TEXTILE INTERNSHIP REPORT

VARDHMAN GROUP OF COMPANIES,

BADDI (H.P.)

Submitted By:
Phalguni Sood (BFT/15/334)
Swati Shukla (BFT/15/133)
Vivek Kumar Singh (BFT/15/917)

Acknowledgement
This summer internship is a venture that turned out to be a very interesting project. However,
it would not have been possible without the kind support and help of many individuals and
organizations. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them.
We are highly indebted to Mr. Jomichan Pattathil for his guidance and constant supervision as
well as for providing necessary information regarding the project & also for their support in
completing the project.
We would also like to thank The Human Resource Department of Vardhman Group of
Companies, Baddi (H.P.). Our sincere thanks are extended to Mr. Vaibhav Sharma, Mr.
Vishwajeet Mishra, Mr. Amit Kaushik, Ms. Reena, Ms. Bhavna Gupta, Ms. Kanika Sharma and
Ms. Japneet from The Human Resource Department of the company for helping us throughout
the course of our internship.
We would like to express our gratitude towards our parents for their kind co-operation and
encouragement which helped us in completion of this internship.
Our thanks and appreciations also go to people who have willingly helped us out with their
abilities and skills to complete this project and make it successful.

Phalguni Sood
Swati Shukla
Vivek Kumar Singh

CONTENTS
  Introduction
 The Processes
o Spinning
o Fibre and Yarn Dyeing
o Weaving
o Dyeing , Printing And Finishing
o Research and Development
 Learning Outcomes
o Insight to the Industry
o Maanav Vikas Kendras
o Quality Circles
 Suggestions for improvements

INTRODUCTION
We did our 2 week textile internship in Vardhman Group of Companies to
understand the concept of spun yarn production, grey fabric production, dyeing,
printing and finishing of fabric, textile testing and their quality aspects both
technical as well as for commercial purpose. The internship was to get a fair idea
of the production of fabric right from the fibre stage to the finished fabric
product. The objective was to study the difference between the theoretical
knowledge of production and the practical in the industry. The purpose of this
internship was to get an idea of the production of fabric and get an exposure of
the industry environment.

Vardhman is one of the leading manufacturers of yarns, fabrics, garments and

steels. The company has 1.1million spindles for manufacturing yarns. The first
unit of Vardhman was established in the year 1965 at Ludhiana, Punjab. Since
then Vardhman has established many units all over India.

In Vardhman, Baddi we visited their five subsidiary units namely:

 Auro Spinning Mill

 Auro Dyeing,
 Auro Weaving Mills
 Mahavir Spinning Mills
 Auro Textiles

I. SPINNING
Auro Spinning mills started spinning yarns in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh with 25,000
spindles and now they have around 81,000 spindles. In Auro spinning mill, 6
production halls are present where 90% cotton and 10 % blend regenerated fibre
is manufactured. Their regenerated fibres are mainly nylon, polyester, viscose,
rayon. They buy Indian cotton from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Kerala, etc. For the
Indian cotton they usually do 10% testing while 100% quality check is done for the
cotton which comes from USA or Egypt.

The raw materials used are cotton- (J34, S6, MCU5, DCH-32, Organic, Suvin,
Mots, Acala, Ultima, Pima, Giza-86, Giza-87, Giza-88), other natural fibres-(Wool,
Preshrunk wool, Silk, Flax, Rammie), Regenerated fibres-(Viscose, Modal, Micro
Modal, tencel, Micro Tencel, Bamboo, Papolis viscose, Kishubin Chotan Viscose),
Synthetic- (Solotex, Ten Jin Polyester, REL Polyester, Nylon6, Nylon66, Antistatic
PET), Elastane(Dow XLA, T400, Lycra, Roica, New Generation XLA)

Product range in yarns are:- Normal cotton yarns(Range: 10’s to 120’s- Single,
Double, Three & Four Ply yarns), blends[Range: 10’s to 80’s(Bi & Tri blends)-
Viscose, Modal, Tencel, Bamboo, Wool, Silk, Flax, Nylon with cotton or (5%-
100%)], Synthetic (Range: 20’s- 80s Compact- Solotex, Ten Jin Polyester, REL
Polyester, Nylon), Core spun yarn(7’s-80’s from cotton & its blend with core of
Dow LA, T400, Lycra, Roica), Core Spun siro( 2/20s - 2/120’), Compact
yarns( Range: 20’s-200’s- Single, Double, Three & Four Ply Yarns), Elitwist
yarns(Range: 20/2 - 160/2’s –From Cotton & its blends ), Slub yarns( Range: 20’s
NE to 80’s Ne), Core Spun Slub Yarns(Range: 7’s- 40’s, Dow XLA, Lycra, Roica), Slub
Injecta (Range: 2/40’s-2/120 with colour & PET Injection)

The process of manufacturing compact spun yarn of cotton is being carried out as
follows:-
 Manual Sorting

Blowroom

Carding

Breaker Draw Frame

Lap formation

Combing

Finisher Draw Frame

Speed Frame

Ring Frame

Winding

Conditioning

Packaging
Here is a brief about the machinery in each section of the spinning department:

i. MANUAL SORTING

The removal of big foreign particles from the cotton bales is sorting. This process
is manual and includes the machines at the time of bale opening and bale
packing. The process is optional and done for the cotton yarns that are to be
exported. The process is-

 Bale opening machine- This machine unpacks the cotton bales while
removing big foreign particles and transports the loose cotton fibres to the
adjoining room.

Cotton bales Loose cotton fibres

Machine model Lakshmi LB 3/6

Speed 800 kg/hr
No of machine 1

 Manual removal of foreign particles such as plastic wrappers, threads,

hairs by skilled women workers.

Capacity of work station 70

Working workstation at the time of 35
visit
 Bales’ packing machine - Sorted cotton is moved to bale packaging
machine through a conveyer belt.

