Weaving process interlaces the warp (length-wise indigo or sulphur dyed yarn) and

the filling (grey yarn cross wise yarn) producing denim in a variety of weights and
styles.
Weaving department at Arvind Mills Limited Denim Division, Naroda is being
headed by Mr. Deepak Pandya. Mr. Ankur explained us the weaving facility and
process in detail.
Denim fabric is usually woven using twill weave. This twill can either be Left hand
twill or Right hand twill. Basically 3/1 twill is used for denim construction. True denim
fabric is the one in which weft and warp count is 7 and 6 respectively with 36 picks
per inch.
In Arvind Mills Ltd. weaving is done using Air-jet looms/machines. Air-jet weaving is
a type of weaving in which the filling yarn is inserted into the warp shed with
compressed air. Air-jet system utilizes a multiple nozzle systems and a profiled reed.
Yarn is drawn from a filing supply package by the filing feeder and each pick is
measured for the filling insertion by means of a stopper. Upon release of the filling
yarn by the stopper, the filling is fed into the reed tunnel via tandem and main
nozzles, which provide the initial acceleration. The relay nozzles provide the high air
velocity across the weave shed. Profiled reed provides guidance for the air and
separates the filling yarn from the warp yarn.

The weaving department at Arvind Mills Ltd. comprises of 572 looms,out of which:

11 soldier looms were present.

20 rapier looms

36 toyota air jet looms (model- JAT 710 with maximum 850 rpm)

505 Tsudakoma air jet looms (models -205I with max.600 rpm,209I with
max.650 rpm, ZAX with max. 750 rpm and ZAX 9100 with max. 850 rpm)

We were explained weaving in the ZAX Department of Arvind Millls.

ZAX Department- It consists of 203 air-jet looms out of which 159 are ZAX
machines with machine speed 750 rpm and rest 44 are 209i machines having a
speed of 700 rpm.

The total production of denim fabric in arvind mills pvt. Ltd. is 2.6 to 2.8 lakh
meter/day, out of which the production of ZAX department is 1 lakh meter/day.
The productivity of a loom is calculated by the formula:

Rpm X 60 X 24
PPI X 39.37

Where the productivity is calculated for 24 hours and the loom is working at 100%
efficiency. In the formula 39.37 is the conversion factor for meterage.
During the weaving process, 3x1 twill weave is made to produce the denim fabric.
Indigo dyed warp yarns are used and the weft yarns are not dyed. The warp yarns
which are wound over the warp beams which have the capacity to hold,

In weft sometimes fancy yarns were used for armsler effect and at times blending of
lycra and polyester is done in the spinning stage and was sent to weaving
department for the denim manufacturing.
Types of weft yarn:
I.

Open End(O/E)

II.

Mock Ring (MR)

III.

Armsler Ring(AR)

IV.

Uneven Ring (UR)

V.

Even Ring (ER)

VI.

Lycra

VII.

Filament yarns

The fabric produced in Arvind mills is divided into categories from 1 to 9 depending
upon the quality out of which fabric falling in 7 to 9 category is called 100% fresh
fabric with minimum defects allowed.
WEFT SPINNING SPECIFICATION
Slub length, slub diameter, number of slubs in a particular length.Width of the fabric
that can be produced on the loom is 64.9 70.9 inches. Yarn type mainly used is
7VAR (Venener Armlor Ring). For the coarser count, CPI (count per inch) should be
less. Company has in-house facility of COTTON. Arvind Mills Ltd. is outsourcing
LYCRA from VARDHMAN and filament yarns from RELIANCE, WELLSPUN &
ALOK.
Weft count: 5.3 7 count
Open end: 7 10 count

Airjet machines are used for mass production and have greater efficiency. Rope
dyeing plan consist of 203 Airjet looms. Warp yarns are fed from the loom beam and
pass over a whip roll or rollers, which control yarn tension variations during weaving
motions. The yarns are then directed through drop wires, heddles, and a comb-like
device called a reed. The spaces between the reed wires across the width of the
reed are called dents. Each reed has a certain number of dents per inch with 12 to
18 being the most common for denim and denim-type fabrics.
There are normally four warp yarns drawn per dent in standard 3/1 twill denim
fabrics. The heddles, through which the yarn is threaded, are located in harness
frames with a designed number of warp yarns drawn through each harness. All warp

yarns weaving alike in a design repeat occupy a given harness. The reed establishes
the width of the warp yarn sheet and equal spacing of the yarns before weaving.
It also is the mechanism used for pushing (beating-up) each inserted filling yarn
(pick) into the body of the fabric at the fell of the cloth. The fell is the point where
yarns become fabric. At this point, the warp yarn is in fabric form and ready to be
collected on a cloth roll. The machines have Balloon Breaker Inspection stands
that are back-lighted for easy inspection of the fabric as it is woven before cloth roll
take-up. The makes the lling balloon small to reduce release tension and lling
insertion resistance. It is required to operate the loom stably with weak lling.

Fig4.1.iv). Balloon Breaker Inspection

The flow of the filling yarn is somewhat simpler. The filling yarn is fed from large
packages located outside of the actual weaving machine. The yarn comes off the
package or packages and is wound onto a storage feeder that allows the yarn to be
under consistent tension for each pick insertion. The yarn is then introduced to the
filling insertion mechanism and inserted across the separated warp yarns, which
have formed a tunnel or path called a weave shed.

Maximum Denim production takes place in 3x1 RHT, LHT and Broken twill weave.

Fi4.1.v) Right hand Twill ;

Left hand Twill;

Broken Twill.

If a new drawing-in operation is not necessary (this expensive operation is avoided

whenever possible) because no style change is needed, the warp is taken from the
beam store and brought directly to the weaving room, where it is knotted on board
the loom to the warp prepared with the knotting machine.For knotting of yarn and
starting the weaving process, takes 50-60 minutes. 3 knotting person are there, out
of which two are knottex helper and one is knottex man. Two sheets are kept parallel
and the knottex man knots the two ends. Warp knotting machine: 300 knots in 1
minute. TODO warp tying machine by Todo seisakusho Ltd. is used.
Types of selvedges made in Arvind Mills Ltd. are:
Reverse Selvedge: In this type of selvedge, weave is reversed. 3/1
(herringbone weave) is reversed to 1/3 or vice- versa.
Matt Weave: 1 end matt weave is done here.

Production of fabric depends on these factors:

(i)

Type of product

(ii)

PPI (Picks Per Inch)

(iii)

Machines working efficiency (80-90%)

10 % of contraction is taken in weaving. For example, if the order is of 2270 meters,

then 227 meters of fabric is produced extra.TPI for weaving is 4.8- 5.

Usually, weaver beams carry 2200 meters of warp yarn. Upon weaving there is a
10% to 12% contraction in total length.
During production a loom can stop due to various reasons. Some are:

Warp end breakage

Weft stop

Catch Cord breakage

Leno cord breakage

Manual Stop

Problem detected:

Warp and weft breakage are frequently

seen but Start mark impression

Full weaver
beam

Tension roll

Drop pins

Heald wire

Lower
press roll

Friction roll

Upper
press roll

Reed

Bottom
guide roll

Batching
guide roll

Batching
roll

Cloth roll

Weaver beam from

slasher or rope dyeing
machine

Weft package from

inhouse SPG dept. or
out sourching central
store
Greige fabric
production weaving
machine

Finished fabric
opening and finishing
machine

Finished fabric
inspection dept.

Finished fabric
dispatch