Dalmia, Shri R. C. Kesar, Dr. Mathivanan,Dr. P. R. Roy & many more such.

Once again sincere thanks for your continuous supportto TAI during the successful journey of 81 years.

Wishing everyone good health in these unprecedentedCOVID-19 times. Stay safe!

Best Wishes & Kind Regards.

Ashok Juneja(National President -TAI)+91 9891593332

CONGRATULATIONSDear Sir / Mam,Greetings from TAI !!

We are pleased to inform you that The Textile Asso-ciation (India) has completed 81 years of its successfuljourney.

Established on 9th April 1939, we are the oldest asso-ciation of technocrats, formed by and for the techno-crats. In all these years, TAI has extended its servicesto the industry with your support & valuable contribu-tion. We took this opportunity to convey our thanks toall organizations like you who supported us during theseyears in one or the other way.

It is our privilege to put on record that in the past ourAll India Textile Conference, which is organized annu-ally for the last 75 years, was inaugurated by variouseminent personalities including Hon. President, PrimeMinister, Cabinet Ministers, Governor & Chief Minis-ters of various states.

TAI also had an opportunity to confer Honorary Mem-bership for their distinguished contribution towards thegrowth of textile Industry of India to highly respectedpersonalities like Shri Nazir Ahmed, Shri KasturbhaiLalbhai, Shri K.M.D. Thackercy, Shri Gulzarilal Nanda,Shri homo Modi, Shri G. D. Birla, Shri G. D. Ambekar,Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, Shri Arvind Mafatlal, Shri NavalH. Tata, Shri Padampat Singhania, Shri Neville Wadia,Hon. Maj. R. P. Paddar, Shri Gaur Hari Singhania, ShriDhirubhai H. Ambani, Shri K. K. Birla, Shri AbhaykumarS. Kasliwal, Shri Mukesh D. Ambani and such manymore.

It is my proud privilege to lead such a prestigiousassociation where we have had esteemed prior Presi-dents like but not limited to Late Dr. Nazir Ahmed,Late Shri Homi Modi, Late Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, LateShri N. V. Ullal, Late Maj. R. P. Poddar, Shri J. JRandheri, Shri R. K. Dalmia, and Shri M. K. Mehra,Shri R. K. Dalmia, Shri R. C. Kesar, Dr. Mathivanan,Dr. P. R. Roy & many more such.

Wishing everyone good health in these unprec-edented COVID-19 times. Stay safe!

Best Wishes & Kind Regards.

Ashok Juneja(National President -TAI)+91 9891593332


NEWS

Coronavirus: It is a war with an invisible enemy. Thevirus that started with Wuhan China has now impactedalmost all parts of the world and is seen as one of theworst periods in human history. With lockdown of al-most all major economies including China, US, Europeand now the recent being India is not only shaken uphuman race but also economies of all these countries. Itis almost like world war 3 where the fight is not with anystate or country but with an invisible enemy which knocksdoor anytime anywhere irrespective of caste, religion orcountry.

For the past few weeks, what we as a country and worldhave seen is unimaginable. We have been part of manyconversations on what happened; how did this spread;was China at fault; why did the Government did not takeappropriate steps from the beginning; Italy pays big priceof callous attitude and many more theories. However,now our concern is not all this but the future of Textileindustry.

The demand for the textile products and also for thedomestic sales has come down to a grinding halt due tothe panic situation created by the outbreak of COVID-19.

As we all know Textile Industry is very unique nature ofIndustry having various segments. Interest of each seg-ments are different and it is being seen in the past thateven sometimes it clashes between the segments.

Due to lockdown all factories small or big, spinning,weaving, garmenting & all allied etc. are closed and itcannot be said clearly when they will be allowed againto operate? We all witnessed how labour has been run-ning here and there amidst all confusion as a desperatemeasure to safeguard his family from hunger. There isscare among the business community on account of cashcrunch, supply chain disturbance & man power relatedissues.

Dr. Ralph Mennickeappointed as CEO at LoepfeWehave more than 2000 spinning mills pan India with dif-ferent spindles capacity. Big units which are controlledby big corporate houses are having labour residing in thelabour colony adjoining the premises. Majority of laboursare migrated from Bihar, UP, Orissa etc. and at presentthey are being taken care by employers. It is also pon-dered whether labour is staying at their wish or theywere forced to stay as they were not having any meanof transport once the lockdown is announced. Further, itis question mark once the lockdown is lifted whetherthey will stay to work or rush to their homeland to checkabout their family members. At present, may be only

Coronavirus / lockdown ---- impact on textile industryBy Ashok Juneja, National President, TAI

raw material & electricity expenses are not been incurredbut rest all expenses are direct loss to mill owner. Thereare various other issues like what will happened to ma-terial which were in process, it may go in second quality.All shipments are getting hold, LC will expire may resulta renegotiation of prices etc. Definitely it will not be sosmooth and easy path to restart after lock down.

Apparel industry will be severely hit as all over the world.Stores are closed and no sales are happening almost allbuyers are cancelling orders or postponing orders as theyhave very big inventories, and they may not place fur-ther committed orders in next few months.

The daily wage worker that forms 80%of the workforcein garment factories is on road or back to their home-town. The challenge does not end here as the virus hasimpacted India's major export destinations US and EUthe worst affected areas. It will be very difficult to saywhen these countries will return to normal life; if theyreturn how soon consumers will start spending as theselockdown will cause unemployment also. Retail chainsare drastically cancelling orders and keeping shipmentson hold; till the time they do not get rid of old stock neworders will not pour in. Total supply chain is broken.

Now, challenges are Safety, lack of supply & demand inaddition to liquidity. Opportunities may be Medical Tex-tile Products

We Indians are God fearing peoples & believefirmly in-destiny. We also know that tides will turn and take adifferent path. Most of the world was dependent on Chinanow that dependency mode will change it will benefitcountries like India. If India succeeds in this 21 daylockdown period or earliest possible and fights backswithout much loss then it will be back to business cyclesoon because ultimately food and clothing will remainthe key purchases.

The volumes might go down but it will not disappear.Once life is back to normal people will shop also asmonths of lockdown and depression will motivate themto buy something new, look good and feel good.

Many are seeing this as a correction period but we hopethat this correction does not take away livelihood of any-one today or tomorrow. In these tough times we all aretogether and keeping you updated about industry and glo-bal scenario is our duty.

All machinery manufacturers have also suspended theiroperation. Neither they are in position to produce themachines nor are customers in position to accept thedelivery. Even once the machinery manufacturer will be


NEWS

able to start the production, customers may not be ableto accept the delivery may be for another 3 to 4 monthsfrom start of operations.

As per recent survey of ITMF about the impact of Co-rona pandemic on the global textile industry, it says world-wide average @8% orders are dropped and expectedturnover of 2020 will be down by @ 10% over 2019.

So, to conclude situation not good for any one and alsomay not be easy for anyone to restart the operation. Onopening up after the lock down, industry may take a muchlonger time to recover It may be minimum 4-6 months tosee back the normal business like situation, Even diffi-cult to estimate the direct losses at present and difficultto foresee the issues will arise after the lifting oflockdown. Company with inbuilt strength in terms of

strong culture and stable financial having a good amountof cash in books are expected to recover faster thanothers. The small & medium level companies will com-paratively find tough to bounce back. Whereas it will bedo or die for weaker amongst them.

We should start preparing to face the challenges whichare being foreseeing ahead without much dependent ongovernment relief, which may come but up to some ex-tent. We also have to learn the lesson from the crisis likenot to depend upon only one source of supply, shift to-wards localization, move towards variable cost modelsetc. Many global would shift buying from China to othertextile producing countries including India subject topreparation & acceptance of challenge by Indian Tex-tile Industry.

Loepfe announced today the appointment of Dr. RalphMennicke as Chief Executive Officer of Loepfe Broth-ers Ltd., effective from April 14, 2020. Ralph Mennicketakes over from Maurizio Wermelinger who, having joinedLoepfe in 2007, became CEO in 2009 and is now retir-

ing.The Loepfe Board of Directorsappointed Ralph Mennicke asCEO to lead the company andits subsidiaries. Loepfe is theworldwide leading manufacturerand solution partner for onlinequality assurance systems in thetextile sector. Machine manufac-turers as well as spinning millsand weaving mills around the

globe use and rely on Loepfe technology from Switzer-land.Ralph Mennicke is a Graduate of Technical Universityof Munich, University of York, Mannheim and ESSECBusiness Schools. He holds an MSc and PhD in Physicsand an Executive MBA. Previously, Ralph Mennicke hasheld positions as CEO, Deputy CEO, General Managerand Product Manager, as well as interim Head of Tech-nology, Product Management and Marketing. Since com-pleting his PhD, Ralph Mennicke has contributed to tech-nology, product and market expansion and acquisitions,as well as providing inspired and effective leadershipduring times of crisis in his previous company.

In his quest to set industry benchmarks and deliver qual-ity improvement for customers, Ralph Mennicke has alsobeen heavily involved in global standardization activitieswithin the sensor and measurement fields.

Dr. Ralph Mennickeappointed as CEO at LoepfeLoepfe CEO Dr. Ralph Mennicke said: "Despite thecurrent difficult business environment as I begin my roleas CEO of Loepfe, my commitment to taking our busi-ness and our people on a journey where we will seek togrow and grasp future upsides has never been greater.As in my previous roles, at Loepfe my strategy will con-tinue to focus on leveraging committed talents, superiortechnology and unique market knowledge to gain andmaintain a competitive edge in the markets.

It is my very good fortune to be joining Loepfe from acompany now experiencing a dynamic growth environ-ment, and also to follow Maurizio Wermelinger who ledLoepfe for more than a decade and established thecompany's reputation in the textile industry with someworld-leading product brands. As well as Maurizio, I alsothank the Loepfe Board of Directors and the Loepfeteam for placing their trust in me to lead them throughthis tough period."

Loepfe Executive Chairman Alexander Zschokke com-mented: "The Loepfe Group extends a big thank-you toMaurizio for his long, loyal and successful lead of thecompany, as well as a very warm welcome to Ralph.We are delighted to have Ralph on board to steer Loepfethrough the challenging phase arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond. Furthermore, we are confi-dent that Loepfe is in a strong position to emerge fromthis time with renewed vigour and sustained growth."

For more details, please contact:Loepfe Brothers Ltd.SilvanoAuciello,Kastellstrasse 10,8623 Wetzikon,Switzerland

Dr. Ralph Mennicke


NEWS

Automated wiping reduces yarn breaks

Following its installation at several major yarnmanufacturers in China, the first wiping robot hasnow been operating in India since the end of 2019.As already the case with our Chinese clients, theperformance of the OerlikonBarmag solution theredemonstrates the same properties: an even, high-quality wiping process providing considerablyreduced yarn break rates and higher full packagerates. Regular wiping (cleaning) of the spin packsis important for process stability and yarn quality.

All wiping positions, cycles and times can be saved inthe wiping robot's management system.

Therobot accesses the saved wiping intervals in anautomated and safety-relevant manner

The performance data at the Indian yarn manufacturerwas collated and evaluated over a period of threemonths. The results revealed that the yarn break ratehas -regardless of the product -fallen by almost 30%.The former running time breaks have decreased by

Oerlikon - First wiping robot successfullycommissioned in India

10% and string-up breaks by 40%. Consequently, fullpackage rates have risen by 3%, while waste rateshave fallen by 0.2%. "Yarn breaks are always an is-sue; they have a direct impact on the production fig-ures. This is where the wiping robot reveals its addedvalue", comments Stephan Faulstich, Technology Man-ager POY. The system automatically and autonomouslycontrols the individual positions in accordance with thescheduled wiping cycles. In addition to the scheduledwiping processes, there are also events that cannot beplanned or that are not immediately visible. Here, thewiping robot -as a result of its managementfunctionalities -is able to identify issues such as yarnbreaks or parallel wiping processes and to indepen-dently offer solutions. The same also applies to manualrequests: if another action is simultaneously requiredhere, the system identifies this and offers solutions.

The wiping robot operates in a cross-line manner. Incontrast to manual wiping, the cleaning quality remainsconstant around the clock, considerably reducing theimpact of the wiping on both the spin-ning plant pro-cess stability and on the yarn data of the spun yarn.And production times can be in-creased between twocleaning cycles as well: whereas repeated wiping isrequired after 48 hours in the case of manual wiping,utilizing the robot extends the interval between twowiping processes to up to 60 hours. The considerableincrease in the spinning process efficiency achieved bythe wiping robot also has a positive impact on margins.To this end, one customer deploying the wiping robotwas able to reduce its production costs for the sameyarn by more than 3%.

For further information, please contact:Susanne BeyerMarketing, Corporate Communications& Public AffairsTel. +49 2191 67 1526Fax +49 2191 67 [email protected]é WissenbergMarketing, Corporate Communications& Public AffairsTel. +49 2191 67 2331Fax +49 2191 67 [email protected]


NEWS

7765 certified facilities worldwide, an increase of35% with more than 3 million workers coveredunder GOTS in 2019.

