Park PVH Corp, leading clothes manufacturer in Ethiopia’s Hawassa Industrial Estate received the 2018 US Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE). The company, one of the world’s largest apparel companies and owner of iconic brands, including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen, Speedo, Warner’s and IZOD, has received recognition from the US Department of State for promoting corporate excellence

Hosted at the US State Department in Washington D.C., the ceremony honored the company for upholding high standards of responsible business conduct. PVH accepted the Sustainable Operations Award as lead investor of a best-in-class apparel manufacturing facility in Hawassa, Ethiopia.

Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), which was gearing up for procurement operations from farmers may have to wait for a while as prices have gone above the Minimum Support Prices (MSP). Cotton prices are ruling at Rs 5,800 per quintal and have jumped up by nearly Rs 800 per quintal in last 10-12 days. The prices have shot up by nearly Rs 800 per quintal on reports of short supplies, the typhoon in the US that has hit the crop and China announcing a quota of nearly 48 lakh bales.

P Alli Rani, CMD, CCI pointed out that arrivals are weak, by about 50,000 to 60,000 bales a day. Moreover most of the cotton does not meet the FAQ parameters with more than 12 per cent moisture. Meanwhile, experts says traders are buying cotton at Rs 50 or Rs 100 more than MSP and once arrivals peak, prices are set to drop and then it will be difficult for them to buy at MSP.

Market sources pointed out that prices are up due to buying by mills, which are running out of stock amid lower-than-expected supply of the new crop in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Telangana.

CCC is Poland’s largest footwear retailer, with a market share of about 20 per cent. It operates 1,160 outlets, with its network stretching across several European countries, including Germany, Russia, Austria and Hungary. The chain employs more than 12,000 people and sells nearly 40 million pairs of shoes a year.

But an oversupply of cheap, imported Chinese shoes has created something of a crisis in Poland's footwear industry. The country's manufacturers cannot compete with the significantly lower-priced Chinese shoes that are swamping the market. Although many consumers profess a distinct preference for Polish products, the sizeable price differential often all but obliges them to purchase far cheaper China-sourced alternatives.

A manufacturer of high-quality children's shoes shut its doors last month after 20 years of being in the business. Despite the disappearance of many domestic footwear manufacturers, a fair number of their associated brands have maintained a presence on the high street. This new lease of life granted them is largely down to a number of the country's major chain-store operators, including CCC, acquiring the rights to these discontinued brands and either switching production to one of the few remaining domestic footwear manufacturers or, more usually, outsourcing production to third-party operations in China.

Apparel Textile Sourcing Miami (ATSM) will be held from May 20 to 22, 2019. The event will host more than 300 international and domestic manufacturing companies exhibiting a wide range of products and process solutions in the field of manufacturing and sourcing services.

ATSM connects Southeastern United States, the Americas and the Caribbean to the production world of apparel, textile, and fashion. The apparel sector remains important to Florida’s international economy. In 2017, nearly $8 billion in apparel trade flowed through Florida ports and airports.

Top buyers from more than 40 countries are expected to attend ATSM 2019 to source, connect and develop lasting relationships with qualified international and domestic suppliers. The show will see participation from popular brands from across Asia in addition to a wide range of suppliers and products. These are all highly successful, leading apparel brands in China, looking for US partners to represent them in America and help grow their brands globally.

This is an unprecedented opportunity for buyers in the US and Latin America to source and negotiate licensing rights with these innovative brands. Conference and educational sessions will feature industry experts who will cover fashion trends, new technology applications such as AI and 3D printing, sourcing tips, sustainability, e-commerce strategy, international trade policy, marketing techniques and much more.

"Growing consumer needs are increasingly pressurising retailers and manufacturers to deliver products faster, cheaper through transparent and sustainable supply chains. Consequently, organisations across the apparel industry are facing a rapidly changing need for skills training and development of their workforce. Training, though happening within companies, is not enough to keep up with the lack of skilled workers. There is high dissatisfaction with the content and modes of training provided. Furthermore, the investment provided for the training is not adequate."

Growing consumer needs are increasingly pressurising retailers and manufacturers to deliver products faster, cheaper through transparent and sustainable supply chains. Consequently, organisations across the apparel industry are facing a rapidly changing need for skills training and development of their workforce.

Training, though happening within companies, is not enough to keep up with the lack of skilled workers. There is high dissatisfaction with the content and modes of training provided. Furthermore, the investment provided for the training is not adequate.

Employees focus on career development

According to a recent survey, one of the biggest complaints from brands and vendors is that they have trouble hiring people with the right skills, with 62 per cent saying they are struggling to fill certain positions. Apparel businesses need to ensure that younger people see the apparel industry as an attractive place to focus their careers.

According to the 2018 LinkedIn Learning Workplace Learning Report, 94 per cent of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career development. Around 91 per cent of managers see training as important for the professional development of their employees, while 88 per cent viewed it as important for maintaining job satisfaction.

