As envisioned by Anuj Bhagwati-who joined A.T.E. Group in 1994-the company today has machinery solutions for every textile process – spinning, knitting, weaving, synthetics, technical textiles, non-woven, carpet finishing, garmenting and made-ups. ´A.T.E. is the only company in India and perhaps in the world with such bandwidth in textile engineering,´ says Anuj Bhagwati, Managing Director of A.T.E. Group, in an exclusive interaction with the Editor of the Indian Textile Journal.
Anuj Bhagwati also highlights the turning points in the group´s growth over the years and their overseas tie-ups.
ITJ Editor: Over the last 75 years, A.T.E. Group has achieved a lot in terms of service to the textile industry. What are the highlights in the group’s growth over the years? Anuj Bhagwati (AB): We are very happy to have contributed to the growth and development of the Indian textile industry over the last 75 years. In textile engineering, A.T.E. now covers the entire textile value chain. We now represent 50 plus principals, the who´s who of high technology in the textile engineering field, like Trntzschler, Zinser, Karl Mayer, Fong´s, Monforts, etc., encompassing every textile process – spinning, knitting, weaving, synthetics, techtex, non-woven, carpet finishing, garmenting and made-ups. A.T.E. is the only company in India and perhaps in the world with such bandwidth in textile engineering. Key steps for us have been our meeting all these great companies!
One turning point for our group was our entry into manufacturing from agency business. Today, our manufacturing joint ventures (JVs), Truetzschler India Private Limited (formerly known as Trumac) (JV with Trntzschler GmbH & Co. KG, Germany) for manufacturing spinning preparatory machinery and & Zinser Textile Systems (JV with Saurer) for manufacturing spinning machinery, are the leading names in their respective fields.
Recently A.T.E. took over the textile component business of SKF India and these components, i.e., spindles, weighting arms, top rollers, cradles, upgradation kits, etc., are manufactured from our newly built manufacturing facility in Ahmedabad, and are marketed under the brand TeraSpin. Through continuous R&D we have made various improvements in some of the products in the last couple of months.
Another major turning point has been diversification in our business segments. Since many years, A.T.E. has established its presence in the field of flow technology and print and packaging solutions. Beginning 2006 we also diversified into the field of clean technology and machine-to-machine solutions.
ITJ Editor: Trumac has emerged as one of the leaders in the pre-spinning segment. What are its recent achievements?
AB: Yes, Trumac, which is now called Truetzschler India, has acquired a leadership position in the pre-spinning segment on the strength of its technology and service. Truetzschler India was always a favourite for blow rooms ever since the company was launched and this extended to cards. Truetzschler India has made more than 8,500 cards! Just recently, we rolled out our 3000th TC series card – a series launched only in 2008. This shows the strong market share of Truetzschler in spinning preparatory systems. We have repeat orders from every major spinner in India. Our drawframe business is also growing steadily. The Truetzschler group has chosen Truetzschler India as its global hub for manufacturing of combers, and we have supplied more than 50 so far from India to different parts of the globe.
ITJ Editor: In the last few years, A.T.E Group has included a lot of strategic overseas tie-ups. Please enumerate some of the benefits accruing to the industry due to this.