In 2019, the number of GOTS certified facilities glo-bally grew by 35%, from 5,760 to 7,765 located in 70countries. The number demonstrates that GOTS suc-cessfully serves as sustainable solution. The requiredcertified organic fibres protect the climate by absorb-ing CO2 and every processing step - from field tofashion - has to meet stringent social and environmen-tal criteria before a finished product is allowed to carrythe GOTS label.

This huge leap forward was seen in both, productionand consuming regions. Countries with largest growthin GOTS-certification in percentage in 2019 are: Neth-erlands (73%), Bangladesh (73%), Spain (71%), andTurkey (65%). In terms of total numbers of certifiedfacilities, the highest increase is reported fromBangladesh (+505), followed by India (+438) and Eu-rope (+396).

The top ten countries in terms of total numbers ofGOTS-certified facilities in 2019 are: India (2411),Bangladesh (1194), Turkey (858), Germany (565), China(448), Italy (444), Portugal (301), Pakistan (276), USA(147), and the UK (75).

"The enormous growth shows that GOTS successfullyserves as sustainable solution from certified organicfibre to finished product. With more and more GOTScertified operations and products we altogether sub-stantially contribute to sustainable development." ClaudiaKersten, GOTS Managing Director.

GOTS certification helps to ensure compliance with

GOTS registers highest growth rate ever in 2019

each of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.More than 3 Million workers working in GOTS-certi-fied facilities were reported in 2019 by the 17 accred-ited independent Certification Bodies.

2019 was also a GOTS revision year resulting in thenew GOTS Version 6.0, due to be released in spring2020.

In the past five years, local exporters and internationalorganisations have heavily invested in improving envi-ronmental and social conditions in Bangladesh.Bangladesh showed one of the highest growths thisyear with a 73% increase in GOTS certified facilities.The high level of interest in the GOTS BangladeshSeminar 2019 is also reflected in the number of cer-tified facilities.

India has been at the top position with highest numberof GOTS certified facilities since 2008. This year, therewas an increase of 438 GOTS-certified facilities inIndia. "With the whole supply chain from farm to retail,along with suppliers of GOTS Approved ChemicalInputs, India has a unique position in the organic tex-tiles industry.

More than 10 Indian brands are offering GOTS la-belled goods in Indian retail, while few others are usingGOTS as a risk management tool and may start label-ling in the future

For more information, please contact:Sumit GuptaGOTS Representative in India and [email protected]

NEW DELHI | GURGAON | MUMBAI |BENGALURU | KOLKATA | PUNE |CHANDIGARH: Industries, big and small, are increas-ingly finding it difficult and, in some cases, impossibleto comply with the government's directive that work-ers' wages must continue to be paid through the un-

Industry Feedback before restarting Industries after LockdownBy Vilas Gharat

folding economic crisis. The reason: Falling or zerorevenues that aren't compensated by measures suchas loan forbearance.

We need much more government help, is industry'sconsistent message. The labour ministry plans to in-


crease unemployment benefits through Employees StateInsurance scheme may not be enough given the scaleof the problem, industry observers said.

And industry is also asking whether government direc-tions have any legal backing. The Disaster Manage-ment Act, for example, doesn't provide for a legal basison continued payment of wages.

Adding to this is labour absenteeism, which is a per-verse outcome of the government's directive that work-ers must be paid even if they don't turn up for work.In some product categories, labour shortage may sooncreate supply shortages.

ET spoke to industry captains, entrepreneurs, MSMEowners and business associations for this story. Somespoke off record.

'Need Govt. help for welfare obligations'Most employers agree with the government that wageearners should not be made victims in this crisis. Butthey are asking whether their cash flows can get extraofficial help to fulfil welfare obligations.

Deepak Sood, secretary general of Assocham, said"pressure is mounting on working capital" and industryexpects "banks to stretch their helping hand beyondRBI forbearances" and a "large fiscal package". CIIpresident Vikram Kirloskar said in a statement that "itis critically important that we do not resort to retrench-ment" but that costs were a concern.

The smaller industries, facing more cash flow prob-lems, are more direct in their response. S. Singla, whoruns a plastic tanks manufacturing unit in Baddi,Himachal Pradesh, was categorical: "The governmentcan say anything. Will they pay the salaries? I willhave to fire 20% of my workforce… We work on thinmargins."

MSMEs and SMEs are in a really tough spot.Chandrakant Salunkhe, founder of SME Chamber ofIndia, said: "I fear that after two months, 500,000-700,000 MSMEs will close down… we need muchmore government help." He added that most small unitswill be able to pay salaries for at most a month.

Smaller ecommerce players are in almost a similarposition. Vendors that sell 'inessential' items and aretherefore hit hard say they can pay wages at most tillthe lockdown lasts. Raja Agarwal, who sells imitationjewellery on Flipkart and Amazon, said, "I've decidedto pay my employees full salary for April. However, Iwill start to struggle if the lockdown extends."

Restaurateurs strugglingRestaurateurs are willing to pay salaries for a month,but working capital difficulties mean they can't extendit without direct government support. Karan Tanna ofGhost Kitchens, a cloud kitchen platform, said: "Every-one intends to pay staff salaries... but lack of rentalwaiver from landlords and negligible government sup-port means we can't carry on."

In some cases, even the promise of wages and ben-efits are not getting workers to attend because of theexpectation that full wages will be paid even withoutshowing up for work.

"We have committed extra incentives… yet workersare not willing to report for work because they areshielded by government directives," said a top officialat one of India's largest foods companies. A largeretailer said half his workforce is not turning up.

A leading biscuits manufacturer based in the East saidworker absenteeism has led to zero production in thepast 10 days. The business head of a large FMCGcompany said: "The government order on paying fullwages during the lockdown means workers are stayinghome."

The executive of a leading FMCG firm said the com-pany was evaluating legally whether the government'snotice to pay full wages to labour during the lockdownwas an order or a request.

Demand destructionFor large employers facing demand destruction, theproblem of paying wages is severe. Textiles, the indus-try that's India's third largest employer, is in a quandaryon how to keep paying salaries. J Suresh, MD of ArvindFashions, said: "Our revenues are now zero. We cansupport workers for some time, but if this lockdownextends, it'll get very hard… we're hoping for govern-

NEWS


ment subsidies for paying front line staff."

J. Thulasidharan, president of the Indian Cotton Fed-eration, was even more pessimistic: "About 95% of theindustries will not be able to pay 100% wages for thelockdown period. We do not have the liquidity, havinglost the peak season… as per the Industrial DisputesAct, we are bound to pay 50% of the salary to work-ers for the layoff period caused due to some calamity.If we get some financial support from banks or thegovernment, some mills might be able to pay the re-maining salaries later."

Satish Koshti, who represents the powerloom industryof Ichalkaranji in Maharashtra, said, "Most of us havemade arrangements for workers by paying them enoughmoney to get food and other essentials. Paying fullwages will be each mill owner's decision."

Manufacturing's constraintsManufacturing, another large employer, is also comingup against a cash flow constraint. Rishi Bagla, pro-moter of a medium-sized engineering group based inMaharashtra, said: "Workers have to be paid salariesat a time companies have no revenues for a month.Nobody can compensate for this loss. The governmenthas to ask banks to step in."

Former president of All India Rice Exporters Associa-tion Vijay Sethia also stressed the need for govern-ment help - waiver of electricity charges and interestsubvention by banks. This is echoed by Ajay Bansal,president of All India Petroleum Dealers Association,who wanted tax relief or power subsidies to help deal-ers pay wages at a time when pump sales have "dropped90%".

HNA bond suspended as coronavirus rattlesChinese conglomerateTrading in a bond issued by China's HNA Group wassuspended in a sign of how liquidity problems at theheavily indebted conglomerate have worsened after thecoronavirus pandemic buffeted capital markets, reportedthe Financial Times.

The Shanghai stock exchange said in a statement onWednesday that trading in the seven-year, RMB 3 billion($425 million) bond - issued by the company in 2015 -was initially halted shortly after the market opened dueto "abnormal fluctuations". After a brief resumption,trading was again stopped after the bond fell below30% of its par value.

The volatility came after HNA called a last-minuteteleconference on Tuesday night to tell its investors ofits intention to delay by a year both principal and inter-est payments for a separate bond issued in 2013 thathad been due on April 15. On Wednesday, HNA pub-licly apologized for failing to give advanced warning ofthe meeting.

HNA, based in southern China's Hainan province, isbest known for its high profile debt spree in 2015 and2016 in which it spent billions of dollars on assets in-cluding stakes in Deutsche Bank and Hilton World-

International Business News

wide. It also controls Hainan Airlines, China's fourth-largest carrier.

China revises trust industry rules to ease con-trols on foreign investorsChinese regulators are set to make it easier for over-seas financial institutions to invest in China's $3 trilliontrust industry as the government revises industry ad-ministrative rules for the first time in five years,reportedCaixin.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Com-mission Tuesday released for public comments a draftrevision to rules for administering the country's trustcompanies. It is the first revision to the document sinceJune 2015.

Compared with the current rules, the revised versionremoves an article requiring foreign companies to haveat least $1 billion in total assets at the end of theprevious fiscal year to be eligible to invest in Chinesetrust companies.

China's home prices return to growth in Marchas pandemic impact starts to easeNew home prices in China returned to growth in Marchafter stalling for the first time in five years in February,suggesting some pent-up demand as the impact from

NEWS


the coronavirus outbreak on the property market gradu-ally fades, reported Reuters.

Average new home prices in China's 70 major citiesedged up 0.1% in March from the previous month,having been unchanged in February, according toReuters calculations based on National Bureau of Sta-tistics (NBS) data published on Thursday.

On a year-on-year basis, home prices grew 5.3% inMarch, the slowest pace since June 2018, easing froma 5.8% uptick in February. The majority of the 70cities surveyed by the NBS still reported monthly priceincreases for new homes, with the number rising to 38from 21 in February.

China's major property developers, such as Evergrande,have been launching discounts and promotions to spursales. Latest data from researcher CRIC shows salesof the top 100 developers surged 136.2% last monthfrom February.

Markets brace for first-quarter earnings declinesMarkets are braced for a decline in earnings at someof mainland China's biggest publicly traded companies,reported the South China Morning Post.

Firms ranging from Gree Electric Appliances to WandaFilm Holding have sounded the alarm, warning inves-tors about worsening earnings, as the 3,897 companieslisted on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges kick-off the first-quarter reporting season this month.

The results are expected to provide first insight overthe next two weeks into the effects of the Covid-19pandemic on company profits.

Gree, China's biggest air-conditioner manufacturer, saidit expected earnings for the first three months to dropbetween 70% and 77% from a year earlier for itsbiggest quarterly profit decline in at least a decade. Itsaid the outbreak had disrupted sales and delayed thereopening of factories in upstream as well as down-stream industries.

China's falling smartphone shipments show signsof leveling offChina's smartphone vendors suffered a third straightmonth of shipment contraction in March, as thecoronavirus outbreak crippled production and damp-ened consumption, reportedCaixin.

During the month, China's smartphone shipments to-taled 21 million units, down 21.9% year-on-year, ac-cording to a report released Monday by the ChinaAcademy of Information and Communications Tech-nology (CAICT), a think tank affiliated with the Min-istry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).The March decline is more modest than that in Febru-ary and January, when smartphone shipments fell 54.7%and 36.6%, respectively.

Of all smartphones shipped in March, nearly 88% wereAndroid-powered handsets, meaning that Apple shippedroughly 2.5 million iPhones in China during the period,the report said. In February, Apple shipped just about500,000 phones in China.

Taking the first three months of 2020 together, China'ssmartphone shipments dropped 34.7% year-on-year to47.7 million units in the first quarter, according to theCAICT, milder than research firm IDC's previous es-timate for a decline of 40% for the quarter.

China's exports slump seen extending to March:Reuters pollThe slump in China's exports is expected to have ex-tended into March while a collapse in oil price likelydeepened a decline in imports, a Reuters poll showed,as the coronavirus cripples the global economy andoverall demand.

Exports from the world's second-largest economy areexpected to have fallen 14% in March from a yearearlier, according to a median estimate from the surveyof 31 economists, slowing the downturn somewhat froma 17.2% contraction in January-February period.

Imports, meanwhile, are set to have shrunk 9.5% froma year earlier, the sharpest drop since July 2016 andversus a 4.0% decline in January-February.

The grim trade report is likely to reinforce views thatChina's economy sharply contracted in the first quarterfor the first time since at least 1992. Analysts arealready forecasting a steep global recession this yearas the virus has prompted worldwide restrictions onmovement of people and goods.

China's biggest carmaker posts 29% profit dropon industry slumpSAIC Motor Corp., the biggest automaker in China,reported a 28.9% drop in earnings for last year as anindustry-wide sales slump undermined manufacturers'

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profitability in the world's largest market, reportedBloomberg.

Net income at the company, a partner of VolkswagenAG and General Motors Co., fell to RMB 25.6 billion($3.6 billion) for 2019, it said in a statement Monday.Analysts predicted RMB 27 billion on average. Rev-enue fell 6.88% year-on-year.

Trade tensions and slowing economic growth weighedon car demand in China in the past two years, causinga slump that's been since exacerbated by thecoronavirus outbreak.

Automakers are betting on new models to lure poten-tial shoppers back to showrooms as the governmentloosens stay-at-home orders aimed at fighting the spreadof the virus.Shares of SAIC fell 1.3% on Mondayahead of the earnings announcement, taking this year'sslide to 22%.

