vol.

4 Issue 1

Editor-in-Chief
DEEPAK MOHINDRA may 2015
Editor
ILA SAXENA
CONTENTS
Chief Response Editor
VINITA PANDEY

Copy Editor
VEERESHWAR SOBTI

Asst. Copy Editor

16
cover story
SAHIL SEHGAL Go For Workwear: Fetch Higher
FOBs With Minimum Investment
Asst. Editor-Technical
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Assistant Manager - Marketing & Advertising

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8 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015

 EDITORIAL
It seems like yesterday when we launched Apparel Online in Bangladesh, yet it’s almost like
we’ve always been with the industry. In these three years, we have met and befriended so many
wonderful people that it has become our second home. My team is always excited to be in the
country and no amount of political unrest has ever deterred them from being with the industry.
Looking back at these three years, it has been an emotional journey… We were there when Rana
Plaza collapsed; we felt the pain when fire gutted the Tazreen Fashions factory, pride swelled our
chest when international buyers clamoured to support the industry in transforming it into a safe
working place… In these years we have become part ‘Bangladeshi’.
I remember that in the first year, my editorial in the May 2012 edition, passionately appealed
to the industry to consider us as one of them, and today the mails I get convinces me that our
magazine has not only found acceptance in the industry, but many consider us as partners in
growth as well… What better endorsement could we have...?
Over these three years, we have covered a vast subject-base with timely attention to critical
issues and concerns. But I am sure there must be many more topics that you would like to read
about… do let us know, so that we can plan our issues accordingly. Constructive feedbacks are
the backbone of any progressive media, and we constantly look for the same from our readers.
We look forward to the continual support and affection of the industry to grow together and take
the industry to the next level… Thanks again for your warm acceptance.
In this issue, we have some interesting articles beginning with a rundown on a developing product
category – ‘Workwear’. Not many realize that this category is not too difficult to handle, provided
some interventions are incorporated in the sewing lines. Some big- and medium-sized players in
this category explain the potential and challenges of working in the workwear category. The CEO
of Basic Apparels, a major success story in workwear manufacturing, shares shopfloor secrets.
Also in the spotlight is Silver Line Group, which has made Bangladesh proud by being the
country’s first vertically integrated shirt unit. We have many integrated denim units, but Silver
Line has taken the plunge to move up the value chain, setting an example for others to follow.
In our Buyer Segment, an exclusive interaction with Sudhir Nair, Country Manager, Connor
International Ltd. – Bangladesh Liaison Office, highlights the need for the industry to also look at
the small quantity business as the retail scenario worldwide is now moving towards more styles
in lesser quantities.

