Bangladesh is renowned for its ability to evolve, adapt and discover itself with time,which differentiates it from many of its competitors. From the days of the multi-fibre agreement (in the ’70s) to the tragedy of today when the world is going through a bad phase starting from the recession trend and the ongoing war, Bangladesh has never ceased to adjust and acclimatise with time to maintain its relevance as the preferred sourcing destination for the global buyers.
In today’s era of fast fashion where brands are continuously striving to make production processes faster and simpler even as they scout for vendors who have smaller lead times, shorter order runs, are cost-effective, can offer variety of styles and high-fashion products, garment makers have little choice but to embrace technology that can live up to the requirements even as they look to increase efficiencies while also beat the heat of price points.
“As we prepare for the next phase of growth, we have to enhance our business capabilities using latest technologies for fabric and resource optimisation, 3D sampling and pattern making, increasing popularity of virtual market and circular fashion.”- Faruque Hassan |
Foresighted as they are, Bangladesh garment makers are already at it!
“As we prepare for the next phase of growth, we have to enhance our business capabilities using latest technologies for fabric and resource optimisation, 3D sampling and pattern making, increasing popularity of virtual market and circular fashion,” held Faruque Hassan, the President of the apex garment makers’ body of Bangladesh-Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), highlighting the implications of technology in the changing milieu.
Investments and efforts speeding up the process!
Bangladesh apparel makers are said to be planning to pump in a massive US $ 3.5 billion in new technologies even as the US $100 billion export target by 2030 continues to loom large on the horizon, which experts believe will be a tough ask to achieve sans technology.
The new technologies – including state-of-the-art machinery to produce manmade fibre and robotic technology – will diversify the sector’s export basket while also speed up the overall production process, underlined people in the know of things.
To put things in perspective (as far as the relevance of technology is concerned), a study conducted recently found an average order planning time with manual systems taking around 35-40 minutes,which can be completed in just 7 minutes with an automated system.
This means 80 percent time reduction in the entire exercise for a garment maker.
To put it in numbers,if a manufacturing unit produces 10 styles/day via manual order planning,embracing automation will help the factory to reduce the lead time by 5 hours on a daily basis, translating to 125 hours a month and over 1500 hours in a year.
That’s a very significant number to say the least.
Bangladesh has so far been leveraging its inherent advantage of cost competitiveness.However, going forward, the industry’s USP of cost-competiveness may take a beating, thanks to a host of reasons!
Increasing wages and utility costs will make things difficult for Bangladesh,feels Foo Toon Pow, Managing Director (MD) of Focus Garment Tech Pte Ltd.
The industry stakeholders had recently held the second meeting of the RMG wage board in which labour organisations have put forth demand for increasing the minimum wage to Taka 24,000 (for the apparel workers), from what was Taka 8000 as per the 2018 wage board.
Add to this the rising overheads and material cost.
This is now leading more and more garment makers to embrace automation for good.
A subsidiary of Chu Cheong Co Pte Ltd., Focus Garment Tech Pte Ltd., deals in all kinds of industrial sewing machines and garment equipment from cutting, sewing to finishing section even as its business network spans from Singapore to Asia, Middle East and Africa.
Epic Group’s new facilities are fully digitalised including RFID tags for each garment that track work-in-progress and drive efficiencies throughout the production process even if the factories’ data is stored on cloud through an app where all concerned people, including the senior management, can see the performance of operators, sewing lines and even the entire shopfloor in real-time. |
Garment makers’ take on technology
“Digitisation plays a crucial role in improving efficiency, reducing waste and maintaining competitiveness,” held Ashwini Vij, CEO of Floreal Bangladesh adding implementation of 3D technology in Floreal’s product development process has resulted in significant raw material savings while also improving the vital aspect of speed to the market.
Floreal Bangladesh is a subsidiary of the renowned global textile conglomerate CIEL Textile, which has established itself as a leading sustainable apparel manufacturer in Bangladesh, specialising in high-end knitwear products and operates as a cutting-edge manufacturing facility with an impressive capacity of approximately two million pieces of high-end knitwear products per year even as it lives up to its commitment of sustainability encompassing products, processes, people and the environment.
