CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Incorporated in 1925, Raymond Limited has four divisions comprising of Textiles, Denim, Engineering Files & Tools, Aviation and Designer Wear. Raymond Textile is India's leading producer of worsted suiting fabric with over 60% market share. With a capacity of 25 million meters of wool & wool-blended fabrics, Raymond Textiles is the world’s third largest integrated manufacturer. The company exports its suitings to more than 50 countries including USA, Canada, Europe, Japan and the Middle East. Over the years, Raymond Textile has developed strong in-house skills for research & development, which has resulted in path-breaking new products. Perceived as pioneer and innovator, Raymond Textile has been responsible for raising the standard of the Indian textiles industry. The Denim division has an installed capacity of 16 million meters and produces high quality ring denims. The company currently ranks among the top 3 producers in India. The products are exported to over 30 countries in the world. The Engineering Files & Tools division, J K Files & Tools, is the world’s largest producer of steel files with 90% market share in India and about 30% market share in the world. The Designer Wear division, Be: is an exclusive pret-a-porter range that houses designs by some of the finest Indian designers. Be: offers an eclectic mix of formal, office and evening wear for men and women, in western, ethnic and fusion styles with accessories. The Aviation division, Million Air was launched in 1996 to provide air charter services. Known for high quality and reliable Page | 1
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
Incorporated in 1925, Raymond Limited has four divisions comprising of Textiles, Denim,
Engineering Files & Tools, Aviation and Designer Wear.
Raymond Textile is India's leading producer of worsted suiting fabric with over 60% market share.
With a capacity of 25 million meters of wool & wool-blended fabrics, Raymond Textiles is the
world’s third largest integrated manufacturer. The company exports its suitings to more than 50
countries including USA, Canada, Europe, Japan and the Middle East. Over the years, Raymond
Textile has developed strong in-house skills for research & development, which has resulted in path-
breaking new products. Perceived as pioneer and innovator, Raymond Textile has been responsible for
raising the standard of the Indian textiles industry.
The Denim division has an installed capacity of 16 million meters and produces high quality ring
denims. The company currently ranks among the top 3 producers in India. The products are exported
to over 30 countries in the world. The Engineering Files & Tools division, J K Files & Tools, is the
world’s largest producer of steel files with 90% market share in India and about 30% market share in
the world. The Designer Wear division, Be: is an exclusive pret-a-porter range that houses designs by
some of the finest Indian designers. Be: offers an eclectic mix of formal, office and evening wear for
men and women, in western, ethnic and fusion styles with accessories. The Aviation division, Million
Air was launched in 1996 to provide air charter services. Known for high quality and reliable services,
Million Air has a fleet of three helicopters and one executive jet.
Divisions
Textiles
Produces world-class pure wool, wool blended & polyester viscose fabrics and blankets and ranks
among the top 3 integrated producers in the world. Also produces a wide range of furnishing fabrics.
Denim
The Denim division produces high quality ring denims and ranks among the top 3 producers in India.
Page | 1
Files&Tools
Files & Tools division manufactures complete range of Engineer's steel files & drills and is the
world’s largest producer of steel files.
Be:
An exclusive prêt-a-porter line of ready-to-wear designer clothing for women and men in western,
ethnic and fusion styles.
Aviation
Million Air was launched in 1996 to provide air charter services and enjoys a reputation for high
quality reliable services.
Textiles
Recognised as the most respected Textile Company of India, Raymond Limited is amongst the first
three fully integrated manufacturers of Worsted Suiting in the world. As the flag-bearer of the multi-
product, multi-divisional Raymond Group, it enjoys over 60% share of Indian Worsted Suiting
Market. It produces 25 million metres of high-value pure-wool, wool blended and premium polyester
viscose suiting in addition to half a million blankets and shawls, all marketed under the flagship brand
"Raymond" - a worldwide trusted name since 1925. It also produces and markets plush-velvet
furnishing fabric in wide array of designs and colours including carpeting for the niche markets of
India and Middle East.
