4. 4
July 2015www.textilevaluechain.com
EDITORIAL
Shri V.Y. Tamhane
Editorial Advisor
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The textile industryis lookingforward tosubstantiallyboosting,as export performance
in the near future primarily on the strength of upgraded technology, domestic availability
of fibers and commited labour force and praise worthy technical support. Fortuitous cir-
cumstances like the likely slowdown in China may make its task easier.
At the same time, things are not shaping as the industry would like them to shape on
the national horizon. The industry has to face adverse head winds because of the disrup-
tion in domestic demand as a sequel to strong inflationary trends in the economy. What
is really agitating the industry is the gathering of dark clouds on the flagship scheme of
TUFS.
From the news trickling from the corridors of the udyog bhawan, it appears all that the
industry might get is one time capital subsidy probably on an enhanced scale.
There is certainly a good case for reshaping TUFS, in view of the heavy arrears of the
support due to the industry, as the apex body of the textile industry.
Large Canvas of the Textile Industry
6. 6
July 2015www.textilevaluechain.com
EDITORIAL TEAM
Editor & Publisher
Ms. Jigna Shah
Editorial Advisor
Shri V.Y. Tamhane
Consulting Editor
Mr. Avinash Mayekar
Graphic Designer
Mrs. Bhavana Pore
Advertising & Sales
Md. Tanweer
INDUSTRY
Mr. Devchand Chheda
City Editor - Vyapar ( Janmabhumi Group)
Mr. Manohar Samuel
President, Birla Cellulose, Grasim Industries
Dr. M. K. Talukdar
VP, Kusumgar Corporates
Mr. Shailendra Pandey
VP (Head – Sales and Marketing), Indian Rayon
Mr. Ajay Sharma
GM RSWM (LNJ Bhilwara Group)
EDUCATION / RESEARCH
Mr. B.V. Doctor
HOD knitting, SASMIRA
Dr. Ela Dedhia
Associate Professor, Nirmala Niketan College
Dr. Mangesh D. Teli
Professor, Dean ICT
Dr. S.K. Chattopadhyay
Principal Scientist & Head MPD
Dr. Rajan Nachane
Retired Scientist, CIRCOT
CONSULTANT / ASSOCIATION
Mr. Shivram Krishnan
Senior Textile Advisor
Mr. G. Benerjee
Management & Industrial Consultant
Mr. Uttam Jain
Director PDEXCIL; VP of Hindustan Chamber of Commerce
Mr. Shiv Kanodia
Sec General, Bharat Merchant Chamber
Mr. N.D. Mhatre
Dy. Director, ITAMMA
JULY 2015 ISSUE
CONTENT
ADVERTISER INDEX
Cover Story :TUFS revamping with rural bias
11 Large Canvas of the Textile Industry – Ex
position of ShriPrakashBhagwati
12 Exhibitions As A Catalyst For Indus Trial
Growth & Economic Prospeity
13 Case for enhancement in support not re
duction
16 Textile Machinery Industry- A Big
Opportunity
NEWS
18 Government News
19 Association News
ARTICLES
20 Wearable Computers by Scientist of Vaish
nav Institute of Technology And Science,
Indore
24 Defence Textiles & Camouflage Fabric by
Mr. Arvind Sinha
28 Fashion retailing- the human touch by
Mr. Vishnu Govind
39 Resilient Supply chain by Mr. Harish
Chatterjee
SHOW/ EVENT REPORT
27 ATDC
33 CMAI
BRAND FOCUS
35 LIVA- Birla Cellulose
37 Batliboi & Inspiron
29 Cotton USA
REPORT
30 Cotton
Back Page: Raymond
Back Inside :Rieter
Front Inside :INDIA ITME
Page 3: NarainSysnthetics
Page 5: Bajaj Fab
Page 7 : SGS Innovation
Page 8 : YNA Show
Page 9 :Rabatex
Page 10 :ITMACH
Page 36 :Indiatex 2016
Page 38 :Techtexil
Page 40 : PRD Cotton
Page 41 : Sanjay Plastic
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11. 11
July 2015 www.textilevaluechain.com
At the seminar organized by FICCI [Federation of Indian Cham-
bers of Commerce and Industry] at Ahmedabad, on measures for
stimulating investments in the manufacturing sector, Shri Prakash
Bhagwati, Chairman, Textile Machinery Manufacturers Association
was forthright on emphasizing the importance of Textile industry
in the national economy. He added that it was sufficient to refer to
just three factors for the purpose, namely, creation of lakh of jobs
with minimal qualifications at entry level, earning of sizeable quan-
tum of foreign exchange and capability to meet growing domestic
demand of demographically young.
However, the textile industry does not possess any magic
wand. It does require support and the major support is extended
by the Textile Engineering Industry. In the days of high technology
the winner must have [equipment which are] sophisticated, most
modern highly productive and capable of producing fault-free and
quality goods. There is a fierce competition in the international
market for textiles which cannot be overlooked. At the same time,
the traditional major players namely China and European countries
are losing their grip on the textile market. Their decline is the cumu-
lative effect of many factors, but the rising manpower cost.
Shri Bhagwati was critical of the reduction in the allocations of
funds for TUFS, which caused heavy backlog of arrears and left the
textile industry starling. Unless on time, TUFS benefits were made
available, he categorically pronounced that the investment in the
industry might dwindle. The speed of disbursement of interest sub-
sidy was an important factor influencing the level of investment.
Continuing his address, Shri Bhagwati stated –
l It is envisaged in Draft Textile Policy “Vision 2024-25” that
domestic sale of textile industry should reach a production level of
US$ 350 billion. Further, India has the potential to export textile &
apparels worth US$ 300 billion by 2024-25 from its current level of
US$ 40 billion. Thus the size of the industry should grow to US $ 650
billion by 2024-2025.
l This would maximise employment generation and value crea-
tion within the country. In the process, investment of about US$
120 billion would take place and about 35 million additional jobs
would get created.
[Textile Engineering Industry]
l The TEI in India is one of the five key capital goods industries
l Consists of more than 1400 units, with a total investment of
Rs. 9,100 Cr
l More than 80% of the units are SMEs
l Installed Capacity of TEI, is Rs. 10,500 Cr
l Provides direct / indirect employment to > 285,000 persons
l Meets 45-50% of the demand of the Indian textile industry
While giving the reasons for high import of Textile equipment,
he referred to the following factors:
1. User textile industry is highly fragmented.
2. Slow modernization as user industry is not subject to global
competition.
3. With regard to spinning sector, TEI has no technology gap
and is able to offer spinning equipment of world class quality.
4. However, for weaving and processing sectors, TEI is focus-
ing more on customers who are in unorganized sector. As a result,
wide technological gaps exists. Even used imported weaving ma-
chines are preferred over new low tech weaving machines, pro-
duced locally.
5. Gaps in technology as stated above have forced organized
textile industry to go for high import of modern equipment ena-
bling them to compete in export market.
Long term strategy for indigenous development of technology
for equipment to be “Made in India” related to weaving, process-
ing and garmenting where technological gaps exist.
In order to reverse the trend of import in favour of local sup-
ply of equipment to textile industry, following measures are sug-
gested. New policy measures should encourage local as well as
foreign direct investment in textile engineering industry.
l Cluster approach for development through institutional link-
ages like IIT-Delhi &Powai, CMTI should be encouraged by govern-
ment (DHI) for machines and components, as identified above.
l TMMA has been able to organize on similar line as stat-
ed above, a suttleless loom development project between 5
of its member units with Central Manufacturing Technology
Institute(CMTI), Bengaluru. DHI will fund, 80% of the project cost.
l Creating Technology Acquisition Fund: Textile Industry and
TEI is migrating from Europe to Asian countries. This has resulted
into reputed manufacturers of textile equipment closing downin
Europe. Their technology can be acquired from earmarked funds,
either for individual Indian unit or for Clusterof TEI Units.
lImport should be permitted at zero or nominal rate of duty
for a period of 3 years. After this timeframe, duty should be raised
to 15%. This will facilitate Indian sector to acquire new, technically
superior machinery at reasonable costs and also signal foreign ma-
chinery manufacturers to invest in India.
l TUF scheme should not be changed for 10 years period. Al-
location of funds for TUF in respective yearin the central budget
should be made in consultation with industry.
l In order to promote investment in textile machinery manu-
facturing it is recommended that incentives under Scheme of Hire
Purchase and TUFS in specific segments should be made available
only on indigenous machinery after period of 3 years. This will give
sufficient time for international and Indian investors to join hands
or make independent investments for manufacturing machinery
within India.
l At present TUFS benefits are not available for second hand
machinery except specific shuttleless looms. In order to promote
Large Canvas of the Textile Industry – Exposition of Shri Prakash
Bhagwati - by Shri V.Y. Tamhane
Shri Prakash Bhagwati
Chairman, TMMA
COVER STORY
This Article is based on the candid views of Shri Prakash
Bhagwati Chairman Textile Machinery Manufacturers
and the interview he gave to the representative of this
magazine – Editorial Advisor.
12. 12
July 2015www.textilevaluechain.com
usage of latest technology machineries and promote machinery
manufacturing investments it is recommended that import of sec-
ond hand machinery should not be encouraged except in case of
select technical textile and nonwoven machinery.
l RRTUF Scheme.-Benchmarking of only domestic loom man-
ufacturers should be removed. This is an injustice.
l Introduce Scheme Similar to TUF – For modernisation of
(Textile Engineering Industry)TEI.
l Inverted Import Duty Structure:
Existing customs tariff on Textile machinery and components
are inverted in nature‐ import of complete machinery attracts 5%
basic customs duty in general while raw materials and number of
components attract an average duty rate of 7.5% and above. For
promoting indigenization of machinery manufacturing, basic duty
of complete machinery should be at least 5% higher than on inputs.
It is recommended that a detailed exercise should be carried out
to assess whether the import duty on the raw material needs to be
decreased or import duty on complete textile machinery need to
be increased to maintain this differential.
The likely contours of the new Textile Policy is available from
the unanimous Report of the Export Committee constituted by the
Ministry of Textiles under the Chairmanship of Shri Ajay Shankar,
Member-Secretary with the captains of the textile industry as its
Members. This would open tremendous opportunities on unbe-
lieveable scale.