Deepak Mohindra
Editor-in-Chief

10 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015

mindtree
m nd treei
L e a d i n g D i s c u s s i o n s
Bangladesh imports a lot of fabric and accessories from China, Hong Kong and other countries.
What are the difficulties at ground level in importing of fabric and trims? What can be a viable
and possible solution of the same? Have you ever tried to find a solution of this issue? Share your
experience with us.
M. Rezaul Alam Miru, Managing
Director, Galpex Limited 
We are now enjoying a three-
stage GSP facility instead of a
single stage; this also includes
importing of foreign fabrics.
Basically, importing fabrics from
China and other countries is not
making a big difference in price
nowadays. Moreover, our locally
produced fabrics are now equally
competitive in terms of quality
vis-à-vis imported fabrics, but
in terms of prices, we are not
competitive because besides the
manufacturing cost, we also have
to cover the insurance and inland
transportation cost, which is an
additional cost of about US $ 10 per
yard of fabric.
M. Rezaul Alam Miru
“My suggestion is that the
foreign textile companies
should make their
warehouse and dyeing
unit including laboratory
in Bangladesh under the
bonded warehouse license,
so that they can move their
fabric in RFD (Results-
Framework Document)
form to the warehouse
in Bangladesh.”
12 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015
A big problem with imported fabrics
is the lead time, which is about 30
days including transit and clearance
time, that buyers sometimes don’t
allow us due to the shrinking lead
time. In that case we lose about
60 days including 30 days for
production only to in-house the
fabric out of the total lead time
of 90 days.
My suggestion is that the foreign
textile companies should make their
warehouse and dyeing unit including
laboratory in Bangladesh under the
bonded warehouse license, so that
they can move their fabric in RFD
(Results-Framework Document) form
to the warehouse in Bangladesh and
also dyeing it here to reduce the lead
and transit time.
M. A. Mannan, Managing Director,
Meek Sweater Ltd. 
Every year we are spending more
than US $ 5 billion to import yarn,
fabrics and trims from China,
Hong Kong and other countries
and to import these items we are
facing problems mainly due to the
delivery time, quality issues and
additional prices because of the
extended lead time. In context of
quality, the suppliers do not keep
their commitment, and as far as
pricing is concerned, once they
realize how badly we need the
fabric, they start quoting higher
prices by giving numerous reasons
which at times we cannot question
as we need to meet our deadlines
committed to the buyers. We
face this problem more with the
suppliers who are nominated by the
buyers as they fully know our plight
that it’s mandatory for us to buy
fabrics from them, so they increase
their prices by 10% to 15% vis-à-
vis other suppliers. These issues
impact our CM greatly and it’s we
who bear it and not the buyers.
I sincerely urge our Government
to come forward and encourage
the procurement of fabrics locally
for which it needs to support both
the local and foreign investors
to set up fabric manufacturing
units here. The Government will
have to play a proactive role to
ensure better infrastructure, which
includes availability of gas and
electricity; and providing land
at a good price to encourage
private and foreign investors so
that they feel secured to invest
in Bangladesh.
M. A. Mannan
“I sincerely urge our
Government to come
forward and encourage
the procurement of fabrics
locally for which it needs
to support both the local
and foreign investors to set
up fabric manufacturing
units here. The Government
will have to play a
proactive role to ensure
better infrastructure.”
mindtree
Md. Shahidullah Azim,
Vice President, BGMEA 
Although in the past Bangladesh
was largely dependent on
imported fabrics for RMG export,
but now the country is almost
self-sufficient (95%) in knitted
fabric and imports only 40%
of woven fabrics. In importing
fabrics from abroad, we do face
some difficulties like the imported
fabrics sometimes do not meet
the importers’ specifications or
fulfil their requirements which
create a lot of problems like back
and forth fabric replacement
which causes either order
cancellation or stock lot. Though
in these cases suppliers ought
to take the responsibility but
sometimes a few of them defy
also, especially those who do
not have their local offices in
Dhaka. Then, we have little to do
to hold them responsible as the
payment is made beforehand
and once they get the payments
they do not bother about what as
garment manufacturers we face.
I think one of the solutions to this
problem can be setting up local
offices in Bangladesh by the fabric
suppliers so that the garment
manufacturers can approach
them in person and explain them
the problems face to face.
Md. Shahidullah Azim
“In importing fabrics from
abroad, we do face some
difficulties like the imported
fabrics sometimes do not
not meet the importers'
specifications or fulfil their
requirements which create
a lot of problems like back
and forth fabric replacement
which causes either order
cancellation or stock lot.”
14 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015
Ashis Kumar Das,
CEO, Aryatex Sourcing  We welcome
We are procuring knitted fabrics your views
from Bangladesh as there are
many knit composite factories Apparel Online has completed 3 years and is
here; however from China we going strong... only due to your keen interest in
import high-end fancy and our stories. First, a big thank you to all of you...!
synthetic woven fabrics, pleated
polyester, 100 per cent cotton, We have given coverage to a wide range of
polyester viscose and cotton topics – expansions, new products, technology,
viscose. As of now, the total ‘green’ factories, compliance, sustainability,
requirement is of one million labour problems... You name it, and the chances
metres of fabric per month. So far are that we may have covered the same in some
I have never faced any problem
issue or the other.
in fabric procurement from
China as it takes four days to get We would like to know your views on why you
fabric from China to Bangladesh. enjoy our magazine... We must have definitely
Fabric production lead time after missed out on some new and important
the approval takes maximum ‘topics’ or stories and there is always room
of four weeks. The transit time
for improvement... Please share and suggest
from the mill to Shanghai is of
what more we can do and cover to make your
three days; and 16 to 18 days
transit time from Chittagong to favourite industry magazine more informative
Dhaka as it takes a few days for and useful.
customs approval and also the
road transportation between 2012
Chittagong and Dhaka at times
consumes 24 hours and if there
is some strike or hartal, then it
may take 4-5 days or even more.
So, if I may talk about a solution,
then it’s only about improving
the infrastructure in terms of
better road connectivity between
Dhaka and Chittagong along with 2013
speedy customs approval.
2014
Ashis Kumar Das
“So far I have never faced
any problem in fabric 2015
procurement from China as it
takes four days to get fabric
from China to Bangladesh.
Fabric production lead
time after the approval
takes maximum of four
weeks. The transit time
from the mill to Shanghai
is of three days; and 16 to
18 days transit time from Be a part of our latest discussions...
Post your comments on www.apparelresources.com
Chittagong to Dhaka.”
coverstory
Go For
Workwear
Fetch Higher FOBs With
Minimum Investment
How does a shirt manufacturer move
up the value chain without adding
cost for fine shirting fabrics or using
high-end pressing and finishing
machines for making dress shirts? How
does a bottom manufacturer move
up the value chain without investing
in washing equipments? The answer
to both these questions is ‘workwear
clothing’. While a shirt manufacturer
can make shirts that are part of
a complete uniform worn by a
waiter, pilot, security guard or an
engineer, a bottom manufacturer
can make dungarees, bottoms
and shorts with special pockets
for holding tools and by just
moving into the category
a certain hike in the FOB
is assured. The reason
being, the manufacturing
and testing parameters are
a notch higher than that of
regular apparels because
workwear clothing has to
withstand 8 to 9 hours of
rigorous usage for at least
5 days in a week. Majorly
manufactured by China and
India, workwear clothing has
also started gaining popularity
in Bangladesh due to the rising
wages in both the countries.
To understand the product,
market and business of
workwear clothing, Apparel
Online spoke to one of the
biggest manufacturers of
workwear in Bangladesh, Basic
Apparels, and also to the biggest
workwear sourcing company
in Bangladesh, Dimensions,
along with some inputs from
other smaller players.
16 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015
W
hen working UK-based sourcing company
in dangerous which exclusively specializes in
environments, workwear clothing. Established in
where the 1948, Dimensions set up its office
possibility of injury from in Dhaka in 2010 and is currently
mechanical shock, heat, flames, sourcing products worth US $
chemicals and electrical arcs is 45 million, which is 45% of the
a daily reality, safety workwear company’s global sourcing. “Knit
made with special fabric is the products is the largest category
best defence. Workwear clothing sourced from the country in terms
can be broadly divided into three of volumes as we have majorly
categories – uniforms, industrial shifted sourcing of T-shirts
clothing and protective clothing. and polo shirts from China
Being the biggest category, the to Bangladesh. We are in the
process of upgrading an existing
segment of uniforms includes
vendor to produce seam sealed
outfits for hotels, airlines, police,
security personnel, hospitals outerwear jackets with reflective
and pharmaceutical industries. tapes, which we are currently
The category of industrial sourcing from China and such
clothing includes engineered apparels are not being done by
shirts, dungarees and cargo many in the country and those
pants, required for doing tasks who are doing it are very highly
such as welding, carpentry, etc. priced,” shares Padam Vaish,
The third and the most niche Country Manager, Dimensions
Clothing Bangladesh.
category of workwear clothing
includes protective clothing such Dimensions works on contractual-
as boiler suits and apparels for basis with companies in sectors
fire fighters, which are made with such as hospitality, security,
flame-retardant fabrics. Mostly, all logistics, finance, retail,
the garments have anti-bacterial healthcare and utility services.
and other similar finishes, while Through these contracts,
surface embellishments such as Dimensions takes note of the
embroidery and printing are only number of employees, future
required for making logos. recruitment plans, sizing and
Claiming to source every product how often an employee needs a
mentioned above but specializing uniform or workwear clothing,
in uniforms, Dimensions is a which helps the company in
Uniforms not only include high-end jackets with reflective tapes, but also knitted T-shirts for staff personnel

