What are Shuttleless Looms in Textile?
Weaving is the process of interlacing of warp and filling yarns with each other to create fabric. A shuttle less loom produces fabric at a very high speed without making use of the conventional shuttles. The weft insertion may be by using a projectile, rapier, air jet or water jet. Shuttleless looms play a crucial role in meeting the growing demand for woven products. These advanced looms offer numerous advantages, including high operational speed, less picking energy, enhanced multi-colour weft insertion, higher design flexibility, and the ability to handle wider fabric widths. Those are the main reasons, the shuttleless looms are suitable as present-day weaving machines.
Technological Advancements of Shuttleless Looms:
Shuttleless looms, unlike traditional shuttle looms, employ mechanisms such as rapier, air-jet, water-jet, or projectile systems for weft insertion. These technologies bring several technological benefits, including:
- Higher Speed: Shuttleless looms operate at much higher speeds, increasing production capacity and meeting the demands of a fast-paced market.
- Reduced Picking Energy: By eliminating the shuttle, these looms consume less energy, making them more efficient.
- Enhanced Design Capabilities: The ability to insert multiple colors of weft yarn allows for intricate and vibrant patterns, catering to diverse customer preferences.
- Wider Fabric Width: Shuttleless looms can produce wider fabrics, which are essential for home textiles, technical fabrics, and other applications.
- Precision and Quality: With advanced control mechanisms, these looms ensure consistent fabric quality, reducing defects and waste.
Techno-Economics of Shuttleless Looms:
There are mainly four types of shuttleless loom used for mass production: projectile, rapier, air-jet and water-jet looms. They differ in principle of operation and, hence, their operational cost. The manufacturing cost may be different for different looms for producing the same fabric. The techno-economics of all the types of shuttleless looms are discussed herewith.
Techno-economics of projectile looms:
The projectile looms have many moving parts, and their manufacturing cost is very high compared to other types of looms. The projectile picking system involves many sub-mechanisms. They are the costliest looms. The cost of a 340cm-width new projectile loom (P7300 HP) is approximately Rs. 15 million. It is highly uneconomical to produce grey sheeting in these machines when other technology machines are available at a cheaper rate with the same speed. Mainly the air-jet looms have made inroads in their territory. As per the industry sources, now a days, new projectiles looms are no longer economical for producing grey sheeting. No new machines are installed for producing ordinary regular fabrics. They are used to produce only specialty fabric such as technical textiles and denims.
But the techno-economics of second-hand projectile looms are entirely different. Second-hand machines are available at Rs. 1 million in the international market with residual life of 20 years. Many weaving factories in EU countries, Italy, Brazil and Argentina are closing their operations, and the projectile looms running in these countries are being exported to India in large numbers. The reason for a large share of imported shuttleless looms being second-hand projectile looms is the fact that the cost is almost three times less compared to new air-jet looms, but at the same time, the quality of fabric produced in these machines is equivalent to the quality of fabric produced in new air-jet looms. The preferred models of second-hand projectile shuttleless looms are Sulzer make P7100, P7150 and TW11.
Techno-economics of air-jet looms:
The air-jet looms have the least moving parts compared to other types of looms. The maintenance expenses for air-jet looms are less. As per the industry source, the cost of a 190cm Japanese brand-new air-jet loom running at 1000rpm is approximately Rs. 3.8 million. The cost of 280cm- and 340cm-weaving-width air-jet looms is Rs. 4.4 million and Rs. 5.8 million, respectively. The 280cm loom runs at 800rpm, and the 340cm loom runs at 600rpm. The industry has the flexibility in choosing the air-jet looms according to their requirements and investment plan.
Hence, air-jet looms are preferred by the industry for new investment. The disadvantage of air-jet looms is their power cost. However, the overall fabric manufacturing cost is less. The preferred model of air-jet loom is Tsudakoma ZAX9100. The demand for air-jet machines is higher than for projectile machines in the Indian industry.
Techno-economics of rapier looms:
Rapier weaving machines are preferred for designed fabrics due to their flexibility in coloured weft selection. They are generally not preferred for producing grey sheeting due to their higher weft yarn wastage. In Bhiwandi, one of the largest textile clusters in India, of 25,000 shuttleless looms, 90% of the shuttleless looms are Chinese rapiers. This is because of the cheaper price compared to the highly prized shuttleless looms from EU or Japan. Erode, another textile cluster in India that is famous for producing checked fabrics, of the 3200 shuttleless looms installed, most of them are rapier machines.
Techno-economics of water-jet looms:
In water-jet looms, only synthetic yarns can be used for weaving, and good quality water is required. In India, Surat meets these two criteria. Out of a total of 22,600 shuttleless looms running in Surat, about 20,000 looms are water-jet looms. Nearly 30 million metres of raw synthetic fabric and 25 million metres of processed fabric are produced in Surat daily.
The production of cotton and viscose rayon grey fabric is carried out in large quantities using new imported air-jet looms and second-hand imported projectile looms in South India. The use of rapier looms is restricted to producing only designed fabrics and water-jet looms are used only to produce synthetic fabrics. Therefore, the competition is only between new air-jet looms and second-hand imported projectile looms.
Conclusion:
Shuttleless looms are transforming the textile industry by combining technological innovation with economic efficiency. They are fulfilling the rising demand for high-quality fabrics while reducing operational costs and improving productivity. Although challenges like high initial investment and maintenance requirements remain, the long-term benefits of shuttleless looms make them an invaluable asset for modern weaving. As the industry continues to evolve, shuttleless looms are poised to lead the way toward a more efficient, sustainable, and competitive textile future. Embracing the techno-economics of shuttleless looms is not just a choice but a necessity for textile manufacturers aiming to thrive in an increasingly competitive global market.
References:
[1] Thangamani, K., & Sundaresan, S. (2022). Fabric Manufacturing Technology: Weaving and Knitting. CRC Press.
[2] Admin. (2021, December 16). Techno-economics of shuttle less loom: A critical review – Indian Textile Journal. Indian Textile Journal. https://indiantextilejournal.com/techno-economics-of-shuttle-less-loom-a-critical-review/
[3] Purushothama, B. (2016). Handbook on Fabric Manufacturing: Grey Fabrics: Preparation, Weaving to Marketing. Woodhead Publishing India in Textile.
[4] Adanur, S. (2020). Handbook of Weaving. CRC Press.
