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After eight months of negotiations, factories producing for ACT brands in Myanmar have agreed on a Myanmar Freedom of Association (FoA) Guideline with IndustriALL affiliate Industrial Workers’ Federation of Myanmar (IWFM).
The Myanmare FoA Guidline aims to secure constructive relations between employers and workers. By providing workers a voice and representation, the guideline facilitates cooperation to solve workplace issues.
The guideline aims to specify and ensure the practical application of the principles of Freedom of Association under International Labour Standards, and also outlines a timetable to begin to the process of collective bargaining. Twenty-one major brands have signed a global agreement with IndustriALL Global Union to form the Action, Collaboration, Transformation (ACT). Companies including Hennes & Mauritz AB, Zara-parent Inditex SA and the owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, PVH Corp. have signed on to use their purchasing power to enable better working conditions and push for industry level wage agreements secured through collective bargaining.
The parties have agreed on the next steps in the process, including among other things disseminate and explain the content of the guideline to workers and management at factory level, and develop a dispute resolution procedure, as outlined in a signed letter of agreement.
Discover e-Solutions (DeSL) recently released the latest module in the company’s suite for software applications designed to enable brands, mills, and factories to readily embrace and deploy end to end digital transformation.
The conventional routine to color management has become outdated, it is prone to error and time and money consuming. As brands strive towards complete digital transformation of the supply chain, color management is often forgotten, or misinterpreted. DeSL’s software solution, created to communicate color requirements at a scientific and digital level, the enterprise, grants the companies to completely digitalise the previously manual processes which are reliant on a plethora of physical samples and are evaluated via human eye. It is now possible for brands and mills to approve lab dips and strike off’s in real-time over the cloud without the need for physical samples to be sent.
The solution collaborates with a range of equipment such as spectrophotometers, digital fabric printers, and sublimation printers are time effective and it ensures that quality of color/print is consistent from initial definition right through to final production. Getting the wrong color done can lead to increase returns and markdowns. By digitising color into the supply chain, brands are ensuring consistent color through controlled and scientific methods involving all parties in the process.
Coats Digital recently announced its participation in VTG 2019, the 19th Vietnam International Textile and Garment Industry Exhibition, happening at Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from November 20- 23, 2019. The integrated technology business will be conducting their business first time, in Vietnam for the South-East Asian market.
Coats Digital is a provider of specialist, technology-based solutions and industry best practice expertise for the fashion industry. With proven solutions, in GSDCost, FastReactPlan, IntelloCut and IntelloBuy, Coats Digital shares deep industry knowledge with a practical application of the latest technology, including Big Data and AI, delivering market-leading software solutions.
These solutions enlighten mainly on delivering significant and measurable cost, speed and efficiency improvements to brands, retailers, sourcing companies and manufacturers, supporting a truly integrated and maintaining a better supply chain. Coats Digital solutions are progressively being used in over 50 factories in South-East Asia, including Song Hong, Viet Vuong, Saitex, Hansel, Hansae, SAE-A, Yakjin, Pan Pacific, Luenthai, Far Eastern, Esquel and Nice Group.
The COSATU-affiliated Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) has accepted the latest BRICS Summit Declaration as adopted by Heads of State earlier this week, during the BRICS Summit held in Brazil.
The Union has appreciated the declaration to combat under-invoicing of imported goods. It is one of the most significant developments over the last decade, to normalise fair trade for the industry and to stamp out illegal imports.
This is a concrete step in the implementation of the commitment made by the government in Retail-Clothing, Textile, Footwear and Leather (R-CTFL) Masterplan. The masterplan was signed by the industry’s business and government social partners on November 6, 2019, at the 2nd Presidential Investor Conference held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.
Under-invoicing of imported goods is one of the major source of job losses in the clothing, textile, footwear, leather and poultry industries in South Africa, which is said to have a very negative impact on the country’s domestic industrialisation efforts.
Chemtax Industrial Co, Stoll’s sales & service agency in China area, participated in the 2nd China International Import Expo, held from Nov 05-10, 2019 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai.
Chemtax presented presented the latest Stoll knitelligence tools Stoll-artwork, M1plus, STOLL-autocreate, Grading For Knitting System, Sintral Crypto Infrastructure, Production Planning System, Auto Production Mode and EKC Extended Knit Control.STOLL knitelligence, helps customers to experience the automated sweater knitting development and production to have your personalized sweaters and knitted products.
At the same time the agency showed the latest CMS 530 Ki in gauge E7.2. This attracted a lot of visitors there, they also had the opportunity to knit their personalised scarf at the booth by sending an own picture via the official WeChat account of the company
The 2nd China International Import Expo not only provides an easy access for global companies to the Chinese market but also functions as a platform for economies to be more involved in free trade and global governance.
Stoll AG & Co. KG is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of flat knitting machines. The brand portfolio includes flat knitting machines and pattern software that are used to produce fashion and technical textiles. The company exports its products to more than 50 countries worldwide. With a network of subsidiaries, sales and service centers and numerous agencies, it offers a fully integrated service package.