forecasting its product mix
for manufacturing. As per the
company’s website, it has shipped
17 million products in 2013 alone,
including 5.8 million industrial
workwear, 2.8 million shirts and
blouses, and 2.5 million tailored
clothing – the top three categories
for the company. Dimensions
claims to dress 4 million workers
in UK alone, which is 13% of the
UK’s total working population.
When talking of uniforms, it
includes the complete getup
of headgear, shoes, outerwear
and main uniform, all of which
is prepared as a package for
every employee of the company
including employees with
physical disabilities. “Due to
this bespoke nature of our
business, the order quantities
cannot be standardized and
the size ratios vary drastically.
Hence, skilled merchandisers
are required to handle workwear
and initially the manufacturers in
the country were not interested
in doing workwear due to the
coverstory
same reason. But in the last
four years, my suppliers have
asked me to give them more
workwear orders as they don’t
want to do the regular apparels
anymore,” highlights Padam.
Equally significant is the fitting
of the garments, which is tightly
controlled by the UK office of
Dimensions to the extent of
supplying the patterns to the
manufacturers and QAs from
the Dhaka office are literally
stationed in the vendors’
factories throughout the year.
Moreover, complete assistance
“Due to this bespoke nature of our business, the order
is given by technicians from the
quantities cannot be standardized and the size ratios vary
company’s office in UK in terms
of machinery, operator training,
drastically. Hence, skilled merchandisers are required
manufacturing systems and even to handle workwear.” – Padam Vaish, Country Manager,
assurance is given for sourcing a Dimensions Clothing Bangladesh
product from a vendor for a fixed
period of time.
Dimensions. “An outerwear jacket pant, any manufacturer making
Dhaka-based Best Shirts is manufacturer can do workwear similar products for other
making most of the formal jackets by adding the necessary retailers can do the same. But for
uniforms, and Chittagong-based equipments required for reflective making niche products such as
companies Geebee Garments tape attaching and seam sealing. flame resistant protectivewear
and Timex Garments are Similarly, when making a dress and special reflective clothing,
producing outerwear jackets for shirt, formal jacket or a dress one definitely needs a specialized
MAY 2015 | Apparel Online Bangladesh 17
coverstory
Industrial workwear includes
dungarees, bottoms and full-body
suits for mechanical activities such as
carpentry, welding, etc.
18 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015
“Germany has a
good demand for
workwear, followed
by the USA because
heavy machinery
and automobile
manufacturing is still
booming in these
countries. Moreover,
since these countries
are developed, no
one works in the
manufacturing sector
without wearing
workwear apparels.
Our next target is the
American market.”
– Ajay Agal, CEO,
Basic Apparels
manufacturing setup,” adds
Padam. Some other vendors of
Dimensions are BHIS Apparels,
Interlink Apparels, Anlima
Group, Vertex Group and
Shanin Corporation.
Another company with a similar
niche is Rasa Fashion, a buying
office with a small factory of
125 sewing and 11 knitting
machines, producing knitted
T-shirts as a part of workwear
clothing. Established in 2008,
Rasa has supplied T-shirts to
companies such as Starbucks
Coffee Company and is sourcing
workwear shirts, sweaters and
bottoms for companies such as
Phoenix Uniforms from 4 other
factories in Gazipur. “We are
capable of sourcing any kind
of workwear clothing for our
buyers and a recent addition to
our product portfolio has been
caps as a part of workwear
clothing. There are quite a lot of
cap manufacturing factories in
Gazipur and the raw materials
required for cap manufacturing
are present in Bangladesh. In one
shipment we shipped out 120,000
caps and due to the size of that
order, the FOB rate per cap was
just 75 cents,” shares Sultan
Ahmed, Managing Director,
Rasa Fashion. With a turnover
of US $ 4 million, the company
is also supplying caps to the
French Navy. “Presently, the flow
of workwear orders has declined
from Europe due to recession.
We recently started working
with two workwear buyers from
Russia, a market for which we
are working for the first time.
Since the importers cannot
open LC, they give 50% of the
money upfront and 50% after
the completion of the order,”
adds Sultan. Due to the nature of
uniform business, replenishment
accounts for a majority of Rasa
Fashion’s sourcing.
From the experiences of
Dimensions and Rasa Fashion,
it seems that manufacturing
workwear requires a factory
to have a flexible and mid-
sized setup for handling the
style changeovers and small
quantities. But an exception to
this model is Basic Apparels,
a casual bottom manufacturer
with 1,000 sewing machines,
which has successfully converted
its factory into a specialised
workwear manufacturing
unit. “We are manufacturing
industrial workwear for heavy
engineering and automobile
industries, carpenters, boiler
suits and other such areas of
mechanical works. Such clothing
Contd. on page 20
BASIC APPARELS
– Success story
of workwear
manufacturing
Although Ajay Agal was
recruited as the CEO by Stefan
Pirker, Managing Director of
the company for the workwear
project, Ajay shares the credit
for its success with Aplos
Global, a consultancy firm
headed by Virender Goyal,
Ex-MD and Country Manager of
EPIC Group Bangladesh. “We
started working with Aplos in
August 2014, shortly before
we started manufacturing
workwear bottoms. Since then
we have shipped more than
1 million pieces without any
major safety issues,” shares
Ajay, who has previously worked
with EPIC Group as the COO for
8 years.
The biggest change done in
the facility of Basic Apparels
was doubling the size of the
sewing lines from 35 sewing
machines to 75 sewing
machines. The increase in
the number of machines was
necessary because of the
multiple operations and high
SAM value of the industrial
workwear apparels which starts
from 35 minutes and can go
up to 120 minutes in case of a
boiler suit. Besides the SAM
value, workwear clothing also
presents challenges in terms of
stitch length and sewing threads
because the usual SPI is 11
stitches per inch, and threads
with different thickness are
used as the needle and bobbin
threads, respectively, with the
needle thread being thicker.
The 1,000 sewing machines in
the factory of Basic Apparels
has been divided into 12
sewing lines inclusive of part
preparation and final assembly
lines, along with finishing and
final packing at the end of the
line. “With the help of online
packing, we do not get surprises
at the time of shipment in terms
of the quantity. There are no
missing pieces and even the