China's March pork imports almost triple fromlast year to fill domestic gapChina's pork imports in March almost tripled from lastyear, customs data showed on Tuesday, as buyers soughtto plug a huge supply gap after African swine feverdecimated the country's massive pig herd, reportedReuters, reported Reuters.

China, the world's biggest consumer, brought in 391,000tons of pork in March, up from 127,218 tons in March,2019, according to Reuters calculations based on cus-toms data.

Shipments of the meat in the first quarter came in at951,000 tons, up almost two times from the same pe-riod last year, data from General Administration ofCustoms showed. China had brought in 560,000 tons ofpork in the first two months of 2020, up 158% from ayear earlier.

The deadly African swine fever disease has reducedat least 40% of China's pig herd and cut its sow inven-tory by as much as 60% in 2019, slashing pork outputand sending prices of the country's favorite meat torecord highs.

Appliance-maker Hisense to lay off over 10,000Chinese home appliance-maker Hisense Group is lay-ing off more than 10,000 people, as the globalcoronavirus pandemic has disrupted production andreduced demand for its products, reportedCaixin.

Executives are determined to carry out the redundan-cies and most departments will be affected, accordingto one employee in the company's research depart-ment, who said that layoffs may affect as much as20% of the company's staff. Company Chairman ZhouHoujian said earlier this year that Hisense had a totalglobal workforce of 80,000.

Hisense Group, headquartered in the Shandong prov-ince city of Qingdao, sells home appliances like TVsand air conditioners around the world. The companyhas two listed units, the Shanghai-listed Hisense VisualTechnology and Hong Kong-listed Hisense HomeAppliances Group.

In 2019, Hisense Group reported revenue of RMB 127billion ($18 billion), with RMB 46 billion, or nearly 40%,generated overseas.

New draft law puts clean power at the forefront ofChina's energy policyChina has released a draft energy law that prioritizesthe use of renewable power sources and aims to setfuture targets for both its production and its share ofthe country's overall energy mix, reportedCaixin.

The draft law, which was three years in the making,aims to bring all of China's disparate energy laws underthe same roof, analysts said, as the country now hasseparate laws governing different kinds of sources,such as renewables and fossil fuels, not mention otheraspects of the sector like electricity generation andconservation.

The National Energy Administration (NEA) announcedthe release of the draft law - called China's EnergyLaw - on its website Friday. Beefing up renewableenergy use dovetails with China's pursuit of cleaner,low-carbon development and energy self-efficiency, saidLi Junfeng, an official under the research center of theMinistry of Ecology and Environment, who worked ona previous version of the draft in 2017.

For your information, please contact:Compiled & Sourced byMr. Arvind SinhaPresident 2018-2020Global Textile Welfare Association

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Orders in the global textile value chain cancelled/post-poned on average by -31%.ITMF urges governmentsacross the globe to support their respective textileindustry.Dialogue and close cooperation betweenstakeholdersof the textile supply is paramount.

Against the backdrop of the Corona-pandemic, whichhas spread across the entire globe, the InternationalTextile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) is urginggovernments to increase the support their textile andapparel industries to overcome this period ofan unprec-edented demand and supply shock.The results of sec-ond ITMF Corona Survey which were released yes-terday, revealed that on average orders are down by -31% and the turnover for 2020 is expected to drop by-28%. In our lifetimes such a demand shock is unprec-edented. "The textile and apparel companies aroundthe world are struggling and with them millions ofworkers and employees. In such times, both the publicand the private sectors must work closely together, toavoid an economic and social meltdown", ITMF Presi-dent, Mr. Kihak Sung, emphasized today.Some indus-trialized countries have sophisticated instruments likeshort-time work. To avoid laying off workers, compa-nies are reducing their working hours and wages, withthe government making up some of the employees' lostincome. Most governments in developing countries donot have the necessary mechanisms in place and arelacking the resources."Therefore, it is important to findcreative solutions between governments, internationalinstitutions and the private sector, that can be imple-mented quickly,Mr. Sung added.

The Corona-pandemic has forced governments aroundthe world to introduce lockdowns and all sorts of exitrestrictions, leading to a suddenclosure of all sorts of"offline" business for textiles and apparel. Within a fewdays, shops and stores of any kind selling "unessential"products had to close, cutting of global demand oftextiles and apparel. In the past three weeks, ITMFhas conducted two surveys among textile companiesaround the world. The first ITMF Corona-Survey inthe second half of March indicated already the direconsequences of this demand and supply shock: orderswere down by an average of around -8% globally andturnover in 2020 is expected to be down on average by-10.5% compared to 2019. The second ITMF Corona-Survey conducted at the end of March and beginningof April highlighted the devastating impact the Corona-pandemic has on the global textile industry. Across all

continents, orders droppedon average by dramatic -32%. On average, companies around the world expecttheir turnover to plunge by -29% compared to 2019.

Furthermore, the ITMF Corona-Survey revealed thatthe companies are struggling with many issues. Thetwo most important and pressing issues are, first, tokeep the workforce safe, and second, to have enoughliquidity to cover all the running expenses.Both issuesare essential for the survival of each company. In theshort-term, the safety and health of everyone workingin a company is indispensable. In the medium-term, theavailability of liquidity is crucial. In such a situation itis important that governments step in, if possible, withthe support of international financial institutions like theInternational Monetary Fund or the World Bank toprovide fibre, textile and apparel companies withfinancialassistance. "The ITMF is asking governments to pro-vide banks with additional credit facilities backed byguarantees of states and/or international institutions, tosuspend any taxes or any other forms of social leviesand contributions, etc. with the objective to providecompanies with enough liquidity to overcome this criti-cal period", Mr. Sung noted.

At the same time the ITMF is asking all stakeholder inthe supply chain to work closely together. Above all,ITMF is asking retailers and brands to refrain frommaking use of any 'force majeure clauses' in theircontracts with suppliers. These would lead to a cas-cade of cancellations of orders that are ready for ship-ment or in the process of completion. Instead, brandsand retailers as well as all other stakeholders in thesupply chain should have dialogues and look for cre-ative solutions that allow partners to survive this un-precedented period together.

While the supply chain is certainly disrupted dramati-cally, all stakeholders should do their part not to de-stroy it. If otherwise healthy companies go under be-cause of insufficient numbers of orders and/or a lackof liquidity, the supply chain will not be capable toproduce the necessary number of products with thenecessary quality and speed once demand is returning.

ITMF was founded in 1904 and its members are as-sociations and companies in the fibre, textile, apparel,home textile, textile machinery and textile chemicalindustry in almost 60 countries around the world, thatare employing directly and indirectly millions of people.

ITMF urges governments to support thetextile industry

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Textileindustry expert Oswald Baldischwielerwillfocus on value-added services forcustomers

Uster Technologies is pleased to announce thatOswald Baldischwieler starts his new position asHead of the Textile Technology Department andmember of the Executive Committee in April.

Baldischwieler, HeadTextile Technology Department and member of the

Executive Committee

Baldischwieler is an experienced textile technologistand manager. His entire career has been dedicated tothe development and promotion of the textile industry,in a number of senior roles. After working as MillManager for the German textile producer Lauffenmühleand as Technical Director and Chief Operating Officerat spinning mill Hermann Bühler, Baldischwieler joinedUster Technologies in 2017.As Product Manager forIn-line Process Control, he has been responsible for alarge part of the USTER portfolio. "The past threeyears have been a great opportunity for me to get toknow Uster Technologies as a company, to becomefamiliar with the systems and solutions and to appre-ciate the immense know-how and service capacities,"Baldischwieler says.

Customer services and supportFor USTER, value-added services are a fundamental

New Head of Textile Technology at USTER

part of the company philosophy: "The job is not com-plete just by developing great innovative products. Weneed to make sure that our customers learn how touse them effectively and efficiently every day," he says.

Uster Technologies offers a wide range of textile ser-vices and support to its customers and partners. Theseinclude the USTER®STATISTICS global benchmarks,laboratory testing services, and textile training andconsulting programs. A worldwide team of more than50 textile technologists,together with more than 200service engineers,is taking care of 4,500 customers in75 countries - working at customer sites or in USTERlaboratories - conducting training, carrying out testsand providing application know-how.

"For USTER, it is a great pleasure and a unique op-portunity, to work together with someone as experi-enced as Oswald Baldischwieler as Head of TextileTechnology," says Thomas Nasiou, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Uster Technologies. "Our Textile Technol-ogy is a core element of USTER - it is where all ourtextile know-how comes from and where our custom-ers receive the special support they appreciate."

For more information, please contact;for journalistsKathrin NiedurnyMarketing Content & Communication ManagerUster Technologies AGSonnenbergstrasse 108610 UsterSwitzerlandPhone +41 43 366 3889Mobile +41 79 895 [email protected] other media-related requests,please contact:[email protected]

Innovative service portal and modern e-commerceplatform in onemyOerlikon.com offers an intelligent all-round,care-free package

Oerlikon offers innovative service portal &modern e-commerce platform

Within the context of a globally-networked textile in-dustry, online services have become essential for con-siderably more efficient maintenance, modernization andoriginal parts procurement processes for machines and

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systems. Here, the Oerlikon Manmade Fibers segmenthas this year once again optimized the myOerlikon.comservice portal - which was established many years ago- for the products and services of its OerlikonBarmag,OerlikonNeumag and Oerlikon Nonwoven brands,making it even more user-friendly. It allows customersto now access tailored services with even greater easeand comfort - and all this in nine different languagesand around the clock.

Just glancing at the new look of the upgraded serviceportal reveals what users can expect. The platformprovides them with comprehensive digital access to allrelevant information on their in-stalled machine baseby means of PC, tablet or smart device. Each andevery machine park usually has numerous associateddocuments, ranging from manuals, circuit diagrams and3D drawing-supported original parts catalogs, all theway through to operating instructions and final docu-ments. myOerlikon.com continually bundles and updatesthis information, while also providing users with addi-tional communications on potential machine moderniza-tions and upgrades and on special offers tailored to therespective production system.

Real security during virtual shopping

Efficient, secure and transparent - myOerlikon.com

offers tailored online services

At the same time, users can access the myOerlikon.come-commerce platform, which operates in parallel. Far

from being merely a shopping platform, customers cannot only place orders comfortably here, they can alsosend online inquiries to Oerlikon, view prices andwarehouse stocks and track inquiries, quotations andorders already made or placed, among many otherthings.

As a result of online access to original parts catalogsfor the respective customer machines and systems,erroneous orders are a thing of the past.

Log-in is secure for users, as are all transactions car-ried out using the platform. With this, Oerlikon is imple-menting real security for all virtual purchases. All dataexchanged is fundamentally encrypted and hence pro-tected against unauthorized access.

"With myOerlikon.com, we are supplying customerswith a tool with which they can plan and steer allprocesses relating to maintenance, operation and spareparts provision for their machine parks - constantlyupdated, customized and available around the clock,"explains Ingo Scholz, Project Manager for myOerlikon&e-commerce at Oerlikon. "Here, users benefit fromstable production performance, a high degree of oper-ating reliability and optimized product quality," explains,before adding "because high-quality end products andefficient production are dependent on the optimumcondition of the system."

For further information, please contact:Ute WatermannMarketing, Corporate Communications& Public AffairsTel. +49 2191 67 1634Fax +49 2191 67 1313ute.watermann@[email protected]é WissenbergMarketing, Corporate Communications& Public AffairsTel. +49 2191 67 2331Fax +49 2191 67 [email protected]

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The Indian yarn manufacturer Polygenta, special-ized on the manufacturing of sustainable recyclingyarns, recently commenced production of recycledpolyester FDY yarns at its facilities in Nashik.The yarn is produced using a combination ofperPETual Global Technologies patented chemi-cal recycling technology and OerlikonBarmag'sdirect spin-ning system equipped with the 32-endWINGS concept.

OerlikonBarmag spinning concepts withWINGS FDY

The spinning plant was commissioned by OerlikonTextile India technologists in close collaboration withthe process experts at OerlikonBarmag, with various

perPETual and Polygenta manufacture rPET FDYusing Oerlikon Barmag's WINGS

FDY products currently being developed. The yarnproduced caters to the requirements of premium-seg-ment clients demanding high quality, cost effectivesustainable solutions.

As one of the world's first companies, Polygenta has,since 2014, been producing 100% recycled POY andDTY from post-consumer PET using the patentedchemical recycling process developed by per- PETualGlobal Technologies.

perPETual's process reduces CO2 impact by more than66% compared to virgin PET. The yarn is spun usingOerlikonBarmag systems and equipment. As a result,Polygenta is able to produce a wide range of DTY andFDY yarns that comply with the Global Recycled Stan-dard (GRS).

For further information, please contact:Susanne BeyerMarketing, Corporate Communications& Public AffairsTel. +49 2191 67 1526Fax +49 2191 67 [email protected] André WissenbergMarketing, Corporate Communications& Public AffairsTel. +49 2191 67 2331Fax +49 2191 67 1313

Following several years of development with partnerSiemens, Oerlikon Barmag kicked off serial productionof its new drive unit for POY systems at the begin-ning of the year. The new component makes standsout above all with regards to energy efficiency.

