Microspinning: reinventing the spinning wheel

L. Kannan

Chief Executive, Vortex Engineering, Chennai

Abstract:

Contemporary technologies of spinning cotton are premised on cotton being available in the form of compact bales. However, this assumption is irrelevant in a cotton producing country like India,where the textile industry is of great antiquity and sophistication.

When the cotton is in the bud, that is as good as it will ever get", it is said. We are developing a small-scale technology of converting cotton into yarn, based on a deeper understanding of this well-known dictum. This technology is expected to remove the structural inefficiencies that come from the imbalance between the scale of spinning and the other productive stages of textile production. Further, the cotton crop consumes over 55% of all the pesticides in India. The availability of a viable means of yarn production on a small scale would make possible a gradual shift to more sustainable patterns of cotton cultivation.

Keywords: cotton, spinning, yarn, small scale, sustainable

Author Biography:

A mechanical engineer by training (B.Tech, IIT Chennai, 1988), the author has been associated for the past several years with the PPST Foundation, an NGO committed to examining issues of science & technology vis-a-vis their impact on society. He has been in charge of running the activities of an interdisciplinary research centre at the Anna University, Chennai (set up in collaboration with the PPST Foundation in 1996) since its inception. The author carried out the initial research related to Micro Spinning at this Centre.
Micro Spinning

Reinventing the Spinning Wheel

The Cotton Textile Industry in India may be viewed as being composed of a succession of productive stages. Each stage leads to a value addition of 100% approximately. With the exception of spinning, all the stages are chiefly in the decentralised sector. The typical volume of economically viable operation in the decentralised sector is about 30 tons / year. However, the average spinning mill is of a scale that is 100 times greater. This is illustrated in the following table:

	Stage of Production	Typical Unit of Production	Output Value/Kg	Production per Annum (Per unit)
a)	Cotton cultivation	20 farms of 4-5 acres each	Rs. 50	30 tons
b)	Yarn spinning	Mill of 25,000-spindles	Rs. 100	3,000 tons
c)	Yarn processing	Dye-house of 200 Kg / day capacity (at prevailing 50% capacity utilization)	Rs. 200	30 tons
d)	Cloth Weaving	Co-op society of 100 active handlooms	Rs. 400	30 tons

The imbalance between the scale of the spinning segment and the rest of the industry has eroded the overall profitability of the industry, to a level significantly lower than other major industries. (The profit after tax of the cotton textile industry, as percentage of net worth, has declined from 15.6% in 1991-92 to register a loss of 2.1% in 1998-99. Source: Compendium of Textile Statistics, Office of the Textile Commissioner, 2000).

Perceived Problem

While the problem as outlined above is widely recognized in the industry and government, the solutions attempted are towards phasing out the technologies in the decentralised sector, replacing them with scaled up alternatives. To facilitate this, the Government of India created a Textile Modernization Fund (TMF) of Rs. 40,000 Cr. in 1989, and a Technology Upgradation Fund (TUF) of Rs. 25,000 Cr. in 1999 with interest subsidy. However, the ground-realities of the Indian economy are such that the scaled-up units are unlikely to prove cost competitive. This is reflected in the response of the industry to the TMF (<2.5%, from 1989 to1993) and TUF (<3%, from April 1999 to March 2000).

Proposed Solution -- Micro Spinning

Micro Spinning technology is a solution to the same problem, but from a different perspective. We believe that the strength of India's enterprise lies in operations where numerous tiny, knowledge-based, low-capital units are networked to produce competitive products and services. This is exemplified by India's recent success in the emerging IT industry, and by the history of India's uninterrupted world leadership of the textile industry spanning thousands of years (that was ended by colonial rule).

Micro Spinning is based on the realization that scaling down the spinning operation could catalyze the textile industry of India. However, scaling down the machines presently used in spinning mills is not feasible. The constraints against this emerge in the first few stages of the mill process, where cotton bales are converted into slivers. The subsequent stages where the slivers are converted into yarn are inherently small-scale even in mills. (A mill therefore is constrained to have tens of thousands of spinning spindles to balance the production rate of the back-processes).

Micro Spinning side steps the constraints faced in small-scale sliver production by avoiding the act of compressing cotton into bales. The technology integrates the operation of seed-removal (ginning) with in situ handling of fibers to produce slivers. The slivers so produced on a small scale can then be converted into yarn at the same venue.

