Benninger develops and produces machines and systems for textile finishing and tire cord production. The machines and systems are an important link in the textile value chain and run as complete system solutions. Benninger has many years of experience in the automation of machines and systems which is also used successfully in other branches of industry. Rolf Erik Schoeler, Global Head of Sales and Marketing, Benninger Group, in this interview with Divya Shetty, highlight the strengths of the Swiss textile market and outlines their expansion strategies for India.
How is your company serving the textile & apparel (T&A) industry?
Benninger, a Swiss based company with more than 165 years of experience, understands that modern fashion is lively, diverse and fast-moving. Today’s industry must reflect contemporary needs while creating smart and versatile systems to achieve the most ecological footprint at the lowest cost. Minimising ecological footprints at the lowest cost is our mission in mitigating environmental impact on the planet.
What makes the Swiss textile machinery industry a leading player in the global market?
With a long history and deep understanding of Industrial manufacturing, customers shop floors and their demands, made Swiss products with its high-performance quality always demanded.
The strong Swiss Franc and a large educated workforce have put a lot of pressure on the cost, thus we had to always go the extra mile in terms of innovation to solve customers’ pain points to stay competitive. This understanding is deeply rooted in our industry and trigger new developments to be outstanding and to add more value than others.
Swiss companies are known for innovations. Could you share with us information about some of your recently launched products & machines?
The latest market introduction was during the ITME in Delhi in December 2021 where we presented our new singeing machine. The SingeRay is the first choice to upgrade your fabric. Customers will benefit from perfect singeing effects, cost efficiency and unform quality. The all new SingeRay comes in a 21st century design with features that will satisfy all requirements. One of the top features are the high velocity nozzles for beyond comparison singeing effects and a flame with high energy density over the complete burner width.
It goes without saying that all other products are constantly cultivated and newest technology flow into the series, to always offer best available technology.
Automation & Industry 4.0 are the buzzwords today. How is your company tapping these trends?
At ITMA 2023 in Milan, Benninger presented the first prototype for the upcoming BEN-Cloud customer portal. This will significantly simplify communication between customers and After Sales, provide a 360° view of all relevant information and, for the first time, offer e-shop and IoT / Industry 4.0 functionalities. At present we are finetuning the system for a future release.
Sustainability is another key trend in the T&A industry. How is your company helping its customers to achieve their sustainability goals?
Our wide portfolio allows us to reduce the customer’s carbon footprint drastically, not only because of our high performing machines and ranges with unbeatable low consumptions. But also, because all our subsystems such as liquid dispensing, powder dissolving and distribution systems up to waste water heat recovery or caustic soda recovery plants for mercerizing ranges, to feed our machines and ranges are part of our manufacturing DNA.
How are you planning to grow the export business? Which countries/regions are driving the demand?
Of course, with empathy for customer’s realities and innovation to guarantee that customers can process todays and tomorrow’s fabrics and blends, at lowest possible cost.
For Benninger, all regions are important, but for India we have a soft spot. This is due to our long-rooted history in the country, our team of 20 service experts which are now also internationally acclaimed plus that we run our own Indian sales team.
What is the contribution of India to your overall business? Could you please brief us about your operations in India?
In 2022, India was the third largest importer of textile fibre machinery. Thus, contribution is relevant, and we do deliver our full product portfolio to India. Benninger is proud to be the supplier of the most modern wet processing solutions for discontinuous machines and continuous ranges for knit or woven fabrics.
But also, our TireCord products for dipping synthetic fabrics are extremely successful in India for decades.
Our Softflow dyeing machine is today made in India for India and we are proud of it. The quality standard as the same as produced Switzerland and with the advantages of a domestic purchase and service.
What are some of the emerging trends in the textile engineering segment?
There is no breakthrough trend visible at the moment in the industry, however topics like efficiency, reduction of utilities or reduction of salt are surely strongly influencing our engineering.
What are your growth plans for your company? (globally and in India)?
Growth is not only a sign of success but its key to long-term survival, also for our customers and stakeholders. Benninger will surely offer more local solutions in different regions like the FabricMaster which is “made in India†for India, but also more real time customer service paired with digitisation and sharp products that will ensure the most ecological footprint in modern wet processing at the lowest possible cost (OPEX).