SWF, the brand name of SunStar Precision Co. Ltd. Korea was established in 1974 and is among the biggest players in the field of embroidery machines. The company manufactures embroidery machines ranging from single head to multi head, all with coiling, taping, cording and sequin attachment devices, and has clients in more than 150 countries. Last month company participated in GTE exhibition in New Delhi and displayed the machine assembled in India.
The company, which stopped its operations 2.5 years back in India, last year reentered the same and is now planning to open up its assembling plant here. SWF will be the first foreign company opening an embroidery machine assembling unit in India. “Sunstar has developed a very good operating system which we have brought to India for assembling embroidery machines here. We have a factory in Greater Noida, which will start very soon, most probably by April. With this step we will be coming closer to the customers who can visit our factory to witness our state-of-the-art assemble plant. At present, we have decided to manufacture two models but later may increase the range. We will start with flat embroidery machine with 18 head and 36 head,” said BS Park from SWF SunStar while speaking exclusively to Apparel Views editorial team.
“We have already sent our engineers from India to Korea for training as we will be making same quality machines like Korea here. We will be having direct presence so will be giving the best after sales service to our customers, which is really important. Like other companies’ customers, our customers will not have to wait for the service and spare parts because we are available 24×7. Besides, when we are making the machines here the logistics cost for the customers gets reduced to almost 1/4th when compared to same machine when imported from China, so this is going to be very good benefit for the customers here,” Park said.
“To make a business successful, building confidence in customers is very important. India is a very big market making middle segment cloths for global buyers. Step by step we will grab the market by bringing great technologies, which will be best in this segment. I am a beginner in this field and will do my best to improve our image again with support from best engineer and sales person in the Indian market,” he added.
Speaking about company’s journey in India after reentry Park said, “Last year we got good feedback from the customers. But main thing we are listening is that our quality is very good but price is high. We sold only 20 machines in 2017, and now we have a permanent factory here so expect to do better sales this year. We are competing with others on the basis of our high quality, good service and faster delivery time. When a customer orders machine from China he will have to wait for minimum 2 months but we deliver in maximum 30 days. Our machines running time is more than 10 years but Chinese machine’s only five years. Besides, breakage time with us is also very less and we are there to give you service 24×7.”
When asked about the future plans, he said, “We are working towards returning the SunStar and SWF brands back to the very high standard that we achieved a few years ago. As in the past we will be the industry leaders. With our skill, knowledge and commitment to success the future is looking good. Currently, we are concentrating on our network and customer support programme’s initially whilst production of new machinery ramps up, at the same time, developing new skills in the SunStar Company to deliver improved products to our customers in India.”
He also added, “This year my target here is to make 100 machines but it will depend on the demand we will get from the market, so on the basis of that we will be making more machines. This year we will be creating seven dealers’ network covering all major apparel and textile hub in India. Once established we may even plan to export machines Made in India to SAARC countries,” said BS Park.
Talking about benefits of opening this factory to India he said, “Today most of the market is dominated here by Chinese machines, which are controlling the industry. Out of 10,000 machines are sold in India almost 90 per cent are from China. If we do localisation of the same, it will also generate employment as one direct worker will generate 10 indirect workers. Make in India concept can create direct one lakh and indirect 1 mn employees in this industry. This is happening in other industries already, why not embroidery machine segment.”
“We are not able to reduce the machinery cost after making the machines in India because of the import duties we are paying on parts. We are unable to give more cost advantage because when importing the spare parts from outside and making machines in India we have to pay almost similar level of duties to what we pay when importing the machine here. These machines will be used by exporters for making garments so that is going to benefit again by earning foreign exchange for the country. So, we request the govt. to support us in contributing to their Make in India initiative,” added Park.
