StitchWord Editorial Issue July 2014

Skill development is a very ‘in’ topic for the industry today, especially as most centres face shortage of labour… Understanding the critical need, an integrated skill development scheme was initiated by the Textile Ministry in 2010 under the National Skill Development Policy (NSDP) with the intent to skill 30 lakh persons in 5 years with much fanfare.

Sadly, the scheme failed in its objective of 100% placement. According to official data, out of 2,47,812 persons enrolled under the scheme, only 2,33,848 completed their perspective training of which only 35,859 have been placed, while another 1,97,989 people are still to be placed and the rest are not seeking employment at all... A very poor record! Perhaps this was a reason for the scheme to be put on hold in 2012, just two years after its launch and is since then pending clearance. I feel it is imperative that placements should be made mandatory in the skill development program before funds are released to ensure optimal utilization of the scheme.

While the first priority should be to restart the skill development scheme, there is need for clarity on which ministry shall be responsible for the scheme. Earlier the industry was getting funds through the Textile Ministry scheme (ISDS) and the scheme under the Ministry of Rural Development (SGSY), but now with the appointment of Sarbananda Sonowal, as Union Minister of State with Independent Charge for Skill Development, besides other portfolios like Entrepreneurship, Sports & Youth Affairs, it would seem that all skill development related initiative will now be clubbed together under one ministry… but is this the reality, no one seems to know!

When, and if the scheme is restarted, there is requirement for few more appropriate changes to be made, as on the surface many discrepancies are apparent in the scheme. For one, most of the training centres have been setup in regions that do not even have a garment manufacturing industry defeating the whole purpose of skill development as energy is wasted in convincing people to take the training! Another major flaw of the current skill development efforts is that training is primarily for operators, with little or no emphasis on other important areas of garment manufacturing like supervisor, pattern making, checking, cutting, etc. Even the methodology for training is traditional with no thought of upgrading to meet fresh needs of automation and use of attachments and folders. Industry oriented or industry supported training should be evolved – Why not extend the “Apprenticeship” culture, to say 2 to 3 years, whereby the worker is benefited by learning the skill and the industry gets a worker with less than minimum wages. This will be beneficial to both the industry and employees.

Even as we debate skill development at the operator level, which was discussed in detail in our StitchWorld May 2014 issue, it is also important to optimize role and responsibilities of IE personnel. In this issue of StitchWorld, we present a recap of articles on many of the activities of Industrial Engineering and how it can improve the process carried by us over the last decade, along with views from the industry on the conflict of responsibilities between the IE and Quality Production team, in our Tech Byte section.
A detailed review of Texprocess Americas is another interesting read… it is very obvious that the much hyped ‘Made in USA’ trend is still not a real threat, but is good for technology providers with high-end automated solutions.

StitchWord Editorial Issue June 2014

I was at Texprocess Americas, a technology fair for the US and Latin America, last month not just to see what new and different the technology manufacturers had to offer, but also get the pulse of the market from the technology suppliers. As expected, the market is growing, but slowly.

However, I was surprised at the interesting choice of words doing the round – ‘re-shoring, near-shoring, in-shoring’ and it all meant that the small beginning made by the ‘Made in US’ theme in 2010 is now rising to a crescendo, with everyone talking about it, promoting it and trying to make and deliver products facilitating the concept.

Few factors which would impact positively the trend of re-shoring and near-shoring is the consumers opinion, which is in favour of buying anything which is manufactured in America… but a factor that could negatively impact its popularity is the scattered supply chain and very little automation in the industry. Both the Government and the retail industry is making effort to support the trend and consequently generate employment… and I am sure that in times to come both these bottlenecks will get addressed.

I even met a couple of innovators targeting the US market. One of them showed me how his effort and innovation will lead to a total automated plant for sewing basic garments, while the other was working on a business model that lowers costs and removes markdowns of inventories through implementation of dyeing, printing, cutting and sewing operations in a small footprint, under one roof. Both expected to have the technologies ready by the year 2016… which is not too far away.