extra 1% fabric which is cut,
is converted into garment and
offered to the buyers, enabling
us to have nearly 100% cut
to ship ratio,” explains Ajay.
Another intervention for certain
efficiency improvement is the
employment of zero helpers
– replaced not only by using
automated sewing machines but
also by working on the principle
of industrial engineering for
methods improvement and using
innovative work aids.
Basic Apparels has gone
for suitable automation
that reduces the cycle time
of sewing operations while
keeping the flexibility of the
sewing operator intact. For
double-needle sewing, a double-
needle lockstitch machine
with a split needle bar was
used. Due to the specialized
needle bar, the machine can
also be used as a single-needle
lockstitch machine, a feature
which is useful in turning the
garment at pocket corners
and can even be used for
single-needle operations. “The
kind of workwear currently
being produced by us has
double-needle sewing almost
everywhere and hence the
utilization of the double-needle
lockstitch machines is 110%.
But it would not be the case
after 6 months when buyers
will place orders for industrial
workwear with minimal double-
needle work, as the demand
keeps on shifting from single- to
double-needle and double- to
single-needle sewing every
season,” highlights Ajay. Due to
continuous high needle work,
all the sewing machines are
equipped with large capacity
bobbins and automatic
bobbin winders.
Some of the critical sewing
operations have been deskilled
drastically with the use of
work aids and attachments
developed by the company. One
such intervention was done
to optimize the operation in
which a reflective tape was
to be sewn in-between the
side seam. Previously done
coverstory
in three steps, the operation
can now be done in a single
go wherein the panels with
the tape inbetween are joined
together through an overlock
machine and the tape is fed
through a simple attachment.
“Due to such interventions,
we have reduced the pool of
sewing operations that require
specialized training. Hence we
multi-skill a set of operators in
very specific operations, while
the rest of the sewing operators
require no formal training,”
shares Ajay, who claims that Panels with the tape in-between are joined together through an overlock machine and the tape is fed
due to such deskilling initiatives through a simple attachment, thereby saving two operations
some helpers were successfully
upgraded to sewing operators.
The present operator-efficiency
is between 65% and 70%.
Once operators surpass the
70% efficiency mark, the
company would plan to start
giving incentives as it does not
see value in giving the same
before 70%.
There are 16 QCs in one
line – from inline to packing
because final packing is also a
part of the sewing line. 7 QCs
are placed within and at the
end of the sewing line, 7 are
placed within and at the end Bartacks are very critical to the quality of industrial workwear clothing and one such bottom being
manufactured by Basic Apparels had 52 bartacks for ensuring safety
of the finishing line and the
remaining two are the roaming
QCs, who randomly check the
output of sewing operators. The
inline QCs are responsible for
checking the sewing defects
whereas the end-line QCs check
the overall look and getup of
the garment.
The most stringent aspect of
the quality checking is sewing
margins and there is no negative
tolerance in this case. So after
the sewing of every patch
pocket, a QC is there to check
the same as the whole garment
can be rejected because of this,
and Basic Apparels claims to A double-needle lockstitch machine with a split needle bar can also be used as a single-needle
lockstitch machine, a feature which is useful in turning the garment at pocket corners.
have maintained a rejection rate
of almost 0.5%.
As the goods are passed on to the auditor will speak to the the CEO. The company has
the end-line packing, an auditor QC of the line. If the lot fails for defined its KPI for DHU for
picks up 100 pieces from the the 2nd time, the auditor will every operation at 8%, which
lot randomly and audits the speak to the Quality Manager is updated on an hourly
same at 2.5 AQL. If the 1st lot is and in case of a third instance, basis, to keep a check on the
rejected in the AQL inspection, the auditor will directly go to quality performance.
MAY 2015 | Apparel Online Bangladesh 19
coverstory
Caps and T-shirts embroidered with a
company’s logo are also being sourced
from Bangladesh due to the country’s
competence in both the products
20 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015
Contd. from page 18
has special safety pockets in
ergonomic locations to keep work
tools. In a workwear, garment
safety is of the highest priority, if
any component of the workwear
comes off, tears or rips, while the
person is working, then brands
have to pay hefty claims for
that,” points out Ajay Agal, CEO,
Basic Apparels, a subsidiary
of Merchantex Co. BD. Ltd.,
which is a 27-year-old buying &
sourcing organization sourcing
from Bangladesh and is owned by
Stefan Pirker, Managing Director
of the company.
Basic Apparels developed the
factory for manufacturing
workwear dungarees, trousers,
shorts, boiler suits, refinery suits,
chemical industry suits, etc. The
reason behind Basic Apparel’s
successful venture into workwear
manufacturing was the ready
workwear orders from its existing
set of German buyers for whom
the company was making regular
bottoms, and these buyers were
sourcing huge workwear clothing
in good volumes from India,
China, and Cambodia. “Germany
has a good demand for workwear,
followed by the USA because
heavy machinery and automobile
manufacturing is still booming in
these countries. Moreover, since
these countries are developed, no
“Presently, the flow of
workwear orders has
declined from Europe
due to recession.
We recently started
working with two
workwear buyers
from Russia, a
market for which we
are working for the
first time. Since the
importers cannot
open LC, they give
50% of the money
upfront and 50% after
the completion of
the order.” – Sultan
Ahmed, Managing
Director, Rasa
Fashion
one works in the manufacturing
sector without wearing workwear
apparels. Our next target is the
American market and even India
is a big market for workwear
due to the presence of various
specialized manufacturing
industries,” elaborates Ajay,
an industry veteran with 25
years of experience of working
in Bangladesh, Vietnam and
India. Most of these products are
retailed at stores and are also
sold directly to industries. The
FOB of industrial workwear being
sourced from Bangladesh varies
from US $ 10 to 25 based on
fabrication, style and volume.
When asked why Basic Apparels
chose to manufacture workwear
clothing for moving up the chain,
instead of going for high-fashion
products with value addition in
terms of printing, embroidery or
washing, Ajay replied, “Although
the consumption of workwear
clothing is low compared to
value-added apparels, the
replenishment business is high
in case of workwear because
it is worn more often by people
working in various industries
and its purchase is not optional.”
He goes on to add, “Presently in
Bangladesh, the companies which
are doing value-added items are
incurring losses because of the
lack of understanding of the
process engineering required for
doing the value addition. They
end up sending the goods by air,
thereby diminishing the already
low margins.”
Further highlighting the
advantages of workwear
clothing, especially in context of
fluctuating markets, Ajay states,
“It is the normal practice of
replenishment orders being put
on hold due to some slowdown
in the market. When the same
happens in case of high-fashion
garments, either the apparels
are sold to other buyers or in
other market at very low prices
or the apparels are bought back
by the buyers at lower FOB rates.
Normally, this situation never
happens in case of workwear
because industries and
technician do not stop buying
workwear products during
recession or a slow market.”
Workwear also presents
advantages in terms of
standardization in product
styling and consistent volume-
business around the year. These
aspects help in building factory
efficiencies and streamlining
manufacturing systems because
the manpower is attuned to work
in a certain manner, minimizing
the delays and quality issues due
to less style-changeovers. “We
have been able to set up sewing
lines with on-line finishing and
packing at the end of the sewing
lines because there is no washing
required in workwear clothing,”
adds Ajay.
Critical to success...
Mechanical resistance, colour
fastness to washing and
sunlight and comfort are the
most important elements of
quality standards of a workwear
product. But at times fabrics are
required to have properties such
as thermal insulation, thermal
stability, resistance to chemicals
and non-flammability, when used
for making a specialized product.
The quality of the workwear
clothing starts from the fabric,
which is majorly sourced from
China and is most of the times
a woven blend of polyester and
cotton. “For industrial workwear,