Loose cotton fibres Cotton bales

Machine name Oil hydraulic bailing press (2 sided)
Speed 15 mins/bale
Bale size 85-90 kg
Cotton variety (at the time of visit) DCH100
ii. BLOWROOM

Packed cotton bales are opened, cleaned and mixed. The process is-

 Cotton bales Cotton laps Blendomat-

opens the cotton bales,
using suction, where
the bales are arranged in a particular arrangement to mix various types of
cotton.
Brand Trutzchler
Suction 1100 Pa
Speed 15-20 mt/min
Cotton(used at the time of visit) Block AB-1= DCH-32(30%) +
Shankar-6 (70%)
Block AB-2= PIMA cotton
 SPMF- Beating and cleaning of cotton
Brand Trutzchler
 Maxi flow machine- cleaning and beating of cotton.
Brand Trutzchler
Fan speed ( at the Speed time of 640 rpm
visit) 647 rpm
Suction fan speed 300 rpm
 MPM machine- collection of cotton for further process operations. To form
homogeneous mixture of cotton to avoid shade variation in further process.
Brand Trutzchler
Capacity/ chamber 500 kg
No of chambers 8
No of machines 2

 CVT-1+ magic eye- magic eye uses UV rays to distinguish cotton on the
basis of colour and CVT-1 beats up the cotton.

Brand Trutzchler
Speed 1389 rpm
  Dustex machine- Transfers cotton fibres from CVT-1 to carding machine.

iii. CARDING

This is the process of parallelization of fibres to form thick slivers. This machine
uses cylinder, flat belt and back motor/ doffer to convert fibres into sliver.

Fibre laps Slivers

Brand Trutzchler
Model DK-800
DK- 780
No of machines DK-800 * 9
DK-780 * 1
Processing speed (maximum) 35 kg/hr
Processing Speed (at the time of visit) 15 kg/hr
Average output Speed 68 mt/min
Doffer speed 543 rpm
Back motor speed 3.5 rpm
Cylinder speed 514 rpm
Flat belt speed 330 mm/ min
materials (at the time of visit) Line 1 ( 6 m/c) DCH-32+ Shankar-6
Line 2 (4 m/c) PIMA cotton

iv. DRAW FRAME

This machine is used for sliver doubling and fibre parallization.

Slivers Slivers(doubled)
Brand Lakshmi
Model LD-2
No of machines 3
 v. LAP FORMATION-

Fusing of doubled carded sliver for the purpose of combing is done here.

Slivers (doubled) Laps

Brand Lakshmi
Model no LX-10
Maximum speed 120 mt/min
Speed (at the time of visit) 96 mt/min
No of machine 2
Cotton Shankar-6 + DCH-32

vi. COMBING

Removal of short fibres as noile waste and fibre parallization takes place.

Laps Sliver

Brand Reiter
Model no E-65
No of machines 6
Heads in each machine 8
Wrapping ( at the time of visit) DCH32+ Shankar-6 (0.140 in Line 1)
PIMA (0.180 in Line 2)
No of teeth in comb (at the time of visit) 35/cm

vii. FINISHER DRAW FRAME

This machine doubles the combed sliver. Final control of wrapping using auto-
leveller is an important step.

Slivers Slivers(doubled)
Brand Reiter
Model no RSB-D40C
No of machines 3
Wrapping ( at the time of visit) DCH32+ Shankar-6 (0.145in Line 1)
PIMA (0.180 in Line 2 )
Drawing speed 300 mt/min

viii. SPEED FRAME

Conversion of sliver into roving. The machine used is called Simplex machine. The
objectives are drafting, twisting and winding.

Slivers Rove
Brand Lakshmi
Model no LFS-1660
No of machines 4
No of head in each machines 120
Speed 900-1100 rpm
Wrapping and cotton used (at the DCH-32 + Shankar-6 (1.3)
time of visit) PIMA (1.9)

ix. RING FRAME

Conversion of cotton roving into yarn. The objectives are drafting, twisting and
winding.

Roving Yarn packages (Bobbin)

Brand Lakshmi
No of machines 18
Spindles in each machine 864 in 17 machines
432 in 1 machine.
Total no of spindles 15120
Count 60 (DCH-32+ Shankar-6)
80 (PIMA)
 x. WINDING

Conversion of small bobbin packages into cone packages. These machines also
check the thick and thin places in yarns.

Yarn packages (Bobbin) Yarn packages (Cones)

Brand Morata cupro
No of machines 5
Drums in each machine 62 drums in 4 machines
72 drums in 1 machines
Speed 1300 rpm
Standard cone weights 1.890 kg
2.200 kg
0.945 kg

xi. CONDITIONING MACHINE

This machine is condition the yarn packages with 8-12 % moisture.

Brand Zelhar
Capacity 320 cones at a time

xii. PACKAGING

Each cone is packed in a separate plastic bag to retain its moisture. These cones
are further packed either into a pack of 12 cones in carton or pack of 175 cones or
more cones in pallets. Cardboard separators are used to distinguish the layer of
cones. In cartons the cones are arranged in 2 layers of 6 each while in pallets the
cones are arranged in 7 layers of 25 or more as per the requirement. Then, the
pallets are covered with plastic film.

II. FIBRE AND YARN DYEING

In Auro dyeing mills, they dye fibres and yarns. The process flow chart of the
dyeing room for yarns and their machine specifications are as follows:-
 Pre winding

Dyeing

Drying

Singeing (Optional)

Conditioning

Post winding

Packaging

i. PRE WINDING

Conversion of cone packages into loose cheese packages. This is done so that
dye can penetrate easily and evenly throughout the yarn package.

