Rieter, the leading supplier of systems for short-staple fibre spinning, has discussed the progress made in the focusing on the strategic priorities during the investors’ day that took place at the ITMA trade fair last week.

These are concerned with the enhancement of innovativeness, the expansion of services, and the increase in the profitability of the group. For the purpose of achieving the mid-term targets, the company is in the process of implementing its STEP UP improvement programme announced in October last year.

The company’s business groups will also present some of their latest innovations that aim at providing a technological advantage to spinning mills.

Innovations

The Machines & Systems business group will be displaying the new E 36 / E 86 combing set, which offers a significant increase in productivity. The enlarged R 66 rotor spinning machine with improved S 66 spin box and the optimized air-jet spinning machine with the Polyester option P 26 will also be presented.

The extended SPIDERweb Mill Control System is another highlight, which represents the first step towards using the Internet of Things for optimising the spinning mill.

The business group Components will be presenting components, such as the EliteAdvanced compacting system, the new X-Comb and the LENA high speed spindle, which are designed to allow spinning mills to gain a technological advantage and, as a result, achieve higher profitability, the company reports.

Services

For the first time the business group After Sales will be presenting its own service and product range. The goal is to enable Rieter customers to make optimal use of the spinning mill over the entire lifecycle.

The business development dynamics indicate market acceptance of this range. Consequently, the business group is aiming to grow by more than 30% overall in the next three years, based on sales amounting to 127.5 million CHF in 2014.

Details on outlook

While the order intake trend for both business groups Components and After Sales is pleasing, the market for new machinery at the business group Machines & Systems is at a low level, the company reports. This trend is due to spinning mills’ low margins, as well as uncertainty in the individual sales markets, according to the manufacturer.

Owing to the positive dynamics in the business groups Components and After Sales and a scheduled order book delivery in the business group Machines & Systems, Rieter is expecting for the whole of 2015 sales of around 1 billion CHF, operative profitability (EBIT) around 7% and a net profit of between 4-5% of sales.

www.rieter.com