While speaking after the inauguration, Prof Dr. Stefan Mecheels, President, CEO of Hohenstein Group thanked all the attendees and said, “We are working in India since 12 years now and today we are opening this new lab in this wonderful day. My Grandfather who established the company in 1946 and my father would be very happy to see what we have achieved and created in India. It all began 4 years ago when we planned the lab and lots of planning, thinking and ideas have come down since then. We wish to have great partnership with Indian companies, international companies here at this lab. All the best to our customers, and thanks to our colleagues for their great work.”
Adding to this Amrut Desai said, “We are proud to be inaugurating this laboratory today. We are pleased to welcome all of you who have been with us for long time as well as those who are new to Hohenstein. We need you as much as you need us. Now, during the next few months and times to come you will be learning about different initiatives, planned activities, seminars, and special events where you will be able to join us and get hands on experience. We will help you to be more productive, smart and successful.”
“For more than 70 years, Hohenstein has stood for textile expertise along the entire textile production chain. With the new laboratories in India, we’re growing a network of expertise from which everyone will benefit,” said Mecheels. ”Good, consistent cooperation is very important for Hohenstein: Close exchange between the laboratories in Germany, Hong Kong, Bangladesh and India ensures more customer proximity and faster order processing.“One thing is certain,” underlines Mecheels, “Wherever the examinations, tests and analyses take place, our laboratories all work with the most modern equipment according to the same standards.”
The new laboratory in Gurugram has been launched and made fully operational after a construction period of just eleven months. During tours, the visitors can get an impression of the local capabilities. With around 50 employees on a total of around 3,000 sq mtr, Hohenstein India offers textile manufacturers, brand suppliers and retailers a variety of textile technology and chemical tests such as performance testing, restricted substance list (RSL) compliance, harmful substance control, quality control and inspections, and expert report services.
The newly developed lab is spread over 7 floors. The first one is dedicated to light fastening, washing, print and motif durability and drying tests while the second is for the digital testing of microscopic analysis, chemical dissolution, sample conditioning, rubbing for leather, button impact, zipper reciprocation, kids products, pilling effect, light reflection on black surrounding, burning tests including vertical flammability tests. The lab also facilitates testing of light and colour of the sample of both grey and black surrounding separately.
Further, the third floor is for office co-ordination.RSL Lab is on the fourth floor where Hohenstein team will be testing waste water, chemical substances and heavy metals, covering aspects of sustainability. The fifth floor has the CRM lab which houses a differentiated wet lab to prevent any contamination, and machines that can update 12 samples at a time, the one-of-a-kind technology to be used in any Indian lab.
The inaugural ceremony was followed by Gala Opening Event at the same evening at Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi. The celebration was attended by Hohenstein India and abroad teams in the presence of Chandrima Chatterjee -Advisor AEPC and Prashant Agarwal – Wazir Advisors.
“It’s a great time, Hohenstein is coming to India. We hope it delivers something new and better through its product portfolio and innovative services. India today wants to develop as a more responsible sourcing destination. As a council we are also promoting sustainable production, sustainable practices and management systems among our member organisations. So, in this regard I am really looking forward to Hohenstein to help out by lending its knowledge and expertise and providing high quality services for consistent and sustainable growth of this sector.
State-of-the-art laboratory
We want to see your testing at best price and quality but also into the innovation area you are looking at. Best of luck to the Hohenstein team!” said Chandrima Chatterjee -Advisor AEPC while speaking during the event. This was followed by speech by Prashant Agarwal-Wazir Advisors, “Hohenstein is an innovative service provider to global textile industry. Today, India is looking forward to growing as flexible, innovative, and highly product development manufacturing country. It’s not that Hohenstein needs India, in fact India needs Hohenstein because with such company we are able to achieve our objective as premier supplier of textiles and apparels,” said Prashant.
By 2025 we will be 300 bn dollar industry, out of which, $210 bn will be of domestic market and $90 bn will be exports. It’s very important for India as this sector employs largest no. of people after agriculture. So, while we are talking about this growth, which is product oriented and innovation oriented, the support of partners like Hohenstein will be very important. In this journey we have to hold hands together to move further. I wish Hohenstein great success in this endeavour and all the best,” added Prashant. At the end, a formal vote of thanks was delivered by Sanjeev Khurana from Hohenstein India.
Investing in a country, opening a state-of-the-art lab and expanding our network as next takeover growth of our organisation is a sign, we believe in the growth of this market. We try to offer the added value to the customers with our product and high quality control to bring those together and understand their problems. Customer centric approach is really important for us. To understand their needs and serve them with capabilities we have. Our India lab offers textiles manufacturers, brand suppliers and retailers a variety of textile technology and chemical tests such as performance testing, restricted substance list (RSL) compliance, harmful substance control, quality control and inspections, and expert report services.
Nowadays, global brands are focusing more on product safety, product testing and environmental issues. Partly driven through governmental requirement and regulations, and partly driven through NGOs. For us it’s just not limiting to certain amount of countries or focusing on customer need and demand but to undemand their problems and solve those, in the end helping them by offering good quality. We are successful if the goods are sold smoother and easier. We are not there to make goods out of the market but to make the quality high.