In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, garment exports from Bangladesh dropped 1.64 per cent. Earnings from the sector fell 11.52 per cent short of the quarter’s target. The country’s overseas shipments have declined. The apparel industry is backbone to the country’s economy and the world’s favorite sourcing hub. In the last seven months, around 59 garment manufacturing units have had to shut shop rendering around 25,900 workers jobless.
The Bangladesh garment industry is facing a challenging scenario. The world’s second biggest garment exporter may soon be overtaken by Vietnam. The poor show by Bangladesh on the back of faltering price points has adversely impacted the inflow of investment, complicated further by its inherent weakness on the product diversification front. A huge number of its factories are small and medium enterprises, which fail to live up to and maintain the requisite compliance standards.
Among the proposals to revive growth are one per cent incentive on exports with immediate effect, devaluation of the currency, doubling the loan rescheduling period for the existing sick garment factories, fund allocation for modernization, tech upgradation of factories and a 0.25 per cent source tax with retrospective effect.
For the first half of the year, Burberry’s profit increased by 11 per cent. After remodeling its commercial network, sales of Burberry’s directly operated stores rose by six per cent during the period. The revenue of the licenses, on the other hand, also experienced an increase of six per cent while the revenues of the channel multibrand had a flat evolution. While sales in Hong Kong fell by double-digits, sales rose six per cent in the rest of Asia Pacific. In Europe, the group’s sales increased six per cent while in America the increase was two percent. Burberry delivered financial results in line with guidance despite the decline in Hong Kong. Luxury sales overall in Hong Kong have been down by as much as 60 per cent in the quarter to September. The problems in Hong Kong have led some companies to start negotiating with landlords in order to try to get reductions on the territory’s traditionally sky-high rents.
Burberry is undergoing a major transformation. The British luxury company is rationalizing its distribution and refreshing its retail stores in all major cities. The company has seen a successful launch of its new go-to-market model. The brand’s strategic focus is on igniting brand heat.
Global cotton prices are rising. The trigger for the welcome price rise has emanated from the definite signs of easing in the ongoing trade tensions between the US and China. After protracted negotiations between the two warring sides, there are signs of some kind of reconciliation, even if partial. This is seen as giving a bit of a boost to all commodities in general.
While the US is the world’s largest exporter of cotton, the Asian major is the largest importer. As the world’s largest consumer, China builds stocks from time to time. In recent years, it has been destocking, and now there is greater conviction in the market that the destocking cycle has ended and restocking will begin. China is reported to have purchased some cotton recently.
A combination of plentiful supplies, modest demand growth and large inventory will not let the market run amok. At the same time, as and when the trade conflict shows more concrete signs of easing, there will be a pickup in export trade which in turn will boost prices. Once the market begins to move upwards, speculative capital is sure to move in and exert an exaggerated impact. Some Indian exporters are reported to have concluded a few export deals with China, apart from regular buyers such as Bangladesh.
Cambodia’s exports to Japan were up 8.4 per cent in the first nine months of this year. Imports from Japan increased 36 per cent in the same period last year. The main products that Cambodia exports to Japan are: garments, footwear, sugar, fish and seafood. Imports from Japan are mainly machinery, automobiles, electronic products, beef, iron, steel and pharmaceutical products. Increasing bilateral trade volume Japan is a result of the efforts from both countries to mobilise business and investors. The growth in exports to Japan can be attributed to an increase in Japanese investors in Cambodia over the past few years. Most Japanese factories in Cambodia are located in special economic zones, which produce a lot of products that are exported to Japan. Japanese investment in non-textile manufacturing has contributed to diversifying Cambodia’s economic base and human resource development. There are 141 Japanese investment projects in Cambodia, of which 66 are in special economic zones.
Cambodia’s exports have been buoyed by efforts to assist its exporters, including the simplification of export procedures and in particular the implementation of an online system to process export documents. Of Cambodia’s total exports, Japan ranks fourth with a market share of 7.7 per cent.
Younger American consumers are becoming aware of the devastating effects of fast fashion on the environment. They are increasingly aligning their social and environmental beliefs with their shopping habits. A fast fashion brand quickly and cheaply produces clothing to keep a constant flow of what is in style on its shelves. But younger adults are getting more involved with trends like the capsule wardrobe, a collection of essential garments that can be worn for multiple occasions.
Another growing trend involves holding on to pieces that bring one joy. People are less interested in the trendy, easily-disposable garments a brand like Forever 21 specializes in more drawn to pieces that support their identity. One value, Gen Z shares is sustainability, which is only expected to grow with the expansion of initiatives that bring awareness about poor practices in the fashion industry.
Generation Z once flocked to Forever 21’s revolving collection of trendy clothing that hung haphazardly from its cluttered racks. Now, the once-popular fast fashion retailer, which targets a young adult audience, has filed for bankruptcy. As a result, it will close 400 stores. Forever 21 isn’t the only prominent retailer in trouble. Many other fashion brands have shuttered stores or filed for bankruptcy over the past couple of years. The decline of these fashion giants marks a shift in the industry and the behavior of its customer base.
