Surat based manufacturer of advanced yarn twisting machines, TFO’s, elastic covering machines, winding, warping and cabling machines JC GROUP was set up in 1976. In the initial years, the company was concentrating only on the Surat textile industry. But in later years, it diversified in to various Indian markets and also other countries. At this point of time, its revenues from the Surat textile industry accounted for just 5%.
Remarkable Comeback: Surat Revenue Surges to 30-35%
“But post-Covid, we did market surveys on high speed weaving machines and our survey indicated that these machines needed high speed twisting and winding machines. We developed models to meet the demanding need of these high speed weaving machines and then we reintroduced our brand in the Surat textile industry. Now the Surat textile industry accounts for 30-35% of our overall revenues,” Mr Mayank Mahadevwala informed The Textile Magazine.
Balanced Growth across All Markets
“But this increase in revenues from the Surat textile sector did not come at the cost of lower revenues from other Indian and export markets. Infact, our revenues have grown at a good pace in all the other territories. India remains a major source of revenues but with each passing year, our exports continue to increase and we now sell to various European countries, South American countries and SE Asian countries and even to the US market,” he explained.
Family Heritage: From Fabric Production to Machinery Manufacturing
Rima Machines is a family owned business and the family initially started by manufacturing fabrics. In 1976, the company started manufacturing of twisting machines and then introduced TFO’s in the early 1990’s. When the second generation or Mr Mayank & Jashraj joined the business, they modernised their production machinery and as of now, a majority of the components are produced in-house except for plastic components or bearings which gives the company absolute control over the quality of its machines and now even assembles the panels of the machines.
Robotics Integration: 24-Hour CNC Operations
The company has also introduced robots to operate their state of the art CNC machines one year back and now those machines run for 24 hours. A worker can manage only one CNC machine while on the other hand a robot can operate two CNC machines and that too for 24 hours. The production efficiency in the plant also has increased by 15%. Additionally, the company has installed a 275 KW solar plant which meets almost 60% of electricity requirements.
Industry 4.0 Ready: First Smart Machine Successfully Commissioned
“We have automated all machines that we manufacture to a very large extent and they now have touch screen panels through which any settings of the machines can be changed easily by the operator and need not need any technical expertise. It’s possible to control the yarn packages like soft or hard packages through the touch screen, or even change spindle speed which has increased efficiency of our machines. We also recently sold our first machine which is equipped with Industry 4.0 system and is now running successfully. With the advent of high speed weaving machines, customers are demanding twisting and winding machines which too can run at high speeds with minimum yarn breakages and we have been able to supply them. The yarns produced from our machines can meet the demands of the high speed weaving machines,” he stated.
Jumbo Winder Innovation: 5 KG Cones for Weft Applications
The company has also introduced a Jumbo winder which offers bigger sized packages of almost 5 KG yarn for using as weft yarn application in high speed weaving machines. These jumbo size package have helped increase efficiency of the high speed looms as less number of stoppages is needed when a package runs out of yarn. This has also helped increase efficiency of the weaving machines by 5-7%.
Company Philosophy: ‘No Big Words But A Promise to Work’
“Our motto is ‘No big words but a promise to work’ and we strive to enforce this motto throughout the organisation. We understand the pain points of our customers and do a lot of customisation to address the pain points. We have a highly dedicated service team. Spares are couriered the same day or latest by the next day or our service engineers address any issues the same day,” Mr Mahadevwala observed.
Optimistic Indian Textile Industry Outlook
Mr Mahadevwala is highly optimistic of the future of the Indian textile industry. “India recently signed trade agreements with the UK, the US and the EU, which will provide a boost to the prospects of the Indian textile industry in the next couple of years. There is also a lot of traction due to the Make in India initiative of the Indian government. Even export inquiries have increased in the last few months,” he concluded by saying.