A new driver unit for WINGS POY further reduces theenergy consumption in the winder section by 3%.

POY process now even more energy-efficientThe requirements-specific design of the compact in-verter unit ensures functional optimization of the winder'scontrol functions. And the new component is used inconjunction with a performance-optimized chuck mo-tor.

This means that energy savings of up to 3% can beachieved for the take-up. "In the case of a 1,000-position system, this represents a saving of around120,000 euros a year, depending on the relevant localenergy costs. The many years of collaborating withour partner Siemens means that we are always state-of-the-art in terms of control technology.

With our e-save-certified solutions, we are consistentlyable to offer our clientèle sustainable technology forthe efficient manufacture of yarns", states Arnulf Sauer,responsible for winder technology at Oerlikon Barmag.

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Further customer benefits include a significant reduc-tion in cables and cable trays. The reduced number ofswitching cabinets also saves space. Following inten-sive field tests at two well-known customers last year,the compact inverter unit was finally released for serialmanufacture at the beginning of 2020. There are plansto deliver several thousand positions with the newcomponent this year.

For further information, please contact:Susanne Beyer

Marketing, Corporate Communications& Public AffairsTel. +49 2191 67 1526Fax +49 2191 67 [email protected] André WissenbergMarketing, Corporate Communications& Public AffairsTel. +49 2191 67 2331Fax +49 2191 67 [email protected]

◆ Discontinuation of assembly at the Winterthur lo-cation confirmed

◆ Reduction of 87 jobs◆ Comprehensive social plan in place

On January 29, 2020, Rieter announced its intention todiscontinue the assembly of machines at the Winterthurlocation due to structural changes in the market situa-tion. The consultation process with employee repre-sentatives was completed today, March 11, 2020. Afterintensive discussion and detailed examination of thesubmitted proposals, the discontinuation of assemblyand the associated reduction of 87 jobs was confirmed.

The final position was communicated to the employeerepresentatives and the Office for Economy and Laborof the Canton of Zurich. Rieter's employees were in-formed of the result. The decision will be implementedgradually during 2020.

Rieter has a comprehensive social plan. The focus ison the reintegration of affected employees with thesupport of the Regional Employment Centre (RAV) as

Rieter -Consultation Process at the WinterthurLocation Completed

well as a job center and the avoidance of hardshipcases. The company intends to reduce the headcountby means of workforce turnover and early retirement,however some layoffs will be unavoidable.

For further information please contact:Rieter Holding Ltd.Investor RelationsKurt LedermannChief Financial OfficerT +41 52 208 70 15F +41 52 208 70 [email protected] Management AGMedia RelationsRelindisWieserHead - Group CommunicationT +41 52 208 70 45F +41 52 208 70 [email protected]

Attention

All TAI Members

THE TEXTILE ASSOCIATHE TEXTILE ASSOCIATHE TEXTILE ASSOCIATHE TEXTILE ASSOCIATHE TEXTILE ASSOCIATION (INDIA)TION (INDIA)TION (INDIA)TION (INDIA)TION (INDIA)

Please update their contact information by

Sending us e-mail to update our mailer data

[email protected]

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The Textile Association (India), Mumbai Unithas lost its very senior Member and Trustee,Shri R. G. Malvankar who passed away on26th February 2020. He was one of the keyfunctionaries of this important Organization ofTextile Professionals.

Shri Malvankar was the Alumni of the VJTIand did his M.Tech in 1973. He was very muchattached to the various activities of this insti-tute. He was the Faculty Member of VJTI,Textile Department and Vice Chairman ofTextile Past Students Association (TPSA). Hewas also Committee member of Advisory Board,BTRA and Textile Studies in University ofBombay. He was socially involved as a Mem-ber of Lions Club of Wellington, Santacruz andActive Member &Sponsorer of Cancer AidAssociation.

Shri Malvankar started his career as a Pro-duction Supervisor in Khatau Mills in the year1970. He also worked in various textile millslike New Oriental Silk Mills, Gold Mohur Mills,Supertex India Corporation. In 1980 he started

SAD DEMISE

his own business venture Syntex Corporationand also formed a new company in 1992 calledNova Transfers Pvt. Ltd. and he was the Di-rector (Marketing & Technical Services).

Shri Malvankar was the Managing Committeemember of TAI, Mumbai Unit since 2001 to tilldate. He was the Vice Chairman of the TAI,Mumbai Unit from 2001 to 2015. In 2004, hewas awarded Service Memento of The TextileAssociation (India) for his contribution to thetextile industry.

The Mumbai Unit was very lucky and proud tohave a person like Shri Malvankar at the helmof affairs and we all believe that his absencewill be very much felt by the Association formany years. It is a great loss to the Associa-tion.

We all pray to the Almighty to bestow Ever-lasting peace to his departed soul and giveenough courage to his family to sustain thisirreparable loss.

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Late Shri R. G. Malvankar(01.11.1947 - 26.02.2020)


Shri Vaishnav Institute of Textile Technology of ShriVaishnav Vidhyapeeth Vishwavidyalaya, Indore orga-nized two days National Textile Conference "TEXCON-2020" on 05th & 06th March, 2020. The theme ofconference was "Contemporary Issues in Textile Manu-facturing Process from Fiber to Garment". TEXCON-2020 was aimed at bringing together the entire ex-tended textile fraternity on one platform for the intel-lectual interface of varied domains. Each delegate hasshared their experiences and discussed the practicalchallenges and solutions that can be adopted.

Day 1: 5th March, 2020

Lighting the lamp in inaugural session

Release of Conference BookL to R: Dr. R. K. Datta, Dr. Upinder Dhar,

Dr. R. L. Raina, Shri Purushottamdas Pasari,Shri Kumar Purushottam, Shri Nitinji Seth,

Shri Kamalnarayan Bhuradiya

Inaugural SessionThe inaugural ceremony commenced with the lightningof the lamp by a group of dignitaries - Chief Guest, Dr.R. L. Raina, Vice Chancellor of J. K. LakshmipatUniversity Jaipur, Guest of Honor, Shri KumarPurushottam (I.A.S.) Executive Director M.P.I.D.C.Indore. Guest of Honor, Shri Nitinji Seth C.O.O. ArvindLtd. Knits Division, Ahmadabad, Honorable ShriPurushottamdas Pasari, Chancellor of Shri VaishnavVidyapeeth Vishwavidyalaya, Dr. Upinder Dhar ViceChancellor of Shri Vaishnav VidyapeethVishwavidyalaya, Dr. R. K. Datta - Director of ShriVaishnav Institute of Textile Technology, ShriKamalnarayan Bhuradiya , Honorary Secretary of ShriVaishnav Vidyapeeth Trust.

Dr. R. K. Datta briefed about Texcon-2020. Dr.Upinder Dhar formally welcomed all the dignitariesand the participants from the various part of the coun-try. He mentioned that Indian textile industry, currentlyestimated at around US $150 billion, is expected toreach US $ 300 billion by 2025. It accounts for 13percent of industrial production and contributes 2.3percent to the GDP of the country. The textile andapparel industry is the second largest employer in thecountry providing employment to 45 million people. Hehighlighted the need and requirement of innovation inthe current scenario. Shri Purushottamdasji Pasaricongratulated the organizing committee of TEXCON -2020 that has provided a platform to the academia andindustry to present their research work and helpedeverybody to gain the knowledge.

Shri Kumar Purushottam (IAS) emphasized on variousgovernment policies and futuristic views for textilesand garment industries. He urges to young textile en-gineers to improve the productivity of textile. Shri NitinSeth shared his experience & discussed on costcompetiveness of Indian garment in this fast fashionworld. Chief Guest, Dr. R. L. Raina also congratulatedeverybody for organizing TEXCON - 2020 and appre-ciated the various researched works for the benefit ofthe society. He emphasized on various projects relatedto sericulture of silk, handlooms products and also talksabout the role of academic institutes and students forthe development of overall textile Industry. Finally, ShriKamalnarayan Bhuradiya proposed the words ofthanks.

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SVITT successfully organized TEXCON -2020


Plenary Session-IDr. J. Hayavadana, Professor, University College ofTechnology, Osmania University, Hyderabad, presenteda research paper on Challenges for Ikat Dyeing inNalgonda District of Telangana State. Dr. Ashwini K.Agrawal, Professor and H.O.D., Department of Tex-tile Technology, I.I.T. Delhi, discussed about the devel-opment of Nano Engineered Janus structure for highlyfunctional textile material.

Mr. Kunal Toshwani, Executive Manager, RaymondLimited, talked on various issues in the manufacturingof garments looking to the perspective end-uses of thecustomer. The Session chair was Dr. R. K. Datta,Director, SVITT.

Plenary Session-IIDr. Ashok Athayle, Professor, Department of Fibersand Textile Processing Technology, Institute of Chemi-cal Technology Mumbai, presented a paper on Polyes-ter & discussed about the PLA. Dr. Gautam Bose, ExPrincipal Scientist of ICAR, Kolkata, described onvarious natural growing in the vast unexplored of natu-ral fibers in India. Mr. V.K. A.K. Pandey, A.G.M.,Voltas Textile Machinery Division, discussed on "Inno-vation and Value Creation" of textile spinning machinesto push the industry 4.0 revolution. The Session chairwas Dr. Santosh Dhar, Dean, FDSR, SVVV. Thereaf-ter, two concurrent sessions were conducted, in that 11technical papers were presented.

Day 2: 6th March, 2020Plenary Session - 3Dr. P. A. Khatwani, Professor, Sarvajanik College ofEngineering& Technology, Surat, presented a paper onNonwoven Fabrics: Gateway to the Broad Market ofInnovations & discussed various issues on nonwovenfabric. Dr. B. Basu, Consultant, Mumbai, presented apaper on crisis in Bhiwandi power loom sector withtheir problem and much needed solutions. The SessionChair was Dr. U. C. Choubey, Emeritus Professor,SVITS.

Plenary Session - 4Dr. Vinay Kumar Midha, Professor, Department ofTextile Technology, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Insti-tute of Technology, Jalandhar, presented paper on thedynamic of lock stitch sewing process with the effectof tension variation of sewing thread on the propertiesof garments. Prof. Jomichan Pattathil, Professor,N.I.F.T., Mumbai, discussed about the Adoption of CADin Indian garment manufacturing sector to assess the

stakeholder perception. Dr. R. Ramachandran, Associ-ate Professor, Department of Fashion Technology, PSGCollege of Technology, Coimbatore, presented a paperon 3D printing technology & discussed about the meth-ods of applications of that .The Session Chair was Dr.Shirish Jain, Professor, & Exam Controller, SVVV.

Plenary Session - 5Mr. R. N. Yadav, Principal Consultant, Aaryan Asso-ciates, delivered a lecture on the Role of Job Restruc-turing, Discipline and Productivity for the Indian textileindustry. Dr. R. N. Joshi, Associate Professor, SGGSIE& T, Nanded, delivered lecture online through GoogleDuo. He spoke on a case study to the producers ofstarting and shutdown of melt spinning line of polyesterplant. The Session Chair was Dr. P. A. Khatwani,Professor, Sarvajanik College of Engineering & Tech-nology, Surat. Thereafter two concurrent sessions wereconducted, in that 7 technical papers were presented.

Valedictory Ceremony

Valedictory speech by Mr. Rajeev Sharma (IAS), Com-missioner, Directorate of Handloom & Handicraft and

Managing Director, Sant Ravidas Madhya PradeshHastashilp evam Hathkargha Vikas Nigam, Bhopal

Felicitation of Chief Guest, Mr. Rajeev Sharma (IAS),at Valedictory Ceremony

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The Chief Guest of the Valedictory Ceremony wasMr. Rajeev Sharma (IAS), Commissioner, Directorateof Handloom & Handicraft and Managing Director,Sant Ravidas Madhya Pradesh Hastashilp evamHathkargha Vikas Nigam, Bhopal. In Valedictory cer-emony, Dr. R. K. Datta, Chairman, Texcon - 2020presented conference report.

Dr. Upinder Dhar, Vice Chancellor, Shri VaishnavVidhyapeeth Vishwavidyalaya said that the textile sec-tor is always consider as an important sector of thesociety. Now the time for the value addition and needsto upgrade process and technology and innovates somenew products. The brochure of TEXCON 2021 wasalso released. Chief Guest, Mr. Rajeev Sharma (IAS)said that the Indian fabric is always considering a primemarket for the foreign textile business. India coveredthe 20 percent business in textile in past. This wasbecause of the specialty of the handlooms and handi-crafts. Now the time is to restructure of the handloomsector. The Maheshwari Sarees is the important prod-uct of the Madhya Pradesh. This was developed byDevi Ahilyabai Holkar. He also encouraged the stu-dents to work hard & give new technological ray onthe development of Handloom & Handicrafts. He alsoshared the hope for the recruitment of fresh techno-crats in this sector in future. Prof. Ajay Shankar Joshi,Organizing Secretary, 2020 proposed the words ofthanks.