Micro Spinning not only enables sliver-production on a small scale, but also cuts down the cost of machinery for equivalent productivity. This is possible because avoidance of baling renders many mill-operations superfluous or highly simplified. Further, the technology would be more energy efficient, and there would be a saving of about 40% on raw material cost since the expense of baling and transport is not incurred.

The complexity of technology and operational logistics has led to the clustering of mills in few pockets although the rest of the cotton textile industry is widely dispersed, geographically. Further, this distribution has little relationship with the availability of raw material (cotton) or market (for yarn). This adds to cost of raw material and cost of distribution of yarn. Micro Spinning would redress this anomalous spread of spinning capacity and make for a more balanced and efficient organization of the textile industry.

The Product

Micro spinning comprises of a line of pre-spinning machines for cotton-yarn production on a small scale. This line, when integrated with a ring-spinning frame (of suitable number of spindles), delivers cotton yarn. The input raw material used in Micro Spinning is kapas (seed-cotton). Hence, Micro Spinning works best where cotton is cultivated (as otherwise the cost of transporting the bulky raw material would increase). The line of machines is targeted to produce slivers for yarn in the count range of 20s to 40s, with a production capacity of 30 Kg per 8-hours.

Performance

On the whole, even at 40% capacity utilization, the profitability of a Micro-Spinning unit is expected to be ten times greater than the average spinning mill. (A 40% capacity utilization is assumed because such a unit is likely to work for 200 days a year -- cotton availability being seasonal -- for 16 hr / day; in contrast, an average spinning mill works for 360 days a year, 24 hr / day). A comparison of costs is given in the following table:

Yarn-cost / Kg	Mill -	Micro -	Notes:
Raw material	58	35	2.5 Kg Kapas @ Rs. 18 LESS 1.5 Kg seeds @ Rs. 7
Salaries & Wages	12	10	3-persons x Rs. 100 / shift
Stores & Overheads	9	10	Assumed to be marginally more than that of a mill
Power	10.5	7.5	Saving of 1 unit/Kg
Int. & Depn.	7.5	7.5	Same, for eqvt. Machinery cost
Total	97	70
Selling Price	100	100	Price is determined by market
Profit	03	30	Rs. 6 / Kg for a high-profit mill

The Market Potential

The market targeted is in the five states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. These states produce 75% of cotton in India, but spin less than half the cotton grown by them. Converting cotton into yarn could lead to 100% value addition, but these states are unable to realize this potential due to limitations in expanding their spinning capacities. Micro spinning is expected to overcome these constraints.

To assess the potential market for Micro Spinning, it is reckoned that the total installed capacity is firstly limited by the 'un-spun' cotton available -- 965 million Kg / year. Of this, it is estimated that 50% is suitable for the targeted count range of 20s to 40s -- 480 million Kg / year.

The annual output of a unit will be 12 (assuming 200 days / year, 16 hr / day operation). There is thus a potential to install 40 thousand Micro Spinning units. The value of the market for machinery (excluding ring frames) is thus nearly Rs. 2000 Cr.

Note: It is planned that the Micro Spinning machinery up to (and incl.) the flyer frame would be supplied to users. Ring frames to match the capacity will be delivered through tie-up with established manufacturers. Hence, the cost of ring frames is not included in calculating the market size.

Technology Illustration

Expected Impact on Society

Wealth Generation in the Rural Economy

Except for spinning, all the other stages of the cotton textile industry are in the decentralized sector. While cotton cultivation occurs in millions of small farms, handlooms and powerlooms account for 95% of the weaving output. Processing facilities like dyeing units too are chiefly in the small sector.

The advent of micro spinning will entail increased rural employment through spinning. Apart from that, the value addition accruing from spinning is likely to translate into increased prices for cotton cultivators and lower yarn prices for the weaver.

Stability of Prices and Relationships

The cotton textile industry is inherently prone to price fluctuations arising from seasonal variation in availability of cotton on the one hand, and the market demand for cloth, on the other. These variations are usually greatly magnified by speculative interventions carried out by players with large capital, to the detriment of small producers. The primary producers are unable to insulate themselves effectively against such vagaries because of the huge resources required to intervene effectively in the spinning stage.

Typically, a cotton farmer suffers from poor yield if the crop fails; he suffers from depressed prices if the harvest is bountiful. On the other hand, the weaver has no control over steep fluctuations in the yarn prices; however, the price at which the cloth is saleable in the market is relatively inelastic.

Carrying out spinning on a small scale will enable small producers to achieve end-to-end integration of the productive process, relatively immune to wider market fluctuations. The advantages of such collaboration can be further enhanced if the producers are linked to each other and to the customers through web-enabled services, minimizing the need for intermediaries.

