Garment producers in Tiruppur and the engineering industry in Coimbatore have joined hands to bolster the local production of machinery spares crucial for the knitwear supply chain. The initiative, spearheaded by the Tiruppur Exporters’ Association (TEA), aims to reduce dependency on imported spares and promote cost savings for knitwear units.
K.M. Subramanian, president of TEA, highlighted that sourcing electronic circuits locally can significantly reduce costs compared to imports. A recent meeting in Tiruppur gathered stakeholders including various industrial associations, Codissia in Coimbatore, and local educational institutions to kickstart the project.
With around 90% of machinery in Tiruppur’s knitwear industry being imported, the move towards local production of spares is seen as a crucial step in overcoming challenges related to cost, lead times, and servicing. TEA’s joint secretary, Kumar Duraisamy, emphasised that this collaboration could pave the way for overseas manufacturers to explore local production possibilities in the future.
The partnership aims to streamline the process of identifying machinery requirements, spares needed, and costs involved, and facilitate production collaborations within the region. This concerted effort is expected to not only benefit local industries but also potentially attract international manufacturers to consider India as a production hub for machinery spares.