Shri Bhagwadi was hopeful that on the strength of four inher-
ent factors, assured domestic availability of good quality cotton,
availability of skilled workers with the help of skill development
programme of Central Government, Joint agreements for the use
of international brands and improved Per capita domestic con-
sumption to 30 meters , the steep climb of the textile industry from
the present production of US $ 120 billion to the pinnacle of US $
650 billion over a period of ten years, provided adequate Govern-
ment support was available.
With immense proud he recalled the initiative of TMMA in col-
laboration with the Ministry of Heavy Industry to launch the Central
Machine Tools India Project, under which Five Machinery manufac-
turers had been selected on the basis of their present commitment
for R and D.
With the technology support from Machine Tool institute based
at Bengalaru, and financial support of 80% of the project cost by
the Central Government and 20% of the project cost being R and D
expenses borne by the selected manufacturers, the day is not far
off when Indian-manufactured state-of-artshuttle-less looms would
become functional. q
Origin and early days of Exhibitions.
The best-known ‘first World Expo’ was held in London, United
Kingdom, in 1851, under the title “Great Exhibition of the Works of
Industry of All Nations”. The Great Exhibition, as it is often called,
was an idea of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband. The event
was housed in an enormous glass building that came to be known
as the Crystal Palace and is considered to be the first international
exhibition of manufactured products.
It was said at that time that “The Exhibition was the first
time that the nations of the world had ever come together in
one place, other than on a battlefield”. Even in its inception, ’The
Great Exhibition’ influenced the development of several aspects of
society, including art-and-design education, international trade and
relations, and tourism.
There were some 100,000 objects, displayed along more
than 10 miles, by over 15,000 contributors. The biggest of all was
the massive hydraulic press that had lifted the metal tubes of a
bridge at Bangor invented by Stevenson. Next in size was a steam-
hammer that could with equal accuracy forge the main bearing of
a steamship or gently crack an egg. There were adding machines a
‘sportsman’s knife’ with eighty blades from Sheffield. Canada sent
a fire-engine with painted panels showing Canadian scenes, and a
trophy of furs.
India contributed an elaborate throne of carved ivory, a coat
embroidered with pearls, emeralds and rubies, and a magnificent
howdah and trappings for a rajah’s elephant. Amid all these
wonders, there was the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond which drew
public attentionand excitement. More than six million people came
through the Exhibition and the profit and many of the exhibition
items were used to create what is now known as the Victoria and
Albert Museum.
Since its first official appearance in 1851, three distinctive
phases can be distinguished in the history of exhibitions that of
industrialization, of cultural exchange, and nation branding.
Role of Exhibition in Industrialization:
How exhibitions played important role in industrialization is
visible from the world expositions, especially focused on trade
held from 1851 to 1938 encouraging technological inventions and
advancements. World expositions were the platforms where the
state-of-the-art in science and technology from around the world
were brought together. The world expositions of 1851 London,
1853 New York, 1862 London, Philadelphia (1876), 1889 Paris, 1893
Chicago, 1900 Paris, 1901 Buffalo, 1904 St. Louis, 1915 San Francisco,
and 1933–34 Chicago were landmarks in this respect.
This lead role in stimulating economics by exhibitions continues
till date. Today in number of countries, events are accorded top
priority by governments because they act as a catalyst for overall
growth and employment generation.
The most outstanding example and proof of key role of
exhibition as a catalyst for industry, employment and economic
growth are Germany and China. Post World War II - the German
trade fair industry grew in direct proportion to its GDP growth.
Exhibitions boost German economic output by over EUR 20 billion
every year. They also ensure 226,000 people have full time jobs.
EXHIBITIONS AS A CATALYST FOR
INDUSTRIAL GROWTH & ECONOMIC PROSPERITY
Mrs. Seema Srivastava
Director, INDIA ITME SOCIETY
13. 13
July 2015 www.textilevaluechain.com
In the last few days newspapers are carrying long reports about
the likely reduction in number of centrally-sponsored schemes. It
is a quiet coincidence that at the same time ,some adverse news
is circulating about the proposed changes in the Technology
Upgradation Fund Scheme [TUFS] which might weaken the
support to the textile industry.
TUFS was launched by the Central Government in April 1999 to
reduce the interest burden on term loans so as to stimulate large
investments in the entire textile value chain. Till date, investments
amounting to bout 3 lakh crore of rupees have been made.
Canvas of the industry
Impact of TUFS between 1998-99 and 2014-15, during the
operation of TUFS till date, spun yarn production recorded the
longest jump of nearly 100%, the respective figures being 2808M
kg and 5485 M kg. the growth in cloth production fell short of
the record made by yarn, cloth production increased from 35543
million kg meters in 1998-99 to 64221 million kg meters in 2014-15.
Ie.Growth of 80%. The sad part of the cloth segment is the slow
growth of the mill sector, after the decade of the composite mills
towards the late 1990s & early 2000s. In the present world of
discerning buyers, it is the composite mills which a better chance
to score international made textiles. A net worthy development is
the specular increase of more than 170% in the production of the
hosiery cloth. This is as it should be with the increased purchases of
casuals the world over, as a sequel be the augmented purchasing
power. It seems the handloom sector has reached the climax of its
capacity and the core seems to be likelihood of furthure growth in
handloom fabrics.
Furthermore, exhibitions generate EUR 3.8 billion in taxes at the
federal, state and municipal level.
Various European studies have shown that trade fairs bring into
play a powerful multiplier effect contributing to the extent of 10 to
12 times their turnover to the geographical area served. Estimating
the worldwide turnover of the industry at EUR 25 to 30 billion, the
economic impact of this activity, even by conservative estimates,
would be around 250 billion.
China’s GDP growth during last decade or so is directly
proportional to growth in its exhibition industry. According to
industry estimates, India’s exhibition industry already contributes
to the extent of 94,000 crore rupees in terms of business
generated at shows currently held in the country.
Cultural & Social function of Exhibition:
1939 to 1987 saw a focus on cultural exchange and social
function Trade fairs and congresses have always been platforms
for the exchanging knowledge. In today’s knowledge-based
society information has become a decisive resource & these events
are major knowledge dissemination platform.
Brand Promotion:
From Expo ‘88 in Brisbane onwards, countries started to use
world expositions more widely and more strongly as a platform
to improve their national images through their pavilions. In a
world where a strong national image is a key asset, pavilions
became advertising campaigns, and the Expo a vehicle for ‘nation
branding’. Improving national image was the primary participation
goal for countries.
Today’s world expositions embody elements of all three eras.
They present new inventions, facilitate cultural exchange based on
a theme, and are used for city, region and nation branding.
How exhibition stimulate individual companies & products?
The key to winning a customer is to be able to connect, present,
and capture interest. And the power of human senses; touch, feel,
hear and see is infinite in an exhibition, making it the best marketing
tool. The intend of visitors are focused on doing business and keen
willingness to strike a bargain ensuring attention and interest of
the key decision makers.
Presence of Competition under same roof also facilitates
understanding market hurdles, trends, sales pitch of competitor,
price and technology comparison etc. All these are key factors
influencing decisions on future market expansions, allocation of
research budget, pricing policy, customer service etc.
As an example I would like to cite India ITME Society creating
excitement for Textile Industry & Textile Engineering Industry for
India and its neighbouring region, single handled promoting Indian
brand globally. This mega event has succeeded in promoting
India as a key nation for Textile engineering industry, sourcing
and manufacturing hub, attracting many foreign machinery
manufacturers to invest and set up their manufacturing facility
in the Country generating employment and business for ancillary
industries.
Decision maker’s, technocrat, Scientist, Consultants,
Government officials, Students and Press Media from 97 Countries
converge for a six day Tech fest and business every 4 year.
Thus creating huge foreign exchange & revenue for the State
Government, Hotel industry, Airline industry, Transport industry,
Catering industry and other related services. This mega event
generates permanent & temporary employment of 30,000 through
57 vendors during the event.
The power of exhibitions and events to drive business and
economic development is proven since its inception and its
importance and role will continue to grow especially in this era of
globalization. q
Case for enhancement in support not reduction
By 2014-2015, what Indian has achieved a name for a self in the
segment of spun yarn, home textiles and knitted garments. For
ready reference check table 1, 2, 3 given alongside.
Export
The investment in benchmarked machinery in TUFS has opened
the international market in a significant way. From a level of USD
8730 in 2001-2002 exports were climbed at USD 30747 IN 2014-2015.
Surely textile industry deserves full throated praise for its excellent
performance in earning foreign exchange.
Table 4 compares export performance in 2001-2002 and 2014-
2015.
Employment
The textile industry has allied more than 7 million workers as
will be seen from table 5. The increase has taken place despite
installation of high technology machines which require less number
of workers.
Shri V.Y.Tamhane
14. 14
July 2015www.textilevaluechain.com
The serious concern of the industry originates from the
inadequateallocationoffunds.IntheCentralBudgetfor thecurrent
year, Rs.1520 crore has been provided which would take care of the
backlog of interest subsidy payable in the preceding financial year.
To meet fresh investments, the industry has projected the fund
requirement of Rs.3,000crore. The industry’s calculation further
estimates that another Rs.2500 crore would be needed to take care
of left-out and blackout cases. Thus the total fund requirement is
about Rs.5500 crore.
Level of technology
All types of spun yarns whether common or man-made,
home textiles and garments are its prize products which are the
most sought after in the international market. The present TUFS
has covered a long distance in the upgradation of technology.
However, modernization is a never-ending process.
It will not be out of tune to refer to a misconception that the
spinning sector is over modernized. The truth is that only 57%
of spindles are modern and the balance is in the crying need of
modernization.
The International Textile Manufacturer’s Federation has
estimated that at the rate at which technology was progressing,
the entire machinery in a textile mill was required to be changed
every 7/10 years to remain in alignment with the most modern
technology.
Naturally, the captains of the Indian Textile industry are
worried if TUFS is abruptly discontinued, it will hurt the pace of
modernization of a technology –driven industry. However, the
present indications are that TUFS will not be altogether stopped,
but it will be revamped.
Revamping of TUFS
Revamping does not mean mere readjustment of figures in the
benefit matrix.
Revamping has a wiser connotation and sweep.
Revamping should start with the objective of the scheme. Any
Government Scheme is meant for welfare of the society at large.
TUFS is no exception.
