Rieter Card C 81 Delivers 43% Production Boost for Sportking

Sportking Ltd., a long‑established textile manufacturer in India, operates 380 000 spindles with fully integrated operations across spinning, knitting, processing, and garmenting. To secure business continuity and sustain strategic long‑term growth, Sportking has consistently relied on an evolving carding platform in partnership with Rieter. Their upcoming expansion of 150 000 spindles is also planned as a complete turnkey project with Rieter cards C 81 and VARIOline blowroom systems, reinforcing their trust in Rieter’s end‑to‑end expertise.

Flexible Card with High Output Needed

As Sportking’s spinning capacity increased, the core challenge was to enhance output while maintaining stable operations and consistent sliver quality. They required a carding solution that could efficiently integrate into a phased expansion model and perform reliably across diverse raw‑material blends and dynamic production requirements.

A Carding Roadmap Built on Continuous Innovation

Rieter demonstrated a long‑term carding strategy built on successive generations of Rieter cards. Starting from card C 60 and progressing through C 70, C 72, and now the latest C 81, Sportking has chosen Rieter for every expansion since 2006 – aligning their carding department’s growth step by step with Rieter innovations.

This roadmap allowed Sportking to introduce each new card generation alongside existing installations, achieving higher productivity per machine while retaining familiar operating concepts and process stability. The latest card C 81, designed with the maximum technological carding area with 40 active flats controlled by Carding Gap Control (CGC) and highest cylinder‑circumference utilization, delivers superior fiber treatment, enhanced sliver quality, and exceptional operational performance.

43% Production Increase

The latest generation card C 81 installation delivered a remarkable 43% production increase, all while maintaining excellent and stable sliver quality. For the widely used combed ring yarn Ne 30, the high‑performance card achieved 110 kg/h and reduced yarn imperfections by 27%. This high machine productivity means fewer cards are needed for the same output – reducing energy consumption, lowering maintenance requirements, and contributing to an overall more efficient mill layout. The C 81, equipped with Carding Gap Control, represents Rieter’s latest advancement in intelligent carding technology. CGC uses state‑of‑the‑art acoustic sensor technology and an intelligent data model to proactively and automatically maintain the optimal carding gap. At Sportking, this has resulted in consistent nep count without any manual intervention, even when the wire life has reached 700+ tons.

“We are impressed by the excellent performance of the C 81. It has it all: outstanding productivity, consistently high quality, and smart features like the self‑adjusting carding gap, which makes it our first choice in carding. This will take us one step forward in the market in terms of both quality and productivity.” says, Munish Avasthi, Sportking Chairman and Managing Director.