The Hindu : Front Page : Entrepreneurs flock to Munich exhibition

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Friday, Sep 14, 2007
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Entrepreneurs flock to Munich exhibition

M. Gunasekaran

— Photo: M. Balaji

SEEKING INNOVATIONS: Upgrading technology is essential for knitwear industry to stay in the global competition.

TIRUPUR: Pressing financial problems have not deterred R.C. Sampath Kumar of Spectro Process from visiting the International Textile Machinery Exhibition ITMA 2007 in Munich, Germany.

Mr. Kumar is among the 15 dyers going to see the quadrennial event, which is considered the Olympics of the textile machinery industry. “We are facing tremendous problems. But this is a very important fair. Upgrading technology and adopting latest innovations are essential to stay in the competitive industry,” he says.

The world’s biggest machinery exhibition began on Thursday and will be on till September 20. Leading machinery makers showcase their latest innovations at this fair. This time, the number of people from working units, ranging from knitters to embroiders to compacting and dyeing units, going to the exhibition exceeds that of knitwear exporters. While a 45-member delegation led by Knit Cloth Manufacturers Association president Ahill S. Rathinasamy is visiting the fair on a 15-day package to Europe, M.S. Mani of Tirupur Industrial Federation is heading a 30-member contingent.

“I had visited ITMA 1999 in Paris and ITMA 2003 in Birmingham. Both the events gave me two different business opportunities. It is an important fair as it helps us improve productivity and quality besides reducing overheads,” Mr. Mani says.

Mr. Rathinasamy said upgrading technology was necessary to thrive in the textile business. “As we entered the quota-free regime in 2005, which had thrown open new avenues, the ITMA 2004 assumed significance and a large number of entrepreneurs visited it.”

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