the fabric composition is mostly
65% cotton and 35% polyester
heavy twills, which is heavier
than the same used for regular
clothing,” shares Ajay. Basic
Apparels sources all the fabric
from buyer-approved vendors
in China and QAs have been
stationed by the company in
the units of fabric vendors.
Dimensions has a much more
diverse vendor-base for fabrics,
sourcing fabrics from China,
Malaysia, Thailand and even
some premium fabrics from
UK and Italy. The company
does procure some fabrics like
polyester-blended knits from
Bangladesh. “Since we just
cannot compromise on the fabric
quality, we source all the fabrics
and threads ourselves, and then
supply it to all our manufacturers,
because a vendor might go for
a fabric that is 2 cent cheaper
and compromise on the quality
of the fabric. We also do rigorous
testing of the fabrics,” adds
Padam. True to the nature of the
category, Dimensions claims to
have sourced some unique fabrics
and accessories for workwear
clothing, such as glow in the
dark fabric and an unbreakable
sewing thread.
The end products have to
withstand stringent laboratory
tests to ensure the performance
and endurance of the apparel
when the wearer is working. For
example, colour fastness of a
normal apparel is tested for one
wash, but in case of a workwear
product the colour fastness would
be tested for up to 10 washes.
Usually, a pilling test is done at
8,000 revolutions, but in case of
a workwear product it is done
at 14,000 revolutions. “Till now
we have not allowed any apparel
manufacturer to do the testing of
our products and we have tied up
with Intertek for doing the same.
Most important to the testing
procedure is the wash durability
test and for that testing norms
are in place to make sure that the
workwear apparel performs as
per norms,” adds Padam. Similar
standards have been defined
for the consistency in quality,
look and colours of the uniforms
produced by a manufacturer. Due
to the same reason, workwear
coverstory
buyers do not change their
vendors often and even the fabric
supplier needs to reserve the
dyeing recipes to ensure the
dyeing output remains consistent.
All the above criticalities are dealt
at the sampling stage wherein
not only the complete technical
specifications of a garment are
defined in terms of the location
of bartacks, the higher SPI in
specific areas and other critical
to quality aspects along with
wearer trails are conducted
before developing the techpacks.
Hence the manufacturers are
given clear instructions to which
they have to adhere. “Workwear
apparels have higher seam
margins because seams must be
of greater strength, compared to
regular apparels. Hence garments
can be rejected on the basis of
inadequate seam margins. These
aspects need to be understood
fully before manufacturing
workwear because safety of the
wearer is a top priority,” shares
Ajay. One of the workwear
bottoms manufactured by Basic
Apparels had 52 bartacks
for safety.
Being a veteran in the business
of workwear, Dimensions defines
the key to success in workwear
category to the ability to cater
to the needs of the customers
within 48 hours and manufacture
customized products for a
user or as per a company’s
needs. For making deliveries
to customers in the UK within
48 hours, the company has set
up a warehouse spread over
520,000 sq. feet in Derbyshire,
England, which has a stock of
8 million pieces of garments,
headgear and footwear at any
given point of time. Talking about
innovation, Padam recalls,
“We made shirts for a cinema
company as a part of the waiters’
uniforms that had collars made
with fabric which glows in dark
as they wanted the waiters to
standout while they serve the
people watching movies in a
theatre.” Having grown beyond
UK to Holland, Ireland and
USA, Dimensions has increased
its garment sourcing from
Bangladesh by 140% in the last
two years, from 2.5 million to 6
million garments. 
MAY 2015 | Apparel Online Bangladesh 21
buyerblog

Connor
tagged by Ethisphere as one of the
world’s most ethical companies
for the fourth consecutive year
‘Bangladesh needs to increase its efficiency level’

Leveraging 65 years of experience in buying

operations, Connor Group, which is purely a
service-oriented company, claims to be one of the
pioneers in the culture of being an organized buying
house. Connor neither takes financial positions in
suppliers nor in the goods it sources on behalf of its
clients which include some of the most significant
brands, specialty and department stores, catalogue
companies and importers in North America, Europe,
Latin America, and Australia.