Brand SSM XENO 160 head( 80 both side)

SSM XENO 60 head (30 both side)
Preciflex 56 head
No of machines SSM * 2 (160 head)
SSM * 8 (60 head)
Preciflex * 9
Maximum speed 1200 rpm
Speed (at the time of visit) 1100 rpm
Range 200gm – 1.8kg
Length formula they use 1.693 * count * package weight
Room temperature 33.5 degree Celsius
Blower rail brand Pneumable
Belt specification of head Toothed belt 12 mm, 145 t
Cheese colour (at the time of visit) R. pink
Package weight (at the time of visit) 1094 gm.
 ii. DYEING
1. Yarn dyeing- In this section, the cone yarns packages are dyed or the beam
packed yarns are dyed. They usually dye a lot once and then the sample is
sent to R&D department. After the confirmation from the R&D department,
dyed packages are sent for the next process. If R&D department does not
approve the sample then the lot is sent for the dyeing again. They mainly
use reactive dyes, disperse dyes, VAT dyes and acrylic dyes.

No of boilers 480 litre * 6

750 litre * 2
475 litre * 2
180 litre * 6
360 litre * 5
No of dyeing tanks 3000 litre * 8
1750 litre * 2
Beam dyeing tank capacity Minimum- 6
Maximum-8
No of beam dyeing tank 6
Package dyeing capacity 540 cones at a time in one tank
No of yarn dyeing machines Fong 300-28 pc *1
Fong 160-12 pc * 10
Fong 120 pc * 1
Fong 500-80 pc * 2
Fong 580-135 pc * 4
Fong 580 pc * 1
Fong 1100 pc * 1
Hisaka 120 pc * 1
Hisaka 160 pc * 1
Hisaka 500 pc *1
Theism 120 pc * 2
Theis 500 pc * 2
Theis 160 pc * 4
Temperature 60-80 degree Celsius for cotton
125-130 degree Celsius for polyester
100-120 degree Celsius for acrylic
 2. Fibre dyeing- For fibre dyeing, the fibres were loaded into carriers using
stampers and water. Water is used to improve the levelling property of the dye
and stamping is done to maintain the volume of the fibres in the carriers. Then
the staple fibres were taken for scouring, where the cleaning was done. Then
the fibres were dyed using appropriate dyes and solution. The fibres are then
taken to the hydro- extractor, where the excess water is removed from the
fibres.

Cotton 3 min
Cotton polyester blend 5 min
Acrylic 2 min

iii. DRYING
1. Yarn drying- After the extraction of water from the yarns, the yarn packages
are sent to the RF dryer (radio frequency dryer) chamber room for drying.
Higher the weight of the package, lower the frequency.

Brand Munga * 3
Stalam * 1
Speed (maximum) 30 cm/ min
Speed (at the time of visit) 6.5 cm/ min

2. Fiber drying - After the extraction of water from the dyed fibre, it is loaded in
one of the two drying ranges where one is only a dryer and the other one is a
washer and a dryer. The dryers are important for drying the fibre as it reduces
the amount of moisture in the fibre and is also a prerequisite for packaging of
the dyed fibres.

Dryer no 1 ( dryer)
Cake breaker conveyor 3600*1040 mm
Inside conveyor size 3250*1040 mm
Hopper no 1 conveyor size 5700*1025 mm
Inside conveyor size 2900*1030 mm
Hopper no 2 conveyor size 5600*1645 mm
Inside conveyor size 3600*1645 mm
No of chambers in dryer 5
Dryer no 2 (washer and dryer)
Cake breaker conveyor 4450*1590 mm
Inside conveyor size(2 side cake 3300*1590 mm
breaker)
Hopper no 1 conveyor size 7500*1590 mm
Inside conveyor size 5000*1590 mm
Water pipe stand temp 43 degree Celsius
Drain line tank capacity 3500 litres
Secondary dry conveyor belt size 3020*1195 mm
nd
2 Water pipe temperature 45 degree Celsius
nd
Capacity of 2 drain tank 3500 litres
After drain conveyor belt 3020*1195 mm
Hydro extractor capacity 450 litres
No of drums in dryer 6
Chemicals used in this machine
Quantity Temperature Chemical Quantity of
chemical
3500 litre 45 degree Celsius Hydrogen peroxide 8 gpl
Polypax 3.2 gpl
Acetic acid 1.29 gpl
3500 litre 60 degree Celsius Hot wash
3500 litre Hot wash Hot wash
750 litre 45 degree Celsius Poly soft 1.80 %

iv. SINGEING

Yarn singeing is done by gas singeing. This removes the protruding fibres on the
yarn by burning them. The thinner the yarn, the higher is the speed of the yarn is
given.

propellant used Propane+ air

Air: gas 55:45
Weight loss 5-6 %
Protruding fibres removed Around 55 %
No of machines 2
Heads in each machine 32 * 2
Brand SSM

v. POST WINDING
This process is done for conversion of cheese into cones. The size of the cones
depends, whether, the yarn has to be used for weaving or knitting. The purpose
of conversion of cheese into cones is to wind the loosely packed yarns on cheese
again to tightly packed cone. The machines used and their specifications are:-

Brand Murata (60*2 head machine)

SSM (64*2 head machine)
Sehlafhorst (60 head machine)
No of machine Murata * 15
SSM * 3
Sehlafhorst *2
Speed of each machine 800 rpm
Twisting 0.6 mPa

vi. CONDITIONING
After the post winding process, conditioning is done to rejuvenate the
moisture lost after drying process. Around 7 % moisture is imparted to the
yarns.