The country should be able to draw tangible benefits like
improvementinforeignexchangeearnings,increaseinproductivity,
reduction in wastages, reduction in the requirement of utilities,
stability in the income of cotton growers ( cotton prices fetched by
them less input costs and other expenses) proportionate increase
in direct employment of workers, uplift of rural economy etc.
Dr. S.K.Panda, Secretary [Textiles] Government of India, while
inaugurating the 61st National Garment Fair stated that certain
changes were likely to be made in the TUFS scheme. However, he
did not reveal the shape of things to come.
Four ministries overseeing textile chain
The textile value chain is too long, perhaps the largest in
the manufacturing sector. The chain starts with the production
of fibres, mainly cotton is in the administrative control of the
Ministry of Agriculture, while natural fibres fall in the domain of
the Ministry of Chemicals. Textile Machinery Manufacturing is
administratively controlled by the Ministry of Heavy Industries
and activities like spinning, weaving, processing and garmenting
are the turf of the Ministry of Textiles.
Being under the control of four ministries, the industry has
become a pawn of the chessboard of philosophies of different
ministries.
If the development of the Textile industry is recognized as the
prime driver for the growth of the national economy which is the
case, a high-level co-ordinating committee of the four ministries
should be formed for the stated purpose of overseeing the growth
of the textile industry.
It may be noted here that one shortcoming of the Indian
economy is the underdevelopment of the rural sector. Nearly
56% of the population in the country derive its subsistence from
agriculture. The average per capita income is Rs. Thirty thousand
which is abysmally low.
The recently published socio-economic and caste census 2011 is
an eye opener in regard to pathetic condition of rural households.
Merely half the rural households were under deprivation in 2011.
A way-out is to take industries to the rural sector. The best
industry for this purpose is the cotton textile industry.
The Ministry of Agriculture should be responsible for making
available infrastructure at cotton belts where cotton textile mills
are going to spring up. It is also necessary to give special subsidy
to allure investors to start mills in rural areas. Entrepreneurs
committed to themselves to village uplift and are willing to identify
themselves with the problems of local people and help them in all
respects should be eligible for special subsidy. There are excellent
examples although a few of how an industry set up in village can
transform nearby sleepy villages having no perennial supply of
water in area flushed with greenery with residents having regular
jobs in a factory. Youth groups to school and colleges and women
adding to family kitty through side occupation like handicrafts,
animal husbandry, supply of milk etc. This will bring prosperity to
rural areas.
The responsibility of the Ministry of Chemicals will be to make
available man-made fibres and filament yarns at international prices
to the domestic industry.
The Ministry of Heavy Industry should propose a subsidy
scheme for the Textile Machinery Manufacturers which will
encourage them to raise standards of machines to international
levels. India is a thriving market for textile machinery particularly in
weaving & processing segments, apart from south Asia, south east
Asia, far east as African countries willing to lay foundation for the
manufacture of textiles.
Since the profitability of the textile industry is wafer-thin, it
should be the agenda of the Ministry of Textiles to address the
funding problem of the textile industry. A recent international
development is the likely slowdown in china and crash in the
chinese stock market. This development is likely to cause a turmoil
of gigantic magnitude in the international market for textile and
clothing and brighten the chances of india to capture major textile
importing countries in a big way.
All this points out to one conclusion tha is there should be
proper revamping of TUFS which will improve the rural economy
and capture major international markets.
The role of the four ministries is thus cut-out.
A harmonious approach would certainly benefit the national
economy and large sections of the rural population.
TABLE 1 PRODUCTION OF YARNs (Qty. in Mil. KG)
Description 1998-99 2005-06 2014-15
Cotton Yarn 2022 2521 4057
Blended Yarn 595 588 1428
100% Non Cotton Yarn. 191 349 1428
Total 2808 3458 5485
15. 15
July 2015 www.textilevaluechain.com
On the eve of New Textile Policy of India, in the backdrop of
present world economic scenario.
The recent Greece referendum and its suspicious & suppressed
effect on China and USA, has left several questions unanswered.
The recent ‘1930’ remark of RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan,
although modified later, has put economist to work, overtime.
The outcome of Greece is uncertain and can have a cascading
effect, if EU and other developing countries do not quickly
devise a viable solution. The EU ought to have had checks and
balances in place so as not to allow such edgy situation. In the
backdrop of current International socio-economic situation,
your present Central Government is, for the first time coming
out with full fledged Textile Policy. The entire Textile value
chain is very optimistic of pragmatic, practical and growth
oriented textile policy, as our Prime Minister is from the
Textile city of Ahmadabad, and has in-depth knowledge of
the entire textile value chain. Germany strengthens and hard
bargains for its engineering & automotive sector at all bi-lateral,
multilateral and WTO negotiations. Similarly other countries
bargains for their respective inherent advantageous industry.
But over the past we have seen that interest of Indian Textile
sector has always been compromised for known & unknown
tradeoffs with other countries, resulting in suicides of hundreds
of farmer, weavers and textile workers. The most recent
compromise being the GSP Plus status for Pakistan by EU.
(Report published in previous issue also attached herewith).
This policy became applicable from 1/1/2015 and its effect is
visible now with negative growth of Indian textile exports in
last 3 to 4 months.
Indian textile value chain is the most unorganised sector and
hence does not a united, constructive & powerful lobby. Even
a few associations which are active are more dominated in
the interest of spinning sector. It is in the interest of Indian
economy to have more and more value added exports rather
than exports of raw materials. A strong cartel/lobby of raw
cotton exporters’ has exploited lopsided Indian textile policy
at the cost of cotton farmers and the downstream textile value
chain. We frittered away the advantageous cotton production
with short term speculative policies, for the benefit of handful
few speculators. Linen fibre growing countries are classic
example how these countries have safeguarded the interest of
their farmers and maintained regular price increase despite the
sluggish international commodity prices. It is pertinent to note
that prices of all commodities viz crude, metal, grains, cotton &
polyester fibres have declined, except prices of linen fibre.
Bharat Merchants’ Chamber is a premier chamber of trade,
commerce & Industry, primarily representing the Textile
and allied sector, since 1960 from the heart of Asia’s biggest
Textile market. We are one of the biggest textile associations
with thousands of primary and associate members, fuelling
livelihood of crores of people, directly & indirectly. It is pertinent
to note that our association is non-governmental organisation,
representing MSME’s and voices of the masses in Textile value
chain, but the lopsided bureaucracy has distanced us without
any representation to Textile Ministry, Textile Commissioner,
Texprocil, MSME Ministry and other policy making think-tank of
Central & State government. We once again impress upon all
governmental functionaries to kindly take untainted and direct
view of the masses and devise policies which fuel inclusive &
sustainable growth and do not fritter away our advantageous
position.
TABLE 2 Production Of cloth (Million. Sq. Meters)
Description 1998-99 2005-06 2014-15
Mill sector. 1785 1561 2492
Handloom 6792 6203 7203
Powerlooms. 20689 30254 37566
Hosiery. 6277 10,297 16960
Total. 35,543 48314 64221
TABLE 3 Production of Ready Made Garments. (In Million meters)
Sr. No. Year Production
1 2006 5343.
2 2007 5590
3 2008 6180
4 2009 6263
5 2010 6561
6 2011 6989
TABLE 4 Export of Textile Products from India. (Value in US$ Million)
Sr. No. Products 2001-2002 2014-2015
1 Woollen Yarn 19.03 79.47
2 Cotton Yarn 1130.69 3961.40
3 100% Non Cotton Yarn. 200.31 700.58
4 Woollen Fabrics 19.81 42.96
5 Cotton fabrics. 861.17 1860.72
6 Man-Made Woven Fabrics. 617.75 2112.20
7 Pile and knitted Fabrics. 28.83 256.84
8 Special Woven Fabrics 191.31 404.86
9 Cotton RMG 3678.06 8744.78
10 Man-Made RMG 784.05 4182.50
11 Wool 237.69 397.90
12 Others. --- 3363.57
13 Cotton Made-ups. 893.16 3045.23
14 Wool Made-ups 10.12 20.68
15 Man-Made Made-ups. 56.59 711.68
16 Others ---- 862.16
Total 8728.77 30747.53
TABLE 5 Employment in the segments mentioned below
[Figures in Millions]
1998-99 2014-2015
Spun yarn 1.00 1.49
Power looms including Mill sector 4.86 6.00
Handlooms 6.50 7.55
Knitting 0.43 0.71
Processing 0.29 0.38
Woollen 1.50 2.25
RMG 5.57 8.85
Total 20.15 27.23
Mr. Shiv Kanodia
By Bharat Merchant Chambers
16. 16
July 2015www.textilevaluechain.com
COVER STORY
Textile Machinery Industry -
A Big Opportunity for India
Global Textile Machinery Industry
Global Textile machinery market is witnessing tremendous
growth buoyed by growing demand of textile & apparel market.
It is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 14.02%till 2018. It isexpected
to reach to US $ 207.5 billion in 2015. The major manufacturers of
textile machinery are Italy, Germany, Switzerland, France and now
China. China is leading in the field of textile exports today because
they installed a large set-up of spindles, open end rotors and shut-
tleless weaving machines.
China is manufacturing the entire range of machineries for the
textile industry, not only spinning, weaving and processing but also
knitting, embroidery and plants for the non-woven industry. One
of the major trends in the Global Textile Machinery market is the
growing number of technological innovations. The global market
divided into two parts i.e. Low cost manufacturing places like de-
veloping countries (Labor concentrated market) where cheap la-
bor is available & high cost manufacturing places like developed
countries where labor is expensive & more automation is needed
to reduce operation cost.
Indian Textile Machinery Industry
The industry witnessed a growth of 8-10 per cent to Rs 22,000
crore in 2014 from Rs 20,000 crore in 2013.The size of India's textile
machinery industry is poised to double to Rs 45,000 crore in the
next 7 years from the present Rs 22,000 crore on the back of new
projects and emphasis on setting up textile parks. The textile ma-
chinery manufacturing section is one of the largest segments of the
machinery manufacturing industry in India. Domestic demand has
increased with CAGR of 17% between FY 2009-2013. Our in-house
production is insufficient to meet domestic demand.
