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Huntsman Textile Effects is a provider of high quality dyes, inks and chemicals to the textile and related industries. It has operations in more than 90 countries and manufacturing facilities in China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Thailand.
In India, Huntsman is a market leader and continues to grow above industry growth rates. It has strengthened its research and technology center in Mumbai and has realigned its regional operations to bring decision-making closer to the customer in India and improve cross-functional synergy to react more quickly to evolving customer and market requirements.
Huntsman Textile Effects uses cutting-edge technology to develop state-of-the-art dyes, chemicals and inks that reduce water and energy consumption and help mills and brands create high-value end products with intelligent effects such as durable water repellence, built-in freshness or sun protection. It also helps mills optimise and standardise their dyeing processes to improve output and profitability.
In the digital printing sector, Huntsman is recognised as a pioneer in the market. It develops digital inks that deliver intense, vivid colors, top quality finishing and optimum print reliability while effectively managing cost and environmental impact. Its digital inks run in the largest digital printing mills globally. The group works only with qualified suppliers with global levels of safety and environmental compliance standards.
Bangladesh’s garment exports to the UK grew 10.47 per cent in the July-September period of the fiscal year. British retailers have increased the volume of sourcing from Bangladesh. The upward trend in the exchange rate of the pound sterling against the taka is also a major cause for the rise in exports from Bangladesh to the UK.
Also, Bangladesh was able to ride out an image crisis in the garment sector after factory remediation. Overall, European buyers are placing orders for higher volume of garment products as workplace safety has been ensured following the inspections. Although the UK market is attractive, it accounts for only eight to nine per cent of total garment exports from Bangladesh.
The average price level in the UK is extremely low in comparison with other EU markets and is under constant pressure. Traditionally, UK buyers tend to pay far less for similar products than the other EU retailers. This situation will aggravate further with Brexit, the plummeting of the pound sterling and the absence of a bilateral trade deal with Bangladesh.
So Bangladesh should start bilateral negotiations with the UK as soon as possible to secure a future export position or to prevent the current position from sliding further.
Sportswear manufacturer Goldwin has acquired a minority stake in Woolrich. The transaction is part of a global strategy to develop the Woolrich brand internationally. Woolrich has historically produced the core of its product with wool. It will now increase its offering adding new performance technologies for a new generation of outdoor enthusiasts.
In addition, Woolrich and Goldwin have entered into an industrial and financial partnership that will support Woolrich from the financial and industrial standpoints. Through the new partnership, Woolrich will develop a new and premium outdoor collection named Woolrich Outdoor that will capture the brand’s 187-year history and utilize Goldwin’s technology that is used by brands such as The North Face, Helly Hansen, and Speedo, among others.
The new Woolrich Outdoor line brings a new style of outdoor apparel for the next generation, combining technology applied natural science and the most traditional outdoor brand in US representing the east coast culture.
Goldwin is also considering the utilization of petroleum-free synthetic protein materials co-developed with its partner, Spiber, a Japanese start-up which has recently garnered attention for its revolutionary synthetic protein materials.
The new outdoor collection will provide uncompromising functionality, approaching with an attitude that always looks for the complex and mutual relationship with nature and seeks new discoveries, to design with a modern interpretation and high sensitivity.
Make it British forum will be held on November 2 in Manchester. The one-day forum will provide delegates the knowledge and expertise required to successfully manufacture, promote and sell a brand that is made in Britain. A host of industry experts, who understand what it takes to successfully negotiate the UK manufacturing supply chain, will be on hand to offer advice along with an inspiring line up of brand owners and manufacturers to help provide solutions to some challenges and set delegates well on the way to developing a great Made in Britain business.
Developing a product that is made in the UK is not always easy, and this forum aims to equip visitors with the expertise required. English Fine Cottons will throw light on how the first cotton spinning mill in the UK now affords businesses the opportunity to have a totally British supply chain. There will be an opportunity to quiz some of the UK’s best fashion and accessory manufacturers.
Founded in 2011, Make it British is the go-to resource for information on UK manufacturing and British-made brands. Make it British believes that a product’s provenance is of the utmost importance. Buying authentic British goods, manufactured by skilled craftsman using the finest materials, can help keep these skills alive in the UK.
Vietnam continues to surpass rivals in export growth to the US in spite of receiving no benefits from any trade preferential programs or free trade agreements. In the first eight months of 2017, Vietnam exported over $30.16 billion worth of goods to the US.
However, the Southeast Asian country’s garment-textile and footwear exports to the US are likely to face difficulties in future due to tighter regulations on product safety in the US to reduce trade deficit. Vietnam is the second biggest exporter to the US, after China. The US’ imports of Vietnamese garment-textile and footwear grew 8.74 per cent and 11.83 per cent respectively over the past 12 months.
US businesses are seeking their own investment opportunities in Vietnam as their country has withdrawn from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The American Apparel & Footwear Association and the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam held a series of activities in Ho Chi Minh City, including an international workshop on product safety and compliance issues.
