Automation for SMEs in The Textile Industry

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Automation for SMEs in The Textile Industry
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• The Indian textile industry is one of the largest
  and oldest sectors in our country. In terms of
  output, investment and employment, the textile
  sector is huge in relation to other sectors. With
  a tiny presence of large integrated players, the
  entire sector is dominated by SMEs. Despite the
  huge size, even today, many machines are either
  semi-automated or even manually operated. This
  impacts production quality and efficiency.
• With globalisation, many textile companies have
  adopted high-end advanced machines with extremely
  high-quality output. In such a competitive
  market, it is of utmost importance for Indian
  textile companies to invest in automation to
  compete with such global players. In addition,
  consumers have been driving the demand for
  quality goods. Consumers today are more focused
  on quality. With a large upwardly mobile middle
  class, and the demand for quality goods is
  increasing. People are ready to pay higher prices
  to receive quality goods. It is necessary for
  SMEs to invest in automation and digitisation to
  keep up with production and quality demands. The
  automated equipment can perform repetitive,
  dangerous or plain boring tasks with much greater
  efficiency and precision.

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• Achieving high precision, maximum availability,
  increased efficiency, and flexibility in the
  textile industry are possible with automation.
  Currently, with manual or semi-automated plants,
  product quality suffers due to a lack of
  precision and inconsistency. The rate of
  production is much slower in manually operated
  plants. Slower production cycles lead to high
  lead time, which in turn leads to longer working
  capital cycles and dissatisfied customers.
  Automation not only helps in optimising cost by
  increasing production but also reducing wastage
  and offering a safe workplace in the factory.
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• Larger textile business have already taken the
  bait and moved to fully automated plants.
  However, SMEs are reluctant to take the plunge.
  Apart from high initial outlay revenue,
  automation requires a complete revamping of the
  factory floors, re-training of workers and hiring
  full time technicians. However, this is a move
  that is necessary if SMEs wish to remain in the
  textile business . Automation offers advantages,
  which far outweigh the disadvantages of running
  an automated plant.

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• Today, there are lighter collaborative robots
  that can work with humans symbiotically. These
  robots are not like traditional robots which are
  huge, heavy and difficult to program. Training
  employees is much easier for companies.
  Simultaneously, the factory floor remains safe
  for employees.
• While the textile machinery industry is dominated
  by China, today, various cost effective, Indian
  variants of the machinery have come into the
  market. With government support, we will have a
  greater number of textile machinery companies in
  India. Lakshmi Machine Works dominates the cotton
  machinery segment with 70 market share despite
  strong competition from China. They have achieved
  this by building reliable aftermarket service.
  With time, the dependence of Chinese machinery
  will decrease and we will move towards
  self-sufficiency.
• In conclusion, SMEs must adopt automation to
  remain competitive. Inconsistency in product
  quality and scarcity of laborers are the biggest
  problems that can be tackled by adopting
  automation.

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