Brand Seiger
Xorella
No of machine 2
Dwell time 1st 5 min
Pressure 630
Temperature 55 degree Celsius
 Dwell time 2nd 20 min
Pressure 610
Temperature 60 degree Celsius
Capacity 8 trolleys of 126 or 136 cone packages

vii. PACKAGING
1. Yarn packaging- After the conditioning, packaging is done. For packaging,
carton sealing machine was used. The brand name of the machine was
Signode, where the carton was weighed for the net and gross weight and
sealed automatically. The benefit of using machine for packaging is, it
reduces the probability of plastic sealing tape breakage as it is applied using
equal pressure. The various sizes of carton (in inches)are:-
 25*17*20.5
 24*16*20.5
 23*15*20.5
 28*18*20.5
 22*14*20.5
 20*12*20.5
 20*16*20.5
 16*16*14
 7*7*13
 13*13*7

2. Fibre packaging- After the drying of the fibres, they are sent to a bales
packaging machine through a conveyor belt. This machine packages 200 kg
of fibre into a bale.

III. WEAVING
Weaving is the process of interlacement of two sets of yarn to produce a fabric.
The machine that does this job is called a weaving loom. The two sets of yarn are
called warp and weft.
 1. Warp- The yarns that lie longitudinally along the length of the fabric are called warp
yarns or ends.
2. Weft- The yarns that lie horizontally, i.e. perpendicular to warp are call weft or picks.

In Auro Weaving Mills, they produce 100% grey fabric only. They manufacture
around 1 lakh metre grey fabric per day. They use 10s count to 80s count.
Manufacture of cotton, PC blend, viscose, modal, bamboo, Lycra etc. is done here.
They have around 99.95% packing percentage while 0.05% is discarded as waste
as the initial, set finish and forwarding waste. They have around 272 air jet
cammed looms which are capable to produce plain, twill, satin, dobby weaves.
They have 24 E-shed machines with 12- 16 shafts. The minimum roll length
produced is 100 metres. They use four point system for inspection of fabric. They
produce fabrics which are later used for shirting and bottom.

Weaving

Folding and
Preparatory
Loom shed quality
process
assurance

Warping

Sizing

Drawing in

Mahavir unit of Vardhman manufactures grey fabric as well as the fabric from the
dyed yarn too. They manufacture around 75000 metres of fabric in this unit every
day. They produce yarn dyed fabric too. Therefore, Mahavir spinning mills have
machines for sectional warping as well as for direct warping. All the yarns
processed here for the weaving is made in Auro spinning mills while dyed and
processed in Auro Dyeing Unit. After the drawing in process, the trucks are taken
to the weaving loom section where the weaving of the fabric takes place. They
make twill fabric, check fabric, striped fabric, plain weave fabric as well as grey
fabric in this section. They have 224 weaving loom out of which 84 are air-jet and
140 are rapier. The process for the manufacture of the dyed yarn fabric as well as
for the grey fabric is as follows:

Weaving

Folding and
Preparatory
Loom shed quality
process
assurance

Warping Sizing Drawing in Air jet Rapier

Direct Sectional
warping warping
Th
ere are weaving process is divided in basically three sections-

 Preparatory
 Loom shed
 Folding and quality assurance

i. PREPARATORY PROCESS FOR WEAVING

The processes which are done to the yarns which are to be processed as warp
in weaving looms.

 Warping- The process of winding yarn from cone to wrapper’s beam. All
the ends of the yarns are passed through the eye of the yarn stand to the
beam winder individually. Warping machine was made in Germany. The
brand of the machine was Benninger.

Brand Benninger
Made in Germany
No of machines 3
No of heads 2 * 640
1 * 576
Beam diameter 350 mm
Length of beam 1800 mm
Contact pressure of the back 200 daN
roller
Speed of machine 2 machines with 1000 rpm (2001,
2003 model)
1 machine with 800 rpm (1998
model)

 Warping for yarn dyed fabrics is divided into two parts for the reason -

Warping

Direct Sectional
warping warping

 Sizing- Sizing is the process of applying sizing paste on the warp yarns. The
purpose of sizing is to strengthen the warp yarns and increase the
 smoothness of the yarns so as to reduce the friction and reduce yarn
breakage during weaving. Viscosity of the sizing paste is maintained at 6.40
second and the RF is 12%. In sizing, 18-20 beams are converted into one
beam. It is used for carded or open end fabrics only as its binding property
is quite weak. Controlling factors for sizing are:-

Tension Pre tension

Creel tension
Dry split tension
Binder tension
Beam press tension
Temperature 120 degree Celsius for some time
(depending upon the fiber content)
Drying Pre- dryer
Final dryer

Sizing had the following process.

Creel zone

Size box

Pre-dryer

Final dryer

Waxing

1. Creel zone- the yarns from all the wrapper’s beams are stretched and taken
to the size box while gathering the yarns from different beams to form the
 weaver’s beam. The number of beams in the creel zone depends upon the
width of the fabric and ends per inch as specified by the customer.
2. Size box- It contains the sizing paste maintained at the required
temperature. If the count of the yarn decreases then the temperature
needs to increase. In sizing, 18-20 beams are converted into one beam and
then the yarns are dipped in sizing material. For the proper tensioning of
the yarn. The sizing paste used by them are:-
1. Texoplast
2. Anti-static
3. Lubrizol
4. Soloact SFR
5. Ketanole- SZ
6. Sonycryl- S
7. Sunnypol T-17
8. Softsize MTR

Capacity of the box 220 litre

Temperature (at the time of visit) 90 degree Celsius
3. Pre- dryer- This is used to dry the sizing paste on the yarns.
4. Final- dryer- The sizing paste which is not dried by the pre- dryer is dried by
the final dryer. If the double dipping of the yarn is done, then final dryer
dries the yarns properly.
5. Waxing- waxing is done to the yarns to get smoothness in them.