M
anaging the global sourcing
requirements of over 60 companies
worldwide and offering a completely
transparent supply chain with no hidden costs,
Connor encourages its clients to visit the
factories, consolidators and material suppliers
with whom it works on their behalf. The
Bangladesh sourcing office was opened in 2009,
however it has been sourcing from the country
for quite a long period through its India office.
“This country has great potential, but one of the
basic problems encountered with the changing
business scenario, has been the Minimum
Order Quantities (MOQs) still being very high.
Also, in the global market, the average order
size is shrinking because every single retailer
needs to make his store have very diverse
and dynamic products so that he has the
maximum footprint,” avers Sudhir Nair,
Country Manager, Connor International Ltd.-
Bangladesh Liaison Office, who joined Connor
to start the Bangladesh office.
Having a good understanding of Bangladesh,
Sudhir feels that due to the dependence of
apparel manufacturers on low labour wages,
the overall efficiencies have suffered and a lot
of business is being lost to competitors such
as Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia. He also
informs that things are now changing in the
country. “The mentality is also changing, as the
vendors have also started to understand that
by not working with smaller order quantities
with better line efficiencies, etc., they would not
be able to bag orders of value-added products.
Generally factories do have 60 to 70 machines
in a line for bottoms which compared to India
is high that has 40 to 45 machines in a line. In
shirts, India has 25 to 30 machines depending
on the style in a line whereas here it is 40 to 45
Sudhir Nair, Country Manager,
Connor International Ltd. –
Bangladesh Liaison Office
machines in a line and sometimes even more,”
comments Sudhir, who feels that due to low
efficiencies, the cost of manufacturing charges
does get affected and sometimes turns out to be
non-competitive in comparative terms. Going
further, Sudhir points out that the man-machine
“The mentality
ratio is also high in Bangladesh. “Just because
is now
they have cheap labour, they put 2-3 people on
a single machine. When the client’s technical
changing as
directors visit factories, they do ask that why so the vendors
many people are present in the cutting room or have started
in the lines, giving an indication about why they to understand
are not able to get sharper prices,” he states. that if they
On the other hand, Bangladesh is strong at bulk are not
quantities and has been and will continue to be going to work
a preferred destination for the same.
on smaller
Agreeing to the fact that things are changing at MOQs, they
the vendor’s end, like some of the factories are
would not be
now going for lean production or implementing
ERP software to manage production; trying
able to bag
to bring in transparency, however the pace of orders for
change is still very slow. “A lot of owners are value-added
also dictated by their production heads who are products.”
serving them for 20-25 years. These production
heads become bottlenecks, as they often resist
new systems, claiming that the efficiency will go
down, and thereby manipulate the owners with
their arguments. There have been situations

22 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015


“We are strong in IT and our systems are one of the finest as well. I
can say this because I have worked with many renowned buying
offices. Our systems are all about transparency and integrity
which are the core values and fundamental building blocks of the
company.” – Sudhir Nair, Country Manager, Connor International
Ltd.-Bangladesh Liaison Office
of losses incurred due to this
behaviour. There is a frank
exchange with owners that unless
everybody looks into breaking
free from the blind dependency
on production heads, efficiencies
will never improve,” points out
Sudhir. And as everybody is in a
time bound trade, the suppliers
do feel helpless as they do not
want to rock the boat, as taking
away a production head does
create issues of migration as well.
The industry is constantly setting
the bar of standards high and the
entrepreneurs need to become
more proactive than reactive,
he muses.
Irrespective of some of the
challenges, Connor’s business is
progressing well in Bangladesh.
No doubt, the country has
enormous potential, however
the very optimistic target set by
BGMEA to touch US $ 50 billion
mark by 2021 looks a bit bleak
with the ongoing political unrest
and other issues like labour
unrest, infrastructure challenges
of gas, electricity, port & road,
and the fast changing scenario
in the global business,” observes
Sudhir, who has 22 years of
work experience.
Vendor policy...
From Bangladesh, Connor is
sourcing both apparels and home
textiles. One of the additions
to the product category over
the last two years has been
the ceramic products. With its
policy, the company prefers
working with smaller number
of vendors. Justifying his point,
Sudhir says, “We try to get the
relationship to a strategic level,
thereby reducing the vendor-base
so that we have better controls;
the relationship matures over a
period of time and vendors see us
as responsible business partners
because of the increase in trade.
It really works well to have long
buyerblog
time associations, especially in which are the core values and
a country like Bangladesh. You fundamental building blocks of
do face issues in performance the company,” states Sudhir. Connor is looking
levels in a business relationship Maintaining steady growth, the at sourcing
if you keep on bringing new company is trying to work on the jute items from
vendors frequently unless you
start a new product category.
introduction of jute items from Bangladesh;
Bangladesh, “There is an interest however,
The first season is always tough in the jute products, but we
as sometimes it becomes a three- have to think about compliance
compliance is
way new relationship – a new aspects also; the setups where a major issue
client, a new vendor and us... these products are made are for this product.
that is the recipe of a disaster.” not organized factories as there Though being
Following the proverb of not are handicraft items involved. a 100% green
putting all the eggs in one basket, We also have to look into the product, it is
Sudhir believes that one needs finishing aspect of a product
made in villages
to have backups, but backups when compared to Thailand or
and it becomes
created should not stagnate Vietnam. It’s a green product but
or dilute the growth strategies as it’s being made in villages, it
a tough task to
with the existing ones unless it becomes a tough task to monitor monitor effective
is a business issue, as it needs effective compliance there,” compliance
to be significant for everyone concludes Sudhir. there.
in the relationship. “You have
to be meaningful to your clients
and your vendors and you have
to create a balance. If the total
capacity is 100,000 pieces, it is
not advisable to put an order
of 90,000 pieces just to them.
Anything beyond 30% to 40% is a
dangerous preposition but then
exceptions are always there,”
he remarks.
Connor is known for IT
integration in its working
systems and the innovative
platform interface permits
Connor’s staff, clients and
suppliers to access order’s
information in a secure manner
anytime, anywhere. Quality Though the jute products made in Bangladesh are quite appealing; however, finishing aspects are still
assurance is a paperless activity. a question mark when compared to Thailand or Vietnam
The company constantly updates
its information system to
accommodate its clients’ evolving
requirements and its global
network of offices is seamlessly
linked and coordinated through
its IT infrastructure. “We are
strong in IT and our systems are
one of the finest as well, I can
say this because I have worked
with many renowned buying
offices. Our systems are all about The company is sourcing both apparels and home textiles. One of the additions to the product
transparency and integrity, category over the last two years has been ceramic products
MAY 2015 | Apparel Online Bangladesh 23
industrypulse
Time to Strengthen Middle Management
As the garmenting business
is moving towards greater
professionalism, strengthening the
middle management should be the
key focus in the coming time, as
they need to take the responsibility
for the execution of an
organization’s vision and strategy.
The emerging issues that factories
are now facing are shortage of
skilled workforce, demand for
fast turnaround times, decreasing
margins, higher turnovers and low
awareness of workers regarding
their rights and responsibilities.
Each of these issues leads to
decrease in productivity and
factory performance, which a
factory owner cannot resolve
alone without an effective
middle management. A few top
companies in Bangladesh are
working towards strengthening
their middle management
by inducting management
professionals; however,
there is still a long way to
go. Team Apparel Online
discussed this issue with many
entrepreneurs and CEO’s of
various companies to understand
why the middle management is
still a weak link in the country
and what steps they are taking to
strengthen the same...
24 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015
F
amous for investing in
the latest machines and
technology, Bangladeshi
entrepreneurs are
gradually realising that as they
are moving towards automation,
their focus for productivity needs
to shift from operators to build a
strong mid-management. “Almost
every apparel manufacturer is
looking at producing value-added
products, which generally require
a lot of coordination and foresight
for ensuring on-time delivery, and
a company can do the same only by
having a strong middle management
with the capability to handle
small order quantities,” reasons
Sudhir Nair, Country Manager,
Connor International Ltd. The
inability of Bangladeshi middle
managers to take responsibility
has forced the 2nd largest apparel
manufacturer to rely on foreign
professionals, who demand hefty
packages, from countries such as
India, Sri Lanka, and Philippines.
Salahuddin Kasem Khan,
Managing Director & CEO,
AK Khan & Co. Ltd. shared that
according to his estimations a
whopping amount of US $ 3 billion
per annum is being paid as package
just to the Indian expats. “I think
one of the reasons why India is
doing so well is because of the vision
of statesmen like its first Prime
Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
who envisaged the importance of
creating the IIM’s & IIT’s, which
gave the country a sound managerial
base for the growth that one can see
in India today. Unfortunately, we
have not been able to develop that
culture and we are totally dependent
on expats,” remarks Khan who is
also the Co-Chairman of the EC
National Skills Development Council
“I think one of the
reasons why India
is doing so well is
because of the vision
of statesmen like its
first Prime Minister,
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
who envisaged the
importance of creating
the IIM’s & IIT’s, which
gave the country a
sound managerial base.”
Salahuddin Kasem Khan,
Managing Director & CEO,
AK Khan & Co. Ltd.

