Cotton problem allows companies to tangled textile companies can do what?

The focus of topics in the Chinese textile market since 2010 has been almost exclusively on cotton, and the sharp fluctuations in cotton prices have affected all the spinning, weaving, and textile companies. Then, what are the direct relations between the cotton issue and textile machinery enterprises? With the shortage of cotton resources and rising prices, what can textile companies do? A few days ago, the author interviewed Feng Sikai, president of Rieter China, a well-known global equipment manufacturer in the spinning industry.

The author: Since 2010, the sharp fluctuations in cotton prices have not only directly affected the production and operation of the downstream textile enterprises, but also the order of the upstream textile machinery companies has continued to change. As a textile equipment manufacturer, what do you think about cotton supply and demand?

Windsor: raw material costs account for a large proportion of the entire yarn cost. Therefore, how to increase the utilization of raw materials is particularly important today when cotton prices are so high. In fact, more and more customers have already considered whether or not they can effectively improve the utilization of raw materials as an important reference indicator when selecting equipment. It is undeniable that many equipment manufacturing companies are still paying more attention to how to increase the production capacity of their equipment. They are pursuing higher production speeds while ignoring the efficient use of raw materials. I think that this problem must cause equipment manufacturers to pay great attention to it. In this regard, Rieter Company can be said to have taken the lead. We have always been trying to find out how to use raw materials more efficiently under high speed. For example, Rieter E66 comber, under the premise of ensuring excellent yarn quality, the production speed can reach up to 500 clamps/min, the maximum output can reach 72 kg/hr, and the noil catching rate can be reduced by 1%~2%. Therefore, customers benefit from this equipment not only for efficient, high-yield and high-quality yarns, but also for maximizing raw material utilization.

The author: Since 2010, China's textile industry has once again presented a shocking trend of rapid development. At the same time, it has effectively stimulated the demand for textile machinery equipment. Not only has the sales revenue of the textile machinery industry hit a record high, but also, only In the first three quarters, China's textile machinery imports reached 3.074 billion U.S. dollars. How long do you think this trend can last?

Feng Sijun: I think the prosperity of the textile machinery industry in 2010 is more of a kind of restorative growth with the features of cyclical fluctuations. However, overall, China’s overall economy is still in an expansion period, and there is still room for improvement in domestic demand. Therefore, in the long run, China's textile machinery industry will continue to maintain a positive growth trend, but there may be a period of slower pace next year. From the perspective of market sales in 2010, taking the cotton spinning industry as an example, a considerable part of the new projects are complete sets of equipment. I believe that in the period to come, with the continuous development of the Chinese market and more attention from companies to the entire process, sales of cotton spinning equipment will continue to grow. The whole process is in perfect harmony with the concept of “textile system supplier” that Rieter has been adhering to. This also makes us more confident in the Chinese market.

The author: Under the premise of rising raw material prices, energy prices, and labor prices, and the expected appreciation of the exchange rate, a clear trend in the domestic textile machinery market is that textile companies have greatly increased the purchase of high-end equipment, and they are highly efficient, energy-efficient, and labor-intensive. Less products will be the mainstream of future market demand, which undoubtedly provides a huge market space for companies such as Rieter. Then, how is Rieter's product development adapted to this market demand?

Feng Sikai: In recent years, we have clearly felt that Chinese companies that are pursuing profit maximization have more and more demand for high-end equipment. The G35 and K45 spinning machines we developed for these customers have the longest body, the highest speed, the most advanced and reliable automatic doffing system, which makes our customers once again technically stand on the ring spinning and compacting Spinning trend of the forefront. At the same time, the R40 automatic rotor spinning machine developed by Rieter is also very suitable for the needs of these companies. The machine has a length of up to 500 spindles and a rotor speed of up to 160,000 rpm. It has convenient process settings, user-friendly operation modes, and a huge data expert system, which can effectively reduce the customer's dependence on skilled workers. In addition, Chinese textile companies have gradually begun to pay attention to informationized chemical plant management systems in recent years. Rieter has launched SPIDERweb, a spider web system. This system can collect and monitor the production and quality data of all Rieter equipments in the factory online, and display the information of the technological process in a graphical form, effectively improving the management efficiency of the customer.

The author: In 1998, Rieter established the first textile machinery manufacturing plant in China in Changzhou. Today, after a lapse of 12 years, Rieter will build another new factory in Changzhou. Does this move mean that Rieter's future strategic development will rely more on the Chinese market?

Feng Sijun: With the rapid development of China's textile industry, Rieter's pace in China has never slowed. After Rieter (Changzhou) Company settled in Changzhou in 1998, it completed a plant expansion in 2006, and after just four years, the current production scale is far from meeting the needs of customers. In fact, as early as 2008, we have completed the planning of the new factory, but due to the impact of the global financial crisis, this plan was postponed until 2010. In the new factory in the future, we will not only bring more textile products from Europe, but will also increase training centers, spinning centers and spare parts warehouses to provide better services to Chinese customers.

In the overall development strategy of Rieter, China indeed occupies a very important position. This is not just because China is the largest cotton spinning base in the world. At the same time, we also need to use the Changzhou plant as an important part of Rieter's global supply chain. In addition to providing the latest technology for Chinese customers, it also shoulders the mission of providing spare parts, spare parts and even complete machines for overseas markets.

The author: In recent years, the level of China's textile machinery manufacturing industry is gradually increasing. In particular, cotton spinning equipment has a strong competitive advantage. For Rieter, how can it win in competition with local companies?

Feng Siyi: Yes, in recent years, China's textile machinery manufacturing industry has developed very rapidly and has achieved remarkable results in many areas. However, Rieter always insists on conquering Chinese enterprises with the best equipment and the most advanced technologies. It is undeniable that prices have always been an important factor behind many textile companies that love Rieter's equipment. In fact, the price of Rieter equipment has dropped as the machines such as drawing machines and combers have been produced locally in China. After the completion of the new factory in Changzhou, we will continue to implement a series of core technologies and equipment from Kaiqing to carding, drawing, combing, ring spinning and rotor spinning in China and reduce costs. On the basis of this, let Chinese textile companies enjoy Swiss-quality "Made in China" textile machinery equipment at more favorable prices.