Customer: A mid-sized manufacturer of knit fabrics located in Ludhiana in the state of Punjab, India with supplies to export market. With focus on product quality and timely supplies, the company over the years, has been consistently rated excellent by its Global customers.

Application: Circular knitting
Machine OE: Popular brand from China with proven performance in the market
Material to be knit: 100% cotton fabric
RPM (revolutions per minute): 18.3 (Avg.)
Existing knitting oil: Brand K oil – M series
Knitting oil consumption with existing product: 72 drops per minute
Avg. life of needles and sinkers: 92,000 kg. of knitted fabric

Two identical knitting machines, A & B with similar processes were identified for the trial. Circular ‘machine A’ was run with the existing knitting oil, ‘Brand K oil – M series’ while ‘machine B’ was run with BECHEM Staroil KNT 22.

Performance of both the products on the respective machines was observed for a period 1 week with temperature observed at key points (needle cam, needle cylinder and sinker cam) of the knitting bed. The oil consumption for ‘Brand K oil – M series’ was maintained at 72 drops per minute as per the existing practice. The BECHEM team however after studying the process parameters recommended an optimised oil flow at 55 drops per minute with BECHEM Staroil KNT 22.

• An average reduction in temperature of about 5.5°C was observed with BECHEM Staroil KNT 22 across the points
• 24% average reduction in oil consumption
• 100% washable: Indicating the washable property of the oil, all materials processed during the trial period was approved by the QC

Having evidenced the results, the Customer switched over to BECHEM Staroil KNT 22 and has been experiencing better needle and sinker life. The Customer is impressed with the washable property of the knitting oil and now vouches for the performance and quality of BECHEM Staroil KNT 22.

Customer: Manufacturer of knit fabric and garments located in Tirupur, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India with complete supplies to export market.

Application: Circular knitting machine
Machine OE: Reputed German brand with history of developing advanced knitting machines
Material to be knit: Cotton grey
RPM (revolutions per minute): 25.4 (Avg.)
Existing knitting oil: Brand K oil – M plus
Knitting oil consumption with existing product: 700 ml/da

Two identical knitting machines numbered, 8 and 9 with similar processes were selected for the trial. Machine no.8 was run with the existing knitting oil, ‘Brand K oil M Plus’ while ‘machine no. 9’ was run with BECHEM Staroil KNT 32.

Performance of both the products on the respective machines was observed for a period of 3 months with temperature monitored at key points (needle cam, needle cylinder and sinker cam) of the knitting bed.

Average oil consumption in machine no. 8 with ‘Brand K oil M plus’: 700 ml/day
Average oil consumption in machine no. 9 with BECHEM Staroil KNT 32: 550 ml/day

● Reduction in temperature: Average reduction in temperature of about 2.6 °C in needle cam and cylinder section was observed with BECHEM Staroil KNT 32 over ‘Brand K oil M plus’. The average reduction was higher at about 3.6 °C in the sinker cam section with BECHEM Staroil KNT 32.
● 21% reduction in oil consumption was observed with BECHEM Staroil KNT 32 (550 ml per day) against ‘Brand K Oil M Plus’ (700 ml per day).
● At a reduction of 150 ml per day, the Customer was able to reduce about 54 liters in a single machine in the 3-month trial period with BECHEM Staroil KNT 32.
● 100% QC Approved : Demonstrating the washable property of Staroil KNT 32, the material processed during the trial stage was approved by Quality Control Department.

Based on the trial result, the customer shifted over to BECHEM Staroil KNT 32 for all the circular knitting machines in his plant.

Customer: An integrated producer of high-quality textile yarns and knit textile in Bhopal, Madhya
Pradesh, India with supplies to top active and inner wear brands across the globe

Application: Circular knitting machines
No. of machines: 18 nos.
Machine OE: Reputed German brand known for supplying high performance circular knitting machines
Material to be knit: 100% cotton fabric (organic / fair trade / BCI product) 95% cotton + 5% lycra material
RPM (revolutions per minute): 31 (avg.)
Existing knitting oil: Brand K Oil 32
Knitting oil consumption with existing product (avg. of 18 machines): 90 drops per minute
Avg. life of needles and sinkers: 90,000 kg. of knitted fabric

While the BECHEM team pitched in, the Customer was not too keen for a changeover to an alternate product. However the Customer responded with a challenge to the team seeking for a possibility of reducing oil consumption while increasing needle and sinker life with BECHEM’s knitting oil. Analysing the operational parameters, the BECHEM team recommended Staroil KNT 32 against the existing knitting oil

• Keen to compare performance of the existing product ‘Brand K oil 32’, to BECHEM Staroil KNT 32, the maintenance team recommended a performance trial by monitoring the oil consumption of all machines keeping temperature constant for a week
• The machines were thoroughly cleaned prior to charging with Staroil KNT 32
• Temperature readings were measured on the following points of all the 18 machines,
  • Needle cam
  • Needle cylinder
  • Sinker cam

The temperature readings to be maintained however was withheld from the BECHEM team during the trial period. Once the machines were charged with BECHEM Staroil KNT 32, the subsequent trial observation was conducted solely by the Customer’s maintenance team.

Avg. oil consumption reading measured, maintaining the temperature constant (not disclosed),

• Average oil consumption reduced by 14% with BECHEM Staroil KNT 32 (77 drops per minute) against the earlier knitting oil, ‘Brand K Oil 32’ (90 drops per minute) with the same production
  • The reduction observed for a week when extrapolated to annual consumption, resulted in savings of 600 litres for a total of 18
• Material produced during the trial period was approved by the QC (Quality Control) Department without any rejection for oil stain This demonstrated the washable property of Staroil KNT 32.
• During the next two maintenance services of the machine with an interval of 45 days, no wear marks were observed visually on the needle and sinker zones of the

Having experienced the performance and with the clear possibility of achieving substantial reduction in maintenance costs, the Customer switched over to BECHEM Staroil KNT 32.