This industry is nearly sixty years old and has about 1000 ma-
chinery and component manufacturing units. Nearly 300 units
produce complete machinery and the remaining produces various
textile machinery components.However, not all the units work to
full capacity or even the optimum capacity level. Except for the
units in the spinning sector where the machineries are of interna-
tional standards; in the other sectors, machinery manufacturing for
weaving, knitting and wet-processing lack standard of quality and
performance (in most of the cases) to compete with the European
manufacturers.
Indian Machinery Production FY 2012-13 ( InCrores)
Year Production Export Production Total % Demand
less Domestic met by in-house
Export Demand Production
2009-10 4245 582 3663 7383 50%
2010-11 6150 915 5235 9312 56%
2011-12 5280 800 4480 11188 40%
2012-13 5650 1462 4188 11898 35% Source: TMMA
In the weaving sector, shuttleless weaving machinery (rapier
or jet) and in the knitting sector (circular knitting and flat knitting)
machineries hardly have any presence in the industry.The machin-
ery manufacturing operation takes place both in the organised and
the unorganised sectors. In the organised sector, in addition to the
public limited companies, machinery manufacturing is done in in-
dependent units, which have collaborative joint ventures with the
foreign entities. In the decentralized sector, there are small-scale
industrial units as well as tiny units engaged in the production of
accessories pertaining to the textile machinery.Majority of the pro-
duction comes from the States of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat; collec-
tively contributing around 84 per cent of the production.
Around 87 per cent of the total production, i.e., textile machin-
ery is coming from the six clusters namely Ahmedabad, Banga-
lore, Coimbatore, Ludhiana, Mumbai and Surat. These clusters are
strategically located to serve the textile industry and have the af-
filiation to produce the kind of machinery required by the industry.
Ahmedabad is a cluster of weaving.
Currently most of textile machinery produced consumed in-
house, so there is very less scope for the export.
Year Production Export % Export of
total production
2009-10 4245 582 14%
2010-11 6150 915 15%
2011-12 5280 800 15%
2012-13 5650 1462 26%
Problems faced by Indian Textile Industry
The major problem in the textile machinery manufacturing
industry is the lack of investment in Research and Development,
except for the manufacturing units who have technical collabora-
tion with reputed foreign companies; no progress has been made
in the quality of the machinery produced. This dependence on bor-
rowed technology and want of research has kept most of the sec-
tors except spinning machinery sector far behind in the standard
and performance of the machinery produced. This has resulted
in the import of second hand machinery especially in the area of
weaving thus discouraging the advancement of technology in the
manufacturing of similar machinery in India. Lack of systematic fis-
cal support to the industry by the Government has also added to
the problems.
Growth Drivers in India for Machinery Market
Purchase of new machinery is the key growth driver of the mar-
ket. One of the major growth drivers for global machinery market
is the strong economic recovery; post-recession, increasing de-
mand for textile products, and environmentally friendly fibers, and
a growing demand for the developing nations. Today machinery
manufacturers produce textile machineries at competitive prices,
and sophisticated machines of higher speed, and production capac-
Shri Avinash Mayekar
MD, Suvin Advisor Pvt. Ltd.
17. 17
July 2015 www.textilevaluechain.com
ity. Presence of numerous small scale players also makes the ma-
chinery sector more competitive. Along with them, MNCs have also
entered the global arena, taking the competition to the next level,
driving companies to work on their productivity and innovation.
The global demand of textile machinery is rising due to grow-
ing demand of textile industry. Today, Textile machinery sourcing
is majorly done from European countries, which is relatively costly.
India is strategically located from most of major textile & apparel
producing countries and India has good potential to explore global
opportunities & tap global market. India has to first focus on ex-
ports to the neighboring countries which are emerging as signifi-
cant textile producers.
Summary
Indian Textile Machinery Industry has tremendous growth po-
tential in coming future buoyed by growing domestic & global de-
mand; the only need is to identify the untapped opportunities. We
need to focus more on Research & Development (R&D) to manu-
facture high standard Textile Machinery which is required for our
own consumption first so that we can reduce imports and may
think of exporting appropriate technology to other developing
countries.
The Indian Government has already declared “Make in India”
drive to boost manufacturing sector. It should also support the
R&D activities& allocate special funds for development of R&D
centers of each of the Indian manufacturer. Our education pattern
should develop research and innovation based concepts for Textile
Engineering students so that the real growth happens within our
country.
Low material costs and operating costs along with our own
huge market will give India an edge over other countries. Let’scome
together&createIndiaasNEXTTEXTILEMACHINERYHUB.
CATEGORY 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13
Spinning & Allied Machinery 2417.44 2105 3500 2570 2310
Systematic filament yarn machinery 412.79 830 900 925 965
Weaving & allied Machinery 410.35 495 600 480 445
Processing machinery 419.29 460 700 750 960
Misc. Spinning, weaving, processing machinery 122 120 150 100 120
Textile testing/ controlling/measuring instruments 80.43 30 50 65 80
Hosiery machinery ( including machine & needle) 33.31 35 50 20 45
TOTAL 3895.61 4075 5950 4910 4925
Spares & Accessories 167.39 170 200 370 725
TOTAL 4063.00 4245 6150 5260 5650
A.T.E. ties up withColor Service, Italy – a global leader in the
design and manufacturing of dispensing systems for dyes and
chemicals.
A.T.E..has tied-up with Color Service Srl, Italy, a global leader in
dispensing systems for dyes and chemicals. A.T.E. will exclusively
handle the marketing, sales and service of Color Service’s products
and solutions in India and Bangladesh.
Color Service was founded by Mr FabrizioToschiin 1987.Its port-
folio includes fully automatic systems for dyes, liquid chemicals,
powder chemicals, print paste dispensing systems and print paste
thickener preparation systems along with automated lab dyeing
systems and complete laboratory solutions for bulk reproducibility
in dyeing printing textile houses. Apart from textiles, it also pro-
vides solutions for the food,rubber,cosmetics &tannery industries.
Color Service is already a well-established player in India, with an im-
pressive reference list includingVardhman, Abishek,Alok,Welspun,
BRFL, Bombay Dyeing, Arvind,Trident,Himatsingka,Sharadha Terry
–toname only a few.
The most critical factor influencing dye houseproductivity is to
get dyeing “right the first time and every time”. With its domain
expertise in dyes and chemicals for 28 years, Color Service pro-
vides exclusive and tailor made solutions (both semi and fully au-
tomatic systems) for perfect dyeing. These solutions improve the
production cycle time,avoid wastages of dyes &chemicals,reduce
labor,provide safe working environment, and most importantly
they help to achieve consistency in processing.
A.T.E. is known in the Indian textile industry as a solution pro-
vider for all machinery and accessory needs – from spinning to gar-
menting. With this latest tie-up of A.T.E., customers have an added
advantage of dealing with just a single source for all their textile
processing machinery and automation requirements.
Production of Textile Machinery in 2009-10 Vs2012-13
Source: Office of Textile Commissioners
18. 18
July 2015www.textilevaluechain.com
Foundation stone laid for Apparel &
Garment Making Centre in Mizoram
The foundation stone for Apparel
and Garment Making Centre in Mizoram
was laid by Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar,
Hon’ble Minister of State for Textiles (I/C),
Government of India on the 3rd of July 2015
in Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram.
Addressing the gathering, Union Tex-
tiles Minister Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar
said that the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi has given special attention
to the Ministry of Textiles with special focus
on the North Eastern Region. The Apparel
and Garment Making Centres are being
opened in every state of the North Eastern
region as part of the landmark initiative
announced by the Prime Minister on 1st
December 2014. The Minister said that the
centre will be the beginning of setting up
an organized industry in Mizoram. He also
said that this is in line with the Prime Minis-
ter’s vision of “Sabke Saath Sab ka Vikas”.
Before Mizoram, Apparel and Garment
Manufacturing Centres have been set up
in all other seven states of the North East-
ern Region. This initiative comes under
the North East Region Textile Promotion
Scheme (NERTPS) of the Ministry of Tex-
tiles. NERTPS is an umbrella scheme for the
development of various segments of tex-
tiles, i.e. silk, handlooms, handicrafts and
garments. Of the total outlay of Rs 1038.10
crore, Rs 18.9 crore has been given to Mizo-
ram for setting up of this centre where the
State government provides 1.5 acre of land
free of cost. The centre will be managed by
the Ministry of Textiles for 5 years and will
be handed over to the state government
thereafter.
Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Dr. S. K.
Panda said that the garment making centre
will provide employment to the youths of
Mizoram. It will also lead a way for develop-
ing technical textile and skilled personnel
which will in turn contribute to the econo-
my of Mizoram.
Upon his arrival in Mizoram on the 3rd
of July 2015, the Hon’ble Minister inaugu-
rated the Weavers’ Service Centre, which
GOVERNMENT NEWS
will benefit many handloom weavers in the
state. Weavers’ Service Centre established
under the funds of the Ministry of Textiles,
Government of Mizoram aims to provide
technical assistance, advice, designs and
marketing opportunity to all weavers and
concerns in the handloom sector.
Revamped website of Handloom Ex-
port Promotion Council launched
ShriAlokKumarIAS,DevelopmentCom-
missionerforHandlooms,O/oDevelopment
Commissioner for Handlooms,Ministry of
Textiles, Government of India launched the
revamped website of Handloom Export
Promotion Council, www.hepcindia.com,
on 3rd June, 2015, at Udyog Bhawan, New
Delhi.
The website has been redesigned with
special focus on promoting Brand India
Handloom products to buyers across the
world. From design to content, the entire
website has been revamped to make it
more user-friendly, and interactive with
rich features. This would enable buyers
across the world to better understand and
appreciate the unique value proposition
of Indian handloom products. The website
seeks to address the gap between hand-
loom exporters and buyers comprehen-
sively. In the long run, these measures will
facilitate enhancement of export of hand-
loom products.
The website will facilitate prompt deliv-
ery of the Council’s services to its member
exporters. As on date, about 1,500 export-
ers of handloom products are members of
the Council. Export of handloom products
during 2013-14 was Rs. 2,233 crore (US$ 372
million).
The revamp of website has been done
in consultation with India Brand Equity
Foundation under the Department of Com-
merce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry,
Government of India; in order to make the
website more dynamic and responsive.
A Brief on HEPC
HEPC under the Ministry of Textiles,
Government of India was set up in 1965
to promote export of handloom products.
The main objective of HEPC is to support,
protect, maintain, increase and promote
export of Indian handloom fabrics.