 Sizing kitchen- They had a sizing kitchen where they prepare the recipes of
the size. The sizing kitchen has the following machines:-

Premixer brand Kargandras bechandras

No of machines 2
Capacity of water 650 litre
No of cooker 2
No of hooter 2

 Drawing in- In drawing in, the warp ends are passed through the needle
eye of the machine. All the beams are not passed through the drawing
needles as the knots can be tied after one beam ends.
 Machine used Delta 110
Omni plus
Maximum speed 130 EPM
Speed ( at the time of visit) 110M

ii. WEAVING
Weaving is the process of interlacement of two sets of yarn to produce a
fabric. The machine that does this job is called a weaving loom. The two
sets of yarn are called warp and weft. Following is the summary of the
machinery of Auro Weaving Mills:

Machine Toyota E- 710

shed 810
Delta 10
Omni plus
ZAX
ZAX- E
No of machines 272
Speed of machine Toyota E-shed- 760 to 1200 EPM
Delta 10 – 850 EPM
Omni plus – 850 EPM
ZAX- 900 EPM
ZAX- E – 900 EPM

For the running of the air jet looms they have a compressor room for the
generation of the air. The machines are:-

Air compressor
Brand Ingersoll rand
Model C 35MX3
No of machines 1
KW 560
APM 932
RPM 2975
Make NGEF
Brand Purit air
 Model CAW-350
No of machines 1
Capacity 3500 CFM
KW 30
AMP 50
Make Crompton Greaves
RPM 1400
Brand Atlas copco
Model ZR355
Capacity 2000 CFM
Make Siemens
KW 355
RPM 1488
Current 610 amp

iii. INSPECTION AND QUALITY CHECK

After the fabric is made from the weaving loom, the inspection is done in the
inspection room. They use 4-point inspection system but the sears scale chart
over there, displays the maximum of only 3 point allotment. The inspection
machine had a display monitor which was displaying the initial length, width,
running length (which keeps changing as the roll is moving) and defect map.

No of inspection machines 9
Speed 20-30 metre/min

iv. PACKAGING

There was packing of the fabric usually in roll form. There was only 1 machine for
the packaging of the fabric. They pack the fabric in roll form with HDPA ( high
density polymer acrylic). The HDPA rolls on the outer side of the fabric and is
sealed at the end. Carats were used for the transfer of the fabric from the fabric
inspection machine to roll packaging machine. The packaging machine was from
the brand named Penguin

Packaging machine brand Penguin

No of machine 1
 Packaging material used HDPA (high density polymer acrylic)

v. CPDC (Central Product Development Cell)

We also visited the central product development cell of the Mahavir spinning
mills. This department develops the sample of the fabrics. The sample of the
fabric ranges from 50 to 65 inch in width while up to 50 metre in length. All the
machines here are usually of low capacity as there is no mass production. The
machines are as follows:-

Width of fabric 50-65 inch

Length Upto 50 metre
No of warping machines 4
Brand Suzuki
Type Sectional warping
No of sizing machines 4
Brand Prashant west point
Display type Touch display
Drawing in machines (automatic) 1
Brand Staubli
Model Delta 110
Speed 130 ends per minute
Manual drawing in machine 10
No of worker on each machine 2
Width of fabric on this machine 20 inches
No of looms 9
Type Rapier loom

IV. FABRIC DYEING, PRINTING AND FINISHING

Auro Textiles is biggest among all the Vardhman units in Baddi. Their monthly
production is around 15 lakh metre. In this unit they process yarn dyed fabric as
well as grey fabric. They process stretched fabric for trousers, leggings etc.,
shirting fabric such as cotton, linen, viscose, modal, etc., women top wear fabric
such as viscose, linen, etc.

They have 5 departments namely:-

 Grey department
 Preparatory department
 Dyeing department
 Finishing department
 Inspection, folding and packaging

i. GREY DEPARTMENT

For the grey department, the raw material that is yarn dyed and grey fabric
is supplied from three weaving unit in Baddi. They have around 300-400
employees. Here, fabric is prepared for the further process that is the
preparatory process. Opening of fabric roll and stitching is done so as to get
the minimum fabric length for the continuous processing that is 2500
metre of fabric. The opening and stitching are manual operations but 5
machines of each are present for the opening of the incoming fabric rolls.
For the fabric whose peaching or raising has to be done, double stitch has
to be given while joining the roll. 4000-5000 metre of fabric is opened at a
single time.

ii. PREPARATORY DEPARTMENT

 In preparatory department, the singeing and other wet processing is done
to the fabric. The process is as follows:-

Singeing

Desizing

Scouring and bleaching

Drying

Mercerization

Drying

1. Singeing

The singeing is done to the fabric to burn the protruding fibres on it. In
singeing, the fabric is passed through a flame at a definite speed which
burns the protruding fibres on the fabric. The ratio of speed of fabric to the
intensity of the flame has to be such that the flame only burns the
protruding fibres and does not burn the fabric. There were 2 machines for
singeing from the brand named Osthoff. The propellant used for the flame
is propanol. The intensity of the flame is around 12-14 milli bar. Speed of
the passing fabric was around 100 metre/minute. The over pressure safe
was at 10 mBar.

2. Desizing, scouring and bleaching

 The purpose of desizing is to remove the sizing paste from the fabric. There
were 2 desizing machines from the brand named Brban. The scouring and
bleaching are done in the same machine. The purpose of the Scouring and
bleaching is to remove the sizing paste properly and make fabric more
absorbent towards further process. This machine does oxidating as well as
enzymatic reaction. There were 5 washers in the machine. The hydrogen
peroxide solution is used in this machine. There were 2 sections in the
machine, namely section A and section B. In this section, reaction takes
place both were Sterner. Each section was having the temperature ranging
98-100 degree Celsius. Washing is done in this machine with some alkali
and salts. After the washing is done, the fabric is drying in a chamber which
is known as Vertical drying range.

