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32 Tight and agile 33
Cover Story management of spinning Cover Story
operations is critical good place at the moment. The global barometer of raw material and process management
effectiveness. When combined with ring monitoring,
macro-economic situation is tough, with many crises
in parallel. The Ukraine war, the sharp slowdown in
this is a huge help to identify the ‘red zones’ quickly
China, double-digit inflation and a tightening by
and take immediate action to control them.
central banks all lead to a deceleration in the major
economies. Textile demand is largely related to
Could these help Pakistani spinners?
economic cycles – and is therefore going through a TEXtalks: RSO and RSO 3D are Uster Value Modules.
Survival strategies for the present crises severe downturn. Pakistan is a key player in the textile Sivakumar Narayanan: Mills which have tried Uster
Ring Spinning Optimization (RSO) always mention
chain and is also unfortunately dealing with additional
challenges of its own: the tragic floods, foreign multiple benefits. First of all, automation stops bad
exchange shortages and high cotton prices. quality as early as possible. Remember that in the
However, the textile community has experienced normal cycle of detecting a bad ring spinning
many such cycles, most recently in 2020, and will position, it can continue producing poor quality –
survive and eventually thrive through this one. sometimes for months – resulting in cuts, alarms or
quality complaints. The second benefit is the
TEXtalks: How can these challenges be managed?
Sivakumar Narayanan: I think seasoned textile reduction in cuts, and therefore higher productivity –
professionals will all tell you the same thing… in some cases even up to 10%. But the third aspect
External circumstances are what they are, so let’s do that is highlighted, and possibly the most impactful
the best we can to manage our operations tightly and one, is the continuous and systematic improvement
with agility. Key issues are raw material management in optimization of raw material, process and machine
and product portfolio adaptation, while at the same settings, to raise overall quality consistency and
time managing customer expectations, relationships productivity levels.
and satisfaction.
TEXtalks: So, improving yarn production
TEXtalks: Is there a good example of this? performance for competitiveness is a way to survive
Sivakumar Narayanan: With the benefit of a global this crisis?
view, one can see some companies managing the Sivakumar Narayanan: As I said before, experienced
situation better than others. With the rather global operators, such as those in the Pakistani textile
better-managed mills, such as Ibrahim Fibres, key community, will see out this current tough cycle, and
differentiators are the adoption curve of technology, hopefully times will change next year. We managed
data-driven decision making and automation. The the Covid crisis, the post-Covid boom, and the
HVI and AFIS systems for raw material management logistics nightmare, among other challenges in the
space of two years. As we did then, we all now have
are super-relevant during this time. But a new tool to tighten our belts and do what is necessary with
with a similar impact is RSO 3D. It presents a great agility. Uster will be alongside our customers, trying to
opportunity, because a lot can be managed with ring help during these hard times. At the same time, we
and winding process data, and RSO 3D brings these will continue to invest in solutions that improve quality
processes together. The yarn clearer is the last point consistency with automation, while reducing
Sivakumar Narayanan, Executive Vice President Marketing & Business Development, Uster Technologies AG of control to maintain consistent quality, and acts as a operational costs.
The Pakistani textile community faces challenging professionals have the expertise to handle the most
times. Sivakumar Narayanan, Executive Vice difficult external circumstances.
President of Uster Technologies, presents a detailed
analysis of the current situation. In this interview, he TEXtalks: Is the textile business in tatters like many
recommends a focus on core business strategies, other industries?
with the confidence that seasoned textile Sivakumar Narayanan: Unfortunately, we are not in a
October/November 2022 October/November 2022