View of wonderful gathering

In TEXCON 2020, students from various textile insti-tutes also presented 11 technical posters. A TextileExhibition was also organized, in that Sundaram Fash-ion, Mrignayani Emporium Indore and Raymond wereparticipated. The students of B.Sc Fashion Designing,

SVVV also exhibited their own designed garments.The Assistant Director & his team from Raja RamannaCentre for Advanced Technology, Indore also demon-strated the eco friendly dyeing treatment. The GoldSponsor of TEXCON 2020 was Raymond Limited,Silver Sponsor was Vardhman Textiles Limited andMaral Overseas, Uttar Techno Consultancy, SundaramFashion, Nakoda Textiles and FIT IN Men's wear werethe sponsors of TEXCON 2020.

The Journal of the Textile Association and Tex-tile Value Chain were the media partners. InTEXCON 2020,

Faculties & Students were also participated from ParulUniversity, Waghodia; SMRK BK AK MahilaMahavidyalaya, Nasik; Visva Bharati (A Central Uni-versity), West Bengal; Uttar Pradesh Textile Technol-ogy Institute; Sunrise University, Alwar; MPSTME -NMIMS, Shirpur; SAIT, Bengaluru; Nirmala Niketan,Mumbai; VJTI, Mumbai; LDCE, Ahmedabad; M.S.University, Baroda; NIT, Jalandhar and Shri VaishnavVidyapeeth, Indore. The delegates from Industries &The Textile Association (India) were also presented inboth days of conference.

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Visit at Textile Exhibition


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The Textile Association (India) completes 81 glorious yearsThe Textile Association (India) or TAI as it is popularlyknown, celebrates its 81st 'Incorporation Day' today,April 9, 2020. It was established on April 9, 1939, byten visionary technocrats, who used to meet casuallyas a 'Friday Club'. They formalized TAI along with 126likeminded technocrats and managers. The objectiveof the association was to facilitate free exchange ofinformation on technical cooperation. The founders'vision was to create a common platform where tech-nocrats and leaders from small and big industries cometogether to bring laurel to the industry and country atlarge.

TAI today is the leading and one of the largest nationalbodies, of textile professionals, striving for the growthof India's largest industry. The association has morethan 25,000 strong members through its 26 affiliatedUnits (chapters), spread throughout the length andbreadth of the country.

"Our heartiest congratulations to the founders, trustees,predecessor presidents, committee members all ouresteemed members and sincere thanks for the wholehearted support to the entire textile industry extendedover all these years," says Ashok Juneja, NationalPresident, TAI. "It is my proud privilege to lead sucha prestigious association which has had eminent presi-dents during its glorious journey from Late Dr. NazirAhmed to Late Homi Modi; Late Dr. Vikram Sarabhai;Late N. V. Ullal, Late Maj. R. P. Poddar, Shri J. J.Randheri, Shri M. K. Mehra, Shri R. K. Dalmia, ShriR. C. Kesar, Dr. M. S. Mathivanan, Dr. P. R. Roy andmany other eminent personalities."

TAI, in all these years has conferred prestigious awardsand honorary memberships to highly respected person-alities like Shri Nazir Ahmed, Shri Kasturbhai Lalbhai,Shri K.D.M. Thackercy, Shri Gulzarilal Nanda, ShriHomi Modi, Shri G. D. Birla, Shri G. D Ambekar, Dr.Vikram Sarabhai, Shri Arvind N. Mafatlal, Shri NavalH. Tata, Shri Padampat Singhania, Shri Neville Wadia,Hon. Maj. R. P. Poddar, Shri Gaur Hari Singhania, ShriAbhaykumar S. Kasliwal, Shri Dhirubhai H. Ambani,Shri K. K. Birla, Shri Mukesh D. Ambani, and manymore distinguished people who have contributed to-wards the growth of textile industry of India.

"With emphasis and commitment to professional ethicsand social responsibilities, our renewed vision is to beinternationally renowned as a leading association oftextile technocrats and professionals promoting scien-tific and technological knowledge and training withbenchmarking performance," Juneja says.

"With our new Office Bearers elected for 2020-21, wewish to make TAI more connected with the industrythrough various ground activities organised by differentunits across the country. One such initiative started byus is interaction through JTA. We welcome more and

more industry engagement through JTA. Readers cansend us their contributions as expert articles, researches,reports and developments in their work space. Thiswill add to everyone's knowledge," Juneja informs.

The Textile Association (India) provides opportunitiesfor professional growth of technologists in the Indiantextile industry across all sectors. The association or-ganizes seminars, conferences, workshops, refreshercourses and exhibitions of textiles and allied machinesfor the benefit of members. These activities are heldacross the country with the help of all 26 federal units,which are autonomous in their activities.

TAI's annual conference is a prestigious annual event,being organised for the last 76 years. TAI has orga-nized 75 Annual All India Textile Conferences (AITCs)some at an international level. These conferences havefocused on contemporary and innovative topics withhigh profile speakers. Eminent industrialists, policymakers, reputed professionals and renowned expertsfrom different parts of the world have presented re-search papers. Most conferences have been inaugu-rated by eminent and dynamic personalities of Indialike the President, Prime Minister, cabinet ministers,governors and sate chief ministers, secretary to theMinistry of Textiles, vice chancellors etc.

TAI also publishes small tablets and textbooks of prac-tical value for the benefit of practicing professionalsand students. It publishes study materials which helpmembers acquire textile qualifications by appearing forstandard examinations. It offers added qualification ofATA and GMTA for technicians who can earn andstudy to acquire a Diploma (ATA) and a degree(GMTA). ATA is recognized as equal to a diploma andGMTA is equivalent to a university degree. TAI mem-bers who acquired GMTA have also completed theirpost graduate and doctorate programs from reputeduniversities in India.

Internationally, TAI is the founder member of theFederation of Asian Professional Textile Associations(FAPTA). TAI's national president is one of the mem-bers in International Advisory Committee of FAPTA.The association organized the 1st International AsianTextile Conference (ATC) in 1991 and the 7th Inter-national Asian Textile conference (ATC) in 2003 inNew Delhi.

TAI is also the co-sponsor of India ITME Society andthe National President is one of the vice chairmen ontheir steering committee.

TAI also publishes a prestigious bi-monthly peer-re-viewed 'Journal of the Textile Association' for the last81 years. JTA is also available in a digital versiononline since 2011 on TAI's website

www.textileassociationindia.org.


Novel Coronavirus! It is a war with aninvisible enemy.The virus that started in Wuhan, China has nowimpactedalmost all parts of the world & is seen asone of the worstperiods in human history.The lockdown of almost allmajoreconomies including China, US, Europe andnowIndia, has not only shaken up humanrace but also theglobal economy. It isalmost like World War 3 where thefight isnot with any state or country but with aninvisibleenemy that can attack anytime,anywhere irrespectiveof caste, religion orcountry.For the past few weeks, what we as acountry and worldhave seen is unimaginable. We have been part of manyconversations on what happened; how did thisspread;was China at fault; why did thegovernment not take ap-propriate stepsfrom the beginning; Italy pays big priceofcallous attitude and many more theories.Amidst all this,our concern is about thefuture of the textile industry. Thedemandfor textile products, as also domestic salesof tex-tiles and apparel have come to agrinding halt, due to thelockdown.As we all know textile industry is a veryunique industry,characterized by varioussegments, having their uniquebusinessinterests, which sometimes clash with eachother.Due to the lockdown, all factories,small and big, in allsectors - spinning,weaving, garmenting and all allied seg-ments, are closed and it cannot be saidclearly when theywill be allowed to operateagain. We all witnessed howmigrant labourhas been running helter-skelter amidstallthe confusion, in a desperate attempt tosafeguard hisfamily from hunger.We have more than 2000 spinning millspan India. Thebigger units which are con-trolled by big corporate houseshave theirworkers residing in the allocated residentialunitsadjoining the factory premises.Majority of the workershave migrated fromBihar, UP, Orissa, etc. and are beingtakencare of by employers. It is worth ponderingwhetherworkers have stayed back of theirown free will, or wereforced to stay backonce the lockdown was announced,andthere was no means of transportation to goback totheir home town.Further, it is a question mark once thelockdown is liftedwhether they will stay towork or rush back to theirhomeland tocheck on their families. Also, workerswhohave already gone back may or may notreturn towork. The daily wage workerforms 80% of theworkforce in garment factories.At present, may be only raw materialand electricity ex-penses are not beingincurred by the mills. But they haveto bearall other expenses, which results in directloss to amill.There are various other issues - whathappens to mate-rial in process, it may haveto go as second quality. Allshipments areheld up, LCs will expire, there may be re-negotiation of prices, etc. Clearly, restartingfactories willnot be an easy task. Social distancing will have to be

practiced for sometime even after the lockdown ends.This willagain be a challenge in textile andapparelfactories.Apparel industry will be severely hit asall over the world,stores are closed and nosales are happening. Almost allbuyers arecancelling orders or postponing orders, toavoidfurther stockpile, and they may notplace further com-mitted orders in the nextfew months.The virus has severely impacted India'smajor exportdestinations - US and EU.These regions will witness highlevels ofunemployment. It is difficult to say whenthesecountries will return to normal life;and when consumerswill start spending onapparel again. A recent survey byITMFpaints a bleak image - orders in the globaltextilevalue chain could fall by 31% in2020, compared to 2019.And turnover in 02020 could fall by 28%. Machinerymanufacturers too, have suspended their operations.Neither are they in a position to pro-duce the machinesnor are customers in aposition to accept delivery. Millsmay beable to accept deliveries only 3-4 monthsafterstart of operations.Right now, challenges in front of theindustry are safety,lack of supply anddemand, in addition to liquidity.Medicaltextiles is certainly an opportunity andsome tex-tile mills are now shifting production to manufacture facemasks and otherpersonal protective gear.Indians are a resilient people, who adaptto situationsquickly. We also know thattides will turn and take a dif-ferent path.Most of the world was dependent onChina,now that dependency will change, and it willbenefitcountries like India. If India succeeds in this lockdownperiod and fightsback without much loss then it will bebackto business soon because ultimately foodand cloth-ing will remain the key purchases.Volumes may go down but orders will notdisappear com-pletely. Once life is back tonormal people will shop, alsoas months oflockdown and depression will motivatethemto buy something new, look good andfeel good. Manyare seeing this as a correction period, but we hope thatthis correctiondoes not take away livelihoods. Inthesetough times, we all are together and keeping youupdated about industry and globalscenario is our duty.So, to conclude, as of now, the situationdoes not seemgood for any one; it may notbe easy to restart opera-tions, given themany challenges. It's difficult toestimatethe direct losses at present and it's difficulttoforesee the issues that may arise afterthe lockdown islifted.We, however, should start preparing toface the challengesthat we can foresee,without much dependence ongovernmentrelief, which will help us to only someextent.We also need to learn some lessonsfrom this crisis - notdepending upon onlyone source of supply, shift towardslocaliza0tion, move towards variable cost models.Andmake better strategies for the timesahead.

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We need to learn some lessons from this crisisBy Ashok Juneja, President, TAI


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A.T.E. ties up with Sellers Textile EngineersLimited to bring innovative carpet finishing tech-nology to India

Expanding its portfolio of carpet machinery, A.T.E. hasnow partnered with Sellers Textile Engineers, England,for the marketing and sales of carpet back coating andshearing machines in India.

Carpet Tile Coating Line

With more than 100 years of experience, Sellers Tex-tiles Engineers isa world leader in the design andmanufacture of finishing machinery for the carpet in-dustry. Sellersexpertise includes lines for tufted andwoven carpets, carpet tile and artificial grass. Virtuallyevery major carpet manufacturer throughout the globeutilises Seller's machines in one form or another - soSellers have hundreds of leading references around theworld. Sellersis committed to maintain and strengthen

A.T.E. ties up with Sellers Textile Engineers Limited

their reputation for manufacturing excellence in thecarpet finishing marketutilisingtheir core skillsandtheirunique design and manufacturing prowess.

A.T.E. is a leader in textile engineering with over 80years of experience in providing end-to-end solutions.A.T.E. is uniquely positioned to support and supply allthe equipment needed for carpet manufacturing rightfrom BCF yarn production lines from Truetzschler,carpet yarn heat setting lines from Power Heat Set,digital printing from Zimmer, carpet confection linesfrom Matthys Group, and robotic tufting from EFAB.With this partnership, A.T.E. brings yet another inno-vative technology to the Indian carpet manufacturingindustry, which will helpcarpet manufacturer's gain acompetitive edge.

Shearing

Mr. Arun Mishra

COVID 19 - Disguise turns into blessingBy Arun Mishra, Founder & director at Adept Global Solutions, Ex General Manager,

Saurer Textile Solutions & Rieter India

Remember Newton's third law 'For every action,there is an equal and opposite reaction'. Similarly,in human life to every negative event, there's alwaysan opposite positive reaction that brings long-lastingchanges. For example, not too far ago in 1991, Indiahad an acute balance of payment and was on theverge of bankruptcy. In the opposite & positive reac-tion to that India liberalized its Economy and thanks tothat today we are called Resurgent India with foreignreserves of USD 470Bn. COVID - 19 is also pres-


ently a mammoth negative event for India & IndianEconomy and it will definitely generate equally strongopposite positive reactions that would bring long lastingchanges never imagined hitherto. In this context, I amattempting to list a few tangibles & intangibles that hadalready happened in response to COVID 19 along withthe way we should react positively to build on.