Evolution of technology never seizes to amaze me, among them is bonding and welding, which is increasingly being used for stitch-free application in high performance gears, tents, filters, signs, banners, geo material, awnings, inflatable products and apparel too. Realising that the traditional way of sewing is giving way to bonding and welding with growing consumer awareness and demand for stitch-free garments/products for better comfort, quality and performance, StitchWorld introduced the concept of bonding and welding way back in 2008. The journey of discovery continues and in December 2013, we did a detailed analysis of a stitch-free shirt that is now on the retail shelf.

As the awareness increases, we have been asked to take up the challenge to guide the industry on bonding and welding for value and functionality and diverse product categories. So, StitchWorld has decided to take up the topic on a regular basis to discuss and review various welding and bonding technologies and its applications. The idea is to keep the industry informed of different technology choices and the intricacies of this stitchless joining technology.

I am starting another interesting series, but that I will let you know in July… In the meanwhile this issue has the first introductory article under the heading bonding and welding. Some benchmarked companies are presented, one from Ludhiana and the other from Bangladesh… indeed the place does not matter it is the determination of the
management to do things differently

StitchWord Editorial Issue May 2014

Has technology evolution stopped in the garment manufacturing industry from the time it migrated from Europe and the US in the late 1970s…?
It’s more than 40 years and in the name of evolution only a few processes have been automated and/or IT enabled since then and many of these machines in reality are so cost-prohibitive that it becomes difficult to realize one’s own investments, maybe it’s due to the seasonal nature of apparel trade... but few exceptions are welt pocket setter and jeans pocket setter.

However, the pre-process segment has seen a revolutionary change because any mistake in this area impacts more on the international retailers of brands. Designing of fashion items, pattern making and then 3D simulated fit sessions, followed by iteration, and then marker making, all have facilitated faster in the store and thus reduced lead time, which means retailer or the brand buying closer to the season and possibility of quick design adaptations to the changing demands of the customers, which in turn leads to keeping a check on inventories and loss from mark downs and unsold inventory, turning the company into a profitable one.

Availability of cheaper automation would have been an ideal, for everyone, but we should not lose sight on skilling of workforce as an alternate to achieving our objectives. What surprises me is that at the manufacturers level even the training methodology for the operator, the key constituent for improving productivities, has not changed over the years even when so many automatic equipments are available in the market and also there is an increase in the use of attachments and folders. Neither any module has been developed for other important operations such as cutting, finishing, pressing, packing, etc. which could have facilitated productivity improvement. There is serious lack of initiative! …StitchWorld in this issue has attempted to put together many articles on the newer ways to training… I hope industry decision makers will get some inspiration and invite change… It is about time!

Other interesting reads in the issue include, the second article of the series ‘Automation in Sewing Room’, analysing how the common sewing automats work to your benefit. Pocket attaching on shirt front has been considered a critical operation and categorized as high quality zone or ‘A-zone’ within the garment.

Bangalore-based kidswear manufacturer Pradhan Mercantile (PMPL) is also in focus as Team SW in an exclusive interview with the first-generation entrepreneur Amir Pradhan, highlights its IT interventions for better management of its manufacturing operations. I am off to Texprocess Americas to bring to you the latest in technology!

StitchWord Editorial Issue April 2014

It’s election time... a time for frenzied debates, and I happen to listen to one such panel discussion wherein one of the panellists said that since manufacturing is capital intensive and the ongoing recessionary trend limited our capital resources which led to low employment generation... how does this argument stand for a Government which fails to acknowledge an industry which employs 14 million people and most of them either uneducated or just primary pass (a myth broken by a StitchWorld survey which shows that 71% are 10th pass) and who all can be put to the shop floor by training him or her for just about 8 days, speaks of the importance of the industry in a developing economy, especially where the manpower is young and abundant... In fact, Garment manufacturing is one industry which has been instrumental in the growth of all the developed economies of today and plays a very important role in the developing economies.