Apparel and Garment Making Centre
to come up in Tripura
An Apparel and Garment Making Cen-
tre is all set to come up at Agartala; the
foundation stone for the same was laid
by Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Hon’ble
Minister of State for Textiles (I/C), Govern-
ment of India and the Chief Minister of
Tripura, Shri Manik Sarkar, on 20th May,
2015.
A Silk Processing and Printing Unit was
also inaugurated on the occasion, by the
Union Textiles Minister and the Tripura
CM. The project cost is Rs. 3.41 crore.
These units are expected to provide
employment to a large number of people
in Tripura and would lead the large scale
production and processing of garments in
the region. The project contributes to the
“Make In India” programme in textile sec-
tor, with particular emphasis to the North
Eastern States.
FEEDBACK
Letter received from Ministry of
Textiles, Udyoug Bhavan, New Delhi.
“ Secretary, textiles, has seen the
May 15 issue of “ TEXTILE VALUE CHAIN”
magazine sent & has requested for send-
ing a full report on the experience of so-
cial welfare work done by the Welspun
foundation for health and knowledge
under its CSR (Corporate Social Respon-
sibility) initiative as given in the issue on
page 11 of May issue”
19. 19
July 2015 www.textilevaluechain.com
ASSOCIATION NEWS
SIMA urges sale of CCI cotton in small-
er lots - appeals Hon’ble Textile Minister
The spinning sector particularly spin-
ning mills in South India especially the mills
in Tamil Nadu (accounts for 46% of the spin-
ning capacity) are currently facing crisis
due to continuous fall in yarn exports dur-
ing the last 13 months, glut in the domestic
market due to over supply, announcement
of attractive industrial polices by various
States enabling them to have cost advan-
tage to the tune of Rs.20/- per kg of yarn
when compared to mills in Tamil Nadu and
also undue delay in disbursing the TUF
subsidies. Several hundreds of mills have
been denied TUF subsidy which are under
blackout period cases, left out cases and
committed liability issue cases, etc. Almost
Rs.70,000 crores of investments are under
severe stress. Therefore, all the textile
mills, particularly spinning mills maintain
only one week to four weeks cotton stock
as against the normal practice of three to
six months stock due to financial crisis. In
this scenario, the e-auction cotton policy of
CCI is affecting the small and medium spin-
ning mills very seriously.
In a press release issued here today,
Mr.T.Rajkumar, Chairman, The Southern
India Mills’ Association (SIMA) appreci-
ated the efforts taken by the Hon’ble State
Textile Minister and Ministry of Textiles in
protecting the interests of cotton farmers
by way of MSP operations through Cotton
Corporation of India (CCI), as the interna-
tional and domestic prices ruled below the
minimum support price. The major MSP
operations were carried out by CCI in the
States of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and
Maharashtra. This season, CCI has covered
all the good quality cotton grown in Tel-
angana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra
and today several hundreds of mills badly
need this cotton to meet their customer re-
quirements.
Under this scenario, SIMA Chairman has
stated that complaints are pouring to the
Association from spinning mills particularly
small and medium size stating that they are
finding extremely difficult to procure cot-
ton from CCI as very limited number of lots
of each category in each cotton centre is
offered on a daily basis. He has stated that
during the period 24th June, 2015 to 1st
July 2015, 10.21 lakh bales were offered by
CCI out of which only around 20,000 bales
of 62 smaller lots ( lot size 500 and below)
were offered amounting to less than 2% of
the total quantity offered. He pointed out
that in many varieties and centres only bulk
volumes have been offered preventing the
small and medium mills from participating
in the e-auction.
Mr.Rajkumar has mentioned that out
of 3,100 spinning mills in the country, 1,325
spinning mills are under SSI category and
even in the non-SSI category, the average
number of spindles per mill is only 25,000.
A 25,000 spindle mill would normally need
less than 75 bales per day. Therefore, it
is essential for CCI to offer more num-
ber of lots in smaller size, give priority for
the SMEs, who are starving for funds and
badly need cotton. He has further stated
that there are reports that mills had to pay
higher premium (upto Rs.1000 per candy)
to the traders to purchase CCI cotton in
smaller lots. It may also be noted that as
only limited number of lots are offered,
even in the CCI e-auction procurement, the
SMEs compete with each other and pay
more. The price is higher upto Rs.500 per
candy for smaller lots when compared to
the bigger lots.
Therefore, SIMA chief has stated that
the Association has sent a representation
on 6.7.2015 appealing to the Hon’ble State
Textile Minister, Mr.Santhosh Kumar Gang-
war to look into the e-auction policy of CCI
and instruct them to offer at least 50,000
bales (keep the lot size flexible and mul-
tiples of 100 bales) in each centre and in
each variety of cotton, give priority to the
SMEs and ensure the least difference in
the cost of cotton procured by SMEs and
the larger players. SIMA Chairman further
has requested the Hon’ble Minister to in-
struct CCI to keep adequate stocks till the
beginning of the new season to maintain
price stability and also enable the SMEs to
get continuous supply of cotton as they
do not have access for imported cotton.
Mr.Rajkumar has pointed out that during
the cotton season 2008-09, a similar situa-
tion occurred and CCI fully sold out its MSP
cotton to the traders who increased the
price by over Rs.3,000 per candy even af-
ter getting substantial bulk discount and
free credit period up to six months. He has
requested the government to ensure that
such a situation is not repeated again and
protect the interests of small and medium
spinning mills and thereby the livelihoods
of several lakhs of employees working in
the spinning mills.
POLITICAL NEUTRALITY,
- Bharat Merchant Chambers
Political compulsions is injurious for
country’s health. Politically affiliated peo-
ple on executive body of organisations like
trade commerce & industry bodies, stu-
dents union, sports bodies, labour unions,
NGO’s, semi govt bodies have neglected
the cause of trade commerce & industry,
students, sports, labour, NGO’S etc. These
executives, (viz President, Secretary etc.)
have always nurtured their own interest
and the interest of their political party,
while seriously compromising the cause of
his members and the non-political body,
which he is representing.
As a Hon. Gen. Secretary of a trade and
industrial body, I propose to the Hon’ble
Prime Minister to make it mandatory for
the managing committee of such bodies to
be apolitical and each member to relinquish
the membership of any political party, in
case he is holding, before assuming office.
Ever imagined wonders a labour union
leader can do without any political affilia-
tion, for his fellow labourers. Imagine the
depth of our trade if the leaders of its trade
association is apolitical and only interested
in competing with countries like China.
Who will be able to stop India from becom-
ing a Super Power.
The above idea will require lot of brain-
storming and may not be easily imple-
mentable, across the board. But an earnest
beginning with future roadmap of POLITI-
CAL NEUTRALITY will strengthen our coun-
try and lead us to unprecedented era.
20. 20
July 2015www.textilevaluechain.com
Abstract
Wearable computers can now merge seamlessly into ordinary
clothing. Using various conductive textiles,data and power
distribution as well assensing circuitry can be incorporated directly
into wash-and-wear clothing. This paper describes some of the
techniques used to build circuits from commercially available
fabrics,yarns, fasteners,andcomponents.
This paper describes wearable computing technology which
is an active topic of research. “Wearable computing” in this paper
covers the areas of study including the vision of the wearable
computing,itsbackground,materialsusedinthistechnology,issues
related to the wearable computing and their solutions, applications
of wearable computers, their advantages and disadvantages,
the future of wearable computers including some examples of
wearable computers and the point of discussion in this field.
This paper aims to provide an overview of projects combining
smart textiles and clothing as a basis for further discussions on how
smart textiles could be introduced in fashion. The overview covers
different projects, research as well as commercial projects, within
smart textiles and clothing
Keywords:- augmented reality , behavioural modelling
Introduction
Textiles of today are materials with applications in almost all
our activities, we wear clothes all the timeand we are surrounded
with textiles in almost all our environments. The integration of
multifunctionalvalues in such a common material has become a
special area of interest in recent years. Fibres yarns,fabric and other
structures with added value functionality have been developed
for a range of applications. Textile materials and techniques have
become an importantplatform for hightech innovations.
Imagine if your shirt could track your heart rate as you run,
or if it could charge your cellphone on the go. Innovative fashion
designers and engineers, who are pushing the envelope with
“smart textiles,” dream of designing garments that are not just
embedded with devices, but actually are the devices. Welcome to
the world of wearable computing.
Wearable computers can now mergeseamlesslyintoordinary
clothing. Using various conductive textiles,data and power
distribution as well as sensing circuitry can be incorporated directly
into wash-and-wear clothing.
The development of smart textiles is a true fusion of fashion
and technology. From manipulating nanoparticles in cotton, to
incorporating knit antennas and transistors into garments, the
computational fashion industry is reimagining how we use clothing
in our everyday lives.
Wearable computing is the study or practice of inventing,
designing, building, or using miniature body-borne computational
and sensory devices. Wearable computers may be worn under,
over, or in clothing, or may also be themselves clothes (i.e. “Smart
Clothing”)
The field of wearable computing, however, extends beyond
“Smart Clothing”. The term “Body-Borne Computing” or
“Bearable Computing” is often used as a substitute for “Wearable
Computing” so as to include all manner of technology that is on or
in the body, e.g. implantable devices as well as portable devices like
smartphones. In fact the word “portable” comes from the French
word “porter” which means “to wear”.
Vision
Wearable Computers represents the next generation of textiles
anticipated for use in several fashion, furnishingand technical
textile applications. The vision of Wearable Computers is to
create textile products that interact bycombiningsmart materials
and integrated computing power into textile applications. The
introduction ofsmart materials and computing technology in
textile structures offers an opportunity to develop textileswith a
new type of behaviour and functionality. Besides behaviour like
sense, react on and conductingelectricity, the textile will be able to
perform computational operations . Smart Textile andcomputing
technology are introducing a shift in textile, from a passive to
a dynamic behaviour, fromtextileswith static functionalities to
products that exhibit dynamic functionalities
Background
Wearable Computers(Smart textiles) arebased on
research,which has its foundation in different research disciplines;
textiledesign and technology, chemistry, physics, material
science and computer science and technology.Significant for
this research is the interdisciplinary approach and the interaction
between basicresearchand design activities. Wearable Computers
arepossible thanks to the three following developments.
l The first is the introduction of new type of textile fibres and
structures for example conductive materials.
l The second is the miniaturization of electronics,which makes
it possible to integrate electronics into textile structures and
products.
l The third is different kind of wireless technologies enabling
thetechnologytobewearableandatthesametimecommunicating
with other devices such as computers or mobile phones.
