Apparel manufacturers in Bangladesh are investing in machinery and technology to cut production costs. Almost 100 new factories are coming up every year fully equipped with new technologies, compliant with factory norms. Around 250 factories have been using modern machines and technologies to meet international demand. State-of-the-art equipment helps reduce production cost by almost 40 per cent and raises productivity.

The collar stays machine is an example of the benefits of the latest technology. It helps the collar to stand on the neck a bit before it folds downwards. Earlier, it used to take ten to 11 workers to make 70,000 pieces to 80,000 pieces of collar stays. But now the same production can be achieved by only three workers with the help of automatic machines. The higher cost is spread out because a machine can yield a large volume and eventually increase efficiency.

Similarly carton machinery used for producing packaging material are costly but efficient in the long run. It takes 50 workers to produce 8,000 cartons to 10,000 cartons with manual machines, whereas automatic machinery can produce 15,000 to 20,000 cartons with only 25 workers. Bangladesh is fast growing as a major apparel accessory-producing hub.