In the past three years, Archroma introduced over 70 systems designed in line with the principles of “The Archroma Way to a Sustainable World: Safe, efficient, enhanced, it’s our nature”, says Anjani Prasad, MD of Archroma India.
- What was the impact of Covid-19 on the company’s working, particularly Archroma’s India unit? How did it manage the pandemic times?
Safety comes first at Archroma and we have been working all along with safeguards aimed at protection our colleagues and partners, as well as business continuity. As a result, we have been able to operate, and serve customers and markets through the pandemic. We have regional teams near to our customers and supported by our distributor channels.
Also, as Archroma has best-in-class IT cloud-based infrastructure and communication tools, Wwe were able to maintain our close interactions with our customers and partners through online regular webinars and meetings. We found that customers were very receptive to this new way of working.
And in the end, passion of doing business and a motivated team is what has helped Archroma weather the pandemic so far.
- Sustainability in textiles has been a major focus of Archroma. What are the solutions and systems for upholding these values?
In the past three years, Archroma introduced over 70 systems designed in line with the principles of “The Archroma Way to a Sustainable World: Safe, efficient, enhanced, it’s our nature”, for paper, packaging, fashion, technical textile, and many other applications.
We can all see the growing consumer demand for products that are safer for people and kinder to the environment. At Archroma, we believe that we can help transform fashion and textiles by providing solutions that bring value, including sustainable value, whilst optimizing costs and resource utilization in production.”
We support this approach with a decisive focus on innovation. Archroma has launched several breakthroughs over the past few years, such as the aniline-free* Denisol® Pure Indigo at the core of our PURE INDIGO FLOW system, or the plant-based EarthColors® colorants made from biomass waste, which is used in our LOVE NATURE X EARTHCOLORS system.
We have also launched an online search tool called the SYSTEM SELECTOR to help textile brands and manufacturers find the various systems available to them across various segments: https://www.archroma.com/systems
- What are the new products launched in the last one year? How are their characteristics important to the industry?
We have launched the Appretan® NTR range of water-based polymeric binders based on renewable natural ingredients, used in two compostable binder systems especially designed for nonwoven cleaning rags and food filters, and named NATURE BOUND and RAG N’ ROLL.
And just a few days ago we announced the new Siligen® EH1, a new vegan textile softener with one-third plant-based active content, used in our new EARTH SOFT system. These help us-and our partners in the textile, fashion, and paper market- to minimize our dependence on petroleum, fossil fuel products. Archroma launches EARTH SOFT system based on Siligen® EH1, a new vegan textile softener with one-third plant-based active content
- Please give us an overall view of the R&D activities of Archroma India?
Archroma has a global R&D network with dedicated expert Competence Centres located all over the world, and with local expert representatives in the main markets, including India. Archroma The company invests significant resources, people, and technology in these Competence Centres to Research and develop new state of the art technologies.
- A new ‘Tech Hub’ has been opened at Basel in Switzerland by Archroma. What is its significance?
Archroma moved to its headquarters to a new location in Pratteln, near Basel, Switzerland, in December 2021, after a decade of growth at our TechCenter site, located in a town also in the Basel area. The TechCenter evolved over the past 8 years from being a dedicated technical center to hosting a growing number of corporate services and teams. With the opening of the new headquarters, the TechCenter returns to its roots with focus on the global R&D and application development, supporting those of the Competence Centers (CC) based in Switzerland.
- Give us a brief view of Archroma’s contribution to technical textiles.
From fiber to finish, Archroma has a variety of specialty chemicals and systems catering to the technical textile markets for spinning, pre-treatment, dyeing, coating, and finishing.
As mentioned we aim to push the agenda on sustainable transformation with innovations such as our Smartrepel® range for durable water repellency that is not based on fluorine, SAFE SEATS 2.0, a system with anti-microbial and flame protection for car seats fabrics, and TOUGH CAMO , a non-infrared reflective pigment printing system for military wear, with high durability and dramatically reduced water consumption.
This is in addition to the standard range of finishing and functional effects such as coatings, flame retardants, antibacterial, UV and weather protection, soil and stain protection, etc. required in various growing areas of technical textile applications such as automotive, transportation, industry, exterior textiles, etc.
- What does the future of Archroma India look like? What are the ambitious plans & programmes?
Archroma’s future looks good with the textile industry expected CAGR annual growth rate at 4.4% with the growing sectors of home textile exports and technical textiles. The Indian textile industry is upbeat with the announcement of PLI schemes, and 7 mega textile parks. The recent Budget is also positive towards the industry and aimed for a holistic sustainable growth.
Archroma India has ambitious plans to further grow and develop with our customers and drive the industry towards a more sustainable future. We help our customers and brands by offering them industry-leading and eco-advanced systems and solutions for better quality, value addition and differentiation to compete and win in their own local and global markets.