3. Mercerization

Mercerization is the done to make fabric more lustrous and more

absorbent to the further process. It makes the lumen structure of cotton
more swell and converts the bean shaped cotton structure into oval
shaped. There were 9 washers in this machine. The machine was from the
brand named Kyoto. High concentration of Sodium hydroxide (NaOH)

4. Sueding or peaching

The purpose of sueding is to raise the fibres of the fabric evenly such as in
some bottom wear like pants. The machines were from the brand Lafer.
The maximum steam pressure of the machine is 3.5 kg/cm2. Rollers are
used for the raising of the fibres on the machine. There can be 3 type of
rollers for the peaching or sueding of the fabric:-

 Needle
 Emory paper
 Nylon brushes

iii. FABRIC DYEING

 After the sueding or peaching process, dyeing is done with reactive and VAT
dyes. There are 2 types of dryer namely:-

 Pad dry
 Pad stream

There are 4 pad dry machines from the brand named Man forts. 2
machines for pad stream from the brand named Thermax. The machine has
total 13 washers. The frequency of this machine is 280 hours/15 days.
There are some extinguishing agents used such as salt. The process is as
follows:-

Exhausting agent + Alkali

Dyeing

Steamer

Washer
iv.
Drying

PRINTING
Printing unit of Auro textiles is just 1.5 years old. The unit is named as unit 2
in Auro textiles. 96.17 is their packing percentage. They print only cotton
fabric now. They can print maximum of 16 colours while till now they have
printed just 14 colours as maximum. They manufacture around 20-30
thousand metre of fabric daily. Their minimum order quantity should be
more than 2000 to 3000 metre. Their main buyers are GAP, H&M, etc. The
main dyes used are discharge, pigment and reactive. The process flow in
this unit is as follows:-
 Design selection

Screen preparation (Sampling)

Sampling

Approval by buyer

Final screen preparation (Rotary

screen printing)

Printing

Curing

Washing

Sanforizing

Inspection

Folding and Packaging

1. Design selection

The design is sent buy the buyer in three forms namely as follows:-

 Mail
 Cutting
 Sample

They use softwares for the design development such as:-

 Photoshop
 Coral draw
 Adobe illustrator
 Best image
2. Screen preparation

After the design development, baby screen development is done for the
sampling purpose. The screen is developed in two sizes 36*36 inches and
36*72 inches. The process of screen preparation is:-

Coating with
photo emulsion

Drying

Printing with
black ink

Exposing to UV
light
 They have following machines in this section:-

Engravour
Brand AKB
Purpose To engrave designs in UV light.
Baby screen coating machine
Purpose To coat chemicals on baby
screen
Curing oven
Purpose To dry the coating on baby
screen

3. Sampling
After the screen preparation, the manual screen printing is done as per the
order for sampling purpose. The sampling is done for strike off purpose. The
size of sample print is 25*25 inch. Number of colours are printed with the
colour on the sample on the corners with other details of the print and the
screens are aligned using special marks on each corner of the fabric.

4. Approval by buyer
After the preparation of the sample, the sample is sent to buyer for the
approval. If the sample is not approved by the buyer then further
improvements are done to the print and it is again sent to the buyer. This
process continues till the buyer is satisfied with the sample print quality. The
sample print quality is little lower than final print as sample printing is done
manually through hands while the final printing is done through Rotary screen
Printing machines.

5. Final screen preparation

After the buyer’s approval, final screen preparation is done for the rotary
screen printing machine. The process is as follows:-
 Coating with
Photo emulsion

Climitizing

Curing

Exposing

Attaching of rings
to the screen

The total screen cost including labour charge is around ₹ 6000-7000. The nickel
screen is coated with photo emulsion chemical. The screen is a mesh. The screen
is then climitized at 35 degree Celsius. Then the screen is cured for 2 hours at 180
degree Celsius. The screen is then taken to laser exposing machine where the
design is etched out of the screen. After this the screen is taken to the gluing
machine where the ring attachment is done to the screen. Araldite and
hardenerare mixed and applied on the ring. The ring is then inserted on the sides
of the screen.

Laser printing machine brand SPG prints

Model bestLEN7412
Purpose To engrave the design on nickel
screen
Time taken by machine Around 1 hour
Gluing machine
Purpose To fix ring to screen
Temperature 150 degree Celsius
Time 7 minutes
Screen details
Length 1750 cm
Circumference 64 cm
Printable design 1600 cm

6. Printing
After the preparation of the screen, printing of the fabric is done. The fabric is
passed through guide rollers which guide the fabric towards the machine. The
first two rollers are used to remove any dust particles or protruding fibres from
the surface of the fabric by using glue. The fabric is then passed from the next
series of rollers depending upon the number of colours in the design. From here
the fabric is taken to the dryer.

Rotary printing machine brand Ichinose

Maximum speed 80 metre/ minute
Frequency 580 hr/30 day
Dryer temperature
Pigment 140-150 degree Celsius
Reactive 110-130 degree Celsius
Discharge 100 degree Celsius
Time 5 minutes each

7. Curing
The fabric is then taken to the curing machine where the fabric is cured using
steam heat. They call it Loopager machine. This process fixes the dye on the fabric
as the dye forms the bond with the fabric at high temperature.

Pigment print
Temperature 150 degree Celsius
Time 5 minutes
Reactive print
Temperature 102 degree Celsius
Time 9-12 minutes
Discharge print
Temperature 102 degree Celsius
Time 7 minutes

8. Washing

After the curing process, the fabric is sent for washing. Here they have 8 tanks
which are independent from each other. The fabric passes through each tank with
various temperatures for efficient washing.