Uzbekistan, the world’s fifth largest cotton exporter, has long relied upon forced agricultural labor but now that practice may be done away with. A decree has been issued categorically banning the use of children, along with education and healthcare workers, for harvesting operations.
The reform plan has two main pillars: mechanizing the harvest and increasing rates paid to cotton-pickers to attract more voluntary workers. Around two-thirds of the 3.7 million people involved in Uzbekistan’s 2015 harvest were voluntary, often rural women seeking an earnings boost.
Cotton-picking has been traditionally characterized as hashar, a term for voluntary labor that Uzbeks are expected to undertake for the good of the community. Driving teachers, doctors and students out of hospitals, schools and universities and into the cotton fields had been standard practice throughout Uzbekistan’s 26 years of independence.
Cotton has acquired almost existential value for the Uzbek economy – so much so that it has long been dubbed white gold. The deployment of forced labor and child labor has over the years prompted major international retailers to boycott Uzbek cotton. The country’s goal is to mechanize 80 per cent of the harvest by 2022. That is an ambitious target given that current levels are close to zero.
Bangladesh’s apparel exports continued to gaintrend in the month of December 2017, back from the slump it experienced in the middle of last year. In December, apparel exports contributed to over 83 per cent of the total combined exports from Bangladesh, as per latest statistics released by Export Promotion Bureau on January 4, 2018.
In October 2017, exports amounted to $2.29 billion. In total, the garment industry fetched $2.81 billion in the month of December, up from $2.52 billion in November 2017, a 11 per cent increase. So far, December’s apparel exports took the total to $14.77 billion for this fiscal year. In the July-December, December fetched 7.75 per cent more than what it did in the similar perioid in FY 2016-17.
In December, however, woven garments came on top at $1.46 billion, 51 per cent, of the total apparel export share. Meanwhile, knitwear fetched $1.35 billion. In November 2017, both knitwear and woven amounted to roughly around $1.25 billion. In September 2017, Bangladesh’s exports slumped significantly on the stretch of holidays and slowdown in exports of the apparel division. Then, the apparel export amounted to $1.62 billion –the combined output of the knitwear and woven segments.
The overall export performance of Bangladesh stood at $3.35 billion nearly 1.85 per cent lower to the target of $3.41 billion. On a year-on-year basis, exports in December 2016 was $3.09 billion, marking an8.4 per cent change in December 2017.
Sourcing executives have varying views on tapping into agents. For example, Li & Fung is an agent. The company is moving away from the traditional role of an agent towards a new supply chain model with more value added services. And even though factory direct has had greater appeal with companies trying to stay closer to their product and processes, that hasn’t hindered Li & Fung in its approach.
Li & Fung has slipped from its perch as a force vital to sourcing, but in recognizing that, the company has been working to restructure, revamp and renew faith in what an agent brings to the table.
Knowing that there’s still a role to play, Li & Fung has been considering how to appeal to a client that perhaps wasn’t knocking on its door before. The solution: Unbundling services. This is like ordering a la carte. There are core solutions the company offers and then tailored offerings, things like digital sampling, that a client could focus on if their budget doesn’t allow for an agent to manage every detail.
But using an agent really comes down to the needs of the business. Bonobos works with one agent and works factory direct with the rest. For Bonobos, building better direct relationships with vendors is vital to help scale the business, keep things innovative and allow the company to maintain the low level of inventory it keeps.
"Taiwan’s love interest with sports activities and a brewing expanse of micro-gyms and running clubs is offering a new wave of growth for sportswear companies. Last year alone there were more than 600 running races hosted on the island and Taipei City’s bike paths are overflowing with cyclists. This enthusiasm was visible during the recent Taipei Innovative Textile Application Show (TITAS) trade event at the Taiwan World Trade Center. Leading companies including manufacturers, equipment makers, and innovators gathered together to discover the latest in textile innovation from the island."
Taiwan’s love interest with sports activities and a brewing expanse of micro-gyms and running clubs is offering a new wave of growth for sportswear companies. Last year alone there were more than 600 running races hosted on the island and Taipei City’s bike paths are overflowing with cyclists. This enthusiasm was visible during the recent Taipei Innovative Textile Application Show (TITAS) trade event at the Taiwan World Trade Center. Leading companies including manufacturers, equipment makers, and innovators gathered together to discover the latest in textile innovation from the island. While there were many innovative offerings but they were just available to a select few. For Taiwan, this tendency for closed-door promotion isn’t limited to the trade show floor. Consumers around the world remain equally in the dark about textile innovation coming from Taiwan.