You will find that COVID -19 is actually a ChangeAccelerator. In that sense, Corona has already achievedin the last few days what the Government could not doin many years. I am of the opinion that Corona is goingto be truly a Blessing in Disguise for India. It is like 'AFuture that Has Already Happened.'

COVID - 19 An Overnight Paradigm shift1. Digital Economy - Corona lockdowns imposed digi-tal payment/ transactions on everyone. Those who didnot have online arrangements to pay suffered and re-alized its importance. Corona created a natural hatredtowards touching currency notes. In my view, the gov-ernment should now proactively propagate to shun papercurrency and shift to digital payment as a safety toolagainst corona. This will not only reduce incidences ofcorona infection but also help to accelerate the trans-formation into the digital economy. This has the poten-tial to migrate a couple of percentage points from India's84% cash economy to the digital economy thus result-ing in higher revenue recognition & higher tax collec-tions. This can become Corona's best gift to India.

2. Work From Home (WFH) - WFH can be a sec-ond corona gift to India's prosperity. So far WFH wassparingly used as a retention/luring perk by few selectlarge corporations but Corona in an overnight made"Work from Home" a new Normal. Now formal jobsare also shifted to work from home. If we could stan-dardize, regulate and accelerate WFH, it itself has thepotential to catapult India to a different growth orbit ofprosperity. Aggressive WFH can result in higher sav-ings for individual & corporate, higher productivity, lowercommuting hassles, and lower air pollution. WFH canalso be instrumental in higher & easier availability ofjobs with the least migration within India.

3. DIGITALLY STRONG INDIA - Even in an ex-tensive and long lockdown, this country is smoothlyfunctioning despite the complete restriction on move-ment. It has proved that India's digital infrastructure is

strong and can deliver. All those who used to doubt itscapability can rest their apprehensions to peace. Nowthere is a need to accelerate digitization along withsome innovative ways to promote it in each and everypart of life. Corona has tested our systems and nowthe Government must have understood its constraints,limitations, and faults. Corona demonstrated gaps &Kick started the improvements.

4. Healthy India - a Health Capital for the World -For over a month virtually the entire population re-mained inside that resulted in reduced pollution in theenvironment. Clubbed with its Social distance, frequenthand washing & disinfestation of the entire countrythat is going to stay for a long period. This wouldchange the hygiene habits of Indians. Corona is pavinga way towards a Healthy, Hygienic and Cleaner Indiaprovided both citizen and Government build on it. Tobuild a healthy India advantage, we will need tostrengthen our cleaning system and Health infrastruc-tures. For Health infrastructure, India can set up world-class medical and geriatric facilities in every part ofIndia with public Private participation that could trans-form India from a preferred medical tourism destina-tion into the Health Capital of the world,

5. Hospitality & Tourist Destination : Most of thepopular tourist locations in the world are severelyCOVID impacted. There's a natural hesitation to visitthose countries.

Fortunately, India remained relatively COVID safe andrecovering faster and also has many tourist destina-tions. Other countries' loss can be India's gain. In thatsense, there cannot be a better opportune time to pro-mote Indian tourism. Tourism is the largest employer inthe world and Indian youth needs it more than anyoneelse. To boost the Tourism, Government should subsi-dize heavily inward air tickets to India and hotel room& dining rates in India to attract foreign tourists. Spe-cial discounts by Taxi and shopkeepers need to beprovided for all foreign tourists.

Special Desk should be set up with Police for thesafety of Tourists in India. The government should setaside funds for aggressive marketing along with. Indiacan also install Retina /biometric scanners at most publicplaces to detect Corona positive patient, apart from theArogya app already in use. Luckily India has Biomet-

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ric records of all citizens. This will give further confi-dence to tourists that India is really Corona safe totravel.6. Indian Manufacturing Revolution on Anvil Icame across this information that many companies areplanning to shift part of their manufacturing base toIndia Now Corona has fueled the hate for China. Itwould hasten the shift. The world is keenly looking tocome to India but we must add sweetener. The Gov-ernment needs to make requisite structural changesand improve the ease of doing the business in Indiamarkedly. Even Invite Chinese companies to invest inIndia if they can bring manufacturing excellence alongwith it. If there's any time for any manufacturing revo-lution, it is now or never. Corona may prove to be theinflection point for the Manufacturing Revolution inIndia.

7. Indian Goodwill uplift : India's goodwill and hu-mane face got another uplift. A country where citizensare law-abiding and peaceful. Indian innovation be itHCQ, Ventilators Testing kits or even vaccines forCorona, India is not behind but in some cases ratherleading from the front.

8. Sharper Recovery - World was already headingslowly towards recession before Corona hit it. COVID19 Lockdowns suddenly brought the World economy toa virtual grinding halt. It's akin to hitting the bottomduring the lockdowns. So It is but natural for everycountry to positively react to redraw its strategy forSharper & quicker recovery. Only time will tell whichcountry succeeds the best. We can only hope India bethat one and it looks like India can.

Few Consolations - All is not lostOil - Oil prices dropped to USD 25 form USD 70 perbarrel but the government intelligently did not pass thebenefits to the consumer. Clubbed with very low con-sumption, a rough estimate of saving is expected to bearound INR 3 lac Crore (USD 42bn or approx. 1.5%of GDP). A consolation for the lower deficit.

1. Agriculture - 70% of India's population dependsupon Agricultural and fortunately it is not impacted.The government is emptying half of its grain stock forits aggressive public distribution of grains duringCOVID-19 lockdown, Now Government can procuremore and can perhaps pay more to put more money in

farmer's hands helping the revival of rural demand andeconomy. The good news is that Monsoon Forecastfor the next crops is normal. So food inflation is easilycontrollable which a great consolation is.2. Telecom : Thanks to Corona Telecom & internetcompanies are having a hay day. Work from homebecoming the norm, it has changed the fortune of thisindustry. Corona is a savior for them.Impact on Employment / Hiring /RecruitmentIt hardly needs intelligence to say that the worst im-pact of #CORONA would be on #employment hence#recruitment industry would definitely suffer. This is ahalf-correct view. In the immediate commotion, whennobody knows what to expect, there's obviously goingto be a standstill and retrenchment is definitely notruled out. However, when businesses start acting,there's going to a dichotomy around the world in allcommercial & economic activities including Recruit-ment / Hiring. The need for full-time Talent would beinitially small and critical and on IMPORTANT &URGENT basis. Recovery is likely to be in the orderof Top, senior & Mid-level hiring followed by bulk-hiring. Initially, Staffing companies would be better offbecause they are part of the DE risked model. WorkFrom Home (WFH) would be on an immediate basisat all levels both in replacement and new hire basis. Itis 9 to 12 months from lockdown opening when thehiring for growth would happen and attrition wouldreach its new normal peak Most of the governmentsacross the globe would be announcing mega packagesto strengthen confidence to induce fast recovery andto tame the unemployment.

The country needs a long term strategic structuralsolution and not just a stimulus package. Higher defi-cits and harder decisions, if taken for India's growthand if not wasted largesse, are not going to be ques-tioned now.

I hope someone in the Government is sitting on a draw-ing board to have new look with a mindset "It is nowor never". It is the time when one can put India on thepath of Return to be Golden Sparrow again or take tothe Path of No Return. Luckily, the current Govern-ment is with the decisive majority government and witha decisive mindset. Abolishing 370 is one proof of it.Hence I am confident that Paranoid India will not onlysurvive but will flourish too.

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The fashionable dress that you pick from a store oronline travels a long journey that leaves a lot of envi-ronmental footprint. The garment is made from thefabric; fabric that is made from a yarn/thread and thethread that is made from fibre. Unfortunately, the en-tire fashion & textile value chain which is engaged inthe making of the clothes today is the second largestcontributor to the pollution.

This awareness has led to contentious consumers, largeretail brands NGOs, leading designers all coming to-gether towards reducing carbon footprints through sus-tainable initiatives. Sustainability or sustainable initia-tives refers to taking steps to avoid depletion of naturalresources like land , water, air in order to maintainecological balance. This World Earth Day, let us un-derstand what we as consumers can do to ensure thatour fashion choices do not harm the MotherNature.How can a consumer know who is making hisfabric/fibre and is he following right steps to ensureleast environmental impact? Can this knowledge helphim protecting the environment? Do consumers like ushave the right to demand who made my clothes, whereare they coming from and how much impact they aremaking on the environment? Because if consumersdemand this, more and more brands and manufactur-ers would be forced to follow processes which wouldthen lead to least environmental footprint.

While all of the abovementioned is yet to be achieved,some technological innovations are enabling this trans-parency. In this day and age we have the technologyin place to track the full journey of the garment thatyou are wearing! This 'journey tracing' is enabled by atechnology called 'Tracer'. A tracer is nothing but apigment injected at the orgin of the fibre that tracks thefull value chain. Leading garment brands display a QRcode on their apparel which when scanned tells youthe fields and factories that the fibre/fabric originatedand travelled. Today, as a consumer, you can demandthis transparency and force the brands and manufac-turers to source and follow -friendly measures.

Armed with this information on brands and manufac-turers, the customer can then visit the websites ofthese manufacturers and brands and check if they haveendorsements from non-governmental organisations

Earth Day Special - How the fashion industry is inchingtowardssustainability and steps consumers can take

(NGO's) like Canopy, FSC, SAC and Changing mar-kets foundation to name a few. All these NGOs arelike a gold hallmark. They have certain strict normslaid down and they visit brands and factories to ensurecompliance on some pre-defined land, water and airpollution parameters.

Recently, the Aditya Birla Group launched a fabriccalled Livaeco that has a Tracer in it. Livaeco fabriccan be identified by a tag displayed on the garment.These garments available at leadingbrands, have fullvalue-chain transparency. Many designers like GabriellaDemetraides, Gavin Miguel, have collaborated and usedthis fabric in their collections.While there is a long wayto go as far as sustainability in textile is concerned,especially in the current context rife with fast-fashionand hedonistic consumption, but as they say every littlestep counts. Leading brands and companies have al-ready started making changes. Consumer awarenessand demand for more transparency and information onthe clothes they wear can further accelerate the pro-cess.

Water pollution is also one of the side effects of thefashion industry. It's important to treat the water offthe chemicals and dyes before releasing it in the envi-ronment. Also, with technological changes and modifi-cations in the processes, brands can reduce their waterconsumption as well. Denim is one of the most waterintensive industries, however, homegrown brands likeSpykar Lifestyles are taking initiatives to make thesupply chain and production processes more sustain-able. The brand also strives to lower the consumptionof natural resources like fuel for energy and water.The chemicals used are bio-degradable and non-haz-ardous.

Spykar's denims are produced in a government ap-proved facility. All denims that Spykar rolls out aremade using environmentally responsible processes rightfrom recycled cotton, washes that require less waterto technologically advance dry processes such as lasertechniques. The brand uses solar power and reliesheavily on latest technology like laser machines, ozonewash technology and cloud wash that has aided thebrand to lower the material to liquid ratio considerably.Additionally, Spykar is among the few brands that re-

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frains from using pumice stone while washing, to notdisturb the depleting pumice belt. The brand also hasa fully functional water treatment plant which ensuresno polluted water is released into any natural watersource. The water is re-treated/purified and re-usedfor washing.

This World Earth Day, let us pledge to do our bit to-wards the environment!

For more information, please contact:Karishma PunjabiWhite Marque Solutions422/423, 4th Floor, Laxmi Plaza,Laxmi Industrial Estate, Andheri (West),Mumbai-400053Tel.: 022-26335094-98M.: +91 9833202231E-mail: [email protected]

Huntsman Textile Effects and PhongPhu International(PPJ) today announced a strategic partnership agree-ment that aims to promote PPJ's growth in Vietnam asa leading manufacturer of sustainable, high-performancetextiles and garments for many of the world's leadingbrands and retailers.

Vietnam-based PPJ will leverage best-in-class techni-cal support from Huntsman Textile Effects to enhanceits manufacturing processes across its denim/twill andknit mills, and develop new products that deliver opti-mal sustainability along with advanced performance,protection and comfort.

The development of workwear and value-added textilefor the American, European and Japan markets, suchas innovative textiles with functional finishes will be akey project for the two partners. They will use ad-vanced Huntsman Textile Effects barrier solutions suchas PHOBOL®, PHOBOTEX® and ZELAN™, alongwith other finishing effects.

Huntsman Textile Effects will additionally support PPJto promote its Sinnika Fabric collection, leveragingHuntsman's advanced dyeing technology and finishingeffects to deliver high-value market-focused solutionsto brands and retailers.

Dr. Dang Vu Hung, Chairman and CEO of PPJ, said,"PPJ was among the first in Vietnam to move awayfrom traditional contract manufacturing and offer inno-vative designs, green solutions and a vertically inte-grated supply chain as a one-stop solutions provider.With Huntsman Textile Effects as our technology part-ner, we look forward to continuing to enhance our

HUNTSMAN Textile effects and PPJ partner totap growth potential in Vietnam

capabilities as the preferred supplier to global brandsthat believe in quality and sustainability."

The new agreement strengthens a longstanding rela-tionship that has already seen PPJ develop innovativedenim, knitwear and woven fabrics and garments us-ing Huntsman Textile Effects technologies includingAVITERA® SE dyes, NOVACRON® Atlantic dyesand High IQ® intelligent effects.