Manufacturing facilities include three world-class fully integrated plants in India, employing state-of-
the-art technology from wool scouring to finishing stage and modern quality management (ISO 9001)
as well as Environment Control Systems (ISO 14001). All the plants are self-sufficient in terms of
providing educational, housing, recreation and spiritual support system for the employees and
connected townships.
Products are distributed through about 300 exclusive retail shops in India and surrounding countries,
30,000 multi-brand retail outlets and over 100 wholesale distributors. In addition to Middle East and
SAARC countries, its products are sold to discerning customers in over 60 countries including
premium fashion labels all over the world.
At Raymond’s Denim Division, we’re somewhat passionate about denim. We think of how denim can
keep pace with changing fashion and we try to come up with better ways of making plain blue denim.
Page | 2
Call it what you want: obsession, commitment, and perfectionism. To us, it’s very simple. We love
what we do.
Raymond Denim, set up in 1996 produces 20 million meters of differentiated Ringspun denim per
annum. One of the world’s very few specialized manufacturers of fancy denims our focus is on
quality, innovation and enhanced creation of niche products that satisfy the needs of the world’s
leading Jeanswear brands. Within a short time, we have also made our presence felt in the global
market.
We have made our presence felt global market. A substantial percentage of our production is exported
to Europe, South East Asia and North America. Our buyers include trendsetters like Levis, Pepe, Zara,
Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Lee Cooper and AZDA amongst others.
To ensure world-class quality, our production plant at Yvatamal uses the best equipment, systems and
practices:
1. Tensile and tear strengths are measured by tensorapid equipment.
2. Uster testing controls the evenness of all yarns.
3. Each & every bale of yarn is tested and passed through a double passage draw for effective
quality blending.
4. Marzoli ring spinning frames and open-end spinning are equipped with auto doffing and auto
bobbin transfer systems. Together with Caipo and Amsler devices we are able to achieve the
most creative character ring yarns available.
5. Indigo and sulphur dyeing is achieved on two slasher dye ranges.
6. Suker Muller & Masters slasher dye ranges support Picanol & Vamatex high speed looms to
produce 20 million metres per annum.
7. The Denim fabric is finished on the Cibitex range with micro processing to stabilise shrinkage
& skew. The stenter finish stabilises shrinkage & width for our stretch products.
8. Testing and checking at every stage of the manufacturing process is routine.
9. Shade standards and consistency is maintained via the system of wash blankets tested from
every roll of fabric.
10. Our water treatment plant purifies and recycles all indigo effluent using reverse
Page | 3
osmosisystem enabling us to use all our water for land projects. The entire 105-acre site has
been designated as greenbelt status.
11. Creative denims are developed with specialist finishing, fancy yarn devices and other
equipment necessary to achieve world-class products.
12. Our onsite laundry facility enables us to experiment with creative finishing to demonstrate the
full potential of each individual denim fabric.
Files&Tools
J.K. Files & Tools, a division of Raymond Ltd. was started in 1950 with its plant at Thane in
Maharashtra, India. Today this division manufactures a complete range of Engineer’s steel files
besides HSS drills and HSS tool bits from its three plants located in Maharashtra and one in Madhya
Pradesh.
J.K. Files & Tools is the world's largest manufacturer of steel files with a predominant market share
the world. J.K. Files & Tools is also the largest producer of HSS Ground Flute Twist Drills in India
with HSS Cutting Tools being manufactured in Chiplun and Pithampur (M.P.) plants. As part of
backward integration, the division also operates a captive Hot Rolling mill at Pithampur (M.P.) for
catering to its raw material needs. All its plants are IS0 9001 certified and it boasts of an impressive R
& D and in-house machine building facilities.
More than 50% of its production is exported to more than 50 countries, mainly to developed markets
like Europe & USA. For several decades the division has been regularly receiving the Export
Excellence Award.
In its more than 50 years of operations it has built up a strong goodwill and a wide network of agents
and dealers spread throughout the world.
