Unveiling industry best practices
Knitting & Knitwear
A Textile Today Initiative l Published with Volume 11, Issue 09 l Pages 97 to 106
Seamless technology reduces 40% production time of Fakhruddin Textiles Mills Limited
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‘Automation is the crying need for apparel industry…’
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Seamless technology reduces 40% production time of Fakhruddin Textiles Mills Ltd. Fakhruddin Textiles Mills Ltd. brings seamless technology in Bangladesh for the first time. The State-of-the-art technology will help Bangladesh to cater different market segments in active wear. FT Research Team Bangladeshi knitting industry is currently going through major technology shift from low valueadded shirt and sweaters to high value-added seamless activewear. The Seamless technology is an innovative concept in producing clothing almost free of seams. The technology introduced almost 30 years ago in Europe. However, Bangladesh experienced the seamless technology in 2015 via Fakhruddin Textiles Mills Ltd. (FTML) a sister concern of Urmi Group who brings the technology to Bangladesh. In 2015, the company started a pilot project with five Santoni machines and now 40 modern seamless machines are in production. Seamless garmenting
Figure 2: Santoni seamless machines at FTML.
is highly technical and innovative job, it needs technically sound and creative design and development team. When the company was planning to adopt the technology, the machine manufacturers thought that Bangladesh might not be ready to adopt it. However, the futuristic company showed confidence to step into the new era.
Figure 1: high value-added seamless activewear in FTML.
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Leading sports and fashion brands across the world know all too well that the demand for seamless activewear is rising rapidly.
Sports brands like Adidas, Puma, Nike, Reebok, and Decathlon are some big players, also other fashion brands are leaning towards it. “Initially the response from the buyers were poor, customers couldn’t get confidence that such high-tech production can be done in Bagladesh, but over the past three years we demonstrated our ability,” Faiaz Rahman, Director of Urmi Group said to Textile Today FT Research Team. In the beginning, the company developed designs for multiple customers and closed their first order from NEXT. PUMA boosted up the company with plenty of orders and they became the main buyer. Other brands like Celio, M&S and Target are also showing great interest. Currently, it is producing seamless t-shirts, underwear and sports bra. With current capacity and order, they are producing 50,000 pieces of garments every month.
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Although the technology eliminates the fabrication process and reduces production time to almost 40%, but the machines are very expensive. The two major tasks of this process are product design and machine operation. Also, machine operation and maintenance is very complex. The company assigned two foreign specialists to look after the issue. “We are working with Santoni to train our people, we sent four of our people abroad for training. Now Santoni technical team and foreign experts are providing training to our local designers and machine operator/technicians,” said Faiaz Rahman. He also expressed, “Generally one operator should operate five machines but our people still did not reach that level of technical expertise and now one operator is handling only two machines which should be improved.”
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shape and measurement of the product. Currently, our product rejection rate is high but we are moving in the right direction to bring that within a competitive range,” Faiaz Rahman added. Today’s consumer wants something beyond requirement-based garments and they prefer activewear with variation in design and characteristics. Figure 3: Faiaz Rahman, Director, Urmi Group Seamless apparel is beautiful and offers comfort and As it is a new technology for support that is superior to cut Bangladesh, technical knowand sew garments. There is an how is a big challenge for the enormous possibility and scope entrepreneurs. The technology for Bangladesh to adopt the adaptation and the learning curve seamless technology to penetrate is a lengthy process. the activewear market with value“Raw materials and yarn selection added product. Setting up this requires more technical expertise. industry will help Bangladesh to In dyeing and finishing stage, even move up in the new value chain. a little deviation could affect the
‘Gina Tricot’ will increase imports from Bangladesh to 1 billion dollar Swedish fashion company Gina Tricot launches its sourcing office in Bangladesh and it has declared to increase its imports from Bangladesh to one billion dollars by 2019. Desk Report One of the biggest Swedish fashion company Gina Tricot has launched their sourcing office in Dhaka on 6 September at Banani in the capital. The Swedish company has more than 2000 employees worldwide. “Bangladeshi manufacturers should go diversify products and also need more sustainable product for sustainable business,” said Charlotta Schlyter, Swedish Ambassador to Bangladesh, at the launching ceremony. “Our aim is to increase and develop business. We will increase imports from Bangladesh to one billion dollars by 2019,” said Magnus Månsson, CEO, Gina Tricot. “Last ten years we have been
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Figure: Swedish ambassador, brands representative, factories owners were present at the launching ceremony.
staying in Bangladesh market. More than nine factories are working with us who make all kinds of women items for us,” said, Ahasan Mahmood, Country Manager, Gina Tricot.
We are so proud of our new office and we hope this will create a positive impact on both our factories and for our business, added Ahasan Mahmood.
