Surat: Under the leadership of Bijal Jariwala, Chairman of All Exhibitions at The Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI), and Group Chairman Kiran Thummar, a delegation of 18 representatives visited the ‘ITMA ASIA + CITME’ exhibition in Shanghai, China, from October 14 to 18, 2024, showcasing advanced textile machinery. During their visit, the delegation also toured various textile manufacturing units, including yarn production plants, weaving factories, and circular knitting machine manufacturing facilities.
The delegation explored the JIAXING CHANGXING TEXTILE Co. Ltd., which operates with over 1600 water jet looms, where each worker manages around 30 machines. Notably, most of the machine operators were women. The Stäubli machine, priced at approximately ₹1.25 crore, completes a beam passage in under an hour, achieving 90% efficiency per machine. They also visited units operating jacquard on water jet machines, where one worker managed up to 20 machines, with some units operating jacquard machines without a safety mechanism.
The delegation then visited TongKum, one of the world’s top 10 yarn factories, employing 4,800 workers in a fully automated plant with a majority female workforce. They also toured the Super S Service jacquard manufacturing company, which produces 30 jumbo jacquards daily. At this facility, jacquard fitting is done entirely by robots, and the company, led by a 24-year-old woman who took over operations after her father’s passing, has made a strong impact in the industry.
Additionally, the delegation visited China’s oldest textile machinery manufacturing company, RIFA Textile Machinery. RIFA exports around 2,000 machines annually to India and supplies to over 30 countries worldwide. Besides weaving, RIFA manufactures circular knitting machines and technical textile machinery, covering various aspects of the textile industry. The delegation also gained extensive insights into the textile markets, deepening their understanding of key industry developments and innovations.