Brand Aroli
Tank capacity 800 litres
Temperature 90-95 degree Celsius
Maximum speed 40 metre/ minute
Running speed 35 metre/ minute

From here, the fabric is taken to stenter machine where the fabric is treated with
blooming finish giving this softening finish. The brand of the stenter machine is
Monforts. The process flow in this machine is as follows:-

Inlet

JS Cray

Padding mangle

Weft straightner

16 Heat chamber

Cooling drum

Outlet

9. Sanforization
After the stenter process, the fabric is taken for the sanforizing. The purpose is to
provide the dimensional stability to the fabric. The process in the machine is as
follows:-

Inlet unit

Moisture unit

Reiter unit

Palmer unit

Paliter

10.Inspection, Folding and Packaging

After the sanforization, inspection is done for the fabric. 4 point inspection system
is adopted by them. They have 4 inspection machine from the brand named
Gayatri, 3 winding machine and 2 packaging machines.

V. FINISHING
 There are various types of finishes used in this section. A total of around
150 finishes are applied to the fabrics in this unit. The main finishes are
anti-microbial, flame retardant, oil repellent, water repellent, etc. There
were 5 stenter machines in this department for the finishing of the fabric.
The machines are from the brand named Montex. Then sanforizing is done
to the fabric.

They also had and AIRO 24 machine whose purpose is to impart pre
shrinkage to the fabric. The machine works with the action of air only. The
machine capacity is to process 20-25000 metre/day. The speed of machine
is 10-12 metre/minute.

Liquid Ammonia Treatment Plant

The Vardhman has setup their ammonia plant separately away from their other
units. The Plant can be quite hazardous as it process hazardous chemicals which
may prove dangerous to humans and environment, if not taken care properly. Full
compulsion of safety equipment is made for the workers as well as for the
visitors. Each visitor has to use mask as well as glasses while entering in plant.

The main competitor of Vardhman is Arvind textiles. The companies who have
ammonia plant but are not in this field (apparel) are Bombay dyeing (upholstery).

The use of ammonia in fabric increases the drape ability, wash fastness and hand
and feel of the fabric. This process also mercerizes the fibres thus improving the
dye uptake. There is one machine for the processing and generation of the
ammonia gas. The machine processing of the ammonia is as follows:-
 Inlet

Brushing to smooth uneven moisture from the fabric

Cooling device (to decrease the surface temperature

of a fabric upto 50 %)

Palmer unit ( here 92-94 % of ammonia evaporates)

Door no 1 (mercerizer machine)

Palmer unit 2(99% ammonia recovery)

Steaming chamber door

Small washer (370 lt capacity)

Washer no 1 (1100 lt capacity)

Washer no 2 (1100 lt capacity)

Washer no 3 (1100 lt capacity)

Finishing (chemical padding and curing)

The details of the machine (at the time of visit) are as follows:-

pH washer 2 4.15
pH washer 3 35.02
Machine speed 33
Fabric count 1164
Steam temperature 178
AB temperature 29.6

The recycling procedure of ammonia gas in the plant is as follows:-

Impure + pure
(Ammonia)

Cool

Compress

Recycle (liquid form)

Release in environment
on treating it with
H2So4 gas

The ammonia released by them in environment is less than 5 ppm.

VI. RESEARCH & DEVLOPMENT DEPARTMENT
The units in Vardhman, Baddi are very serious about the product quality
they deliver to the costumer. They are also trying to develop new methods
and processes to reduce the wastage of resources. This is the reason they
have a separate Research and Development Department in each and every
unit.
R&D in FIBRE AND YARN DYEING

In the Auro dyeing mills some of the yarns dyed were taken for Research and
Development. After the drying of the cones, they are sent to R&D department for
the checking of the lot. The checking of the lot is done by converting the package
into a knitted fabric. The yarn is taken from the top, middle and bottom of the
cone. For the testing of beam packages, the yarn is taken and tested for colour
fastness, strength, rub fastness. The development of new colours as well as the
recipe for the dyeing is also made in the R&D department. The various machines
and its specifications in R&D department are as follows:-

 Statex- Warp reel machine

 Technorama- This machine is used to test various salt and dye solutions as
well as their impact on yarn packages.

Brand Technorama + Dyerama (semi-

automatic)
Technorama (fully automatic)
Technorama (fully automatic machine)
Yarn dyeing capacity per package 200 gm
No of bottles 144
Capacity of packages in machine 24
Time 3-8 hour
Technorama (semi- automatic machine)
Model no 4-R/100
Yarn dyeing capacity per package 100 gm
No of bottles 216
Capacity of packages in machine 4 pack
Time 3.8 Hour
  Co-power auto dispenser- This machine dispenses the colour automatically.

No of dyes used 5
No of colours 124

 OBBDM section- Open bath beaker dyeing machine. This machine is used to
develop recipe for the dyeing of the larger lots of the yarns. Here the yarns
are dyed by making hank (lachhi) and the recipe is developed for the yarns.
This machine is purely manual.

No of machines 4
Maximum package 10 gm
Minimum package 3.54 gm
No of beakers in each machine 14
 Oven- They have oven for the drying of the small packages of the dyed yarn
that are dyed in R&D department.
 Hydro-extractor- They have a small hydro- extractor to extract the water of
the dyed packages.

No of cheese 9
Weight of packages 150-160 gm

 Post winding machine- They also have a small capacity post winding
machine.

No of machines 2
No of heads in machines 12

 Hangjie dyeing machine- This machine dyes yarn cheese on through

magnets. Therefore, it is also called magnetic dyeing machine.

No of machines 6
No of packs in each machine 18
  Cheese cleaning machine- They have a cheese cleaning machine for the
cleaning of the cheese yarn packages. The cheese cleaning machine had 18
cheese packages capacity.
 HJ dryer- After the dyeing of the machine through the hangjie machine, this
dryer is used to dry the cheese packages.

No of machine 2 20 cheese
18 cheese
Temperature 120-130 degree Celsius

 Post wind machine- After the drying of the packages, the post winding is
done. They have a 6-head post wind machine.
 Quality assurance lab- In quality assurance lab, they test yarns on various
parameters to obtain the best quality of dyed yarns. The various machines
are:-

Laundrometer
Brand Innolab
Use Washing fastness
Croc meter
Brand Innolab
Use Rubbing fastness, colour bleeding
 Shade library- They have a shade library in which they have almost each
type of colour of yarn package.