(NSDC), which is headed by the
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Khan is now looking at opening
a management institute in
Chittagong by collaborating
with institutes such as Wharton
to give an opportunity to
Bangladeshi nationals to attend
world-class management
courses. He is also positive
of a strong collaboration with
Indian institutes as well. “Skill
development doesn’t stop at the
shopfloor, it has to go right to the
top,” avers Khan.
The redemption of Bangladesh’s
middle management not only
lies in their own hands but also
in the hands of owners and
entrepreneurs who employ them
because owners still do not want
to depend on managers.“Earlier
the scales were small, but now
the factories are getting bigger
and it is increasingly becoming
obvious to the owners that they
cannot handle everything by
themselves, so it has become
important to have competent
people in-between,” observes
Rahul Chhabra, General
Manager-Bangladesh &
India, s.Oliver Overseas Ltd.
A major reason for the lack of
trust and dependability on the
middle management is because
of the high job migration rate
and minimal training activities
in the industry. “The head of a
department should continuously
train and groom his team.
Rotation of staff and cross
functions can give you many
surprises. A merchandiser can
give the accounts department a
lot of inputs on costing. Similarly,
a production personnel can
impart product(ion) knowledge
to merchandisers, and a fabric
sourcing person can look at the
problems faced by the production
team due to flaws in fabric,”
believes PiyushVyas, COO,
BD Designs, who is a strong
believer of on the job training.
One area for effective on the
job training was recognized
by Stephen Woolley, Country
Manager, Trutex Bangladesh,
“In the first 7 months of taking
charge as the Country Manager,
industrypulse
my major focus has been on
information exchange with our
UK office, under which I have
made a lot of procedures and
systems both within our office
in Bangladesh and also at our
vendor’s end. People tend to
write books when the job can
be done by writing a line, so
presently I have been engaged in
breaking down and simplifying
e-mails, making my people do
relentless follow-ups with the
vendors not over e-mails, but
over phone and recently we have Gazi Mahbubul Alam, Humayun Rashid,
Director, Mahmud Group Managing Director & CEO, Energypac Fashion
increased the use of Skype for
our interactions with our vendors
and with our UK office as per a
weekly conference call schedule,”
explains Stephen. Due to such
small-small interventions, the
company has eased out issues
that used to arise in sourcing of
fabric and other raw materials.
“Most of the companies are
swarmed with expats, but we
have to understand that you
can’t have an expat at every
point as you have to train local
people sooner or later. They have
got the skills and the education,
you just have to take things
in your hands and train them
Stephen Woolley, Sudhir Nair,
Country Manager, Trutex Bangladesh Country Manager, Connor International Ltd.
correctly,” believes Stephen.
The good news is that the
critical importance of middle
1,300 to US $ 3,000 per annum companies have put in a lot
managers is being recognized,
on the initiative. “We strongly of efforts to create a strong
and organizations are
believe that training is a mid-management in all its
providing more opportunities
continuous process and that by departments. Sharing his views
for their development. “Middle
providing training to our middle on middle management, Gazi
management is the heart of a
management we will find an Mahbubul Alam, Director,
company’s operations, and is
optimal solution in building the Mahmud Group says, “It’s
also instrumental in earning
capacity of our labour force, very important for us to have
profits for the organization. The
hence strengthening our overall proactive mid-level managers.
companies can fall or face huge
business performance,” says We are sending our middle
problems due to a ‘misleading’
Humayun Rashid, Managing management to attend various
middle management which is
Director & CEO, Energypac training programmes conducted
a critical link between the top
Fashion, who is looking at by Bureau Veritas which is
management and the workers.
sending his mid-level managers helping them a lot to upgrade
It’s very important for them to
to Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and their managerial skills.” Adding
take responsibilities and feel
Vietnam for hands on training further, A H Aslam, Managing
that they are accountable for any
in production, compliance and Director, Crony Group states,
shortfall,” shares M. M. Nazrul
maintenance, so that they can “We are proud of the fact that no
Islam, Dy. Managing Director,
manage and understand all the expat is working in our company
Manvill Styles, who strongly
operations of a garment unit. as of now and our last foreign
believes in training of the middle
management and invests in Our recent visit to Mahmud recruitment was of 6 Sri Lankan
the same by sponsoring his Group and Crony Group technicians for streamlining the
middle management to attend convinced us that there is manufacturing system, but now
workshops on management serious movement in the the same is being taken care
and leadership building twice industry to develop the middle by the people who were trained
a year, spending between US $ management as both the under them.”
MAY 2015 | Apparel Online Bangladesh 25
exporterinsight

New entrant Zas Apparels focuses

on compliance and automation
Expansions have been a continuous process in Bangladesh and as existing companies continue to take a
bigger pie of the booming apparel exports, new entrants in the apparel industry are struggling for a foothold.
While the existing apparel manufacturers have already capitalized the return on investment, and by investing
in capacities they can offer more competitive costing, new entrants are still seeking for basic break-even
points. Acknowledging the realities and defying all odds, Afzalul Alam, Managing Director, Zas Apparels
established the company about 2 years ago with a state-of-the-art factory in Narayanganj. “We established
the factory in the year when the Rana Plaza disaster happened. We looked at the opportunity that was
created for safe, compliant and efficient apparel factories,” reasons Afzalul Alam.