Taiwanese prowess
Since the past three decades, Taiwan has transformed itself from low-cost fabrics manufacturer to a global powerhouse specialising in functionally advanced textiles. As per Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, more than 70 per cent of the world’s outdoor sportswear, the largest application for functional textiles, is currently made using performance textiles from Taiwan. Taiwan has more than 4,300 textile manufacturers employing over 140,000 people, and total production value reached NT$409.3 billion (US$13.5 billion) in 2015. Global companies from Nike to Adidas to Under Armour source their functional textiles from Taiwan. Taiwan scores over others owing to its depth and speed of innovation as well as its eco-friendly production capabilities.
It’s just not performance wear, the city is making waves in eco-textiles as well. Some recent innovations include: fabric fibres made from oils derived from coffee beans and even trash reclaimed from the world’s oceans. Having said that experts believe Taiwan’s leadership in textile innovation could be short-lived if the nation fails to build a reputation among end-consumers. When one buys an outdoor hiking jacket or a pair of yoga pants, the brand on the outside signals the product’s US or European heritage, and the label inside declares the country of production; nowadays that’s likely to be Vietnam or Bangladesh. The name Taiwan, however, fails to appear at all, despite the fact that the product’s material and much of the production innovation have been originated from Taiwan.
Staking claim
Some stakeholders say they like to remain behind the curtains and are happy the way things are shaping up. But such a mindset might leave a permanent scar on the country’s projection as the textile innovation hub and the production might shift to other rising countries. Additionally, this tendency is restricting the emergence of local brands into the performance or eco-textile space, which is all the more detrimental for the country’s economic growth. That’s the reason Taiwan has just remained a contract manufacturer for years.
Is Taiwan in a position to afford such a loss? Just as Italy is recognised as home to the world’s best leather, and New Zealand the home to the best wool, Taiwan needs to build its technical innovation capabilities. Consumers should be as confident in buying outdoor sportswear with textiles from Taiwan as they are in buying eyeglasses with lenses made in Switzerland. In order to attain this, Taiwan needs a strategic, long-term promotional campaign to promote the nation’s leadership in functional and eco-friendly textile innovation and manufacturing practices.
With such an initiative, the country would be able to achieve two goals at the same time: Firstly, a positive reputation among consumers would lead to further growth, resulting in greater investment; and secondly it would offer a market leadership position which can be sustained over the years. It will also enthuse youngsters to take part in this changing paradigm. In the end, Taiwan needs to get out of traditional silos and come out in the open to stake its claim in the innovative textile domain.
South Africa is eyeing an economic turnaround riding on growth plans and investment projections in the textile & clothing industry. This sentiment was reflected by Jeff Radebe, Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, South Africa. After having witnessed a major downfall post 1994, the country started gaining economic strength in 2005. In Western Cape, government and industry jointly established the Cape Clothing Textile Cluster (CCTC) in 2005, a not-for-profit initiative that believed that struggling participants in the sector needed to pool resources and collaborate as a cluster to counter the effects of globalisation. They worked on lean thinking principle to continuously offer more value to customers with fewer resources.
In time, the Department of Trade and Industry developed a nation-wide Clothing and Textile Competitiveness Programme (CTCP) to assist the industry in upgrading processes, products and people in order to compete effectively against other low cost producing countries. The initiative provides financial assistance to organisations as well as training in best operating practices, including lean manufacturing and thinking. By 2013, textiles and clothing accounted for about 14 per cent of manufacturing employment and represented South Africa's second largest source of tax revenue. These initiatives created growth momentum and the CTCP was able to create 12,000 jobs and assisted more than 400 companies. Experts say, sales of domestic clothing, textiles, footwear and leather increased from about R41.8bn in 2010 to over R50bn in 2015; an increase of 21 per cent over five years. By contrast, they decreased by 6 per cent in the former five years from 2005 to 2010.
Learnings from K-Way
K-Way has been a great example of turnaround witnessed in the industry. In 2004, K-Way was operating at a loss and on the verge of shutting down. The company hired Bobby Fairlamb as GM with the aim of turning the business around in two years. K-Way benefited from the collaboration and support provided by both the CCTC and the CTCP. The latter provided funding and training in lean thinking that enabled K-Way to buy the best machinery available and double the scale of its production, while also improving quality. Later the organisation also benefited from an injection of enthusiasm and expertise from lean thinking consultant Herlecia Stevens. Fairlamb and his team used lean principles to identify and implement changes to achieve better results in the factory.
After initial success, they focussed on managing the much more difficult task of shifting organisation culture. People started becoming more engaged in their work and supervisors saw an increased ownership of the process. Absenteeism fell along with rework and reject rates. When Fairlamb joined K-Way, the factory was operating at 40 per cent productivity. This meant for every clothing item, which should have taken 10 minutes to manufacture, employees at the factory clocked roughly 16 minutes. By 2012, K-Way was operating at 75 per cent production efficiency. By 2015, it was charting an efficiency of 120 per cent, as employees took eight minutes or less to make the same garment. The ultimate result was, ‘If morale is up, all the KPIs are up’. If morale and engagement are down, you are always on the back foot. This case study actually would help industry in tiding through tough times.