Recreating the Link between Handlooms and Cotton Farms

Handlooms require yarn of diverse qualities in small batch sizes at low costs -- a requirement that is difficult to fulfil by present mills. As a result, they usually end up getting second-rate yarn produced by obsolete mills. Due to their geographic remoteness and scale of yarn consumption, their capacity to insist on quality and drive-down the price is weak. In extreme cases, yarn is simply unavailable or unaffordably expensive, leading to starvation deaths among weavers.

On the other hand, cotton farmers are constrained to cultivate those varieties of cotton that find a ready market in spinning mills, regardless of local agricultural conditions. Over the years, the spinning industry has tended to 'underspin' cotton (i.e., superior varieties are spun to coarser counts) since it is found more economical to do so. As a result, the farmer is forced to cultivate progressively 'higher quality' cotton that is more fragile and vulnerable to devastation by pests and other factors. This process drives farmers crippled by crop failure to immiseration and suicide.

The availability of micro spinning as an alternative to spinning mills will enable farmers and weavers to recreate the historically close link between the two, and avoid the travails brought about by the present organisation of the industry.

Rational Structure for the Textile Industry

An area of traditional strength, the textiles industry even today accounts for 35% of India's foreign exchange earnings, 20% of industrial production and 7% of GDP. This sector is the largest employer after agriculture.

However, the industry in recent years has been characterised by dwindling profits and is seized by a sense of panic over the likely impact of opening up of the economy. Spinning mills have been urging for a change in policies that restrict their operations, as they are inimical to staying competitive in the changing global scenario. Judging from their statements, it would appear that they are capable of becoming world leaders if the following demands are conceded:

a) Revoking of the Hank Yarn Obligation Order that obliges them to pack half of their output in the farm of hanks, for consumption by handlooms.

b) Freedom to phase out obsolete machinery, slim-down their workforce and concentrate on producing for exports where they have higher price realisation.

c) Freedom to import cotton so that the problem of notoriously high trash contamination in domestic cotton is avoided.

The Government, while recognising the need for changes, is constrained by the need to protect the interests of handlooms, mill workers and cotton growers. Hence, its response to these demands has been half-hearted:

a) The Hank Yarn Obligation order is enforced tardily;

b) There is no clear exit policy for mill workers but mills are entitled to financial assistance for modernisation at subsidised interest;

c) Cotton imports are allowed arbitrarily without clear and consistent guidelines, while a Technology Mission on Cotton has been set up at an outlay of about Rs. 600 Cr. to find ways to mitigate the problem of trash contamination in domestic cottons.

Micro Spinning opens the possibility of reconciling the disparate interests clamouring for attention, while simultaneously enhancing the overall efficiency of the industry and the transparency of state policy:

a) On-farm conversion of cotton to yarn will make trash-avoidance economically attractive to those who are responsible for the contamination.

b) The skills and experience of retrenched mill workers can be usefully deployed in the running of the micro units.

c) Delivery of hank yarn for domestic consumption can be entrusted to Micro Spinning units, with Mills and the Government contributing financially for its speedy proliferation, through an imaginatively crafted exit policy.

Mitigation of Pesticide-load on Environment

Cotton is grown on 5% of the cropped area in India, but accounts for over 55% of the pesticides used in agriculture. The magnitude of this environmental problem can be assessed from the fact that India has the largest cotton acreage in the world (27%), and ranks third in the world in production (accounting for 14% of it).

Usually, severe environmental degradation is the price of remarkable economic success in the immediate term. However, the cotton disaster is unmitigated by any such silver lining. Although India is the home of cotton, having cultivated it for thousands of years longer than most other cotton producing nations, its yield per acre is less than half of the average in the rest of the world. And cotton farmers are frequently in abject economic condition due to low prices and crop failure.

India's past experience in cultivating cotton, with bountiful yields and yet without adverse environmental impact, runs into thousands of years. However, the technological and economic changes accompanying the advent of spinning mills have profoundly altered the viability of these sustainable methods. Despite growing interest in organically cultivated 'green' cottons, farmers wishing to change are hampered by the fact that their efforts are unviable unless the cotton can be converted into yarn. On the other hand, it is not viable for a spinning mill to carry out the conversion unless such cotton is available in very large quantities to match the scale of operation of the mill.

The availability of a viable means of yarn production on a small scale is a pre-requisite for a shift towards eco-friendly methods of cotton cultivation.