Said Syed M. Tanvir, Managing Director of Chittagong-based premium jeans manufacturer Pacific Jeans Ltd.,“If you look at the transformation, then you understand in context that Bangladesh is one of the biggest markets for global technology companies as factories here are heavily investing in high-end machinery and software.”
M B Knit Fashion Ltd., considered one amongst the big names in knitwear in Bangladesh, has recently introduced software in its cutting section, which analyses all the possible angles based on the input of product measurement to cut the fabric so that it can ensure best usage.
After analysis, the software gives a layout and marker on which the makers will cut the fabric either manually or by an automated system, explained M B Knit Fashion’s Managing Director Mohammed Hatem while adding it saves time as well as fabric, which ultimately helps to negotiate prices with buyers.
“If we look at the apparel industry, its ecosystem and end-to-end processes from design to dispatch, it’s a completely different ballgame from what it used to be in the past. One needs to leverage the incredible capabilities of our workforce and of the available technology and create a new vision of an end-to-end value chain in collaboration with new strategic partners in order to thrive,” opined Roger Guy Young, Chief Strategy Officer of Epic Group.
Epic Group’s new facilities are fully digitalised including RFID tags for each garment that track work-in-progress and drive efficiencies throughout the production process even if the factories’ data is stored on cloud through an app where all concerned people, including the senior management, can see the performance of operators, sewing lines and even the entire shopfloor in real-time.
This has helped Epic to eliminate the need for traditional line managers.
Hong Kong headquartered Epic Group boasts of manufacturing facilities in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Jordan, along with sales offices in Hong Kong, Dubai and New York and designers in New York, USA.
A recent study carried out has further found that higher technology levels in Bangladesh’s manufacturing sector helped it to perform better (after accounting for key differences, such as size, physical capital and age), while adding a 25 percent increase in the overall technology level was found associated with a 3 percent increase in profits per worker.
Azim Group, a leading player in Bangladesh’s garment industry since 1980, had not very long back introduced Fast React Plan, a software by Coats Digital which acts as a vital tool for planning orders, forecasting capacity and allocating production lines.
“From our perspective, it stands out from other alternative platforms due to its data-driven and precision-based approach and a user-friendly interface,” maintained Farhan Azim, Managing Director of Azim Group, who went on to add that in the first year, Azim Group’s planning efficiency increased by 15 percent and it has been improving ever since.
Farhan envisions factory operations to be completely driven by data and hinted strongly at implementing IoT (Internet of Things) on the production floors, which according to him, seems the most logical step forward.
Meanwhile, Narayanganj-based Fatullah Apparels Limited has incorporated automated systems that can monitor and report workers’ productivity, observes Vice President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlee Shamim Ehsan even as Ananta Apparels and Fakir Group have also introduced hanger systems in their respective units to speed up the assembly line.
“Bangladesh is a very important market for Vibemac even as the country’s share in Vibemac’s total business would be somewhere around 50 percent.” – Ali Zain Raza |
Technology or workers – the big question!
Not undermining the importance of the workers, who are integral to the Bangladesh apparel sector, Vice President (Sales & Service), Business Unit of STOLL, Michael Händel opined it is but time factory owners identified areas where redundant human intervention can be eliminated and replaced by automated solutions even if in 2018, McKinsey Apparel, Fashion & Luxury Group surveyed US apparel executives and international procurement officers and projected that simple garment production will be fully automated by 2025, resulting in an 80 percent reduction in the labour force.
However, stakeholders are of the opinion, when it comes to Bangladesh,it is not feasible to do away with the manpower drastically rather the most practicable way they underlined was to minimise manpower dependency while concentrating on educating them properly to hone their technical faculties to enable optimal utilisation of technology through targeted human interventions.
“Good organisations invest in human resource. The key principle is digital solutions captured and analysis of data so that humans can do the thinking and decision making. Unfortunately, while negotiating price of technical solutions, the need for effective training or technology transfer is not given importance and hence companies are not able to utilise the solutions to their fullest,” opined a renowned Bangladesh-based consultant.
His sentiment finds a perfect echo with Rajesh Bheda, Founder of RBC Pvt. Ltd., (and a renowned consultant)who adds it is a common sight to see the equipment not being used optimally, thanks to lack of knowledge even if equipment breakdown due to poor handling by ill-trained operator/ mechanic continues to be another menace.
