Picanol is a brand name that has been working towards developing and manufacturing high-tech and most innovative weaving machinery since 1936. It is a name associated with trust, quality and technology across the globe and has set many milestones in the Indian and international markets with its leading edge weaving machines.
With the commencement of the current year, some huge changes were experienced by the Indian economy. First, with demonetization announced by the Government at the end of 2016, a major chunk of the economy almost came to a standstill. The second wave that struck the economy came in the form of IGST which imposes upfront payment of 18% IGST, which used to be 0% under the former export commitment system.
Mr. P. Kasiviswanathan, Executive Director of Picanol India Pvt. Ltd., said: “A substantial reduction of the 18% IGST to be paid upfront would allow a comeback of the small-scale fabric producers to the market. Furthermore, despite the effects of demonetization and IGST, Picanol managed to realize its best half year ever and posted an 11% year-on-year growth during the first half of 2017, whereas expectations for the second half of 2017 are positive. The growing success of the Picanol machines in the market confirms that the continued investments in product development, qualitative production, a worldwide presence of sales and service teams are highly appreciated by weavers everywhere around the globe.”
The recent economic changes kept aside, India has a lot of strength in terms of manpower and has a stable Government, whereas also the cost of manpower is quite competitive. Gujarat has proved the most active textile market, thanks to State policy and the incentives and subsidies provided by the Government. All this has led to a lot of investments made in Gujarat. Some of the other States like Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have also come up with new policies / incentives that promote investments in the textile sector, which sure will benefit their respective markets in the long run.
Apart from the State policies, Central policies also play a very important role in supporting any sector of the economy. In textile business requiring people to make huge capital investments and in order to be motivated to take such risks, the Government needs to provide people with subsidies and reimbursements on interest rates.
India attracts a lot of investments. Investments are moving to India from the neighboring countries. GST and demonetization are short-term problems for an economy like India which is basically strong. The domestic market for textiles has flourished in the past decade. Large investments are happening in the Indian market, mainly in the denim sector as it substituting traditional clothing and showing further growth potential for the coming years as well.
Picanol participated in a big way in Techtextil in Mumbai during September 13-15 and the continuous interaction of customers with Picanol representatives is proof for the company’s strength in technical textiles as well.
Although Picanol is widely known in India for its high-performance mainstream weaving machines, it has its strong presence in technical textiles in the international market. Technical textiles are predominant in developed markets like Europe and have entered the Indian market in the recent five to ten years. More and more companies are looking to expand in the technical textiles business because of the special awareness created by the Government.
Roughly 80% of technical textiles are made on the rapier weaving machines, and new fabrics now being researched are entering the market regularly. As a result, an efficient rapier machine is expected to be flexible and versatile – prepared for every new challenge presented by the market.
The Picanol Optimax-i is by far the fastest and most versatile rapier loom in the market and is Picanol’s flagship in the conquest of the market for technical textiles. It can be equipped with negative gripper (guided or free flight) or with a positive guided gripper, and is available in reed widths ranging from 190 up to 540 cm. Special machine executions, like an extra reinforced machine for heavy canvas and industrial fabrics are also available. Notwithstanding its versatility, Optimax-i combines the highest performance with the lowest power consumption in the market.
On the airjet side, Picanol OMNIplus Summum airjet weaving machine was a breakthrough that changed the face of airjet weaving in the market. The company has continued to build on the presence it had created in the airjet market. Also the OMNIplus Summum platform is available in various executions for weaving technical textiles, ranging from car seats over awnings up to medical fabrics. A special application is the OMNIplus 800 for tire cord weaving.
With rapier and airjet machines suitable for industrial fabrics, Picanol is moving towards creating a platform for itself in the technical textiles market in India as well.
While summarizing Mr. Kasiviswanathan observed: “We believe in India and we are trying to enhance our market presence by increasing the capabilities of our machines, improving the performance ratio, speed, lower air & power consumption. We have come a long way from where we started and we want to keep on improving. Picanol has made a lot of investments in people and has strengthened its sales and service team both at the presence and skills levels”.
This has given the brand a market presence so strong that the first name that one remembers while talking about looms is Picanol, and with the new advancements made by the brand, this presence seems to be getting stronger by each passing day.