Stäubli's Latest Innovations Were Well Received By The Industry

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Stäubli's Latest Innovations Were Well Received By The Industry

Stäubli received a positive response from the Indian weavers for its new products; cam motions for high speed weaving machines and new warp tying machine showcased at India ITME 2016. Textile Excellence spoke to Fritz Legler, Vice President, Marketing / Sales & Services, Stäubli to know more about their new innovations and presence in the Indian market.

How was the response for Stäubli at India ITME 2016?

The response from existing and prospective customers was certainly as per our expectations. We did assume that the exhibition would be positive and therefore had high expectations anyway. The overall tally of visitors might have been a little bit lower (we were prepared for it because of the demonetization issue) but the quality of visitors was very high. We saw who we had to see and speak with - thus, the outcome of the exhibition was positive. Stäubli had a prime position at the entrance to the weaving hall and visitors were virtually stepping onto our booth. Stäubli is well known in India - it is a very important market for us after all.

What was new from Stäubli? How did the industry react to the new technology from Stäubli?

The response to our product portfolio and service offerings was encouraging. Even after the ITMA 2015 in Milan and the ITMA Asia 2016 in Shanghai, where more than 10 new products were introduced to the market, we still were able to showcase new products to the Indian weavers for the first time. Brand new were for instance our latest generation of cam motions for high speed weaving machines or our new warp tying machine.

Indian weavers were very interested in exploring our latest novelties presented in the field of shed forming technologies - with our new dobby series S3000 & S3200 or our new jacquard machines SX, LX or LXL as well as our active warp control systems on our latest generation of drawing-in machines. Far reaching discussions were also held with carpet weavers who established our main benefits over competition in the field of high-end carpet manufacturing with our Schönherr Carpet Weaving Systems. Knitters were getting the latest update on our solutions for the knitting industry from our brand Deimo knitting solutions.

Did you conclude any business during the event? Or could you find the demonitization effect?

The answer is clearly "YES"! Obviously, the demonetization effect was discussed by almost everybody but this seems to be a fairly temporary blip and will go away over time.

We really hope for the Indian people doing their daily business in cash transactions that the situation will soon improve. We will have to expect some bumpy roads for some time but it will subside and be going back to normal during the course of next year. The one who have to invest will find the means to proceed no matter the circumstances.

How does Stäubli see its business in India and Bangladesh in the coming years?

To put it simply: "Positive!". The investment pace is, however, not the same in both countries. In India it seems to be a bit more sluggish to get new investment plans off the ground respectively to get them through all the processes - incl. financing. We would hope that things would get a bit easier for our customers to proceed with their investment plans.