The Welspun Group in India, one of the biggest manufacturers of home textiles in Asia, is using the latest Autocoro 8 technology, supplied by its innovation partner in the field of rotor spinning and a market and technology leader Saurer Schlafhorst, to maintain its leading position in the market.

At two mills in the state of Gujarat, 24,000 employees of Welspun India produce 100,000 tonnes of yarn annually on 300,000 spinning units. The yarn, made from cotton and cotton blends, is destined for the company's own weaving mills.

Welspun produces coarser yarns on rotor spinning machines with 4,300 spinning units in all. Of these, 2,400 incorporate the latest Autocoro 8 technology for triple added value in the spheres of energy, economics and ergonomics with E³ concept.

Innovation partnership

The partnership between Welspun and Saurer Schlafhorst is based on common values and has grown over decades. It combines strategic thinking, passion for change and innovation and striving towards cooperative results, Saurer reports.

In response to the quickly changing market environment and demand for modern technologies, Welspun has developed a visionary strategy for the future under the concept Welspun 2.0, highlighting the company’s readiness to change in response to industry challenges.

The company has set itself ambitious targets as part of this strategy. In 2020 Welspun aims to become one of the ten most valuable brands in India. Measured against its market capitalisation, the Welspun Group also aims at securing a TOP 50 position in the Indian industry. To achieve these goals, Indian manufacturer of home textiles is switching its production consistently to the latest technology.

Autocoro with single-drive technology

With the background of this corporate strategy, which is geared to the distant future, Welspun opted for the most advanced of rotor spinning technologies: Autocoro 8 from Saurer Schlafhorst. According to the manufacturer, it has one of the most future-ready rotor spinning technology on the market, with innovative individually driven spinning units.

Schlafhorst developed this technology five years ago, and over 1,000 of the Autocoro 8 machines have been sold to date. At Welspun, this successful rotor spinning machine is now said to be cutting spinning costs, generating a marked increase in productivity and helping the company with its unique value creation to its greatest economic success. Welspun is able to set a new bench mark in higher speeds like 138,000 rpm even in coarser count ranges. At the same time, the energy requirement is significantly lower than for a conventional machine with belt drive technology, the company reports.

“In the highly competitive and demanding market, we are able to maintain our benchmark, quality and productivity in our most modern weaving and further with Autocoro 8 yarn,” commented Sreenu Lingam, President Welspun Anjar.

Yarn quality

The Autocoro 8 has won Welspun over not just with its unrestricted productivity and low spinning costs, but also with the high yarn quality. The technology is said to offer a number of advantages, including optimised use of raw material, without compromising yarn quality. It also runs with far fewer yarn breaks in downstream processing, according to the manufacturer.

"We are able to utilise the maximum fibre limits in terms of productivity without compromising quality" said Jaikishan Gupta, Vice President Spinning Welspun Anjar.

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