"The textile sector is Vietnam's largest export earner,and PPJ is one of its most impressive success stories,"said Chuck Hirsch, VP of Commercial, HuntsmanTextile Effects. "By focusing on innovation and beingopen to new technology and ideas, PPJ has moved upthe value chain and showed others how to succeed onthe global stage. We are pleased to continue to supportPPJ and help strengthen Vietnam's reputation for high-quality textile production."

Huntsman Textile Effects has long been an activesupporter of Vietnam's textile sector. It holds regularseminars and workshops in Vietnam and collaborateswith textile mills and apparel manufacturers to helpthem adopt new technologies and processes that con-serve resources, reduce waste and improve productiv-ity.

For more information, please contact:Huntsman Textile Effects:Marilyn Chua: +65 9119 8354,[email protected],Elin Lim: +65 9030 3765,[email protected],

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'Covid 19' has brought disruption and distress for thegeneral life, industry and economy, especially for thetextile and textile engineering industry all over the world.Hope yourself and family along with full team of yourorganization are safe and holding up good in this tryingsituation. Stay safe. Stay well.

Under the circumstances, India ITME Society proposesto postpone India ITME 2020 by one year to Decem-ber 2021. The new dates for the event will be 8th to13th December, 2021.

The revised exhibitor manual and schedules shall beavailable at our website(https://itme2021.india-itme.com)shortly. All participation guidelines remain same andthe payments shall be adjusted against revised exhibi-tion dates.◆ Pre- event dates- 3rd to 7th Dec 2021.◆ Event dates- 8th to 13th Dec 2021.◆ Dismantling dates- 14th-15th Dec 2021.◆ Venue: IEML, Greater Noida.

Due to massive metro construction work in Mumbai,no large events and container movements are permit-

India ITME 2020 postponed to December, 2021

ted by municipal authorities and Traffic police depart-ment until its completion. As such, all major events areshifted to other venues such as IEML, Gr.Noida. Asorganizers ITME Society shall be making special ar-rangements for shuttle buses from Delhi Airport, Rail-way station and Metro station to venue. All detailsshall be available nearer to event on the website. So-ciety also recommend participants to directly book hotelsand accommodation through ITME website to availreasonable rates and special offers negotiated for IndiaITME 2021.

India ITME Society assures that they shall stand bythe industry in all possible ways to see through thesedifficult times and shall double the efforts to ensurecustomer reach for exhibitors and shall continue tokeep in communication.

India ITME team wishes you a safe stay and goodhealth. Assuring you best of services and support.

For more details, please contact [email protected] for any assistance in this regard.Website: https://www.india-itme.com/

Traditional fabric, new production - JERSEY EVOLU-TION

Warp Knitting technology is one of the most versatiletechnologies in textile production. A wide range ofmachine gauges, yarns, and possible patterns facilitatesthe production of countless different textiles with spe-cial properties.

JERSEY EVOLUTION

Innovation in Warp knitted powerjersey for innerwear

Typical products from other textile manufacturing tech-nologies can be used and combined with the techno-logical advantages of warp knitted textiles - as demon-strated by the outcome of KARL MAYER's latesttextile product development. Perfectly timed forInterfiliére in January 2020, the innovation departmenthas developed a collection of warp knitted jersey fab-rics titled JERSEY EVOLUTION. The productionequipment used is the high-performance warp knittingmachine HKS 2-S. "With these innovative jersey warpknitted fabrics, we want to open new doors in theworld of innerwear, or fabric worn close to the skin,"said Textile Technician Melanie Bergmann.

The particular benefits of these new fabrics include asoft, sleek feel that's fine and smooth to touch, withhigh elasticity but resistance to permanent loss of shape,as well as smooth, free-cut edges. These characteris-tics are backed by specially chosen machine configu-

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rations and lapping technology: the very good recoverycapacity of the bi-elastic fabric is created by imple-menting a two-needleoverlap. Thanks to a specialmeshing of the elastane threads, firm and straight edgesare created which have a very low or zero tendencyto curl.

The chosen lapping, together with a high machine gauge,ensure a smooth, fine surface and a flowing fall - ora look and feel customary to circular knit fabrics. Butin comparison to circular knit, the manufacturing pro-cess of the highly elastic, warp knitted power jersey issubstantially more productive. A HKS 2-S boasts thesame output as around 2.5 circular knitting machines.This high-performance warp knitting machine also of-fers advantages with regards to spare parts. The needleleads in warp knitting machines can last up to six timeslonger than those in circular knitting machines. Thanksto this long usage cycle, costs for a set are halved,which results in running costs being lowered consider-ably. JERSEY EVOLUTION garnered a lot of atten-tion at Interfiliére with its impressive performance. "Wehad many conversations with representatives from in-ternational lingerie labels. There were also someknitwear manufacturers among them, who wanted tolearn more about the technology and its possibilities,"explained Gabriela Schellner, Senior Manager of Tex-tile Technology at KARL MAYER.

Plaster grid warp knitted fabric for the billion-Euro market in China

The WEFTTRONIC® II G for glass processing isnow taking off in China, too

WFTTRONIC II G

KARL MAYER Technische Textilien has developed anew warp knitting machine with weft-insertion and thusfurther differentiated its range offer in this field. Thenew model, the WEFTTRONIC® II G, is specificallydesigned to produce light to medium-heavy grid struc-tures. The stable grid textiles are used as plaster grids

and geogrids, as well as carriers for grinding discs -and are produced extremely efficiently on theWEFTTRONIC® II G.

Geogrid fabrication is now 60 % more productive com-pared to the previous version. In addition, less expen-sive yarns can be processed into high-quality textiles:the textile glass fibre material can cost up to 30 % lessthan leno fabric production. The machine handles tech-nical yarns extremely gently. Its performance is alsoimpressive. The first WEFTTRONIC® II G was or-dered by the Polish manufacturer HALICO in early2019, followed by orders from China in December."During our most recent trip to China just beforeChristmas, we were able to win over two new cus-tomers for our company," said Jan Stahr, Sales Man-ager of KARL MAYER Technische Textilien. Bothcompanies, Shandong Qiyad and Zibo Glasstex(Shandong Fiberglass), are major players in the indus-try. After purchasing one machine each, they hintedthat they may invest in further WEFTTRONIC® II Gmodels.

An influential family companyShandong Qiyad is a company privately owned by theMa family. Mr Ma Xingwang Senior holds shares intwo other companies, led by his son and nephew re-spectively. The companies use around 750 rapier loomsin total for their production and thus offer efficiencypotential: Depending on product quality, between 13and 22 rapier looms can be replaced by just oneWEFTTRONIC® II G. KARL MAYER TechnischeTextilien offers intensive service support to ensure aseamless changeover to new technology and to a stateof- the-art machine.

The strong partnership led to further recommendations."During our meetings, the Ma family also introducedus to other potential customers," says Jan Stahr. Thenative region of Shandong Qiyad, Shanxian (ShandongProvince), is well known for its plaster grid production.Around 5000 rapier looms are in operation here. Thecompanies are all part of an association. Jan Stahr isalready in the process of scheduling a pilot systemwith some of these companies.

A state-owned company with vertically integratedproductionThe state-run Zibo Glasstex is better known asShandong Fiberglass. The company has made a namefor itself internationally as a manufacturer of glassfibres, rovings and textiles. It is among the top 5 manu-

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facturers of glass fibres in China. The company's cus-tomers in this sector include manufacturers in EasternEurope who are already operating machines by KARLMAYER Technische Textilien. Following the success-ful introduction of the technology with the firstWEFTTRONIC® II G, Zibo Glasstex plans to invest infurther machines. According to the company's owninformation, it intends to work a market with an annualvolume of 2 billion m² of textile glass fibre material andto achieve a significant market share. Zibo Glasstextherefore intends to invest in further machines in themid-term.

Flexibility put to the testIn order to gain a better understanding of the possibili-ties relating to glass grid structure production, the newWEFTTRONIC® II G machine will be available forcustomer trials at KARL MAYER (CHINA) inChangzhou from June 2020. A wide range of equip-ment options and patterning possibilities will be avail-able to suit a diverse manufacturing process. The dif-ferent offers can be tested as part of these processingtrials. While working on the machine, customers canget a feel for how the design of the fabric influencesits properties and product output, and how this corre-lation can be used to achieve greater efficiency. If, forexample, the square cells of a textile grid are formedwith a low warpthread stitch density, the weft threadshave a significant freedom of movement within the

structure. The fabric is relatively unstable, but is manu-factured with a high output. Glass grid manufacturerslooking for greater efficiency can use theWEFTTRONIC® II G at KARL MAYER (CHINA)to produce warp knitted fabrics with the same proper-ties as their existing products and thus investigatewhether there are any advantages. The performanceprofiles of the textile products are verified by corre-sponding laboratory values. Companies with verticallyintegrated production particularly welcome the oppor-tunity to test the machine out. In addition to textiles,they also produce textile glass fibre materials and cantherefore test how their own yarns are processed. Thetrials are competently supervised by KARL MAYER'strained technical staff. The WEFTTRONIC® II G isbased on a technology unfamiliar to many glass gridmanufacturers. During these trials, they can also dis-cover how user-friendly the new machine is.

For more information, please contact:Press releaseKARL MAYER Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbHBrühlstraße 2563179 ObertshausenEnquiries:Ulrike SchlenkerTel. 06104/402-274Fax 06104/402-73-274E-Mail: [email protected]

In light of the current coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic,ITMA ASIA + CITME 2020 has been rescheduled,despite receiving strong response from exhibitors. Origi-nally slated to be held in October, the combined showwill now take place from 12 to 16 June 2021 at theNational Exhibition and Convention Centre (NECC),Shanghai.

According to show owners CEMATEX and Chinesepartners, the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT(CCPIT-Tex), China Textile Machinery Association(CTMA) and China Exhibition Centre Group Corpora-tion (CIEC), the postponement is necessary due to thecoronavirus pandemic.

Mr Fritz P. Mayer, President of CEMATEX, said: "Weseek your understanding as this decision has been madewith the safety and health concerns of our participants

ITMA ASIA + CITME rescheduled to June 2021

and partners in mind. The global economy has beenseverely affected by the pandemic. On a positive note,the International Monetary Fund has predicted that therewould be global economic growth at 5.8 per cent nextyear. Hence, it is more prudent to look at a date aroundmid of next year."

Added Mr Wang Shutian, Honorary President of ChinaTextile Machinery Association (CTMA), "The outbreakof the coronavirus has caused a severe impact on glo-bal economy, and also affected the manufacturing sec-tor. Our exhibitors, especially those from other parts ofthe world, are deeply affected by the lockdowns. There-fore, we believe that the combined show with the newexhibition dates would be timely when the globaleconomy is predicted to improve. We would like tothank the exhibitors who have applied for space fortheir strong vote of confidence in the combined show."

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Keen interest at close of application periodIn spite of the pandemic, at the close of space appli-cation, almost all the space reserved at NECC hasbeen filled. The show owners will create a wait list forthe late applicants and if necessary, to secure addi-tional exhibition space from the venue to accommodatemore exhibitors.

Buyers to ITMA ASIA + CITME 2020 can expect tomeet industry leaders who will showcase a wide arrayof latest technology solutions that will help textile makersto become more competitive.

ITMA ASIA + CITME 2020 is organised by BeijingTextile Machinery International Exhibition Co Ltd andco-organised by ITMA Services. Japan Textile Ma-chinery Association is a special partner of the show.

The last ITMA ASIA + CITME combined show in

2018 welcomed the participation of 1,733 exhibitorsfrom 28 countries and economies and registeredvisitorship of over 100,000 from 116 countries andregions.

For more updates, please visit www.itmaasia.com orwww.citme.com.cn.

For more information on ITMA ASIA + CITME2020, please contact:Ms Pearly AngITMA ServicesTel: +65 6849 9367Email: [email protected] Christine TangBeijing Textile Machinery International Exhibition Com-panyTel: + 86 10 85229646Email: [email protected]

The Textile Association (India) Visit us

on www.textileassociationindia.org

Follow us on

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Oerlikon Manmade Fibers segment looking posi-tively towards the future even during thecoronavirus pandemic. "A very big thank you toall our customers and employees for their trust"

Staggered in terms of timing and with varying mag-nitude, the global spread of coronavirus is im-pacting the development of the regional econo-mies in the core markets of the Manmade Fiberssegment of the Swiss Oerlikon Group. In thecurrent times, the world market leader formanmade fiber systems for manufacturing polyes-ter, polypropylene and nylon however believesitself to still be well positioned thanks to long-term strategic customer investments, simulta-neously also exploiting numerous opportunitiesfor change arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

The sales markets for manmade fiber systems andequipment have been primarily located in China, Indiaand Turkey for many years now. Together, these mar-kets - above all China - make up the lion's share of theproject landscape at Oerlikon Manmade Fibers. Andthis is paying positive dividends at the moment. Be-cause the production facilities of the major manmadefiber manufacturers in China have been systematicallyfired up again over the past few weeks, with capacityutilization in-creasing consistently. New projects arebeing discussed.