Wearable Computers were introduced in early 1990s, strongly
influenced by military research and wearable technology in general.
One of the pioneering projects was the “Wearable
Motherboard” ,which isa garment with integrated sensors and
communication capabilities. The garment aimstorescue soldiers
by monitoring their health status in real time. Another pioneering
researcher is Maggie Orth from MIT who explored the different
sensing and actuatingcapabilities of textilestructures. Orth created
a set ofworking prototypeswhere conductive structures,colour
changing materials and electronics were combined into soft
interfaces.
WEARABLE COMPUTERS
TECHNICAL ARTICAL
Yogita Agarwal, S Barhanpurkar, R Kapoor, Harshit Porwal
ShriVaishnav Institute of Technology And Science, Indore
21. 21
July 2015 www.textilevaluechain.com
In 2000 Phililps presentedtheir exploration of wearable
technology and smart textiles through the project “NewNomads”,
which is a visionary show collectionrather than working prototypes.
Theproject was carried out in a design studio by an interdisciplinary
team and presented by a set of visionary concepts.The basic
concept of Wearable Computers consists of a textile structure that
senses and reacts to differentstimuli from its environment. In its
simplest form the textile sense and reacts automaticallywithout a
controlling unit, and in a more complex form, smart textiles sense,
react and activate a specificfunction througha processing unit. The
main parts included in a Wearable Computer system arethe sensor,
theactuator and the controlling unit.
Functioning
This technology involves the use of conductive yarns and
fibers for power delivery, communication, and networking, as well
as new materials for display that use electronic ink, nitinol, and
thermochromic pigments. The textiles are created using traditional
textile manufacturing techniques: spinning conductive yarns,
weaving, knitting, embroidering, sewing, and printing with inks.
Related Issues and their Solutions
The vision behind wearable computing is to provide access
to information anytime and anyplace. But a person wearing a
computer should still be able to do what they normally do without
the computer slowing them down, making them look funny, or
annoying them all the time. It is ironic that although they are
powerful, these wearable computers are not very wearable. Their
various components are made of hard plastic, metal, and silicon.
They are heavy and angular. Their weight is uncomfortable for
extended use and the advantages of wearing such devices are not
clear to a majority of people.
The transition of the computing device from the desktop to
the body is a physical leap that also requires a conceptual leap.
Materials need to change, functionality needs to evolve past the
point where wires hang along the user’s body, and the computer
housing (the clothing) needs to be more attractive. Most
importantly, the wearable computer needs to be less fragile. Users
who wear such a thing should be able to do so without the fear of
hurting their wearable. They should be able to run, jump, dance,
and push their way into a crowded subway. They need to wear the
computereasily and effortlessly, without the fear of dropping or
breaking the components. Furthermore, it should not be awkward,
or dangerous, to get caught in the rain.
In order to become wearable in the same way that a sweater
or a pair of pants are wearable, wearable computing needs to
integrate and assimilate ideas and methods from another wearable
technology, one that is thousands of years old and much more
appropriate for housing the body. In order for the wearable
computer to be more wearable, it needs to be knit onto the body
and conductive yarns need to replace wires.
Textiles, whether knit or woven, are tougher, more flexible,
more durable, and much more wearable than a printed circuit board
. Textiles have mechanical, aesthetic, and material advantages
that make them ubiquitous in both society and industry. The
woven structure of textiles and spun fibers makes them durable,
washable, and conformal, while their composite nature affords
tremendous variety in their texture for both visual and tactile
senses . Electronic textile research aims to combine wearable
computing with textiles and move towards the vision of a seamless
integration of computation on the body. There have been many
technological innovations in the field of electronic textiles in the
past twenty years, These innovations are starting to trickle down
into consumer
APPLICATIONS OF WEARABLE COMPUTERS
Wearable computers can be used in many applications.
Inwearable computer user’s skin, hands, voice, eyes, arms aswell
as motion or attention are actively engaged as thephysical
environment. Various application areas of wearablecomputers are
asfollows:
(1) Augmented Reality
(2) Behavioral Modeling
(3) Health Care Monitoring Systems
(4) Service Management
(5) Smart phones
(6) Electronic Textiles
(7) MusicPlayer through Eyeglasses
(8) Fashion Designing
(9) Military Services
Health monitoring for medical assistance
Health monitoring is a general concerns for patient requiring
continuous medical assistance andtreatment. In order to increase
mobility for such patients a huge effort has been pursued for
thedevelopment of wearable systems for the monitoring of
physiological parameters such as respiration,cardiac activity or
temperature of the body. Smart textiles play a growing role in
these developmentssince they are well suited for wearability and
washability that ensures the comfort for the user.
Health monitoring integrated in work wear
Continuous monitoring of physiological parameters is not
only a target for medicalapplications;it couldalso be used by
different professionals to protect from dangerous situations and
injuries.The projectsdirected towards professional make use of
earlier developed technologies such as conductive sensors forthe
measurement of heart and breathing rate and implements these
possibilities into a context,forexample the firefighter situations.
Several of these projectscombines the research onsmart textiles
andresearch in more traditional areas, for example new type of
protective coatings
ADVANTAGES OF WEARABLE COMPUTING
l It helps in enhancingcommunication.
l Wearable Computers can be used to recognize a person in
a high alerted area such as an airport.
l A personal Wearable will facilitate the wearer’s needs.
l Unlikely to be dropped or lost as there are embedded to the
clothesas opposed to the handheld devices.
l Able to usewearablecomputers to complete daily tasks such
as a computer which tracks the movementsand habits of a person.
l FlexibleGivesFreedom
l Work fromanywhere
l Convenience
l Makes tasks morecomfortablesuch as Wearable Computers
can be used by Surgeons (a WearableComputer attached to their
arms),which can allow data to be transferred to their computers,
this cansavetime where the surgeons can look at the wearable for
information, this will help improve the efficiency ofan operation.
l Time saving
DISADVANTAGES OF WEARABLE COMPUTING
l Heavy equipment
l Higher cost
l Wiring problem
l User can be irritated in heat.
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l Side-Effects such as Headaches,body ache
l Wearable Computers can invade privacy
l Can be used to gain an unfair advantage over others such
as Casinos
l Easilytracked wherever you go
l It may become easier to get data on an individual if the item
is lost/stolen
l Not seriously taken by some people.
FUTURE OF WEARABLE COMPUTERS
In future Wearable computers will have a very much bigmarket
because now a day’s people want much smallcomponents in
computing devices. In future many wearablecomputers are used to
cure so many medicaldiseases. Inmilitary also wearable computers
are useful to search hiddenthings from enemies. In entertainment
world wearable computers will give us improvement in music
players,Computer Games etc.There may be wearable gloves or
shoeswhich will handle gameobjects. In future wearable computers
can be used in following forms:
(1) Smart Fabric work as Wearable Computers
(2) Garments need not to be washed
(3) Shapes and colors of clothes can be changed as per
ourwishes
(4) People can create clothes that can sense and react to
environmental conditions.
(5) Fitness trackers, like the Amiigo, are available withsensors
which helps us take control of our health.
(6) It will show the results on ourhand held devices and with
that we can respond to the health system wheneverneeded.
(7) For example a wearable computer likeThe Zeoheadband,will
help us know how well we have taken oursleep.
(8) Light up the neck tie.
(9) With the help of neck tie, a music player can also be
connected which shows LED lights to be up – down according to
music.
(10) GPS unit can be attached with clothes to find way when
you are new in the city.
(11) Even whengoogle glass was not in the market, there
wereno. of applications that are already developed for it. It shows
the future of Wearable computers
Some examples of wearable computers
1. HUG SIMULATION JACKET LETS PARENTS CALM KIDS VIA
MOBILE DEVICES
T Jacket is a tablet-controlled jacket that uses embedded
airpockets to simulate hugs and calm children without human
contact. The jacket is based on ‘deep pressure theory’,
whichsuggests that pressure has a soothing effect on children
withautism or attention deficit disorders who don’t process
sensoryinformationinthesamewayasthosewithoutthecondition.
Pockets of air are lined around the waist and shoulders of thejacket
and – when instructed to do so via an app – inflate toproduce
the effect of a hug. For autistic children, the jacketprovides the
sensations involved with a hug without thepotentially distressing
human interaction. Although initially developed with autistic
children in mind, the TJacket may havea wider application for
parents with jobs that require them tospend time away from home
2. GAZE-ACTIVATED DRESSES COME TO LIFE WHEN PEOPLE
STARE AT THEM
Fashion designer Ying Gao has concepted two dresses that
use eyetrackingtechnology to light up when someone stares at
them. Thedresses, named No(where) and Now(here) are made
of photoluminescentthread and use embedded eye tracking
technology to become activatedby a spectator’s gaze. The concept
technology causes the dress tolight up in novel, impromptu ways
by activating in accordance with thepeople looking at it.
3. WORKOUT GEAR VISUALIZES ACTIVITY LEVELS OF WEARER
IN REAL-TIME
Radiate Athletics has developed interactive compression
wear thatvisually informs wearers of the intensity of their athletic
performanceby changing colors in accordance with their body’s
thermal-output. Tochange colors in real-time, special atoms within
the fabric gain a carbonelectron when valence electrons are
accelerated through the applicationof heat, affecting the way that
the atoms reflect light-waves. The colorof the garment changes
to correspond with the muscle groups beingtargeted by specific
exercise, giving wearers a visual reference for theirworkouts.
4. CLOTHING MONITORS BODY AND RESPONDS WITH AN
EXTERNAL DISPLAY
The Ger Mood Sweater by Sensoree interprets emotions
anddisplays the wearer’s mood instantly as an interactive
lightdisplay. Sensors in the dress detect bodily rhythms along
withexcitement levels and translate that data into a palette of
colors.For instance, the sweater will turn blue if the wearer is
feelingcalm, or pink if they are excited. The bowl shaped, high
collaris embedded with LEDs that reflect onto the wearer for
instantbio-feedback, acting as a visual display for onlookers.