The Sudokkho project supported by UK and Swiss Government in over 110 factories from 2015-2020 is a perfect example of the wonders trained manpower can do.
The implementation of Sudokkho-RBC Industry Based Training system resulted in over 9000 existing workers improving their production capacity by 32 per cent on an average, claims Rajesh Bheda.
Agreeing with Rajesh Bheda on the importance of trained manpower, Foo Toon Pow stated technology adoption and automation would be the key going forward, getting optimal benefit will also depend a lot on the skill set of the operators, for which quality education is a must.
“Today, if Vietnam, Sri Lanka or for that matter India is making massive progress, it is because of education and knowledge levels,” Foo claimed.
The apex garment makers’ body as it is, BGMEA has tied up with Jeanologia to support the country’s RMG industry in adopting innovative technologies and processes to become more efficient and sustainable. As part of the agreement, Jeanologia will provide support to the Centre of Innovation Efficiency and OSH with the technical know-how of the latest textile technologies and processes for dissemination across the RMG industry of Bangladesh.
The Centre, established by BGMEA, aims to support the RMG industry with knowledge, skills and technical knowledge to face the future challenges and enhance its competitiveness even as it intends to improve the skillset of the workers with the changing times.
Technology providers in thick of things!
Bangladesh is a very important market for Vibemac even as the country’s share in Vibemac’s total business would be somewhere around 50 per cent, as per Ali Zain Raza, the Global Sales Director of Vibemac SpA, who added the objective of Vibemac has always been to help garment makers reduce cost, increase profit margins while also live up to their sustainability goals.
“We are coming up with machines that cover more and more operations even as the automats from Vibemac help lessen dependency on manpower while offering significant advantages in terms of cost cutting,” opined Ali Zain whilst Adam Zhao, Country Manager of MAQI, Bangladesh on his part maintained MAQI is here to help and support the industry in technology adoption through its high-quality and cost-effective interventions.
Adam holds Bangladesh is in a very interesting transitionary phase in its growth journey and it is technology which will play a pivotal role in deciding which direction things would go hereon.
A leader in sewing machine specialised in jeans, Vibemacis a leading entity in the sector of industrial sewing globally while MAQI is a Chinese sewing machine manufacturer offering host of interventions including lockstitch, overstock, chainstitch, bar-tacking, button-attaching, button-holing, heavy material machine, serveo control system, etc.
The acceptance level of new technological solutions and management practices has certainly gained traction in Bangladesh lately, underlined a well-known technology consultant based out of Dhaka, adding technical solutions continue to become more cost-effective for the garment makers as wages maintain their upward trajectory.
Garment makers today have little choice but to embrace technology that can live up to the requirements even as they look to increase efficiencies while also beat the heat of price points. |
Cost implication – a challenge still
Technology adoption comes at a cost, which may not always be possible for many garment makers to bear, already stretched thin by the mounting price pressure and diminishing margins!
Add to it the allied constraints including those pertaining to banking system and sky-high interest rates on loans.
So, are the stakeholders ready to step in to help the garment makers?
“As a global business, we serve a wide range of clients and our approach to finance varies based on the countries we deal with. To accommodate the different requirements of each country, we have developed customised finance models and tools,” claimed Michael (from STOLL), a Germany based knitting technology leader.
For the time being for Bangladesh, STOLL uses LC selling currently. However, it maintains an open-minded approach and works with the customers to find mutually beneficial solutions, said Michael.
A little bit of support from the banking sector and financial institutions will do a world of good for the garment makers keen on adopting technology even as more and more machine makers and technology providers are expected to financially support the industry in the days to come, opined the industry people.
A study conducted recently found an average order planning time with manual systems taking around 35-40 minutes, which can be completed in just 7 minutes with an automated system. |
Bangladesh after all is a huge market for machine makers and technology providers.
“We understand that in today’s scenario, no one is looking for just a machine supplier; they want strategic partners who can help and support them in the growth journey, someone that they can completely rely upon,” added Ali Zain of Vibemac, while adding Vibemac is tying up with factories in Bangladesh as their associate to provide solutions rather than just machines to help achieve the critical targets.
Given the efforts put in by the stakeholders concerned, industry insiders opined it is just a matter of time before Bangladesh comes up trumps in technology adoption to keep evolving and adapting to the changing landscape, to conclude on a positive note.