#Spinning

2021-03-18

Interview with Dr. K.V.Srinivasan - CEO Premier Group India

Over the last 60 years, the Premier Group has built an international reputation for quality and innovation in the textile industry. Premier Mills, part of Premier Group, was first established in 1949 and from its headquarters in Coimbatore, India, manufactures and exports fine combed cotton yarn, producing over 18 million kilograms each year.

With a workforce of around 5,000 people, the company is focused on providing excellent customer service using latest technology, investing in eco-friendly processes and drawing on their own deep technical experience.

Interview

Loepfe: How important is the Testmode feature to Premier and how do you use it?

Dr. KVS: The Testmode feature is very useful because it’s really important to optimize the cuts-to-faults ratio in order to maintain optimum productivity. In fact, we constantly monitor the number of cuts in the yarn. While we know the type of fault we need to remove, depending on whether we are working on yarn for knitted fabrics or woven fabrics, Testmode enables us to fine-tune our approach.

Loepfe: Which problems can be solved with the help of Testmode?

Dr. KVS: There are two issues here. Firstly, you want to remove the faults - but secondly the more cuts you make mean that more splicing is necessary. The splices need to be perfect – and today this is a critical factor when producing high quality single compact yarns with finer counts. So, there’s a balance to be achieved and Testmode supports our decision-making process. Then, there’s also the issue of waste – Testmode has a role to play in reducing waste. We are also looking at still further optimization with the help of Testmode.

Loepfe: What is your opinion on Loepfe yarn clearers?

Dr. KVS: We have been happy with Loepfe yarn clearers and also the service and support received. Four or five years ago, we also invested in the Loepfe MillMaster product and this has particularly impressed us. From a management perspective, the various MillMaster reports help us to evaluate the performance of the spinning mill. It shows the maintenance and efficiency of the clearers, which is crucial in ensuring productivity.

Loepfe: What do you rate most positively?

Dr. KVS: Currently, we are very excited about Loepfe’s YarnMaster Prisma. We are in the process of buying a new wet-splicing winding machine and after seeing Prisma at the ITMA exhibition, we have taken the clear view that while we are buying new machinery, we should invest in the very latest sensing technology as well.

A tradition of innovation celebrated at ITMA 2025 in Singapore

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Object Carpet tests production of rPET BCF yarn on Neumag BCF line

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New spinning package with two-step filtration for recycled yarns and more

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GenuTrace client advisory: Is your cotton supply chain UFLPA ready?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has released updated operational guidance (CBP Publication No. 5560-0526) expanding its forced labor enforcement framework. The guidance supersedes the original 2022 UFLPA Operational Guidance and now covers all forced labor enforcement authorities — UFLPA, CAATSA, and WROs/Findings — in a single unified document. For cotton importers, the enforcement posture has not softened. It has become more structured, more documented, and more demanding. Learn more about UFLPA.

"We will become a recycling powerhouse"

The textile industry is now in its fourth consecutive year of crisis, while automation, artificial intelligence and recycling are reshaping the rules of the game. In this interview, Rieter CEO Thomas Oetterli discusses the first signs of a market recovery, reflects on his first three years at the helm of the company, explains the integration of Barmag, outlines Rieter’s vision of the fully automated spinning mill and highlights the strategic importance of recycling. In doing so, he explains why the new Rieter Group aims to play a leading role in transforming the textile value chain into a circular economy.

2026 general meeting of the Friends and Supporters of RWTH Aachen at ITA

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Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brings supply chain leaders together around cotton innovation

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Footwear innovation enabled by warp knitting technology– insights from New Balance

The future of the athletic shoe is increasingly being shaped on warp knitting machines. For KARL MAYER, the footwear industry is one of the most important growth markets – and one of the sectors where innovative textiles can realize their full potential. In his keynote address at the opening of KARL MAYER’s TEXTILE INNOVATION CENTER in Obertshausen in April, Vishnu Prakash Muthusamy, Senior Textile and Materials Engineer at New Balance, explained the opportunities that warp knitting technology opens up for performance, sustainability, and faster development processes, and why textile manufacturers are transitioning from suppliers to development partners.