Be:
There was a vision to make couture available to all who dreamt of it but could not afford it. Raymond
was cognisant of the fact that awareness levels for designer wear was increasing in the country. The
rise in demand for ‘value for money’ products and increasing fashion awareness has seen the market
for ready to wear increasing but it does not fulfill consumer aspirations of owning the designer wear.
Page | 4
Understanding this need gap in the market an innovative venture was conceptualised by the inimitable
textile giant, Raymond Limited. It was an ideal marriage of two parties, a Corporate with strengths in
marketing and retailing and the designers gifted with immense talent. Raymond brought together some
of the finest Indian designers to introduce a radical and an unheard of concept, ‘Corporatisation of
Designer Wear ’ with its Pret-a-porter brand Be: . Be: brings a large collection of designer products to
a large audience that is increasingly becoming aware of designer wear and dreams of possessing one.
Affordability, Accessibility and Acceptability are the three attributes that characterise Be:
The first Be: store was inaugurated in New Delhi in July 2001 and today Be: has a multi city presence
with eight stores in India with two stores in New Delhi, and one each in Ludhiana, Bangalore,
Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and a shop in Pune. Be: also has an international presence with a store
in Dubai, UAE. The Be: chain will soon spread to all-important cities in India and abroad.
Range- Be: offers a range of apparel and accessories for both men (32%) and women (72%). Ladies
wear comprises of Ladies Western Wear (60%), Ladies Ethnic Wear (30%) and Ladies Accessories
(8%) while Mens wear which offers wide range of Mens Westerns is the fastest-growing category. Be:
merchandise is focussed on specific target group making it more wearable and acceptable to
consumers.
The collection is an eclectic mix of formal office and eveningwear. The fabric ranges from knits to
wovens and cottons & linens to silk, with a spectrum of colours starting from earthy and aqua tones to
bright colours. The price range is equally exciting that starts as low as Rs. 600/- to a maximum of Rs.
6000/-.
Accessories: Presently the Be: collection consists of designer bags for women, belts inspired by
traditional Indian artistry, designer shoes by Rinaldi . It also houses exclusive designer jewellery under
the Be: in house label.
Aviation
Page | 5
Raymond diversified into Aviation launching the air taxi service – Million Air with a fleet of three
helicopters and Fixed Wing Aircraft in February 1996. It was aimed mainly at the Corporate Travel
Segment, which at that time was practically non-existent. Million Air, which completes its eight years
of operation in February 2004, now boasts of a regular clientele of over 421 top companies in India
and abroad.
Million Air has the distinction of achieving overall technical reliability of 99%. During this period, it
has operated over 10,000 flights and flew over 27,900 passengers covering a distance of approx.
23,25,000 kms. With Million Air you fly at your convenience, safely in world-class comfort and in
style.
Million Air is also a member of HAI (Helicopter Association International) & NBAA (National
Business Aviation Association, USA and has been awarded "safety Awards" by both the
organizations.
Services Offered:
Long distance travel (Domestic and International) on Business Jet Aircraft
Emergency stretcher services on Helicopters
Aerial sight seeing tours and Joyrides
Visits to places of pilgrimage
Factory visits
Film shootings
Flower Dropping
Aerial photography/survey (with prior permission)
Electronic News Gathering
Board of Directors
Dr. Vijaypat Singhania: Chairman Emeritus
Dr. Vijaypat Singhania was appointed Chairman and Managing Director of the company in January
1980, which position he held till June 1999 and was appointed as Executive Chairman of the Company
Page | 6
from July 1999. Currently he is the Chairman-Emeritus of the Company from September 6, 2000, in a
non-executive capacity.
Dr. Singhania has nearly four decades of experience in the management of several industrial units as
the Chief Executive and has been instrumental for the successful growth and diversification plans of
the Company. Dr. Singhania also serves as Chairman of the group companies.
