‘Knit Tech Show’ in Tirupur dist focuses more on automation

Tirupur: Besides promoting latest technologies in apparel industry, the 15{+t}{+h} edition of ‘Knit Tech Show’, a technological trade fair on knitting, has focused on automation in the city.
The biennial event showcased various automation technologies not only in knitting division but also in apparel industry.

Leading companies from 23 countries have exhibited their technologies in 500 stalls. According to organizers, 42,500 people have visited the four-day expo. It has drawn businesses to the tune of hundreds of crores.

The technologies like automating movement of garments from one machine to another with hanger rails, automating packing and loading-unloading with vacuum supported machine, automating mixing of dyes, and automating functioning of dyeing machines were exhibited in the event.

“In case of automation, Tirupur knitwear cluster is yet to take a big leap. They deploy more manpower in production processes. The automation will not only reduce the cost but also minimize the mistakes and improve quality,” said an executive in charge of a German-based company.

Around 50 stalls have focused on knitting machine technology. One of the stalls exhibited a knitting machine which could produce 1 tonne of knitting fabrics in a day. Maximum capacity of the knitting machines in Tirupur cluster would be half of the capacity of the machine exhibited by a US-based firm.

Many companies have exhibited knitting machines with competitive prices than the ones exhibited in previous years. However, the visitors were also skeptical about those low-priced machines as most of them were made from China.

“We have been using the machines made in Germany and a few other countries. But nowadays, many of those companies have now started making machines in China. So, we must wait and watch how they work but they were cheaper,” S Sudhan, a knitwear unit owner, said.