Introduction:Spinning is conversion of fibres into yarn. These fibres can be natural fibres (cotton) or manmade fibres (polyester). Final product of spinning is yarn. Cotton value chain starts from Ginning that adds value to it by separating cotton from seed and impurities. Spinning is the foundation process and all the subsequent value additions i.e. Weaving, Knitting, Processing and Garments.

There are three main spinning systems used commercially to produce yarns. 1. Ring Spinning2. Rotor Spinning (also known as Open-End Spinning)3. Air-Jet Spinning.

We are planning to install a Open End Rotor Spinning unit with a total of 480 rotors.

Ring Spinning was perfected as a process by the end of the 19th century. There are currently 213 million ring spindles installed world-wide that account for about 60% of all short-staple yarn production. Its prominence reflects its versatility in terms of productivity, the range of yarn counts are also superior in terms of yarn strength and character in terms of fabric handle and comfort.

Open End Rotor Spinning (ORES) pinning was introduced as a new short-staple spinning system in the mid 1960’s and achieved its greatest uptake during the 1980s when production speed and versatility were improved. Today, there are over 9 million rotor positions installed world-wide which account for about 30% of all short-staple yarn production. In the past century, the manufacture of staple yarns has been driven by the motive to achieve desired tensile properties and aesthetics at a reasonable cost. Because of the absence of some, preparatory and post spinning operations, as well as high output per machine, Open End Rotor Spinning machines give a substantial, saving in labor cost.

Air-jet spinning was developed in the 1960s but was not successful commercially until the early 1980’s initially suited to longer staple polyester rich fiber blends, air-jet spun yarn could be delivered at speeds significantly higher than that of ring spinning.

2. Market:

The world cotton cultivation area and cotton production are estimated at around35-36 million hectares and 26 million tons respectively. The biggest cultivators of cotton are China, India, America, Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan and Eastern Europe.India is the second largest producers of cotton after China and among the consumers China leads the way being followed by India, Pakistan, USA and Turkey.

The Indian textile industry is one of the largest in the world with a massive raw material and textiles manufacturing base. Indian Textile Industry contributes 5% to the GDP of the country; it contributes 14% to Industrial Production, 9% of excise collections, 18% of employment in industrial sector, and has 16 % share in country’s export. About 27% of the foreign exchange earnings are on account of export of textiles and clothing alone Textile industry provides employment to 35 million people in India.

India, which has the, largest, installed spinning capacity, in the world has hardly, 0.8% capacity, on Open End Rotor Spinning (OERS), against, 22% overall in world, 64% in USSR and 66% in Hongkong. Indian textile mills industry has been slow in responding to the OERS technology, which has, however, lately picked-up. India offers a substantial scope, for taking OERS.

Location Advantage: COIMBATORE

The third largest city in the state of Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore, is one of the most heavily industrialised city and a regional hub for textiles, manufacturing, software services, education and health care. The city is also referred to as "the Manchester of South India" due to the presence of a flourishing textile industry. The city has over 25,000 small, medium and large scale industries and 2 IT SEZs. Coimbatore is also famous for the manufacture of motor pump sets and varied engineering goods. Coimbatore has a well developed educational infrastructure, with 7 Universities, 2 medical colleges and over 54 Engineering Colleges and 70 Arts and Science colleges. The city is also a major health care and an emerging medical tourism destination with many super specialty hospitals and as many as 750 hospitals and medical centers in total. The result has been a strong economy and a reputation as one of the greatest industrial cities in South India.

In the rain shadow region of the Western Ghats Mountains, Coimbatore enjoys a very pleasant climate all the year round, aided by the fresh breeze that flows through the 25 kms long Palakkad gap. This climate is ideal for spinning excessive heat will cause breakage of yarn. The rich black soil of the region has contributed to Coimbatore's flourishing agriculture industry and, it is in fact the successful growth of cotton that served as a foundation for the establishment of its famous textile industry. The first textile mills came as far back as 1888 but there are now over 400 spinning hundred mills.

The global market has become an overwhelming incentive for new investments and there has then occurred a veritable explosion of capacity in cotton-based complexes, the most important being the Tamilnadu clusters (Coimbatore, Erode ,Tirpur & Salem) which contribute 27% of the total textile industry in India ranking third next to the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Further, the performance of the textile industry in Coimbatore presents a better picture as there are concentration of industrial enterprises specialising in various stages of textiles manufacture, right from ginning of cotton followed by spinning to the finishing/ garmenting of the end product. There are supportive textile equipment engineering industries located in Coimbatore. There is a well-developed ginning industry to supply raw material to spinning and cotton cultivation is wide-spread in the state. The state has the advantage of possessing adequate disciplined labour supply at low cost. There also exists relatively better infrastructure facilities for transport, electricity etc.

The neighboring town of Tirupur is home to some of Asia’s largest garment manufacturing companies, exporting hosiery clothes worth more than  50,000 million. Most of our end products will be sold here in addition to the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat..

3. Raw Material:

The main raw material for the OE spinning process is Ginned cotton, Cotton waste from ring spinning process which is available locally in Coimbatore with over 400 spinning mills and over hundred ginning units to supply raw material in addition to thousands of Cotton commissioning agents who procure the raw material from all over India.

4. Manufacturing Process& TechnologySpinning process is shown in the flowchart below.

Laying Down –> Blow Room –> Carding –> Drawing –> OE Rotor –> Yarn

Laying Down :

In the first process cotton bales are selected to satisfy the requirements of a particular end use like the mix, thickness and tensile strength etc., to get the right combination, and then laid down in a row ready to be feed in to a blow room.

Blow Room:

The opening and blending processes ensure a consistent and homogeneous blend of fibres. Blended fiber is then passed to further open (loosen) the fiber tufts and to clean and remove plant-based contaminants such as leaf, sticks, boll parts, bark and seed fragments.

Two or more different varieties of cotton are general mixed thoroughly to get a proper blend. In order to produce uniform quality of yarn and also to reduce the cotton cost of yarn while achieving the desired level quality, the mixing, of two or more types of cotton is carried out in the blow room. The loose cotton passed through the blow room is auto feed to the carding machines.

Carding

Once the fiber has been opened, blended and cleaned it is fed to the carding machine, which is often referred to as the ‘heart of the spinning mill’. This is for good reason as the carding machine individualises, aligns and further cleans the fibres, before condensing them into a single continuous strand of overlapping fibres called a ‘sliver’ stored in cans. Importantly, a large proportion of short fibres and neps are also removed during carding. The quality of the sliver assembly from the card determines both the quality and processing efficiency of products further up the processing chain.The slivers are stored in -cans.

Drawing

Drawing is the process where the fibres are blended, straightened and the number of fibres in the sliver reduced in order to achieve the desired linear density in the spinning process. The drawing process also improves the uniformity or evenness of the sliver.

Spinning on Rotor

In conventional spinning, the fibre supply is reduced to the required mass per unit length by drafting & then consolidated into a yarn by the application of twist. There is no opportunity for the internal stresses created in the fibres during drafting to relax .In open end spinning, the fibre supply is reduced, as far as possible , to individual fibres, which are then carried forward on an air-stream as free fibres. This permits internal stresses to be relaxed & gives rise to the term “free fibre spinning”. These fibres are then progressively attached to the tail or “open end” of already formed rotating yarn. This enables twist to be imparted by rotation of the yarn end. Thus the continuously formed yarn has only to be withdrawn & taken up on a cross-wound package.

Yarn testing instruments

Blow Room –> Carding –> Drawing –> OE Rotor Ginned lint Carded Drawn Yarn Silver Silver