Wool Research Association (WRA) in a Joint Venture with Maharashtra Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (MCED), Government of Maharashtra organized An Eight (08) Days Webinar (Online Training) on “Sportwear & Knitting Technology” from 21st to 28th June, 2021 from Time : 2.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. Twenty Five (25) participants were benefited from these interactive training sessions. The profiles of attendees were Start-up Entrepreneurs, Academicians, Researchers and students from Technical Institutions.
The training was broadly divided into five days technical presentations by Wool Research Association (WRA) team and last 3 days Commercial aspects by Maharashtra Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (MCED) team.
Day 1: Inaugural session: In this session Opening Speech was delivered by Shri K. K. Misra, Director (Officiating) & C.O.O., WRA. Dr Mrinal Choudhari, Joint Director, WRA welcomed all the participants of training programme followed by their introduction. Shri. S. B Umap, Regional Officer, Maharashtra Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (MCED) briefed all participants about activities of MCED.
In first Technical session Dr. Mrinal Choudhari delivered lecture on “Introduction to Technical Textile”. She gave detailed information about what is Technical Textile, different categories of technical textile, Applications and Market sizes of each segments of Technical Textile. Dr Choudhari also covered Opportunities in Technical Textile in detailed.
On first Day Mrs. Smita Bait Honade, Deputy Director, WRA discussed briefly on “Sportech- Product, Technology & Evaluation of Performance” She gave details about Sports Textiles and its categories, such as sportswear, sports goods and sports accessories. Technical interventions in sports textiles are focused on friction, moisture management, comfort, compression, thermoregulation and lightweight characteristics. Sportswear are designed based on type of sports, level of activity, climatic condition and duration of engagement. She also covered in detailed various modified synthetic fibres such as Hygra, dacron, lycra , triactor and fabric composite materials such as coated fabric used for development of sportswear.
Day 2: Technical session began with eminent speaker Mr. Ravi Arora, CEO and Founder of Unified Knowledge Services Pvt Ltd New Delhi. He delivered a lecture on “Sport Market, Demand and supply”. He covered in details about current status of Sportech segment from commercial point of view and explained the forecast of exports of sports items from India.
On second Day Mr Devvert Ruhela, Scientist-B, WRA delivered lecture on “Introduction to weft Knitting, Types of Knitting technologies and their machine styles”. He discussed briefly the Knitting Process along with the understanding of basic terminologies such as course, wales, stitch density, loop length, etc. He explained the difference between a knit and woven structure. He also explained around 19 types of different knitting structure from which the fabric can be developed. A detailed discussion was done on types of needles like breaded, compound, latch needle and their uses in knitting technology along with their working system. Lastly few related videos were shown for a better understanding of the topics.
Day 3: Technical session began by Mr. Shishir Tyagi, Deputy Director, WRA; he gave presentation on “Evaluation on Performance Characteristics of Sport textiles”. He stated that Sportswear is one of the category of Sports Technical Textiles and being a part of SPORTECH, it should consists of functional aspects such as; thermo-physiological comfort properties, moisture management properties, breathability etc. He briefed about methods & Instruments used for evaluation of such properties of sportswear which can directly affect the performance of sportsperson/ wearer. He also briefed the audience about Research & development work carried out by WRA’s COE SPORTECH in the area of Smart Electronic wearable T-shirt for measuring heart rate, sweat and skin temperature of the wearer in real time, Active Heating system Based Sleeping Bag and Cooling Jackets based on Evaporative Cooling mechanism etc.
On third day Mr. Devvert Ruhela, Scientist B, WRA delivered lecture on “Weft Knitting Structures and fabric designs.” He discussed in detail about weft knitting along with its prominent knitting structures, their properties, and end-uses. A detailed discussion along with the pictures and videos on the type of knit stitch was done (Plain Stitch, Purl Knit, Rib Knit, Interlock Knit). After that, a brief discussion was done on the types of weft knitting machines such as Single Jersey Circular Knitting Machine, 2 Track, 4 Track Single Jersey Circular Knitting Machine, Terry and Fleece Single Jersey Circular Knitting Machine, Jacquard Single Jersey Circular Knitting Machine, Double Jersey Circular Knitting Machine, and flat needle bed weft knitting machine. Basic Calculations were shown in weft knitting.
Day 4: Technical session began by Mr. Mayur Basuk, Deputy Director, WRA; he delivered lecture on “Introduction to Warp Knitting”. During his presentation he covered preparation of Warp knitting which along with direct warping machine, raw material, parts & functions of direct warping machine, importance of warping. He also explained the objective of warping, type of warping, the component of warping machine, warp beams, warping elements & motion, the requirement of warping, the function of components of creel, brake & stop motions, beam cycles, warper beam defects, production calculations.
On the 4th Day second lecture was delivered by eminent speaker from Knitting Industry, Mr. Shrilesh Trilokekar, Certified Trainer – Warp Knitting in the Karl Mayer Academy, Surat & Ahmedabad. He explained in detailed about the introduction to Warp Knitting machine also covered Types of Warp Knitting Machines – Tricot and Raschel, the difference between the two machines, Knitting elements and their function (Sinker & guide bar, needle bed, needle). He further briefed about Warp Knitting Technology- Loop Formation, Tricot Knitting, Knitting Element Displacements: Swinging and Shogging Motions (Overlap and Under lap) Guide bar shog. He also explained the graphical Representation of Warp Knitting Structures, Lapping Diagrams, Looping Diagrams, and Numerical Notation Related to Chain Link Height & Chain Link Arrangement.
Day 5: Technical session began by Mr. Devvert Ruhela, Scientist-B, WRA; he gave presentation on “Knitted Fabric Defects and Remedies”. He covered in detail knitting defects on the fabric such as raw material-related defects, knitting elements-related defects, Machine setting-related defects. Also detailed discussion was done on types of stitches and thereafter their representation on computer designing software. Around 4-5 types of fabric designs were discussed on the computer-aided software.
On the 5th day Mr. Mayur Basuk, Deputy Director, WRA give presentation on “Recent Trends in Sportwear”, he covered various latest trends in the segment of sportswear.
On the 5th day Mr. Shishir Tyagi, Deputy Director, WRA given presentation on “Business Model for setting up Warp Knitting & Circular Knitting Unit”. He explained in details financial aspects involved in setting up a Warp Knitting & Circular Knitting Unit. He explained that business model was formulated based on certain predefined assumptions such as pre-defined end product, Annual production capacity requirement, no. of shift of production etc. The financial aspects covered about requirement of fixed cost, operational cost, working capital requirement, net profit ratio and rate of return etc. to make a self sustainable business model.
6th, 7th and 8th days training was given by MCED team where lectures on “Digital Transformation” was delivered by Mrs. Deepa Raut , IT Technology Expert, Thane, another lecture on “Communication Skill and Business plan” was delivered by Mrs. Ruchira Das, Professor, MIT, Pune. The last Lecture of training session was taken by Shri S. B Umap, Regional Officer, MCED on “Role of MCED- Government schemes”. Eight days training concluded by feedback of participants and vote of thanks by organizing team.