The Challenges to be met

Current Status

Presently, a proof of principle prototype exists, that demonstrates the feasibility of the concept. This remains to be converted into a reliable and rugged product capable of functioning on field. The overall yarn production cycle would require the new Sliver Unit to be integrated with the last two stages of the mill process: speed-frame and ring-frame. Existing manufacturers can supply a ring-frame of suitable capacity. However, the speed-frame required would be of a 12-spindle capacity, while commercially available speed-frames are about 10 times as big. Scaling it down would require a replacement of the conventional mechanical controls with light and compact mechatronic drives. A suitable design for this has been worked out.

The first prototype is being built, and will be installed in a field location in November 2001. The performance parameters of this machine may not match all the specs spelt out in the paper, but this is an exercise to involve the user community in the process

and receive feedback that could improve the design.

The users we are involving in this effort have been associated with the effort right from its inception -- the effort was born as a result of their expressed need for it. They have continuously participated in the development of the idea and various stages of the design, sometimes by spending several weeks with the design team at the place of research. Putting a unit in their midst is hence a natural next step before firming up many of the design details.

A final design for wider deployment would be ready by November 2002. An effort to reach out to a wider section of interested users would be taken up around that time.

Pricing

It is too early to estimate precisely the cost at which the machine would be produced and made available to the users. Hence, the price-point has been fixed through a process of ‘reverse logic’:

The Micro Spinning Unit (250-spindles) may be valued at Rs. 2,500,000 since the prevailing cost of a spinning mill is Rs. 10,000/spindle. However, a spinning mill is worked for about 1,000 shifts/yr. while the Micro Spinning Unit is expected to be worked only 2 shifts/day, for 200 days/yr. Hence, if the machinery cost for comparable annual output is to remain the same, the cost of the Micro Spinning Unit should not exceed Rs. 1,000,000.

Of this, the last two stages (the speed frame and the ring frame) of the mill processes are retained without significant changes, and would hence cost Rs. 600,000 (at prevailing costs). Hence the new Sliver Unit should be priced at a level not exceeding Rs. 400,000.

We need to organize the economics of machinery manufacture – including costs of design and development, marketing etc. and the volumes of manufacture – in a manner that conforms to this pricing.

At present, we are working closely with specific groups of end-users who are capable of mobilizing the capital required when the product is ready. Handloom co-operatives are a typical example in this category. But there would be several others who are interested in and would benefit from the technology but without the capital to invest. We have been looking at options such as micro-leasing in this regard, but not taken any specific initiatives in this direction yet. We plan to go into these once we have the machines ready for deployment. The nature of such financial solutions would also have to be context-specific. Financial options, including micro leasing would have to be considered in order to accelerate the spread of the technology.

Responses from Users

While users have shown great enthusiasm in responding to the idea, the following aspects emerge from the interactions with them:

¨ The reliability and ruggedness of the design is very important since they cannot afford idle time due to machine malfunction. This should be further complemented with prompt and efficient maintenance service and ready availability of spares, whenever called for. In immediate terms, this implies significant financial outlays on product development, field-testing and in building strong customer-support infrastructure.

¨ The pricing of the unit at Rs.1, 000,000 may be acceptable in relation to its productivity. But this magnitude of investment would place it outside the reach of many who need the technology. Several of them coming together to mobilize this capital, to then jointly run the unit, could prove impractical. This difficulty may be solved by one or both of the following approaches:

(a) Leasing of machines. This would entail finding a suitable financing agency that is willing to invest in the first place, and then make periodic earnings through leasing the machines.

(b) Splitting the productive process. This involves breaking the unit into several smaller interrelated productive units, each of which calls for smaller investments. In line with this approach, we are developing a module that comprises of 2 speed-frame spindles + 40 ring-frame spindles + other attachments (like reeling) that would be priced at Rs. 100,000. Such a module can be accommodated in one room and operated by a single person. A single neighborhood Sliver Unit (priced at Rs. 400,000) can service the sliver requirement of six such units.

Challenges

The work was initiated (and to a significant degree, still continues) on the basis of the physical, intellectual and financial exertions of committed individuals. However, the potential of this initiative can be realized only if it is converted into a business plan with a strong revenue model, which then attracts a significant infusion of finances. It has been the author’s experience that while finances are hard to come by for any technology development initiative (as distinct from manufacturing and marketing), it is even more so when the product is targeted at resource-poor rural markets. This is perhaps the most outstanding challenge that remains to be resolved.