Textile industry in Pakistan

 History

The origin of the Indian textiles is thought to be the Indus Valley civilization, situated in modern Pakistan, where people used homespun cotton to weave garments. Historically, the Indus valley region engaged in significant trade with the rest of the world. The silk from the region, for example, is known to have been popular in Rome, Egypt, Britain, and Indonesia.

Significance

Significance

Textile Sector of Pakistan is the heart and soul of this nation since Independence. It is the largest Manufacturing Industry in Pakistan. Export of $3.5 billion (6.5% of total exported cotton in world) in 2017-2018. Pakistan is the eighth largest exporter of textile commodities in Asia. Contribution in economy is equal to approx. 8.5% of total GDP. Textile Sector employs about 45% of the total Labor force in the country. In the year 2017-18 Exports of textile sector grew by $4.4 billion. Pakistan is also third largest consumer of Cotton in the World. Total Textile mills are 464 in Pakistan out of which five percent are on the PSX. Textile has a total processing capacity of 5.2 billion square meters. International brands working in Pakistan with local textile mills are namely; H&M, Levis, Nike, Adidas, Puma, Target etc. Textile businesses are concentrated in Karachi with a share of 38% and 28% in Faisalabad. Out of 464, 316 textile units in Punjab, 116 in Sindh. Pakistan's exports are under threat mainly from regional competitors because the governments of these countries support their textile industry a lot as compared to Pakistan's government. Rs.185 million has been approved in Pakistan for the Export Development Fund for the development of the textile sector. The textile industry provides 40% of the bank credit in Pakistan.

In the 1950s, textile manufacturing emerged as a central part of Pakistan's industrialization, shortly following independence from the British rule in the South Asia. In 1974, the Pakistan government established the Cotton Export Corporation of Pakistan (CEC). The CEC served as a barrier to private manufacturers from participating in international trade. However, in the late 1980s, the role of the CEC diminished and by 1988-89, private manufacturers were able to buy cotton from ginners and sell in both domestic and foreign markets. Between 1947 and 2000, the number of textile mills in Pakistan increased from three to six hundred. In the same time period, spindles increased from 177,000 to 805 million.

There are 423 textile industries working in the country. Pakistan has a supply base for almost all man-made and natural yarns and fabrics, including cotton, rayon and others. This abundance of raw material is a big advantage for Pakistan due to its beneficial impact on cost and operational lead time.

Production

Sppining 

Spinning is a twisting technique to form yarn from fibers. The fiber intended is drawn out, twisted, and wound onto a bobbin. A few popular fibers that are spun into yarn other than cotton, which is the most popular, are viscose (the most common form of rayon), and synthetic polyester. Originally done by hand using a spindle whorl, starting in the 500s AD the spinning wheel became the predominant spinning tool across Asia and Europe. The spinning jenny and spinning mule, invented in the late 1700s, made mechanical spinning far more efficient than spinning by hand, and especially made cotton manufacturing one of the most important industries of the Industrial Revolution.

Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft, woof, or filling. (Weft is an Old English word meaning "that which is woven"; compare leave and left.[a]) The method in which these threads are interwoven affects the characteristics of the cloth.[1] Cloth is usually woven on a loom, a device that holds the warp threads in place while filling threads are woven through them. A fabric band that meets this definition of cloth (warp threads with a weft thread winding between) can also be made using other methods, including tablet weaving, back strap loom, or other techniques that can be done without looms.

The way the warp and filling threads interlace with each other is called the weave. The majority of woven products are created with one of three basic weaves: plain weave, satin weave, or twill weave. Woven cloth can be plain or classic (in one colour or a simple pattern), or can be woven in decorative or artistic design.

Process and terminology

In general, weaving involves using a loom to interlace two sets of threads at right angles to each other: the warp which runs longitudinally and the weft (older woof) that crosses it. One warp thread is called an end and one weft thread is called a pick. The warp threads are held taut and in parallel to each other, typically in a loom. There are many types of looms. 

Weaving can be summarized as a repetition of these three actions, also called the primary motions of the loom.

