India-based commission dyer Selvam Process recently installed a Montex 6500 tenter built by
China-based Monforts Fong’s Textile Machinery Co. Ltd. — a joint venture between Germany-based A.
Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG. and Hong Kong-based Fong’s Industries Co. Ltd. — and
supplied by ATE Enterprises. Monforts reports it is the first Montex 6500 to be installed in India.
Selvam Process will use the tenter in its open-width heat-setting and finishing operations. Founded
in 1990, the company has traditionally processed tubular knitwear, and wanted to add open-width
finishing capabilities.
“We started to notice exporters were beginning to express an open-width preference in 2009,
offering less wastage,” said S. Raju, owner, Selvan Process. Raju began to look for a “total
solution” to enable the company to process both tubular and open-width knitwear in-house. “Savings
of as much as 3 percent can be made with open-width production compared with tubular finishing,” he
said.
Selvam Process dyes knitwear including 100-percent cotton, interlock, single jersey, rib,
honeycomb and fleece for customers such as GAP, M&S, AG, Mack and Ferro. The company also
recently introduced a range of blends incorporating polyester/cotton, polyester and viscose, and
also is beginning to offer dyed Lycra® blends, which require heat-set treatment.
“The new 8-chamber Montex stenter will process up to 15 [tons per day],” Raju said. “This
additional capacity will not only include our own in-house open-width production but also knitwear
from other local dyers for heat set treatment.”
The installed Montex 6500 has eight chambers and twin padders, and can handle fabric weights
from 110-grams-per-square-meter (g/m2) single jersey to 300-g/m2 fleece. Regarding the decision to
add the Montex 6500, Raju said: “With conventional dyeing techniques, the unit can only be used as
a dryer. The Monforts stenter is a multi-purpose unit offering drying, heat setting, curing,
coating and finishing.” Raju also noted that the tenter can apply heat setting and finishing to
both sides of the fabric; and softeners may be added during the finishing process.
June 28, 2011