5. SENSOR EMBEDDED SOCKS HELP PREVENT INJURIES
BEFORE THEY HAPPEN
Sensoria has developed a pair of sensor-embedded socks
thatnot only tracks traditional fitness data such as the number
ofsteps, speed and total distance a user has traveled, but
alsoprovides data about running form and technique. The
sockskeep tabs on a person’s weight distribution and the form
oftheir feet while standing, walking and running. Using this data,it’s
possible to identify poor running styles and prevent injuriesbefore
they happen. An accompanying app delivers simpleadvice about
how to unlearn poor running tendencies. It canalso benchmark and
analyze performance to give sock wearersa clearer picture of how
their performance improves in tandemwith their technique.
Discussion
Smart textilerepresents the next generation of textiles
affiliated in both research and commercialactivities. The aim
with thisreportis to givean overview of different research and
commercial activitiesfor further discussions on how smart textiles
could beintroduced in fashion. As this report tells,therehas
already been an introduction of smart textiles infashion, however
the efforts of introducing smarttextiles in other clothing areas
are still dominatingthe research activities.The difference in
theclothingarea between health care and work wear application
and fashion is thetype of application. In health careand work
wear the applications are focused on monitoring the wearer’s
health or to facilitatecommunication. In fashion the applications
aremore focused on visual or tactile feedback from thewearer.
Most of the market analyses and roadmaps on smart textilespoints
outpotentialof other areasthan fashion and the funding of
research projects also proofs that there is a focus on technical
aspects ofclothingrather than fashion.The main issues to further
discuss in order to proceed in the area of smarttextiles and fashion
are; the gap between research and commercial activities, the
technological barriersand theneed for new applications.Despite
the lack of measurable data such as economical turnovers in the
companies involved. Authors of different market overviews both
ignore and reject the actualcommercial efforts in fashion as too
small andalsodismiss the applications as “just LEDs integrated
inclothing”.Whether they are too small or their business is directed
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July 2015 www.textilevaluechain.com
towards some kind of uselessapplications these companies are
veritable. They are producing, selling and marketing their business.
These companies are not H&M or Zara and it does not seem to
be their goal, but still it is a runningbusiness. Some of them are
also successful in individual solutions such as artist and event
clothing,which also points out that the end product of smart
textiles does notnecessarily have to deal withmassconsumption.
The failure in the commercialisation of smart textiles could maybe
be caused by wrongexpectations of smart textiles as part of the
mass production industry rather than smaller andmorespecialised
companies.Another explanation for the delayed introduction of
smart textiles in commercial activities isthetechnological barriers.
What isalsoquite obvious in this overview as well as other reports
is that thetechnology isverywell developed. There are soft and
flexible electronics and new productiontechnologies that should
reduce the technical and production barriers.Another stated
barrier is the power consumption, whichis actuallysomething
we deal with everydayusing our mobile phone so thatis a barrier
thathas alreadybeenovercome. If there is a true need anda27strong
consumer interestthe technology andproduction costsarenot
an issue. It is also obvious that industrial and scientific experts
foreseethat smart textile and clothing applications are more
functional oriented while a majority of those who actually take a
risk and starts a company are more into fashion and applications
like LED attached in clothing.Two design students initiated
the investigationin order to find out whypeopledo notuse
a bicycle helmet though it could savetheir life. The answers
from the usersexposed the fact thatmany people feel ugly and
uncomfortable withthe helmet,which gave the idea of an invisible
helmet.This invisible helmet is an example of how advanced
wearable technology including sensor and airbagtechnologies and
textiletransformsour view of wearing a helmet.Compared toother
applicationswherethe technology is moretransferredinto textile,
for example jackets integrated with mp3 player orconventional
electrodes integrated in shirts. In these cases there might be too
hard to compete withexisting solutions since it is the wearable
technology itself rather than the integration into textile thatmakes
sensefor the user. In order to really merge smart textiles and
fashion it is necessary to includeinvestigations from different areas
toidentify a use instead of speculating about use.Researchers from
social science and anthropologistscould support with the analyses
of societal issues. These analyses could be further developed
intoconcepts using artistic and design processes where artists,
designers, scientists and engineerscollaborates in the synthesis of
ideas.In order to successfully introduce smart textiles in fashion
there isa need for a multitude of methodologies enabling the
transformationoftechnology into a meaningfulform of use
CONCLUSION
In this research paper we describe a very new and interesting
topic of Wearable computer and wearablecomputing and also its
existence in real world, Provides easiness to be communicating
with not to self but otherusers too. Easy to wear so that’s why
anyhow anywhere you can easily access the system without
anyone’spermission. Due to few of the disadvantages sometimes
it’s better to go for much better techniques for example laptop,
desktop etc. In upcoming future it may be possible that wearable
computer will replace the conventionalcomputers just because
they are light and easy to transport, they’re generally useless
unless held stationary.Wearable computers, PCs designed to be
carried around as they’re being used, might eventually causeus,
or ourchildren, to view as unbearably primitive those computers
that now demand our seated attention. Finally we cansay that the
future of wearable computers is very bright and shining.
In this paper we have tried to give some idea about the
past,present and future of Wearable computers. We are dam
surethat if in any area wearable computer technology isappliedthen
it will definitely improve the quality of life and makedaytoday life
easier. It is only our imagination which willlimit the number of
applications for this new emergingtechnology. Wearable computer
is a platform for the rapidapplication development. On the other
hand, as we know thatthere are two sides of a coin, here as the
benefits are there ofwearable computers we do have to take care
about varioushazards discussed in the paper.
We have shown the combination of conventionalsewing and
electronics techniques with a novel classof materials to create
interactive digital devices. Allof the input devices can be made
by seamstresses orclothing factories, entirely from fabric. These
textile based sensors, buttons, and switches are easy to scalein
size. They also can conform to any desired shape,which is a great
advantage over most existing, delicate touch sensors that must
remain flat to work atall. Subsystems can be connected together
using ordinary textile snaps and fasteners. q
The Dark spots of Indian Villages.
1) Out of 24.39 crore households in the country,
17.91 crore are in rural areas.
2) 30.10% of the rural households depend on
cultivation.
3) 51.14% of rural households get their income from
manual/ casual labour.
4)23.5%ofthefamilieshavenoliterateadultmember
above the age of 25 years..
5)86.90Millionhouseholdsaresuffereddeprivation.
6) 1.65 Million households belonging to manual
scavenging/tribal/bonded labour category, did not have
shelter, were living on Alms.
7) 74.49 % households’ monthly income is less than
Rs.5000/
8) 56% of the households do not own land.
9) 23.70 Million households live in houses with
kuccha walls & roof.
10) 65.15 lakh households do not have adult member
in the age group of 18-59.
11) 29.70 % of the land is not irrigated.
12) 7.16 lakh households are with differently- abled
members with no other able- bodied adult member.
13) 4.08 lakh households rely on rag-picking.
14) 18.46% households belong to Scheduled Caste,
10.97% scheduled tribes while 68.5% belong to other
categories.
15) 2.04% in the above category has no caste & tribe.
BRIGHT SPOTS- SILVERLINING.
16) 68.25% of rural households in India own a mobile
phone.
17) 17.43% of the house holds own two wheelers.
18) 11.04% house holds have refrigerators.
19) 4.56% pay income tax.
20) 25.63% of the land is irrigated.
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July 2015www.textilevaluechain.com
As per the recent study it is observed that Defense Forces
worldwide are spending more than 1600 billion USD every year for
their procurement programmes, maintenance and various other re-
quirements. This is a very huge sum which makes Defense Forces
worldwide prime buyers of wide range of products.
Textile for Defense Forces is a very small part of overall budget
of above mentioned figures of 1600 billion USD. Estimates are tex-
tile for defense forces may have approx. 2% to 3% share of above
mentioned figures which makes it more than 30 billion USD. It is
very difficult to ascertain exact figures as information is not freely
available and various defense forces are very secretive about part-
ing their figures. Similarly manufactures are also not providing ex-
act figures because of their non-disclosure agreements.
Defense Forces requires very vast varieties of fabrics for
various applications widely purchased by Air Force, Army, Navy,
Coastal Guards, and Marines etc. However the fundamental re-
quirement for all the fabrics required by Defense Forces includes
personal protective equipments for military personnel’s required
during non-combat, combat and emergency operations, critical sur-
vival situations, military uniforms such as Camouflage fabrics and
specific performance requirements related to use in better field,
tanks, aircrafts, underwater including high hazards and extreme
temperature. US Navy Forces used very special uniforms made out
of specific camouflage fabrics during the operations to kill Osama
in Pakistan.
The United States Armed Forces Defense Supply Center-Phil-
adelphia purchasing division for the Department of Defense esti-
mates that over 8,000 different textile items are purchased annu-
ally for us by the U.S. military, and this figure actually rises to over
30,000 line items when individual sizes are factored into the item
mix.
Some of the main item required by the armed forces are as
under :
l Combat and flight uniforms also in camouflage
l Helmets
l Flak jackets
l Parachutes
l Aircraft fuel cells
l Sandbags
l Tents and shelters
l Sheets
l Blankets and hospital supplies
l Airplane panels
l Ammunition bags/pouches
l Fabric for bullet-proof vests/helmets
l Chemical protective suits
l Rafts
l Communication lines (optical fiberglass)
l Extreme weather protective fabrics
l Interfacing and lining in apparel and shoes
l Parachutes and parachute harnesses
l Personal flotation devices
l Pontoon bridges
l Ropes and cables
l Ship composites
l Stealth fighter plane graphite fibers
l Wet suites
l Densely woven cotton webbings and tapes
l Transportation
l Upholstery
l Thermal acoustical blankets
l Soft-sided cases
l Bags
l Tarpaulins
l Covers
l Safety harnesses
l Straps
l Web assemblies
l Cotton covered elastic shock cord
The Primary area for Protection
The primary area for protection for all conditions main includes
ballerstics, chemicals, biological, reductions through noises and
visual devices, flame fire, thermal insects and micro organism. In
addition to this the gear must have properties for high resistance
to sun water replants’ durability, high abrasion, and resistance, tear
resistance and should have good air permeability. Certain fabrics
are developed as per the operation requirements, certain fabrics
are developed which are resistive to petroleum products and lu-
bricants.
Development of these fabrics will required very high research
and capabilities and very high level of challenges, professional abil-
ity and completing the task in time to meet the challenge and op-
eration requirements.