Shedding: where the warp threads (ends) are separated by raising or lowering heald frames (heddles) to form a clear space where the pick can pass

Picking: where the weft or pick is propelled across the loom by hand, an air-jet, a rapier or a shuttle

Beating-up or battening: where the weft is pushed up against the fell of the cloth by the reed

The warp is divided into two overlapping groups, or lines (most often adjacent threads belonging to the opposite group) that run in two planes, one above another, so the shuttle can be passed between them in a straight motion. Then, the upper group is lowered by the loom mechanism, and the lower group is raised (shedding), allowing the shuttle to pass in the opposite direction, also in a straight motion. Repeating these actions forms a fabric mesh but without beating-up, the final distance between the adjacent wefts would be irregular and far too large.

The secondary motions of the loom are the:

Let off motion: where the warp is let off the warp beam at a regulated speed to make the filling even and of the required design

Take up motion: takes up the woven fabric in a regulated manner so that the density of filling is maintained

The tertiary motions of the loom are the stop motions: to stop the loom in the event of a thread break. The two main stop motions are the

Warp stop motion

Weft stop motion

The principal parts of a loom are the frame, the warp-beam or weavers beam, the cloth-roll (apron bar), the heddles, and their mounting, the reed. The warp-beam is a wooden or metal cylinder on the back of the loom on which the warp is delivered. The threads of the warp extend in parallel order from the warp-beam to the front of the loom where they are attached to the cloth-roll. Each thread or group of threads of the warp passes through an opening (eye) in a heddle. The warp threads are separated by the heddles into two or more groups, each controlled and automatically drawn up and down by the motion of the heddles. In the case of small patterns the movement of the heddles is controlled by "cams" which move up the heddles by means of a frame called a harness; in larger patterns the heddles are controlled by a dobby mechanism, where the healds are raised according to pegs inserted into a revolving drum. Where a complex design is required, the healds are raised by harness cords attached to a Jacquard machine. Every time the harness (the heddles) moves up or down, an opening (shed) is made between the threads of warp, through which the pick is inserted. Traditionally the weft thread is inserted by a shuttle. 

On a conventional loom, continuous weft thread is carried on a pirn, in a shuttle that passes through the shed. A handloom weaver could propel the shuttle by throwing it from side to side with the aid of a picking stick. The "picking" on a power loom is done by rapidly hitting the shuttle from each side using an overpick or underpick mechanism controlled by cams 80–250 times a minute When a pirn is depleted, it is ejected from the shuttle and replaced with the next pirn held in a battery attached to the loom. Multiple shuttle boxes allow more than one shuttle to be used. Each can carry a different colour which allows banding across the loom.

The rapier-type weaving machines do not have shuttles, they propel cut lengths of weft by means of small grippers or rapiers that pick up the filling thread and carry it halfway across the loom where another rapier picks it up and pulls it the rest of the way Some carry the filling yarns across the loom at rates in excess of 2,000 metres per minute. Manufacturers such as Picanol have reduced the mechanical adjustments to a minimum, and control all the functions through a computer with a graphical user interface. Other types use compressed air to insert the pick. They are all fast, versatile and quiet.

The warp is sized in a starch mixture for smoother running. The loom warped (loomed or dressed) by passing the sized warp threads through two or more heddles attached to harnesses. The power weavers loom is warped by separate workers. Most looms used for industrial purposes have a machine that ties new warps threads to the waste of previously used warps threads, while still on the loom, then an operator rolls the old and new threads back on the warp beam. The harnesses are controlled by cams, dobbies or a Jacquard head.

The raising and lowering sequence of warp threads in various sequences gives rise to many possible weave structures.Plain weave: plain, and hopsacks, poplin, taffeta,poult-de-soie, pibiones and grosgrain

Twill weave: these are described by weft float followed by warp float, arranged to give diagonal pattern; examples are 2/1 twill, 3/3 twill, or 1/2 twill. These are softer fabrics than plain weaves. 

Satin weave: satins and sateens

Complex computer-generated interlacings, such as Jacquard fabri.Pile fabrics: fabrics with a surface of cut threads (a pile), such as velvets and velveteensSelvage refers to the fabric's edge, which may be marked with the manufacturer's detail. It is a narrow edge of a woven fabric parallel to its length.

Thrums are the remainder yarns for tying on the loom. The portion that is not weavable warp. It is also called loom waste. 

Both warp and weft can be visible in the final product. By spacing the warp more closely, it can completely cover the weft that binds it, giving a warp faced textile such as repp weave.[8] Conversely, if the warp is spread out, the weft can slide down and completely cover the warp, giving a weft faced textile, such as a tapestry or a Kilim rug. There are a variety of loom styles for hand weaving and tapestry.