Stitch World Editorial Issue May 2018

Many of you may remember that the first edition of StitchWorld magazine was launched 15 years ago in 2003…; but it seems like yesterday!

The journey was an enriching one which primarily included understanding, analysing and implementing existing technologies and systems to improve quality, productivity and work methodologies. Hardly any time or pages were devoted to the future.

The changes that did come, were incremental or to the best ‘mild riffles’ in the prevailing pool, but certainly not disruptive or even significantly different… A small change here, a minor intervention there or an introduction to automation were the exciting highlights of the magazine.

But 2017 really changed the outlook… Suddenly a whole new plethora of technologies exploded in the marketplace…; technologies that challenged the old way of thinking, changing and disrupting the way we knew production till date, shaping a new course for production in the future!

Technologies, systems and processes that seemed far-fetched a few years ago, suddenly became possible and practical… We were looking at the future, not as an imagination in time, but a reality waiting to happen.

After 15 years of talking about the same old concepts, we were faced with new thoughts and ways of working. Always fast to move with the changing time, StitchWorld too transformed and updated its scope and content…, preparing not for the present, but for the future.

I am sure you would have seen this change being reflected in the pages! Do let me know if the change is acceptable and in the right direction.

Stitch World Editorial Issue February 2018

January month has always been a busier month hustling with activity and business owing to multiple technology trade fairs being held around the same time in both India and Bangladesh. What makes it even more interesting and spirited is the opportunity that it gives us to meet several old and new acquaintances and get the real pulse of the industry… undoubtedly, this time also I was successful in drawing many leads.

However, what perturbs me still is the industry’s ‘not-so-vibrant’ scenario, as they continue to struggle under the ongoing product-price war, and are even more badly hit due to bank’s tight lending, thanks to the NPAs and the GST, and the final nail in the coffin being the abolition of duty drawback.

Nevertheless, I was elated to come across few exporters who managed to put up a good show amidst such testing times… Here my special mention goes to Magnum Resources, a technology supplier, whose stall at GTE Delhi, apart from giving a feel of international styling also depicted the prosperous time it saw last year. From next year onwards, the company intends to take a bigger leap by not only having a larger stall but also a double-storey set-up. I must compliment their consistent courage and determination which has made them emerge as a winner in this sluggish position.

The twist in the tale was ‘automation’ or as I should say more emphatically ‘affordable automation’ which stole the show. Certain automats like cuff runstitch, collar runstitch machines, which have made their presence felt since last three decades, are finally finding a place on the shopfloor. We may have been still far from Industry 4.0 compared to the West, but automation has silently crawled its way to become an integral need for our industry’s successful survival in face of rising cost and labour crisis.

What continues to concern me though is the absence of newcomers in such potential events. I have kept harping on this time and again as I don’t get to see the new generation coming to these fairs, lacking the required inquisitiveness towards developments with regard to the industry. Now I don’t even chance to meet the regular generation next… Is this not sad?

All said and done, apparel may not be doing well but non-apparel products are already on their growth path, and as per my understanding and information, the major expansion is taking place in this segment. StitchWorld definitely endeavours to have more such nonapparel products such as gloves, backpacks, wallets and more on its pages for its readers… Our next issue will update you on the detailed happening in the technological front and their implementation in India and Bangladesh.

If you don’t know yet, my company Apparel Resources has recently released a book Industrial Engineering in Apparel Manufacturing and has also used GTE as a launching pad for our Apparel Resources Jobs portal… Don’t miss further information on these new ventures in our upcoming Apparel Online magazine and our website apparelresources.com.

I must admit that I have stated only a small fragment of the vast pool of thoughts which surround me, and more will be shared with you shortly…