Rivatex upgrades machines as it eyes bigger yarn market

Textile maker Rivatex East Africa is upgrading its machines to improve efficiency and stay ahead of the competition.

After buying new equipment the factory, owned by Moi University, has moved from producing 200 metres of cloth per day to 20,000.
Moi University vice chancellor Richard Mibey said the new machines had reduced the need to hire more staff.

One such machine is the Autocoro S 360, a digital piecing tool which ensures that reports are generated electronically and settings are done through touch screen.

Employees at the facility said that the new machines had eased their workload. Ms Edah Kinyua, a tailor, said that the factory had received orders for various garments including uniforms, shirts, trousers, and pullovers – a major improvement from the past.

“The new machines have increased orders and we are happy,” said Ms Kinyua when the Moi University vice chancellor, Prof Richard Mibey, led a delegation of scholars from India on a visit at the factory.

The university acquired the collapsed factory in 2007 at a cost of Sh205 million.

The firm went under due to mismanagement, lack of cotton, and lack of market. Mount Kenya Textiles (Mountex) and Kisumu Cotton Mills (Kicomi) collapsed in the 1990’s and are yet to be revived.

Products from Rivatex are sold locally and in the region. Prof Mibey said that the challenge was on farmers to scale up cotton growing.

Out of the 600 tonnes of cotton that the factory requires per year for optimum production, 250 tonnes are imported mainly from Uganda and Tanzania. Apart from dyes and other chemicals, the firm also imports about 80 tonnes of man-made fibres per year from the Far East.

Expenses on dyes have reduced following discovery of a natural dye produced from tagetes minuta, a herb commonly referred to as Stinking Roger.
The herb grows naturally in different parts of the country. Seven different colours can be extracted from the dye, which include green, brown, and orange.

Prof Mibey said that the university had acquired land to grow cotton.

He cited Mwingi in Eastern province, and Mogotio and Kerio Valley in the Rift Valley as some of the areas that the university had invested in to generate its own cotton to supplement imports.

“Farmers in Busia, Siaya, and Teso who had abandoned the crop due to lack of market are taking advantage of the emerging opportunities,” said Prof Mibey.