The Coimbatore-based Statex Engineering is considered a market leader in the textile quality control instruments and compact retrofit. The company has received excellent response for its ‘Legend’ compact and is looking forward to join the forthcoming Texfair 2017 event to be held in Coimbatore to further strengthen its presence in the market.
According to Mr. K. Subramaniam, Managing Director, the year 2016-17 has been quite good for the company. The company’s business activities have been expanding year after year. He said: “Demonetization had its minor impact on our business, otherwise it was a good year for us.”
The key milestones achieved by the company in 2016-17 include introduction of the Legend Compact attachment and the launch of improved lab instruments with latest upgradations, both of which have been doing well in the market.
The Legend Compact attachment is being successfully run in many mills. Happy over its success, Mr. Subramaniam said: “The trial run response in various mills has been very positive. It is yet another feather in the cap of Statex Engineering.”
Going into the details of the company’s recent performance, Mr. Subramaniam said: “So far the business has been good. We have got enough orders on hand. However, the financial position of mills is not as good as we had expected.”
Mr. Subramaniam is confident that things will turn around in the industry after October. “The textile market will pick up smoothly and will gather the expected speed. We are hopeful that the business will continue to improve in the coming years,” he said, before adding that he feels that while the industry has been struggling for several reasons in the first half of 2017, but the second half must be good enough.
When queried about new launches, Mr. Subramaniam stated that it is the practice at Statex to launch at least one product every year. The company has been gradually expanding its export market. Right now, exports constitute above 30% of its total sales, mostly textile industry-related clients.
Statex Engineering has been in the news recently for its unique concept of a ‘Mobile Cotton Testing Unit’. The company had been working with one of the leading cotton buyers on a project with the unit.
Continuing further, Mr. Subramaniam said: “We have developed and installed a ‘Mobile Cotton Testing Unit’, in which the Statex High Volume Instrument is fixed. The vehicle travels about 50-100 km every day and tests cotton directly in the fields. It is a challenge task since the testing instrument is highly sophisticated. It is difficult to maintain its accuracy, if it is fitted onto a moving vehicle. But Statex has taken up the challenge and has been successful in delivering solutions as per its customers’ requirements.”