Improve Competitiveness with Low Investment using Gentle Spinning

Are you thinking about how you can differentiate from the competition to become the preferred supplier to the customers, how can we add more value to your customers?

Or about how you can reduce costs and offer better quality at lower prices? Or about how you can improve yarn sales and profitability without much investment or risk?

Even mills not in a position to take big bets, can take a number of small, calculated bets by investing in low cost, fast payback improvement solutions. Such small bets may be measures to reduce power consumption, improve machine efficiency, reduce maintenance costs with superior performing accessories, improve quality by changing the specifications of accessories used or by changing machine settings, etc.

One such powerful low-risk and low cost solution lies in adopting Gentle Fiber Opening, which works with the basic principle of trying to retain the original fibre strength and staple length by preventing fibre rupture. While people may differ in their views of how to achieve this, there can be no question to the primary objective of this principle. Let’s discuss this in more detail.

Benefits of Gentle Fibre Opening

The principle of Gentle Fiber Opening is simple – if fibres can be opened and cleaned without rupture, it provides a phenomenal benefit to the spinning process in terms of better yarn, at higher efficiency and lower process waste.Pins, due their smooth rounded tip profile, prevent fibre rupture, have a superior dedusting action and open fibres better than sawtooth wire which employs a harsh cutting action on the fibres while opening. Ruptured fibres create short fibbers, microdust and lower strength sliver. This obviously leads to weaker yarns, more IPI, more ring frame breaks and higher winder cuts. Besides a lower quality product, lower machine efficiencies and lower fibre recovery rates are the result of high rupture.

Yet, for many reasons, many spinners prefer to use wire – it is easy to handle, costs less, is replaced fast, is the conventional way to open fibres, loss is less in case of an accident as wire is easily replaced. Moreover, it is believed that setting machines with wire is relatively easier since to cut open anything is easier compared to detangling.

However, the vital question to ask is whether convenience and lower price of accessories should be preferred over the main objective of reducing process cost and improving quality and consistency? When Pins are compared to sawtooth wire in terms of fibre loss, rupture, yarn properties, quality consistency and machine efficiency, Pins outscore wire in all these parameters; in case of synthetic fibres, natural fibres and blends as well as for all counts of yarns. Below is the list of benefits of using Pins as a Gentle Fiber Opening Clothing as opposed to Sawtooth Wire:

• Pins don’t rupture fibres – this provides a stronger sliver with lower per cent of short fibres (SFC per cent lower. eg. from 27 per cent to 26 per cent) and lower Blowroom & Card waste ( eg. from 10 per cent to 9 per cent) and Comber waste ( eg. from 17 per cent to 16 per cent).
• Pins last longer – the rounded tip of Pins lasts about 10 times longer than the wire knife-edge tips of wire teeth.  This means more consistent quality of sliver and lower maintenance lifetime cost.
• Pins open better – Pins not only open gently but also open better since they penetrate the fiberweband the pins are placed in a staggered pattern instead of the spiral pattern of wire. Better opening means better sliver quality (IPI lower by 10 per cent or more).
• Pins clean better – while the tight settings and harsh action of wire makes the trash disintegrate and generate micro-dust, pins provide a de-dusting action whereby the dust is easily separated from the fibres with help of the centrifugal force. The rich fibre per cent in the waste is also lower due to this reason.
• Consistent quality – Since pins last much longer than sawtooth wire, the variability in quality is reduced due to 10 times lesser replacement cycles.  
• Fiber yield – improves significantly (eg. by 1-3 per cent) since waste is lower, rich fibres loss is lower, comber noils  per cent is lower. Hard waste and pneumafil waste also reduce due to reduction in breaks and cuts (about 10 per cent from current levels).
• Higher production – Lower breaks in ring-frame can lead to efficiency and production increase upto3 per cent along with lower hard waste. In rotor spinning, production increase can potentially increase upto 15 per cent as achieved by one of our clients!
• NOTE: Since the process, machinery, running condition, fibre mix and yarn counts differ from mill to mill, these figures are indicative and will vary from mill to mill. However, it should be noted that these figures are based on actual results at one or more of our clients.

The above benefits add up to sharply improve competitiveness by improving production and quality while reducing fibre waste. This enables the Mill to sell better yarns at cheaper prices, without incurring high losses. Savings due to lower inventory and higher capacity utilisation also add significantly to profitability.

Basant Fibertek specialises in providing customised Gentle Fibre Opening Solutions using Pinned rollers in Blowroom and Cards. We have proved results in many spinning and waste recycling plants. Many OEMs have been using Pinned Rollers in their machines since many years. Hence it is a proven technology, not a new one.

Our solutions offer the following unique features:

• The investment outlay is low – the solution can be conceptually proven in any mill by spending Rs 5 to 10 lakhs on a pilot project.  Once proven, the mill can make comprehensive changes to all Blowroom lines and Cards.
• The solution is designed carefully after detailed audit at the mill of the process, machine condition, quality and operating parameters.
• The risk of even this minimal investment is fully covered by our money-back guarantee – if there is no improvement achieved, we take back our supplied rollers and refund the amount paid.
• The concept proving can be done in a short span of time – maximum 3-4 months of taking the decision.
• We do complete handholding right from concept to commissioning.

Conclusion

The best way to address market challenges is to raise competitiveness. The best way to raise competitiveness is to undertake low-cost improvements and innovations to reduce production cost and raise quality. This strategy helps in greatly reducing losses and improving sustenance during hard times. Basant’s Gentle Fiber Opening Solutions offer a proven, no risk, low-cost solution to reap huge benefits with a short payback period. Given our decades of experience coupled with confidence in our technology and solutions, we also offer guaranteed solutions which offset any risk which any mill management may perceive in adopting such solutions.