By Arun Rao
Surat has around 300,000-325,000 fabric embroidery machines and is probably the biggest global single location manufacturing hub for embroidery fabrics. Surat based embroidery and jari yarn manufacturer Jisha Enterprise smelled an opportunity and began by importing embroidered yarns from China in 2006. But now manages an embroidered and jari yarn manufacturing facility, while also backward integrating into yarn doubling and hanks manufacturing. The company is now also supplying dyed texturised yarns for weaving.
Business Evolution & Milestones
“We began our company in 2006 by importing embroidery threads from China and sold them under the brand name of Apolo. We set up our own embroidery threads manufacturing unit in 2012 as we would receive delivery 90 days after placing the order to our Chinese vendor, during which time we would run out of several colour shades,” Mr Rakesh Shingala, Director at Jisha Enterprise told The Textile Magazine.
The company began by purchasing a yarn dyeing machine, while the viscose yarns in hanks was sourced from China. After the yarn is dyed on the hank, the yarn is wound on cone winding machine, after which, the yarn is winded on spools. At this time, yarn dyeing production capacity stood at 10 tons per month.
Current Infrastructure & Capacity
“The first factory had been set up on rented premises. In 2016, we purchased a parcel of land and shifted the operations to the new plant and our current production capacity now is 80 tons per month. Currently we have seven dyeing machines, of which three were shifted from the rented premises and four more were purchased,” he informed.
Jisha Enterprise currently supplies embroidered yarns in 1,200 colours and has plans to add 300 more colours. The company launches new colours based on current market trends or based on its customer’s requirements, while the company’s R&D team continuously develops new colour shades. To maintain the highest quality, the company has implemented several check points during the whole manufacturing process to ensure that there is no quality issue at the customer-end.
“We offer the highest quality of embroidered yarns in terms of lustre. We also supply within one hour of receiving order in Surat as we keep ready stock of 1,200 colour shades. We also offer technical support as and when needed by our customers. Most of the technical challenges that our customers face is related to the design and not our yarn,” Mr Shingala stated.
Foray into Jari Yarn Manufacturing
Surat has always been famous for jari yarn since centuries. And so when setting up the embroidery yarn manufacturing plant, the company also set up a jari yarn manufacturing unit with four machines which have now reached 40 machines, while current production capacity is around 100 tons per month. The raw material for manufacturing jari yarn is polyester or nylon yarn and yarns from 30 deniers to 600 deniers are used in manufacturing jari yarn.
In 2020, Jisha Enterprise forayed into dyeing texturized polyester yarn which is supplied to weavers who have rapier or jacquard weaving machines and currently has four yarn dyeing machines and the weaving yarn dyeing capacity now is 100 tons per month.
Backward Integration Strategy
Mr Shingala further said, “In 2022, we backward integrated and installed yarn doubling machines after which the doubled yarn on cones is converted into hanks. We backward integrated mainly as the imported hank yarn would get entangled during shipment leading to lower productivity. Currently we have eight doubling machines. Since setting up the yarn doubling machines, we now import single yarns in cones instead of hanks.”
Sustainability Initiatives
In sustainable initiatives, the polluted water from the yarn dyeing plant after primary treatment is released into a zero liquid discharge (ZLD) central effluent treatment plant (CETP), so there is zero pollution in their factory. Secondly, since the company currently sells only in the domestic market, so does not need compliance certificates. But with plans underway to start exports, the company will apply for compliance certificates.
Future Plans
In future plans along with starting exports, Jisha Enterprise is also planning to expand into the northern and southern Indian markets and intends to backward integrate further into texturising yarn and also install a coating machine for jari yarns. The company is also planning to start a new production facility which will have a built-up area of 120,000 sq. feet and will increase embroidered yarn capacity to 125 tons per month.
Optimistic of Future of Fabric Embroidery Industry
“Embroidery has been in existence since centuries and I do not see demand for embroidery fabrics declining in the near future. The existence of around 325,000 embroidery machines in Surat is a testament to the increase in demand for embroidered fabrics in the last few years. Future is bright for the embroidery industry as with increasing incomes, consumer demand will surely increase,” Mr Shingala concluded by saying optimistically.