Analysing the mood of the industry, it seems that positivism is missing and players are waiting for greater clarity on global situation before taking any decision about the way forward. Yet, technology providers are confident and investments are happening. Despite the mixed state of mind, garment manufacturers across the country – both exporters as well as domestic, small as well as top manufacturers – are moving forward with some expansions, productivity improvement and cost cutting. With GTE 2017 in the backdrop, Team Apparel Online had discussions with many garment manufacturers from across the country to get the pulse of their own organization, their hub and the overall industry.
Some of the exporters are growing very well and investing in new facilities. Construction of their factories is under process, and within a year they are expected to start production. Reasons for expansion varied from company to company, like some are having more demand from their existing buyers, while few are in the process of adding new buyers. Some companies are also adding a new product category and few are unable to feed their buyers from their existing units despite having enough machines which makes them start new units where labour is easily available. Such companies with varied reasons of expansion from different hubs, include Paramount Products, Delhi; India Today Fashions, Jaipur; BD Garments, Delhi; Kauten Kraft, Gurgaon; Soumya International, Panipat; Sharda Motor Industries, Delhi; Super House, Noida etc. Umesh Nanda, Soumya International, Panipat who is into home furnishing and currently also venturing into garmenting informed, “I strongly feel that there is a vacuum as there are some products which are being manufactured in China, and India can also manufacture them. But as of now, our country is missing out on these products. We will try to fill this vacuum by our garmenting efforts.”
Some of the companies for whom expansion is a regular process as they already have enough capacities, technical upgradation is the need of the hour. And the thing which deserves appreciation is that not only the bosses or senior management, but also their juniors or floor level technical experts are exploring the latest technology to reduce the dependency on labour and to improve the quality further. Orient Craft, Gurgaon; SAPL Industries (Sonal Apparel), Mumbai; Choudhary Fashions, Jaipur; Radnik Exports, Gurgaon; Affordable Exports, Delhi; Shivalik Prints, Faridabad; CTA Apparels, Noida; Aakriti Creations, Gurgaon and East West Combine, Delhi are a few such companies. Some of them are investing in upgraded models of various machines or cutting room solutions while others are going to add machines for value addition like screen print and embroidery. “We are not looking at adding capacities but replacing machines with higher versions. With the current uncertainty in the market, I am not in a mood to make heavy investment in adding capacities,” said Shreyaskar Chaudhary, MD, Pratibha Syntex, Indore.
Many established exporters are exploring technologies to start something new as their existing products are already up to mark in terms of technology, quality and productivity. For further growth and new opportunities, they are trying to find something fresh. One of the medium-level exporters of Delhi who does not want to be quoted shared, “With discussion of technology providers, I decided to start lingerie manufacturing. Though at present this is just at discussion level, it can be developed in future.” On the other hand, some of the exporters are digging deeper within their existing products to find new kinds of buyers.
Even few HR managers as well as merchandisers also visited the event as their interest in technology as well as their hunger for overall improvement of their factories motivated them to spend their Sunday at the event. KC Biswas, Manager, HR & Compliance, Vansh India, Noida told, “I explored how technology can further help us in training as well as safety and compliance audit.” Many job workers were also seen in good numbers and they were eager to learn about investing in their infrastructure. DK Bansal, Pearls of India/Classic Boutique, Moradabad, associated with more than 1,000 homeworkers, offers a variety of handwork to exporters, exploring value addition as well as overall technology. “Whatever machines are capable to do, hand work has to be different from them. So I saw what more we can do in hand work.” Perc Avenue, Gurgaon, associated with more than 80 export houses of Delhi-NCR, is also adding machinery like laser cutting, wet processing (hydro carbon).
An industry-informed person confirmed to Apparel Online that RP Auto, Dehradun is entering into jeans manufacturing. Besides, Vibe Fashion, Noida and Green Garments, Surat (a new player in garmenting) have also added specialized machines.
Many medium-level firms in domestic market are in the process of coming up with their brands and some of them are interesting as they are focusing on such niche segments where opportunities are high. Rattan Batra of Star Sapphire, Delhi, focusing on sportswear, is now promoting his brand (Papaya). Currently, he is sourcing apparels from China as quality is a big concern for him. “Just because of quality, I am sourcing products from China at a cost which is high even for the retail selling price of other brands,” he added.
Even designers/boutique owners are now exploring technology which specifically match to their need and budgets. Few of them are primarily exploring trims and value addition technologies. Aditya Khandelwl, Creative Head, Adi Couture Wear, Delhi offering women as well as menswear (jackets) stated, “Uniqueness into styles, cuts and value addition is something we are always looking for, same is the priority as of now.” The company is also exporting to UK and some other countries.
The fair saw visitors from emerging hubs, remote areas and big cities where garmenting is not strong but some of these manufacturers are trying to grow even in these areas at their own levels. Vella Sports, Meerut manufacturing sportswear, is now planning to start manufacture of socks and is investing in automated plant in Meerut. Arastu Parmar of Gokul Enterprises, Ujjain, who was mainly into trading, now wishes to start his own manufacturing and was found looking for machines accordingly at the fair. SM Knitwear, Jamshedpur (Tata Nagar) manufacturing uniforms and T-shirts is also investing further.
Vikas Kukreja, Anand Sales, Kanpur shared that Kanpur is growing in garmenting business. He stated, “I must say that after Delhi and Ludhiana, Kanpur is growing at a good pace in garmenting; though focus is on domestic markets, shirt manufacturing is on top priority along with kidswear (for girls).” Vikas is also manufacturing shirts and investing further in fusing and automatic shirt folding machines.
Apart from all these companies, Apparel Online met visitors from Surat, Ahmedabad, Aligarh, Indore, Ludhiana, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Amritsar, and Patiala where garment manufacturers are making mixed kinds of products and are undergoing slow but steady growth.
Take of technology providers…
One of the biggest positivity is that the technology providers were very upbeat about growth and which indeed is good news for both the export and domestic markets. “We are adding technologies that are aimed at providing value solutions which are cost-effective for smaller players, including the domestic guys, as a huge opportunity market exists in that area,” said Pavan Kapoor, MD, IIGM. The group has recently added some new brands, which are targeted at the new segment of customers that the company now desires to add.
In the meanwhile, with everyone looking at automation, Turel Group is geared to provide customized solutions. “We realize that every company has a different need, so we sit down with them and make adjustments accordingly. We have to be responsive, otherwise the industry will never be able to scale up,” opines Viraf Turel, MD, Turel Group. The company has always been at the forefront of automation and it will continue in the same direction with greater focus of service.
Urging the garment exporters to be more proactive and to view the industry on a long-term basis, Anil Anand, MD, HCA bemoans that the industry in the north is losing interest. “There is still so much scope for growth and with State Governments coming forward to support new units, it is the turn of the industry to take the initiatives,” argues Anil. He is, however, upbeat that the industry in the south is prepared for the challenges and once the ball gets rolling, others will follow.