This requires different mine set and highly capable professional
skills. One has to take into consideration, types of fibers, technical
design and it finesses etc into consideration.
Main Fibers’ used for Defense Textiles :
l Teflon Fiber
l Polyester Fiber
l Nylon 6,6
DEFENSE TEXTILE & CAMOUFLAGE
FABRICS
DEFENSE TEXTILES
Shri Arvind Sinha
National President , TAI
25. 25
July 2015 www.textilevaluechain.com
l Kevlar
Major protections can be classified in following categories :
Biological, Chemical, Thermal, Ballistics, environmental, flame,
fire, insects and micro organism.
Secondary area of protection: resistance to sun, water repel-
lent, air permeability, resistance to infections, resistance to injuries,
radiations etc.
Camouflage Fabrics
Introduction of Camouflage Fabrics
The color Red was the uniform color adopted by the first per-
manent regiment of the British Army, the Yeoman of the Guard, the
Beefeaters, during the ruling of Henry VIII. In 1645 this color was
adopted when the first permanent army was raised. Red was used
in order to hide blood stains. Rather, every army adopted certain
colors as their national colors. French soldiers tended to wear blue;
Russians wore green; British wore red.
It was not until the late 1800s that a Khaki uniform was issued,
the British Army finally realizing that drab colored uniforms provid-
ed better camouflage.
Once again, tactics continued to lag behind during First World
War convinced authorities that there was a requirement to seek
cover and remain hidden as opposed to standing up in battle for-
mations.
Camouflage Fabrics have been existed for more than 75 years
and has become very popular since 1990, after the operations de-
sert storm in Middle East by US Forces with NATO Alliances.
Today most the armed forces including army, navy, air force
and Para military forces are using camouflage fabrics. As the fabric
increased the safety factor of individual, solider and nature of the
fabric improve the comfort level and also the roughness.
It is anticipated that total worldwide requirement of camou-
flage fabrics is more than 350 million meters annually. Approxi-
mately 35 million soldiers worldwide are using camouflage fabrics
which includes army, air force, navy, Marines, Coastal Guards, para
military forces etc.
What is Camouflage and Camouflage Fabric?
l Camouflage Fabric is utilized for concealing personnel or
equipment from enemies.
l Camouflage Fabric gives a unique effect to the personnel
or equipment by making them appear as a part of the natural sur-
roundings.
l It can also be used for concealing arms and ammunition by
disguise or protective coloring.
l The Fabric or the garment is dyed in patches of multiple
colors, so as to make the user undetectable from the surrounding
environment.
l Camouflage Fabrics were introduced during the Second
World War.
l However, they its used has increased after 1991 Iraq War.
l It has uses as under:
1. Uniforms for officers and soldiers in defense forces.
2. Making armored vehicles and other equipments untraceable.
3. Covering airplanes, guns and boats.
4. Creating deceptions.
5. Tents for living and storage purposes.
Various types of Camouflage Fabrics:
l Apparel Grade,
l Canvas Grade,
l Protective and
l Chemically treated (such as Anti Fungal, Anti Bacterial
etc.).
Advantages - Camouflage Fabrics
Apparel Use
l Soldiers feel safe with Camouflage fabrics as detection
become difficult.
l Since chemically treated for various purposes it provides
safety.
l Low Maintenance cost
l Long life
l Disposable Camouflage fabrics are also being introduced,
particularly in the Middle East where the washing cost is very high.
Demand of Camouflage Fabrics
l A survey was conducted by an International agency dur-
ing 2007-2008.
l 165 countries including all major consumers such as USA,
Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia were included.
l Based on the survey it is concluded that annual consump-
tion of Camouflage Fabrics is approximately 350 million meters and
is growing @ 10% per year.
Major manufacturers of Camouflage Fabrics are:
l South Korea,
l China,
l Brazil,
l Mexico,
l Indonesia,
l Turkey etc.
l Camouflage Fabrics is very sensitive products and armed
forces are very concern and sensitive while deciding their suppliers
and its location like many of them do not prefer to buy countries
like Mexico.
Marketing
l Camouflage Fabric marketing takes time as all the de-
fense forces have their own methods of establishing compliances
& due diligence on suppliers and their locations which cannot be
compromised.
l Appointments are also not walk through and it requires
contact building using all possible channels.
l However, once accepted they do not change suppliers
unless and until they have strong reasons such as political situation
etc.
Advantages –India
l Domestic availability of raw materials such as Polyester,
Cotton etc.
l Availability of skilled, technical manpower
l Reliable delivery commitment
l Technical training and education facility locally available.
l High standards of technical education
l Availability of large businesses with resources to create
huge capacity plants.
l Thorough and in-depth understanding of International
Business requirements
l Sense of Commitments extremely strong.
l Since India is not manufacturing Camouflage fabrics in
large numbers. There is a big opportunities for Indian Companies.
26. 26
July 2015www.textilevaluechain.com
l However, Camouflage is in short supply but if larger ca-
pacities are created or available, the business will grow conclusive-
ly.
l There is a process which felicitates confidence trust and
relationship building.
l Mistakes are unacceptable and cannot be compromised
due to the nature, importance and utility of this kind of product.
Technical Requirements
l One of the most important requirements of these fab-
rics is that they should be variation free.
l Variation cannot be tolerated therefore most of the man-
ufacturers are buying large Single lots of polyester, buying cotton
from one field.
l Certain number of spindles is allocated for spinning and
accordingly the looms are allocated. Finally processing takes place
which gives great results.
Prices
Current prices of Camouflage fabrics are ranging from 4.50 USD
to 7.50 USD per meter depending upon the construction and deliv-
ery time of the fabrics.
Price will also depend on following factors:
1. Weight of the fabrics,
2. Design
3. Complexity of utility
4. End use
5. Finish – Anti Fungal, Anti Bacterial, etc.
Value Addition
l Camouflage fabrics provide very good value addition.
l Since these products involve big contracts, payments are en-
sured.
l Various risks such as currency variation etc are very well cov-
ered.
l Any abnormal increase in the price of raw materials is also
covered.
Specifications
Apparel Use
l Blends are polyester 65% and cotton 35%.
l Middle East the polyester is 35% and cotton 65%.
l Count ranges can be 2/20s, 2/32s, 2/40s and sometimes
2/60s also.
l Camouflage fabrics used in Middle East also has specifica-
tions 2/80s, 100% polyester in warp and 20s carded and 20s combed
in weft. This particular fabric used in borders and deserts where
dust is very high.
l Defense Forces such as the Navy also use Camouflage
Fabrics.
l These fabrics have warp as textured yarns and weft con-
struction is spun yarns etc.
Armored Vehicles coverage and heavy use
l Wrap is textures polyester heavy denier and the weft is
spun yarn.
l Aircraft coverage Camouflage fabrics armored of 100%
textures polyester yarn fabrics.
l Camouflage fabric is used for covering guns etc are made
of very heavy cotton yarn such as 2/10 and heavily treated. q
SUCCESSFULSECOND SEASON FOR EXHIBITORS AT INTERNA-
TIONAL TEXTILE FAIR
The highly successful second season of the International Textile
Fair (ITF)took place this week on the 26th and 27th April 2015 at
DWTC Hall 1. The fair opened to an overwhelming response, follow-
ing an inauguration ceremony by H. E. ButtiSaeed Al Ghandi, Sec-
ond Vice-Chairman of the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). His
Excellency visited a number of the exhibitor stall and expressed
appreciation for the organizers and the scale of the event. Apparel
brands, local and international buyers, and textile traders to fash-
ion designers, design studios and institutions are visitors.
The bi-annual event, which is organized by Nihalani Events Man-
agement, is an integral asset to the regional fabric and fashion in-
dustry. This season, the two-day fair hosted close to 150 exhibitors
from 20 countries and has already received confirmations from ea-
ger exhibitors who have booked stalls for Season Three that will be
held on 11th and 12th of October 2015. The fair has seen a marked
increase in European exhibitors since its first season withmany of
the best Italian textile manufacturers participating in the fair. Mr.
Mirko from Tessiles.r.l. is a first time exhibitor but says he’s ex-
tremely pleased by the response he’s received at the fair and has
confirmed his return for the next season.
The International Textile Fair is the region’s premiere event
focusing on textiles and clothing. This unique event attracts some
of the world’s largest manufacturers of fabrics and leading print
design studios, offerings buyers, distributors and designers the op-
portunity to view a large range of textiles from the most prestig-
ious global mills. The fair saw over 10,000 visitors this season with
a concentration of buyers and traders based in the Middle East.
Designers find the fair particularly beneficial as they have the op-
portunity to source smaller quantities of unique fabric directly from
the source. Celebrated regional designer, Aiisha Ramadan,spent
considerable time at the fair, sourcing fabrics, speaking with manu-
facturers and attending talks. Having attended other globally re-
nowned fabric fairs, she was pleased at the presence of a regional
platform and said, “I am very happy with the number of exhibitors
at the International Textile Fair. As a designer it gives me a lot of
choice in fabrics that are not necessarily available in the local mar-
ket.”
The Fashion Talks that took place at the fair this season have
received an enthusiastic response from both buyers and design-
ers, eager to get additional insight on international trends. Experts
from the prestigiousinternational agencies Pantone, Peclers Paris,
Promostyl, and Nelly Rodi along withlocal institutions likeKhawar-
izmi International College and the Islamic Fashion and Design Coun-
cil discussed color and trend forecasts for 2016 with the regional
audience.
ITFhas also created a dedicated Modest Fashion Area in collab-
oration with the Islamic Fashion and Design Council to showcase
the designs of some of the renowned modest fashion designers in
the region. Regional designers Stephanie Jaye, Hafsa Lodi, Hema
Kaul, Meher & Riddhima, and Abaya Addict among othersgave visi-
tors a sneak peek at the beautiful collections they have lined up for
the next season.
Today U.A.E.is the world’s fourth largest trading centre of fash-
ion and apparel, raking in an estimated $17.5 billion annuallywith
the presence of about 150 apparel manufacturing companies that
account for about 5.5% of the world’s annual textile and cloth-
ing sales. By 2016, the countryis set to become the world’s lead-
ing high-end textile and garment re-export centre with a current
annual cumulative growth rate of 4%.International Textile Fair is
a much-needed platform in the region to continue to propel this
growth and provide regional textile and associated business with a
distinctive edge. q