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Sinha Knitting is moving towards automation
For several reasons, including productivity increase and fast fashion trends, automation is becoming a crying need in the garments manufacturing process. Following this latest trends, Sinha Knitting Ltd is adopting automation in their production process. FT Research Team Sinha Knitting Limited, a sister concern of Opex and Sinha Group, has taken a challenging decision of adopting automation. The company is going to install 54 new state-of-the-art machineries that will allow producing 30 tons of finer quality fabric per day. The knitting division is going for a major technology transformation very soon to cater to the growing demand of the textile industry. As its machinery were installed back in 90’s and updated time to time, but still a large portion of the machines remain semi-automated.
and they are using Fong’s high temperature and high-pressure fabric dyeing machine. Additional four machines are going to be added in dyeing and finishing section that will increase the dyeing and finishing capacity to 20 tons per day.
“For knitting garments production, now they have Figure 2: Sinha Knitting Ltd going for significant 24 lines, in November of this automation within next few months. year, it will be 32 lines and group is the country’s largest within one year, total lines will be integrated company. They have 60,” he added. spinning, weaving, knitting, yarn Levis and Levis Hybrid is their dyeing, fabric dyeing, main buyer, in addition, they are washing, and sewing also manufacturing garments for line. Being a fully VF Asia, Crocodile, Tola Vintage compliant factory and Norwest. The environment they accomplished is always a big concern for Sinha the majority of the Knitting, it has central biological ETP. parameters set by the In Sinha Knitting Ltd, workers Accord and Alliance. enjoy obligatory 5% compensation Shah Alam Dalim, who increment as per company rule and has 25 years combined service benefit after their retirement. experience in the textile Figure 1: Opex and Sinha using state-of-the-art machinery industry, for fabric dyeing. said, “Sinha “We are reinvesting on this Knitting Limited started plant to be fully automated. We its journey as the have already started working subsidiary of the group. with suppliers and technical The project is very much supporters,” emphasized Md. Shah quality concern and Alam Dalim, Director of Knitting & at present, the knitting Dyeing, said Textile Today. capacity is 12 tons per day.” Opex and Sinha Group started Currently, the dyeing its journey in 1996 at Kanchpur, unit capacity is 14 tons Dhaka. Opex and Sinha Textile
Figure 3: Md. Shah Alam Dalim, Director of Knitting & Dyeing.
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Sweater exports continue to rise Staff Correspondent Sweater, a sub-sector of the apparel sector, has seen a sharp growth in the last fiscal year, thanks to prolonged winter in the western world. According to latest data of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), in the fiscal year 2017-18, Bangladesh earned $3.67 billion, which is 9.32% higher compared to the $3.36 billion it earned in FY16-17.
sweater manufacturers made a huge investment to upgrade machinery to move for automation. As a result, Bangladesh’s sweater production capacity, as well as workers’ productivity, have increased,” Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Vice President Mohammed Nasir said the Textile Today.
Sweater has contributed 11.98% to overall readymade garment exports of $30.62 billion. In the Fiscal Year 2017-18, Bangladesh’s export earnings from the apparel sector have seen an 8.76%
On top of that, the winter season in the western countries has expanded due to global climate change. It has increased demands of winter clothing products. So, it brings blessing to Bangladeshi
opportunity for Bangladesh that has quality products at a reasonable price, Salam said, also a Former President of BGMEA. In reaping the benefits of China, AB Mirza Azizul Islam, a trade analyst and economist, asked the manufacturers to move for diversification of products and making new investment on product development. He also urged the government to take measures in exploring new markets. On the other hand, manufacturers have to identify the new products, which are being left by the Chinese manufacturers. Barriers to grow
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Despite having a sound growth, there is more room to grow. However, there are also challenges, which is hindering the prospects of the emerging sub-sector.
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Exports earnings from sweater even could be more, if there are no barriers such as port congestion, delayed delivery and transportation hindrance,” Target Group Managing Director, Azharul Islam said the Textile Today.
2017-18
Sweater exports earnings in $ billion
Figure 1: Sweater exports earnings in $ billion for FY 2017-18. Source: EPB
growth to 30.61 billion. While, the country’s total, exports earnings rose to $36.66 billion in the same period. Bangladesh, the second largest exporter of clothing products, has a huge opportunity in increasing exports of sweater products, as it is upgrading technology. While the global demand is increasing due to expanded winter in the Western world. On top of that, Bangladesh offers quality products at an affordable price. These have pushed the export earnings from the sector up. Technological upgradation helps to grow “In the recent years, Bangladeshi
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sweater manufacturers, said Nasir. Meanwhile, China’s business relocation and rise in wages have brought more work orders in Bangladesh. “If you look into the recent export trend of clothing products of China, it is losing its market share in the global markets. Since the workers’ wages in China is increasing, manufacturers are shifting their businesses to include higher-end products, and buyers are searching for new sourcing destinations,” Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) President Abdus Salam Murshedy said Textile Today. So, the business shifting from China has created an enormous
Talking to the sector people opined that as a sub-sector of RMG, sweater industry can contribute over $8 billion to meet Bangladesh’s export target of $50 billion by 2021, said Islam. He urged Bangladesh government to increase port capacity to reduce lead-time. “Bangladesh has good quality product at a reasonable price. But there is a shortage of raw materials to produce high-end goods, technical expertise,” said Md Moshiul Azam Shajal, Managing Director of Posmi Sweaters. To remove these barriers, we need a stable and long-term policy to ensure the business-friendly atmosphere in the country, he added.
