Itema has weaved its way to success amid troubled times thanks to its relentless pursuit of innovations.
It was a dream come true; nothing short of a miracle! In 2012, global weaving market, hit by negative growth, dipped by 30 per cent, but Itema Group, the Italian weaving machinery giant held its head high, by registering a growth of per cent. In 2013, the company achieved a turnover of Euro 250 million. The years 2013 & 2014 were laggard period for the global weaving sector, but Itema forged ahead by charting a higher growth. What´s the secret? The Itema Group´s honchos say that they followed only one mantra: Continuous innovation. ´Among the 50 countries of our export destinations, we experienced the most amazing success in terms of number of machines installed, first and foremost, in India, but also in Turkey, the Western Europe and China,´ Fulvio Carlo Toma, Itema Group Sales & Marketing Director, said instinctively, taking little effort to hide his broad smile. He spoke at length with the Editor of The ITJ, disclosing the tenacity, zeal ad the drive behind the phenomenal success story of Itema.
Till 2014-end, Itema has installed over 300,000 weaving machines all over the world. Said Toma: ´During the last year, we shipped our weaving machines all over the world, long and wide our globe, from Japan, going west all the way to the USA and from UK going south to Brazil, leaving our mark in places as diverse as Lithuania, Yemen, Cameroun, Belgium, and India, to name just a few, reaching in total over 50 different countries and our geographic reach is growing every year.´
The company achieved a per cent YOY increase in the number of weaving machines installed in 2013. Updeep Singh, Managing Director of Itema Weaving (India) Pvt Ltd, finds it tough to divide his time between work and media, but still in-between his busy hours, spared some time to reply to The ITJ queries. ´We achieved 100 per cent growth in 2014 in India. In south, west and central India, we have had many repeat orders for the latest weaving machines. Our customer focus with 24×7 service centres has earned us a good name. We have about 25 very efficient service engineers spread out all over the country to attend to any problem. We have launched two new systems — one in raper and the other in airje,´ said Singh.
In the last two years Itema India has experienced a period of unprecedented growth in India because Itema India is an extremely organized company, ready to answer to every customer´s need, from sales to after-sales services, with excellent spare parts, technical support and repair centre services. It has offices in Mumbai, New Dehli, Ichalkaranji and Coimbatore and has more than 50 employees, including the managing director and 35 qualified technicians.
Said Toma: ´Our rapier models, led by our flagship model R9500, has just two years after its launch on the market represents half of our turnover, are well known worldwide for the huge versatility and the unparalleled reliability they guarantee. Thanks to the rapiers flexibility, our rapier looms ensure top versatility of fabric and pattern.? Itema is the only manufacturer worldwide offering the top three leading shuttleless weft insertion systems: rapier, airjet and projectile. Itema offers all weavers a tailor-made solution for any requirement in terms of quality, performance, efficiency and environmental friendliness. Itema´s commitment to continuous is legendary. The continuous improvement in technology is guaranteed because it invest 5-6 per cent on average of its yearly profits in R&D. Itema has a lot of faith in its young generations, and hence it launched Itema Academy aimed at recruiting and<