Voltas, SHIMA SEIKI join hands to expand footprint across textile industry

Voltas Limited, India’s leading room air conditioning and engineering brand, and Shima Seiki (Shima), a leading Japanese textile machines manufacturer, have entered into a distribution agreement for sales and marketing of Shima’s products in India. This co-operation is expected to strengthen both Voltas and Shima’s reach across the rapidly expanding Indian textile industry.

The knitwear industry in India is expanding at a rapid speed. There is an ever increasing demand for knitted apparels. Not only major brands, but numerous designers have also incorporated knits into their clothing lines. The application of knitted products is also increasing and going beyond garments to home textiles, upholstery, shoe uppers, etc.

The co-operation will focus on leveraging Shima’s ability to provide leading edge products and the long standing expertise in ‘computerised flat knitting machines’, ‘WHOLEGARMENT Machines and Total Fashion Systems’ while building on Voltas’s established sales and marketing network across the country.

Commenting on the association, Mitsuhiro Shima, President of Shima, said, “We are happy to be associated with Voltas. This association adds the required market reach to our established portfolio of products and thus expands the company’s position as a market and technology leader. We are confident that this association for sales and marketing would bring a win-win situation for the two companies and our customers too.”

He further added, “Shima Seiki’s innovative concept enables the knitting machine in producing a WHOLEGARMENT knitwear in one entire piece, three-dimensionally. Consequently, it is a cost and time-effective process. This fast-catching trend across the world and the impact of the global technology will help increase efficiency in textile manufacturing in India.”

C Kamatchisundaram, Vice President – Textile Machinery Division, Voltas Ltd, added, “This association would help us to offer truly world-class solutions in flat knitting, WHOLEGARMENT making process and Total Fashion Systems to the textile industry. Voltas’ sales and marketing strengths combined with leading-edge products from Shima Seiki would make this a preferred choice for customers from the Indian textile industry.”

Building on this association, Voltas will continue to deepen and expand its regional business contacts leveraging on its relationship with customers across the entire textile value chain thus helping open up new customer segments in flat knitting and WHOLEGARMENT making process aligned to Shima’s product range. Based on its long-standing and excellent customer relations, Voltas’ network would be the key contacts for Indian customers for sales and marketing.