Over the decade long journey of StitchWorld, I have repeatedly advocated the importance of the industry for the overall economic development of the nation through the critical aspect of skill development of the lowest level of the resource chain right from the sewing skills to other 30 different types of pre-production and finishing skills. No doubt the sewing operators are larger in number, but other processes too require continuous skill enhancement and play an instrumental role in upgrading the industry. Our next issue will discuss different aspects of skill development… don’t miss the edition, which also has an analysis of the survey results carried out on 567 workers from 45 factories in Delhi-NCR, on safety, health and educational concerns.

Even as the industry debates skill development and funds are being allocated under various schemes for the same, a major concern today is the non-availability of workers across all major garmenting hubs. In the recently published AO Top 100 listing in Apparel Online, labour is among the top ranking concerns of the industry. In fact, labour shortage has been responsible for holding up expansion plans of many… the reason given for this shortage across the board is the appeasement of employable villagers through the NREGA scheme, creating a nation of free-loaders. Adding to the problem are many other parallel schemes by State Governments giving free ration, in a way discouraging people to venture out for work… And even though many of the skill development schemes are free of cost, facilitators are finding it difficult to attract rural youth.

China is a very good example of how a developing economy moves up the value chain, as workers lose interest in basic work. Today equestrian apparels, is a new chapter for the Chinese and in this issue of StitchWorld we look closer at the market and the opportunities. Also on review are the technologies from various solution providers at the recently concluded GTE.

StitchWord Editorial Issue March 2014

Has the time come for bonded garments? There is a lot of talk from many companies, who would like to add bonded shirts to their portfolios in addition to bonded innerwear which is already quite popular.

The technology of bonding has graduated from tape sealing of seams to multi-stage adhesive tape bonding to the recent single stage bonding with liquid glue dispenser. The popularity of multi-stage adhesive tape bonding is undoubtedly higher due to maturity of the technology, and the last I counted, there are around 12 European companies which are producing machines for bonding and I am sure there must be equal number of Chinese machine manufacturers if not more. Among the quite popular ones are from Macpi, PFAFF, Schips, Nucleus, while the Asian companies are Brother, H&H and Typical.

Except ‘Arrow’ stitchless shirts, there aren’t many in retail to offer stitchless garments to consumers. Will the stitchless garment story be a rare example of technology driving the fashion retail trend?
 Interestingly, the needle manufacturer Groz-Beckert also discusses the nuances of bonded garments in its training academy in Germany, which certainly says something about the acceptability of the technology.

Today, it may be quite expensive to produce the bonded shirt due to the slow speed of the technology available, which is around 2 shirts on a machine per day, but I am sure in times to come the speed will go up... and also the quality of the garment.

The very existence of bonded shirt still remains inexplicable; may be a rarity value or can it score high on luxury quotient? While the quality, wearability and lifecycle are yet to establish their superiority, there is already discussion regarding which one is more sustainable, sewn or bonded?

 Whatever may be the developments in technology, the age-old system of ‘Jugad’ will always find place in Indian factories to tide over the problems that sometimes even the best of technologies are not able to do. In this issue of StitchWorld a few companies in the Delhi-NCR share their tips on working with fine fabrics when manufacturing highfashion. With a unique blend of technology and ‘Jugad’, these companies are servicing some of the most fashion-driven brands of the world.

 From this issue onwards, we are initiating a new series on training programs that can be undertaken by students or professionals looking at long-term growth in the apparel & textile industry. The first article in the series discusses the pedagogy of various institutes which are imparting training on Six Sigma.

Also in review is technology for knitting and allied operations available with leading players. With back-to-back fairs over the last one month..., this issue reviews the recently concluded KnitWorld, Ludhiana in detail, while the technology seen at GTE, New Delhi will be reviewed in the next issue.

StitchWord Editorial Issue February 2014

Trade shows are evolutionary, but not in the Indian sub-continent… I have been participating very regularly at various fairs all over the globe and it is fascinating to see how the fairs in Europe evolve in terms of product category, categorization of booths, and even service levels, facilitating an exhilarating experience for the visitors, appealing to their sense of taste and entertainment while also at the same time providing them with learning, all three at the same time and place.