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Automation
‘Automation is the crying need for apparel industry…’ Customer choices are changing rapidly, they want value-added product and in this regard, automation can offer value addition in garment products. H N Ashiqur Rahman, General Manager, Brother International Singapore Pte Ltd. Bangladesh RMG industry, the second largest ready-made garment exporter in the world, has scrambled many challenges and still it is overcoming many hard situations. Now the industry is moving forward with the latest technology. Many apparel millers are using the latest technology for better productivity to cope up with fast fashion trends. Machinery companies also continuously working on bringing new featured machinery. H N Ashiqur Rahman, General Manager, Brother International Singapore Pte Ltd, is one of the most wellknown professionals, working as a technology provider for more than a decade in the apparel industry.
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Recently he shared his views on apparel trends, technology, and market in a recent conversation with Textile Today. Textile Today: How do you see the transformation of the Bangladesh textile industry in terms of Garments trends and technology? H N Ashiqur Rahman: Thanks for your thoughtful question. You know the entire textile industry is mainly sewing based. Our factory owners give capital investment for ends product operation process which means sewing and finishing section. So, industry transformation depends on how sewing technology is shifting. I have been serving in
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this industry for the last 15 years. Once upon a time, I saw sewing machine was operated by button, extra sewing thread was cut manually by helper and oil leaking from machines. At present, the technology is shifting rapidly. Now we are using computerized sewing machine, auto trimming system, direct drive technology, and digital flexibility feeding system. The industrial sewing machine has changed the way of whole clothing industry operation. It has increased the speed of production, which is unmatched with the speed of hands. Because of the technological revolution, now we have bargaining capacity to achieve a higher price in case of
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high-quality product. Textile Today: China is the giant player in the textile manufacturing industry worldwide, though they are closing their basic garments manufacturing industries and Bangladesh is trying to grab that market. So, how do you see the prospects of Bangladesh textile and apparel market in future? Ashiqur Rahman: Bangladesh textile and apparel industry is continuously growing and looking for new opportunities. In JulyAugust 2018, our export growth increases more than 10%. In the last five years our factories went through massive changes and now maximum factory introduces themselves as a compliant factory. Seven out of ten green factories of all over the world are in Bangladesh. In 2017-18, export earnings from the RMG sector is USD 30.16 billion, posting a 9% growth in the last fiscal year. I hope after five years; our industry growth will be double. Because last few years buyers were slow to place an order due to ongoing safety inspections in the apparel sector. But now they are changing their mindset as the safety inspection has almost come to an end showing significant progress and that restored buyer’s confidence to place more orders here. In addition, Bangladesh will be the next popular hotspot of apparel sourcing after China. Textile Today: What is the recent innovation of industrial sewing machine and how does it helps the industry to increase quality and productivity? H N Ashiqur Rahman: Industrial sewing machines are updating day by day. Many companies are adding new features to increase productivity. For example, they are using direct drive technology, it reduces the two-thirds portion of total energy while the needle is running. In past, there was no such energy efficient technology. Another addition is auto-trimming technology, using this technology
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Figure 2: A Brother sewing machine in operation.
we can cut up to 3mm or less as per as buyer requirements. It is a new innovation for the industrial sewing machine. I can also add, in the past, the rate of needle breakage was higher but the new innovation of technology reduces needle breakage percentage and also increases the rate of production. Textile Today: Day by day, the whole supply chain is getting compact and technology replacing the workforce. Do you think automation is a threat for garments workers? H N Ashiqur Rahman: I think automation creates an opportunity to expand our garments industry in terms of productivity and value-addition. It’s true that, naturally human involvement will decrease in cases of automation but our worker’s efficiency will grow. Workers salary also will be increased. Customer choice is changing rapidly, they want the value-added product. Automation can offer valueaddition in garments product for the international market. Brothers understand this trend and we have already started to supply IMB automation for the industry. In this situation, automation is the crying need for the industry to sustain the business. Textile Today: What is the latest
addition ‘Brother’ offering to the apparel industry? H N Ashiqur Rahman: Brother is a 110 years old world-renowned sewing machine manufacturing company having worldwide operation origin from Japan. It is continuously doing R&D to introduce new solutions for the textile and apparel industry. In the apparel industry, what ‘Brother’ do is always an example for others. Recently Brother introduces a new single needle machine called S-7250A with new technology DFF (FigiFlex Feed). This DFF system is the latest solution for our apparel industry. This technology offers 3mm remaining thread after sewing. Needle breakage is an acute problem for the sewing machine, it hampers productivity hugely. But DFF technology reduces the possibility of needle breakage nearly 50% compared to previous technology. This machine is integrated with complete sealed aluminum oil tank, which will reduce oil stain problem and unnecessary expenses of the factory. The most beneficial feature ‘puckering free sewing quality’ is possible with this machine because of the adaptation of DFF technology as this machine can change the feed motion depending on sewing material and process.
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