Dr. Singhania is actively associated with Indian Merchants’ Chamber, Indian Woollen Mills
Federation, and Founder patron of Federation of Indian Pilots. Dr. Singhania has undergone the
Advanced Management Programme (AMP) in Harvard. Dr. Singhania was a member of the FICCI
trade delegation to Russia and Australia and the delegation of the Government of India to France.
Mr. Gautam Hari Singhania: Chairman & Managing Director
Mr. Gautam Hari Singhania took over the reins of the company as Chairman and Managing Director in
September 2000. Since then he has steered the destiny of Raymond Limited with a single-minded
focus of being the best brand in India. He has been responsible for the strategic decision of the
restructuring of the Group, initiating the divestment of the Synthetics, Steel and Cement division. Post
divestment, the Group has consolidated its position with a better bottom line and more focussed and
market oriented approach.
Mr. Gautam Singhania joined the J. K. Group of Companies (Western Zone) in the year 1986. He was
appointed the Wholetime Director on the Board of Raymond Ltd. in 1990 and was elevated to the
position of Managing Director in mid-1999, in charge of all companies and subsidiaries of the
Raymond Group in India and abroad. In September 2000 he took over as Chairman & Managing
Director of Raymond Limited.
With a drive for creating new brands, Mr. Singhania has taken active interest in the launch of new
services and products. He was instrumental in the successful launch of the brand KamaSutra in 1991.
In the year 1996, he launched a new division called Million Air, providing quality charter services.
It was under his leadership that the hi-fashion casual wear brand Parx and premium men’s wear brand
Manzoni were launched in the year 1999 and 2000 respectively. In the year 2001, Mr. Gautam
Singhania, introduced the concept of corporatisation of designer wear for the very first time in India
with the brand Be:. He also was instrumental in Raymond’s recent acquisition of ColorPlus, a leading
menswear brand.
Page | 7
Mr. Gautam Singhania’s keen foresight and innate business acumen has enabled the Raymond Group
to achieve soaring heights in the Indian and international markets. His personal vision for the group is
to take the Raymond brand from being the most respected Indian brand to be amongst the best in the
global market.
Mr. Nana Chudasama: Director
Mr. Nana Chudasama joined the Board in 1986. Mr. Chudasama is a well-known personality in the
field of business and social activities. Mr. Chudasama is a Director of a number of companies
including SAN Engineering & Locomotive Co. Ltd., New Consolidated Construction Company Ltd.,
Shivagrico Implements Ltd., Gratex Industries Ltd., and The Dukes' Retreat Ltd. and Midday
Multimedia Ltd.
Mr. U.V. Rao: Director
Mr. U.V. Rao joined the Board in 1994. Mr. Rao, a B.E. (Elec.), has participated in the Advanced
Management Programme (AMP) at Harvard. Mr. Rao has had over 40 years of experience in business
and industry besides project experience. He was the Chief Executive & Managing Director of Larsen
& Toubro Limited.
Mr. Rao is a Director of numerous companies including Stovac Industries Limited, John Fowler
(India) Ltd., TIL Limited, Usha Martin Ltd., Indfos Industries Limited, Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd. and
Kirloskar Brothers Ltd also alternate director in Dickinson Fowler Pvt. Ltd.
Mr.B.V.Bhargava:Director
Mr. Bhargava joined the Board in 1996. A post graduate in commerce and a law graduate, Mr.
Bhargava has had varied and multifaceted experience. He has had a distinguished career in
development banking and project finance for nearly three decades. His career began with the Tariff
Commission of India, where he was involved with various industries including sugar, cement, and
Page | 8
paper. After joining ICICI Ltd, in 1968, Mr. Bhargava headed various departments including projects
department and projects appraisal department. He was appointed as Vice Chairman & Managing
Director of ICICI Ltd., which post he held till his retirement in May 1996.
Mr. Bhargava is also on the Board of numerous companies including The Credit Rating and
Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL), Cosmo Films Ltd., Supreme Industries Ltd., Grasim