The R&D department is mainly for the fabric checking purpose. The various tests
are done on fabric in this department. Firstly the sample fabric is prepared as per
the desired requirements of the quality. Then various tests are performed on the
fabric to check that whether the fabric meets the required level of quality. If the
fabric sample does not meets the requirements then the sample has to be
prepare again while if it reaches the quality standards, the fabric with same
specifications gets the green signal for the mass production.

R&D in Printing
The machines in the R&D department are as follows:-
Decicator
Purpose To completely dry the samples
Magnetic stirrer
Purpose To mix the solution contents
Hot air oven
Purpose To dry the samples
Hot plate
Purpose To maintain temperature of water
solution
Weighing balance
Purpose For weighing weight of the sample
PH metre
Purpose To measure the pH value
Thermostirer
Purpose To shake the solution at required
temperature
Water bath
Purpose To dye the samples
Spray tester
Purpose To perform water spray test
Digiwash
Purpose To test colour fastness to laundry
Perspirometre
Purpose To measure the perspiration
Whirlpool washing machine
Purpose For measuring the dimensional
stability
Whirlpool washing machine 2
Purpose To test durable press rating
Whirlpool dryer machine
Purpose To tumble dry the wash fabric
Bleeding checking stand
Purpose To test colour bleeding of fabric
Electrolux machine
Loading type Front loading
 Juki machine
Model DDL8700
EPI DPI counter
Brand Paramount
Purpose To count the EPI and DPI of the fabric
GSM cutter
Brand Paramount
Purpose To cut the GSM sample
Weighing balance
Brand Meetler Touds
Purpose To measure the fabric GSM
Digit clock tester
Brand Paramount
Purpose To test colour fastness to rubbing
Lab thermohygrometre
Purpose To measure temperature and
humidity
Temperature (at the time of visit) 27 degree Celsius
Humidity 39%
Titan % (strength tester)
Purpose To check the tensile strength of a
fabric
Brand James hook
Capacity 5000 N
Elameter tear
Brand James heal
Model 1555tear force 25.65 N
Volts 85-264
Watt 75 w
Purpose To check the tear strength
Stretch tester
Purpose To perform stretch and recovery
tester
Paramount spectra vision
Purpose To evaluate colour
INSIGHT INTO THE INDUSRTY
The experience in the industry was very unique for all three of us. We learnt a
whole new range of practices that could have a positive impact on the
environment and at the same time doesn’t compromise with the quality of the
product. The fibre washing and drying was being done in yarn washing and drying
machine by making some changes in the settings to save energy and water .There
was TPM signboard everywhere which motivated the workers and made them
believe that they are an integral part of the company. There the HR (Human
Resource) department and PR (Personnel Resource) and IR (Information
Resource) department worked together to make the workers feel comfortable
and help them adapt to the surroundings. The supervisor there also knew the
local language which was beneficial for the operators or workers as they can
understand it. The floors and the surrounding in each n every unit (including
dyeing unit where in many industries cleanliness is not maintained properly) was
very clean i.e., cleanliness was maintained there. There were subsidised canteens
for the labours so that they can get good food at a cheaper rate and also the
canteens for every unit was separate so there was less rush during lunch time.
The industry used to appraise and reward the people (operators) who were able
to derive easier and less time taking method for any particular process let it be a
small process only and the new and easiest process was called “Kaizen”.
There were signboards each and everywhere where traffic rules should be
followed and the people were following the traffic rules.
Vardhman is quite serious about their quality and thus has various programmes
running in the company to ensure proper training to the workers and proper
quality to its customers. Some of them are the Maanav Vikaas Kendras, TPM and
Quality Circles.
The authorities have also come up with the idea of colour coordinates spindles
cones and cheese to avoid the confusion between the lots of different type of
fibres and changeover is easy due to these color coordinated. Also they have an in
house engineering department which is continuously coming up with new ideas
to increase the productivity of the units.

MAANAV VIKAAS KENDRA

Once a candidate has been hired by the Vardhman Group, they put him/her
through precise training programs within the Company training centers. These
programs are a combination of classroom as well as on-the-job training sessions.
They combine training with a lot of management interaction, whereby creating an
open communication channel. Some select candidates are given the opportunity
to pursue management programs at top management institutes across the world.

For workers, they continuously organize a large number of extracurricular

activities, sports, competitions and festival celebrations in addition to the training
sessions. They have a mentorship program where senior workers act as mentors
and handhold their mentees post training.

QUALITY CIRCLES
A quality circle or quality control circle is a group of workers who do the same or
similar work, who meet regularly to identify, analyze and solve work-related
problems. Normally small in size, the group is usually led by a supervisor or
manager and presents its solutions to management; where possible, workers
implement the solutions themselves in order to improve the performance of the
organization and motivate employees. Quality circles were at their most popular
during the 1980s, but continue to exist in the form of Kaizen groups and similar
worker participation schemes.
Typical topics for the attention of quality circles are improving occupational safety
and health, improving product design, and improvement in the workplace
and manufacturing processes.

SUGGESTIONS for IMPROVEMENT

 Proper indications for emergency exit (inside and outside the hall).
 Blockages should be removed around emergency exits.
 CCTV at attendance area.
 Mandatory use of safety equipments- masks, earplugs, shoes etc.
 Need automation in spinning machine for automatic thread joining to avoid
time wastage.
 Gloves should be used by operators at different machines.
 Conveyor belts can be used for the easy transportation of the crates.
 Conveyor system can be installed in ring spinning machines to carry bobbin
 Proper sign boards should be used for marking various departments in the
unit.