Of course there is an ulterior motive of the organizers and the participants that the visitor spends more time at the fair and makes some informed decisions…

At European fairs I find that even the participant take the trade shows as a time to meet friends, since over a period of time the clients are the friends, otherwise when can one take the time off to meet clients at one place and also spend some time to not only showcase products, but also catch up with industry gossips, over a glass of wine and a few snacks!

 We know that the business is all about give and take, and technology suppliers have a lot to give since they not only know how to run a factory, but also by virtue that he visits many factories around the globe he is privy to many innovative benchmark solutions and strategies…

I would say that the same spirit should prevail at fairs in this region… the participating companies should first understand that it is their fair and its success and failure is their success or failure… The first criteria to choose a fair should obviously be the one whose organizer has a deep understanding of the industry and also understands the need of the visitors and participants…, whose track record shows that he is well equipped to encourage and inculcate the culture change and innovate.

Sadly, the lack of expectation from the participant and probably their inert involvement adds to the overall complacency, allowing the fair to run in the old fashion way with the three critical factors – decent food, entertainment and learning – regaled to the backseat.

 What are certainly coming up strongly are the private niche technology events that are more personal, inviting and focused. Bangalore was recently witness to such a show by the Turel Group, with the jeans manufacturing line from Vibemac capturing good audience and enquiries. Details of the show are highlighted under the story ‘The era of private niche shows dawn…’

 Other interesting reads in the issue include an article which unveils the educative side of YouTube and suggested some interesting videos which the professionals on the shop floor can refer to for various operations. For the industry that’s always looking for new product options, the article “Making of a swimwear…’ has some interesting insights, offered by industry experts on how to convert a T-shirt unit into a swimwear unit.

StitchWord Editorial IssueJanuary 2014

Right from the start of the year it was obvious that a serious weeding out is happening, separating the men from the boys… those who are doing well are the serious, committed players, who know what they need to do to grow. Their strategies and expansion plans are on course…

Then there are those exporters I who have already started to shift away from the industry, focusing more on real estate and retail segments. These exporters are no longer serious players and we can expect them to fade away with time… There are some who have failed to read the pulse and are confused on what direction to take… They are sitting on the fringes waiting to be bailed out.

Significantly, over the year Shahi, Matrix, Shivalik, Richa, SPJ Group, all big exporters by Indian standards have gone in for additional capacities; few companies from Bangalore like Voltas Fashions, Four Creations, Sheen Apparels and Snow White and even ITS Creations and Parmeshwar Fashions from Mumbai are also going in for new units or taking on expansions in their existing unit. SM Exports, New Delhi are reportedly jacking up capacities in a big way. Many smaller companies in Jaipur and Delhi-NCR too are now going ahead with investments put on hold for the last few years. 

Also interesting is the fact that a lot of investment is going in to bring processes which were earlier being outsourced, in-house from embroidery to printing.

The confidence of these companies that the future is definitely bright has been justified by many events that have turned the tables in favour of the Indian garment Industry from the softening of the Indian currency, making it very competitive to the Chinese labour conundrum and growing disinterest in Bangladesh due to political and labour unrest, as also safety issues…

Those who had not foreseen the turning point were jolted to wake up from a slumbering pace to fast build up capacities, sensing ‘big’ business coming India’s way.

A survey by StitchWorld involving major technology providers shows that around one lakh machines have been supplied/are to be supplied over a period of one year from January to December 2013. Taking averages in production and UVR, based on past statistics, it becomes obvious that the total exports from India should be around US $ 15.5 billion in calendar year 2013…The real gain once the machines are installed and running to capacity should be around US $ 17.5 billion by the end of 2014… Huge strides no doubt for an industry which has been hovering around US $ 12 -13 billion for the last few years…!

No doubt, the confidence level of the industry is high…, in fact some mega projects that have been long pending are expected to be finalized by the first quarter of 2014, after which the growth could be really steep; importantly many of these projects are from upstarts and not just the growth driver companies.