The company offers a full range of automatic winders, two for one twisters and high bulking machines in different declinations to serve the widest range of customers and is now all set to enhance its India operations. In this interview, Mauro Moro, CEO, Savio Macchine Tessili, elaborates on the new products and technologies that the company will present at the upcoming ITME 2022 as well as its long-term strategies for global growth
How was the year 2022 for your Savio globally? What were the key highlights in terms of business, new products and technologies?
The year 2022 can be defined as the ‘back in business and in a big way’ for Savio. It could have been even better had the supply chain helped us more to fulfil the huge demand. Some regions, like India, over-performed to figures and market share values unseen for years. We will be closing it with a very well-deserved reward to our best performing market that is India. ITME 2022 has been selected to host the world premiere for a new product presentation: the launch of our newest automatic winder Proxima.
Savio was acquired by the Vandewiele Group last year. How is the change in ownership helping the company? What are the advantages of being part of a larger group focussed on textile machinery?
The change in ownership has given a big boost to Savio’s operations. Vandewiele and Savio share the same DNA: our main focus is the product and how the same can better serve the customer. Being now in total sync with Vandewiele’s philosophy and approach, a new world of opportunities is opening up., especially in research and development synergies. We can benefit from an infinite basket of technical solutions and applications useful to both us. Sharing such technologies will improve our products. Moreover, that fact that VDW and Savio products serve totally different applications will make it possible to look and think out of the box. Instead of looking at our neighbouring competitors and fields, we can instead push our horizons much further.
Currently, what is the product range offered by Savio for the global market?
We offer a full range of automatic winders, two for one twisters and high bulking machines in different declinations to serve the widest range of customers.
Savio has witnessed tremendous success in the Indian market. Can you look back on the company’s successful presence in the Indian market over the years?
It has been a very long journey that started in the year 1991 with the launch of the winder that modernised the winding process. We introduced for the first time in India process efficiency and yarn quality. Since then, with regularity, we have brought in new and innovative products. The success and confidence we received convinced Savio to establish a fully-owned subsidiary in the early 2000 for the manufacturing of TFO to first serve the Indian market and later the world market. With Vandewiele now with us, our presence will further expand in India. The first step has been to establish direct sales and service organisation to have the largest presence among foreign textile machinery suppliers.
Currently how is Savio’s presence in the Indian market in terms of manufacturing, sales, distribution, spares and service network in the Indian market?
As explained before, Vandewiele Savio India, a fully-owned subsidiary, has incorporated both companies’ activities under one roof. The manufacturing arm will further integrate TFO manufacturing as well as other strategic machinery components for the group. There are plans for bringing into India whole new products. Of course, we will continue to provide and ensure state-of-the-art customer support and spare parts services.
We have the most important textile show India ITME 2022 this year. Since how long has Savio been participating in this show and what can we expect from you at the show this year?
Since early 1990s, Savio has had the privilege to be part of all the major exhibitions in India, including regional ones. This year will be the largest in terms of presence and product range. We will exhibit in a corporate booth gathering all Vandewiele and Savio brands in Weaving Hall 14. The Savio star of the show will be our newest winder, Proxima. Savio is launching the newest automatic winder Proxima Smartconer® in a roadmap that will start in India in December 2022 and will land in ITMA Milan in June 2023. Proxima Smartconer® is the result of the commitment of Savio’s research and development team in the last three years.
It testifies Savio’s dedication to innovation technology and strong partnerships across the industry. We have combined the name Proxima with Smartconer®: it stands for a high-tech winding machine, capable of perfectly adapting to the demands of connectivity, Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet of Things. Thanks to the innovations, spinners will get a machine featuring high-tech capabilities, thanks to a design with a strong focus on the main benefits for a customer’s competitive advantage: high productivity, low energy consumption, premium yarn quality, automation and data connectivity.
With the Indian government’s increased focus on textile manufacturing, offering special incentives for new investments, what is your expectation about growth in textile manufacturing and exports in India?
We are already witnessing the effects of this new focus. There is an array of fresh investments in yarn spinning. This is what Indians do best. We need now to wait for the downstream process to gain momentum to the point of matching the offer of yarn. It inevitably takes more time to establish India as a valid alternative for finished garments. But we are sure it will eventually happen.
Sustainable textile manufacturing is not an option anymore. It is the only way to manufacture. How are you ensuring that the products and technology you are offering support your customers in achieving their sustainability goals?
Our products serve in a small but important segment of the long textile chain going from raw material to finished garment. Nevertheless, we bring in it high-efficiency machines which reduce material waste and the use of electric energy. The machines themselves are manufactured following the latest good practices aimed to reduce carbon footprint. As an example, at our Italian plant we have just commissioned a brand new 1 MWh solar farm which will provide clean power for up to 70% of our needs.
Textile companies are increasingly investing in automation and digitisation solutions. Can you highlight some of your recent offerings that are driving efficiency at your customer location?
Our machines perfectly adapt to demands of connectivity, Industry 4.0 and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) and we offer several digital solutions to extended process monitoring along the textile value chain. Nowadays, Savio product development is focused on ‘smart’ components that must transmit data online. The new possibilities offered by the connection of the machines translate into the different levels of Savio Industrial IoT, with the possibility of progressive sophistication (basic, business or executive). There are three different levels of Savio Industrial IoT with different option levels, each corresponding to a different dose of Industry 4.0 applied to Savio textile winding machinery.
This ranges from simple connectivity and machinery data downloading to remote machine setup to operator real-time interactivity. All these features enable Savio customers to control overall equipment effectiveness, increase workforce efficiency and maximise quality and working time. Services are also going mobile. Another direction of technological development concerns maintenance with numerous systems already connected in real time with the assistance network to minimise intervention times, also through remote actions via software without having to send technicians on site.
Service and availability of spares was a big challenge during the last few years due to restrictions on travel and logistics. Are you adapting new tools in service and maintenance including preventive technologies or the capability to service from remote locations?
Due to the travel restrictions imposed on account of the pandemic we rearranged our customer supporting tools and approach to avoid or minimise interruption. We have implemented a remote assistance service powered by ‘TeamViewer Pilot’, which is an application that allows forms of interaction in augmented reality. Thanks to this application, Savio experts from Italian headquarter can support field technicians at the customer site in real time through video sessions for faster troubleshooting. We also continued to provide online machine monitoring, 24×7 service hotlines and better distribution of spare parts in the regions. Our supply chain has been rearranged to widen the supplier basket, thus ensuring unlimited supply of spare parts.
What is your company’s future vision and growth plans? What are your plans for 2025 and beyond? Will India be an important part of your global strategy?
India is strategically important for us and is a market worth investing resources. For the future, we look forward to welcome in Italy all the textile business in ITMA Milan 2023 where we will have more novelties to showcase.