Only 16 per cent managers surveyed revealed their companies have undertaken skill assessments of their whole workforce. These companies have done skill assessments of their whole workforce employees. Around 49 per cent managers, and 50 per cent of others had taken some sort of company sponsored training over the past 12 months, while only one-third work for companies that use a Learning Management System,

Budget constraints impair employee training

Although there is an awareness of the need for more training, budgets aren’t matching this. Less than 30 per cent of those surveyed have seen their budgets increase in the last two years, and over 70 per cent think that more investment is required. Additionally, only 38 per cent see a planned increase in investment in training over the next two years. Many businesses hold back due to the lack of a clear method for measuring the effectiveness of training. This suggests that there is no consistent way of measuring the success of training, and thus no way to justify further investment.

Restoring old skills

Some functional areas require more ongoing training, with technical design and product development ranking the highest. This is followed by technical apparel making, quality control, production and process management, retail operations and visual merchandising ranked the lowest.

Brands are planning to increase on-shoring as they face new challenges around trade rules, currency fluctuations and speed to market. Additionally technology advances are lessening the number of workers. There is a pressing need to train new talent into local industry in order to restore what many view as dying skills. This is a particularly urgent challenge for specialised skills like bra-making, hosiery and pattern making.

Automation in textile industry is expected to register a six per cent CAGR by 2023.
There are several investments and developments in the industrial sector, which will have a positive impact on the automation market. Availability of favorable policies will be one of the major factors that will have a positive impact on the growth of the market. Favorable policies will attract investments in this sector and create a demand for automation products and services in the textile industry. These policies are beneficial for the growth of the industry and drive the automation of processes, in turn, increasing the demand for field, control, and communication devices.

Rapid developments in the textile industry have led to improvements in product offerings by vendors and superior quality solutions to customers. Vendors are also offering licensing options that allow end-users to reduce the cost of initial investments.

Asia will be the major revenue contributor to the automation market in the textile industry throughout the forecast period. Additionally, the increase in investments in the textile industry will also fuel the market’s growth in the region. Countries like India are key revenue generators for the global textile industry. India already allows 100 per cent FDI in the textile industry under the automatic route.

Epson recently launched a new Direct-to-Garment (DTG) pretreatment solution for polyester garments available for Epson's DTG solutions – the SureColor® F2000 and F2100. The easy-to-use solution is in line with the traditional DTG workflow. It helps to expand business opportunities to include industries that primarily feature 100 percent polyester garments, such as team sports apparel, activewear, imitation silk and leather, and accessories.

Epson polyester pretreatment has been optimised for use with Epson UltraChrome® DG inks to produce vivid prints with excellent wash-fastness on both light and dark colored polyester garments. The pretreatment solution is Oeko-Tex Eco Passport certified for product safety to the end consumer, and is free of GHS health risks, making it safe for operators as well.

This new polyester pretreatment solution will open opportunities for direct-to-garment printing and customisation for new industries, as well as enable on-site garment customisation at sporting events.

According to Transparency Market Research, the global lingerie market was valued at approximately $33 billion in 2015 and is expected to generate revenue of around $55 billion by end of 2024.

Females in the developing countries are changing their outlook towards accepting innerwear as a casual affair. They are purchasing lingerie depending on the occasion or event, such as there are special sport wear bras for gymnasium purpose.

Online marketers like Amazon, Zalando, Asos, and other e-commerce brands are focusing on lingerie which will improve the global demand through social media. Most of the large brands have exclusive stores in shopping malls or independent stores. In developing countries like India and China, brands like Jockey are trying to reach out to customers through small roadside innerwear shops.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) may take effect early next year.
This is an eleven-member free trade pact in which Japan has a leading role. It was earlier known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The accord will come into force 60 days after at least six countries have worked on their domestic procedures. So far, Japan, Mexico and Singapore have completed the process, with Australia, Canada and New Zealand seeking to do so by the end of the year. Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Peru and Vietnam are also part of the pact.

After the US pulled out of the TPP in January 2017, the remaining eleven members signed the revised TPP in March this year.

The UK, Colombia, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea are believed to be interested in joining the CPTPP.

This agreement will focus on goods and will be different from a free trade agreement that is more comprehensive.

This is a Pacific-nation trade deal.

The TPP was previously negotiated by the US with Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia and seven other Pacific countries. It was touted at the time as an alternative framework to the World Trade Organization amid criticisms that the current trade enforcement regime was outdated and failed to address issues related to services, intellectual property and the digital economy properly.

Park PVH Corp, leading clothes manufacturer in Ethiopia’s Hawassa Industrial Estate received the 2018 U.S. Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE).

The company, one of the world’s largest apparel companies and owner of iconic brands, including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen, Speedo, Warner’s and IZOD, has received recognition from the US Department of State for promoting corporate exellence

Hosted at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., the ceremony honored the company for upholding high standards of responsible business conduct. PVH accepted the Sustainable Operations Award as lead investor of a best-in-class apparel manufacturing facility in Hawassa, Ethiopia.