The interlining division of Freudenberg with its extensive range of products meets each and every global challenge head-on. One of the major world market players, Freudenberg has more than 33 manufacturing units across the globe including India, its Bangladesh’s requirement is fulfilled by a central warehouse in Hong Kong or by shipping directly from factories in China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan or India. A nominated supplier for ASDA, M&S, Next, C&A to name a few, Freudenberg is looking at increasing its market presence further by launching innovative products and extending value-added services according to A.K.M. Zaman, representing Freudenberg in Bangladesh…
On time deliveries plays an increasingly important role in today’s garment industry and undoubtedly it is a challenge for designers, buyers, technicians and even the industry to meet these timelines. For Freudenberg Interlinings, prompt deliveries are at the core of success in their business structure; they ensure that products are available on the spot… wherever they are needed. “We have a proper technical studio here to service our customers. Before we established this studio, we used, to send the fabric swatches to Hong Kong technical studio for Interlining Recommendation Reports and it used to take 12 to 14 days for all lab tests before the products came back to us as there used to be delays in courier, etc. But now this studio helps us cater to our customers faster,” says Zaman.
The other benefit of having testing studio in Bangladesh is saving on courier costs. “The balancing act between profitability and the best possible interlining is becoming more and more challenging. All additional costs must be reduced to the minimum and to maintain the price points, the right choice and the sourcing of the interlinings must be made within extremely tight time frames,” says Zaman. Explaining more about their products Zaman said, “We start working from fibre stage to arrive at the right offer to our customers. The offer includes 100 per cent cotton , cotton blended, 100 per cent polyester, polyamide, animal hair and have options in white, off-white, grey, black, depending upon the client’s requirement both in woven, non woven and weft inserted technology.”
To remain as a market leader Freudenberg is offering value-added services to its clients through its studio. “If under any circumstances our customers cannot match the interlining with their original fabric then we help in matching it in our studio. Sometimes at the shop floor, fusing technicians may not be able to derive the desired results, then they come here and we guide them on the fusing process to achieve the optimum results. This is a complimentary service for our customers,” specifies Zaman according to whom the company gives not just before and after-sale-services to its customers but also help in their day-to-day operations.
[bleft]“Innovation is the key in the apparel sector and to match the innovative developments, we at Freudenberg keep abreast with new adhesive systems and products to compliment the developments in fabrics, washes & finishes and that is what makes us unique.” [/bleft]
As a stake holder in the garment business, Freudenberg is looking at Bangladesh as a potential hub. As per a recent prediction by a leading US consultancy firm, Bangladesh will see a huge increase in its exports of apparel to the consuming markets. In such a scenario, the manufacturers in Bangladesh will move up the value chain by increasing the usage of modern technologies coupling with the usage of good quality accessories. “In the times when production costs are going up in certain key manufacturing countries, a lot of buyers would have already established their production bases in Bangladesh,” believes Zaman.
As a business house from Germany, Freudenberg Interlinings are leaders in offering products compliant with the restrictive chemical legislations of EU or US like REACH or CPSIA. All the non-wovens interlinings offered by Freudenberg Vilene are manufactured in-house with OekoTex certification. Freudenberg Vilene’s factory in China is one of the biggest factories for woven shirt interlinings in Asia.
