Business

Stäubli’s Fritz Legler Speaks About Upcoming Innovations On Its 125th Anniversary

Even as Stäubli celebrates its 125^th year of uninterrupted success in the textile weaving sector on the global map, the company is gearing up to face new challenges and cross new milestones in the coming years. As the harbingers of innovation and new technology, the company enjoys a reputation for quality and cost-effective solutions in the markets. In an exclusive interview with Arvind Semlani, Stäubli Marketing, Sales and Service Head, Fritz Legler throws light on the company’s plans for India and future technologies to be adapted. Excerpts from the interview are reproduced below.

How is the investment scenario in Textile Sector in India as of now? How do you see the business environment in the coming years?

The investment activity of Indian weavers was on a sound and gratifying level this year so far. Demonetization issues were put to bed and the country moved on in a positive direction. The introduction of GST brought about some doubts and insecurity which will slow down investment for some time. Having said this, we think that it is a positive move and it will be good for India and spur investment as we go along.

We know that India wants to boost garment and textile exports which will require more investments in machines, up and downstream in future. Weaving mills have to be modernized to work even more economically and efficiently. Automation plays a key role in order to improve processes and workflows in the Indian textile industry.

How did Stäubli manage to retain the leadership position in weaving machinery segment for such a long period?

The period you are talking about is precisely 125 years, i.e. our history. We can proudly say that one of the key factors for this success is the passion for innovation. The developments in the past 125 years attest to continuity and this passion for innovation, which is the foundation of the company. “125 years of passion for innovation”, therefore, is the motto for the anniversary year 2017. Modern, technological advancements and visionary ideas have formed a company, which in the new millennium is able to work as successfully as at the end of the 19th century.

Passionate inventing and highest demands to quality, coupled with reliability, customer focus and a strategy based on long-term commitments are values, which have been passed on in the Stäubli family for generations, with the goal to be able to hand a modern and healthy company over to successive generations“, is how our CEO, Rolf Strebel, put it. “This includes acting in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner, as well as always thinking ahead technologically, to be able to provide value-adding solutions to our customers.“

What are your plans to celebrate 125^th anniversary? Do you have any specific plans in store for the Indian textile segment?

Stäubli is celebrating its 125^th anniversary quietly. We keep on focusing on innovation for our customers and do not pay so much attention on celebrations. We are obviously proud of this anniversary and achievement but do not want to lose track with our customers who have given us their trust around the globe throughout our history. It is now inevitable that we keep on renewing their trust worldwide while we strive to be around for the next 100 years and beyond.

Can you throw light on new technologies that your company plans to introduce in the textile segment and the advantages they would bring?

We are still continuing to introduce our newest shedding solutions for any application: The S1600/S1700 cam motions and S3000/S3200 dobbies, as well as the new SX and LX Jacquard machines. All machines of those series are scoring points with their extreme reliability even at highest production speeds, as well as their long service lives. We see that there is an important business potential. Lots of mills are not yet weaving with latest technologies and have a big margin towards increased and more economic production.

In terms of weaving preparation we are offering far-reaching new technologies within the SAFIR family (SAFIR S40, SAFIR S60) thus expanding into new applications. The renowned Stäubli Active Warp Control (AWC) offers new possibilities in terms of color and yarn detection as well as yarn twist (S/Z) recognition.

There has been lots of talk on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics for Textile industry. How will robotics change the equation in the sphere of textile manufacture in the coming years?

It is clear that AI and Robotics will venture into the Textile Value Chain more and more in future. Scarcity of personnel, fully integrated value chains as well as ever increasing quality requirements and the focus for fast and accurate reproducibility will further foster those trends.

Stäubli has its great experience with one of the special “Textile Robots” being our Automatic Drawing-in Machines.

Automation will further grow in and around weaving as well as in other textile processes – right through to the garment industry.

Besides the Textile activity, the Stäubli Group offers innovative technologies and products in the field of connectors (fluid and electric) and we are developing and producing industrial 4-axis and 6-axis robots designed to handle up to 150 kg payload and run on a single control platform. Several of our robotic solutions are already being used in the textile value chain with customers in Europe and Asia.

Furthermore, there will be more robotic AGVs (automated guided vehicles) in future – going into material handling and so forth.

Automation solutions have to be discussed in great detail. Even more important would be the strategic intent of end users so that meaningful solutions can be tailor made.