Going against the flow

Georg Stausberg, CEO of theOerlikon Manmade Fibers segment

But why is it so? And why is the manmade fiberindustry currently practically going against the flow of

Oerlikon expresses a very big thanks to theircustomers & employees

the rest of the textile machine industry? The reason isvery simple: "Long before the coronavirus situationdeveloped, the major manmade fiber manufacturers inChina had decided to reverse-integrate their produc-tion chains to include petrochemicals in order to ex-pand their portfolios with targeted investments, to re-duce their dependence on asingle product', to optimizetheir costs and ultimately to acquire greater controlover margins in a global volume business", explainsSegment-CEO Georg Stausberg. Similar processes anddecisions - albeit not on the same scale as in China -have also been detected at the large manmade fibermanufacturers in India and Turkey.

While China is already pursuing and implementing its'From Oil to Yarn' business model, the other marketplayers are currently still focusing on the 'From Meltto Yarn' concept.

Even though businesses in India and Turkey are pres-ently still temporarily severely impacted by thecoronavirus situation, their long-term commitment can-not however be questioned, as the company-internally-agreed master plans will be systematically implementedmoving forward.

Long-term investments of global market playersAll this has recently resulted in increased demand forspinning and texturing systems - just like those suppliedby total solutions provider and world market leaderOerlikon Manmade Fibers with its OerlikonBarmag,OerlikonNeumag and Oerlikon Nonwoven productbrands. "The investments in petrochemical systems arebased on long-term strategic considerations and areresulting - even during the coronavirus pandemic -neither in short- and medium-term economic dips, norin changed customer behavior. For these reasons, weare currently continuing to look positively towards thefuture at Oerlikon Manmade Fibers. With orders onour books until 2023, we have created a very goodcushion for ourselves. We have to thank all our cus-tomers, who have consistently placed their trust in usdespite the challenging times we are currently in. Wewould also like to thank all our employees who remainhighly-committed at their mobile workstations at home,servicing the markets throughout the world, providingcustomers with intensive online consultation on tech-nology questions by means of video conference, con-

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tinuing to manufacture our high-end technological prod-ucts in superlative quality under the given coronavirusprotection measures at our assembly and productionsites worldwide and successfully assembling and com-missioning the systems on-site, in part also remotely incollaboration with our clients' staff", states Segment-CEO Georg Stausberg with pride.

As a result of Oerlikon Manmade Fibers delving intothe digital age years ago, the segment has experiencedthe intensive and short-term benefit from all the mea-sures, in part also in its processing of customer projects."Admittedly, the coronavirus situation has accelerated

◆ All motions approved◆ Dividend of CHF 4.50 agreed◆ COVID-19

In relation to participation in the Annual General Meet-ing on April 16, 2020, the Board of Directors of RieterHolding Ltd. arranged exclusively written or electronicvoting and the granting of power of attorney to theindependent proxy. In taking this approach, the Boardof Directors relied on Article 6a, lit. b of Ordinance 2of the Swiss Federal Council (Measures to Combat theCoronavirus of March 16, 2020). Physical participationby the shareholders was therefore not possible. TheAnnual General Meeting was held on the premises ofRieter Holding Ltd. at the company's headquarters inWinterthur.

At the Annual General Meeting of Rieter Holding Ltd.on April 16, 2020, the independent proxy represented atotal of 2 025 shareholders who hold 64.3% of theshare capital.

A dividend of CHF 4.50 per share was agreed. Theshareholders approved the proposed maximum totalamounts of the remuneration of the members of theBoard of Directors and of the Group Executive Com-mittee for fiscal year 2021.

The Chairman of the Board, Bernhard Jucker, and themembers of the Board of Directors This E. Schneider,Michael Pieper, Hans-Peter Schwald, Peter Spuhler,Roger Baillod, Carl Illi and Luc Tack were confirmedfor an additional one-year term of office.

Furthermore, This E. Schneider, Hans-Peter Schwaldand Bernhard Jucker, the members of the Remunera-tion Committee who were standing for election, were

Rieter Annual General Meeting 2020

also each re-elected for a one-year term of office.

Shareholders also adopted all other motions proposedby the Board of Directors, namely approval of theannual report, the financial statements and the consoli-dated financial statements for 2019, and formal ap-proval of the actions of the members of the Board ofDirectors and those of the Group Executive Commit-tee in the year under review. In addition, the authorizedcapital was extended for a further two years.

COVID-19At present, it is not possible to predict how the globalCOVID-19 pandemic will affect Rieter's sales andearnings in the first and second half of 2020, and thusalso for 2020 as a whole.

Rieter therefore refrains from providing an outlook forfinancial year 2020 and will issue the relevant informa-tion as part of the semi-annual report on July 16, 2020.

The company has taken the necessary measures toprotect employees and to meet commitments to cus-tomers as far as possible.

Thanks to long-standing customer relationships, a fo-cus on innovation, global positioning and the company'sfinancial stability, Rieter will successfully overcome thechallenges.

Forthcoming DatesSemi-Annual Report 2020: July 16, 2020Results press conference 2021: March 9, 2021Annual General Meeting 2021: April 15, 2021

For further information please contact:Rieter Holding Ltd.

this digital transformation to an extreme extent. But itis working and the coronavirus crisis will also allow usto take many positive experiences we have made inour digitally-networked world with us moving forward",concludes Stausberg.

For further information:André WissenbergMarketing, Corporate Communications& Public AffairsTel. +49 2191 67 2331Fax +49 2191 67 [email protected]

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Investor RelationsKurt LedermannChief Financial OfficerT +41 52 208 70 15F +41 52 208 70 [email protected] Management AG

Media RelationsRelindisWieserHead Group CommunicationT +41 52 208 70 45F +41 52 208 70 [email protected]

Osthoff Machine

Singeing is the process of removal of protruding fibresfrom the surface of fabric through the application ofopen flames while the fabric is in motion. The fueltypically used is LPG, with a defined ratio of gas to air.

Singeing helps improve the fabric's appearance andreduces its tendency to form pills; this also helps pre-vent the surface of the fabric from picking up dirt. Thesingeing process is performed in the grey stage itself,in order to take advantage of the dry state of thefabric. Also, singed fabric also can be dyed and pro-cessed better.

Singeing is a widely accepted process in the wovenprocessing industry. However, in the knit processingindustry, singeing is much less common as textile manu-facturers have historically worked with tubular knits.Singeing is difficult to perform on fabrics in tubularform as the flame to fabric distance is hard to controlaccurately, which results in uneven singeing.In order toimpart to tubular knit fabrics the same kind of finishachieved through singeing in woven fabrics, the sur-face of the knitted fabric is cleaned in a soft flowdyeing machine through biopolishing. In this method,the fabric is treated with aggressive textile auxiliaries.However, biopolishing has several disadvantages:

1. Reduced fabric tensile strength

Stop biopolishing and start singeing

2. Considerable reduction in depth of the shade af-ter biopolishing

3. Increased fluff generation4. Significant reduction in fabric weight5. Auxiliaries used for biopolishing increase the COD

of the effluent tremendously6. Reduced productivity of soft flow dyeing machine7. Cost of biopolishing is at least twice that of singe-

ing

To address these pain areas, Osthoff Senge - a leadingGerman textile machine manufacturer - has introduceda singeing machine that can singe open width knit fabric.Through innovative German technology, Osthoff's openwidth knit singeing machine solves a number of prob-lems faced in tubular singeing machines. Open widthsingeing not only provides excellent value addition tothe finished fabric, but it is also eco-friendly.Osthoff'sopen width knit singeing machine is a proven product.More than 70 open width knit singeing machines are inoperation around the world, with more than 40 ma-chines in Turkey, and two machines in operation inIndia.

While a few open width process houses have beenestablished in India, the industry overall is yet to adoptat scale some of the established practises that areused in knit processing industries around the world.With the pronounced advantages of open width singe-ing over biopolishing, it is hoped that the industry wouldswitch over to this best practice sooner rather thanlater.

For more information, please contact:Jasbinder Kaur PanchiExecutive Assistant to DirectorTextile Engineering GroupA.T.E. Enterprises Private LimitedBhagwati House, A-19, CTS No. 689Veera Desai Road, Andheri (West), Mumbai - 400 053Tel.: +91-22-6676 6100, +91-22-6676 6239M.: +91-9869288040E-mail: [email protected]

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NEWS

Colorjet earmarks 25 Million on technology forOxyvent Face Filters launch amid pandemic cri-sis

Responding to the need in the market and to appeasemore people into wearing the face gear by makingthem more inclusive to everyday life, Colorjet Grouphas launched Oxyvent, a designer face filter brand inthe market that comes with creative prints on it toamplify the aesthetics. As the masks become a neces-sity, the need to give the industry a new shape bymaking it fashionable and appealing to the masses formsthe core of this new venture.

The face filters are unique adhering to safety stan-dards and putting in creative design prints to encouragemore people into wearing them. The products includeMultilayer Safety masks made up with 100% Cottonwith 120 TC and melt blown material with moisturecontrol anti-bacterial finish achieving a strict 95%Bacterial Filtration Efficiency(BFE). The designs aredigitally printed on the fabric with Oekotex™ ApprovedInks making the masks fit for human use and ecologi-cally compliant.

At the Launch of Oxyvent Face Filters Mr. M. S.Dadu,Managing Director Colorjet Group said," The vision tocreate a cloth based protection filter which providessuperior filtration, yet being highly breathable was keyto the innovation. As masks would become the essen-tials in the coming days, a fashionable yet fully func-tional air filtering mask is the need of the hour. Wehave conceptualized a hand crafted fashionable neces-sity that provides safety while encouraging the fashionit has yet to set. Committing to our core design valuesof being Economic, Efficient and Ecological, we are

Colorjet Group launched Oxyventface filter brand

using our own renowned International Digital TextilePrint technology."

Colorjet has earmarked an initial investment of 25 millionINR for the venture and is aiming at Printing 100,000filters a day. The company has installed Direct to Fabric,Dye Sublimation, Direct to Garment and Laser Cutting& Finishing machines native to the group and in part-nership with Japanese Technology for the project.

To bring in international designs and styles to life,Oxyvent has collaborated with renowned Web-2-Printworkflow solution provided by Early Vision from Is-rael. "For mass customization of our designer face fil-ters we needed an end to end workflow solution forour manufacturing. To achieve this we have collabo-rated with Guy Alroy of Early Vision as our patterncutting solution provider because of its intuitive, easy-to-use tools and functionalities. Its insight into imple-menting Early Vision down the road, to enable efficientworkflows for mass customization and on-demandmanufacturing makes it the best in the industry. It willalso minimize errors in communication with our part-ners, hence, saving time and costs." added Mr. SmarthBansal - DGM Product & Brand - ColorJet.

For the print designs, the company has partnered withEmma Tranchini, a renowned Italian fashion designerand NitiSinghal, the native couturier of the New YorkFashion Week fame where she displayed her range ofapparels that were digitally printed on a Colorjet Tex-tile Printers.

Oxyvent is also attempting at bringing its designer masksinto corporate culture and has tied up with severalleading brands in the market to customize the masks asper their branding needs. The whole range of productscomes for men, women and kids, and can be exploredat www.oxyvent.org

For more details, please contact:Arun RaoTaurus Communications+91 98250-38518Email: [email protected] ShakeelColorJet India LtdCell: +91 78279-57563Email: [email protected]


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THE TEXTILE ASSOCIATION (INDIA)Central Office

We have temporarily shifted to69, Vishnu Prasad Building, Room No.1, 1st Floor,

Opp. Ovenfresh, Ranade Road, Shivaji Park,

Dadar (West), Mumbai - 400 028 India

Tel.: 022-2446 1145, Fax: 022-2447 4971,

E-mail : [email protected],

Website : www.textileassociationindia.org

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FORM IV (See Rule 8)

Statement about ownership and other particulars about Newspaper

JOURNAL OF THE TEXTILE ASSOCIATION

1. Place of Publication : The Textile Association (India), Central Office

69, Vishnu Prasad Building, Room Nom No. 1,

First Floor, Opp. Ovenfresh, Ranade Road,

Shivaji Park, Dadar (W), Mumbai - 400 028.

2. Periodicity of Publication : Bi-Monthly (Six issues in a year)

3. Printer's Name : Shri Ashok Bagwe

Nationality : Indian

Address : Sundaram Art Printing Press

12, WadalaUdyogBhavan, Naigaum X Road,

Wadala, Mumbai - 400 031.

4. Publisher's Name : Shri J.B. Soma


Address : 15, Shewanta Heights, Punyai Nagar,

Pune Satara Road, Dhankavadi,

Pune - 411 043

5. Editor's Name : Prof. (Dr.)Ravindra V. Adivarekar


Address : Dept. of Fibres& Textile Processing Technology

Institute of Chemical Technology,

Nathalal Parekh Marg, Matunga,

Mumbai - 400 019

6. Name and address of individuals who own the : The Textile Association (India),

newspaper and partners holding more than 1% Central Office

of the total capital 72-A, Santosh, 2nd Floor,

Dr. M.B. Raut Road, ShivajiPark,

Dadar, Mumbai - 400 028

I, J.B. Soma, hereby declare that the particulars given are true to the best of my knowledge and

belief.

Mumbai (Sd/-)

1stAPRIL 2020 J.B. SOMA

Publisher

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