Updated on quality issues, Zas

Apparels with 65 machines per line
uses only 15 helpers in a sewing
line and has deployed 5 quality
checkers per sewing line along with
one line controller, who is not only
the supervisor but also the roaming
quality checker. Another distinction
of the unit is the installation of
RO plants at each factory for
providing clean drinking water, as
approved by relevant authorities
for the workers. “It is the least we
can do to take care of the health
of our workers as their consistent
presence is necessary for the
smooth running of the production
lines and meeting the delivery
dates,” points out Afzalul.
A successful family-run venture: Afzalul Alam, Managing Director (centre) with Sadain Bin Mahboob, Director
(left) and Zakirul Alam, Director, Zas Apparels (right) A clear thinker, Afzalul is very
sure why he wanted to set-up
a plant to manufacture woven

A
apparels. “If we go in for a knit
dynamic leader, Afzalul who in manufacturing non-denim apparel factory, we will have to
ventured into the apparel bottoms for the European market establish a composite setup to
industry in 1993 as a small and also has plans for producing match the average market costing,”
accessories trading house, now shirts from the same setup, for reasons Afzalul bluntly. Though a
runs an accessories division under which 170 sewing machines new entrant in garmenting, Zas
the group Mawla Wings with an would soon be added. Plans are Apparels is not sub-contracting
annual turnover of US $ 12 million, also there to add a washing and for any big apparel manufacturer,
manufacturing everything from embroidery department along with thanks to its relationship with
buttons and labels to tags and an ETP plant. The highlights of international buyers and importers
laces. The company also has a Zas Apparels’ setup are the latest due to its accessories business. “We
buying office called Fashion Mine machines from Juki, such as the are catering to European, Italian,
that generates annual revenue of lockstitch sewing machines with French and Australian buyers, and
US $ 14 million. “We have also built an integrated control panel, pocket the Indian brand Reliance Trends
our new button manufacturing welting machines and MEB series has also started sourcing from us,”
facility, which is on the ground of eyelet buttonholing machines. shares Afzalul, who is looking at
floor of this unit and the total “Investment in technology is a part 25% growth in the coming year but
investment in the whole project was of the sales pitch of our company. is confident of doubling the growth
US $ 6.4 million (BDT 50 crore),” We might not be able to reduce if the political turmoil settles down.
informs Afzalul. our price after a certain extent but In the accessories division, a poly
With a setup of around 300 sewing the quality of sewing will never be bag manufacturing unit is also
machines, Zas Apparels specializes compromised,” adds Afzalul. being setup.

26 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015

bangladeshcanvas

Silver Line Group makes Bangladesh proud with

bangladeshSnips country's first vertically integrated shirt unit
Industry demands re-look on
Indo-Bangla textile trade
Indian textile and apparel
N ews on new factories in apparel
manufacturing does not attract much
attention from the industry because of its
expansion plans on hold because of the
non-availability of new gas connections. “We
are still not getting gas and our facilities
sector urged the Union already burgeoning nature. However, when are running on electricity. But we will have
Textiles Ministry to re- a company establishes a shirting fabric to look for an alternate source of energy
look into the existing manufacturing plant, the industry celebrates such as solar energy because we don’t know
trade agreements with because every new non-denim woven fabric till when the gas problem will be solved,”
Bangladesh pertaining to manufacturing plant brings Bangladesh one shares Salim. However, the company already
textiles to ensure a balance step closer to becoming self-reliant in woven has interventions in place for minimizing
in commerce between the fabric. Contributing to the effort, Silver Line its energy consumption. It has Toyota
two nations. As of now, Group has set up its state-of-the-art shirting JAT810 air jet looms, equipped with a new
48 textile items, including fabric unit in 2013, which can produce 36 weft insertion system, which enables 20%
finished garments from million metres of fabric annually at full reduction in air consumption compared to
Bangladesh, are being sold capacity. “Bangladesh has set up enough the previous models.
in India without any duty capabilities for knit fabric manufacturing The loom utilizes less air for weft insertion
following the free trade and processing, and even for denim fabrics due to an improved air stream angle and
agreement signed between to a certain extent but we are still dependent the optimized shape of the reed’s tunnel
the two countries. on China and India for woven non-denim allows the sub-nozzle to be located closer to
Prabhu Damodaran, fabrics. My aim was to not just manufacture the reed, thereby preventing the air stream
Secretary of Texpreneurs fabrics but to do the same in a setup similar from scattering. The company has also
Forum says, “This disparity to the infrastructure of the mills in these installed a heat recovery system capable of
will affect the domestic saving US $ 5,100, 500,000 litres of water,
garment producers/ 40,500 cubic metres of natural gas and
suppliers, as China too even reducing the carbon emission by 60+
is using the trade route tonnes annually. Paradoxically, the heat
through Bangladesh to recovery system which can save so much
dump their products.” The costs US $ 3,000 only. “We would have a
Government should use the certain edge over other textile companies
diplomatic route to convince in terms of efficient utilization of resources
Bangladesh to reduce the because all the machines and technologies
duty on yarn and fabrics were bought with an idea to have energy
sourced on large scale and water efficiency at the centre,”
from India. points out Raashid Ashraf Khan, CEO
of Silver Composite Textile Mills, who
was recruited specifically to give shape to
Global buyers see weak links
Salim’s monumental expansion plans. The
in garment supply chain of
M.A.H Salim, Managing Director, Silver Line Group company has a fabric and yarn testing lab
Bangladesh
with all the equipment from the UK-based
Verisk Maplecroft, a risk James Heal and only companies such as
assessment firm, estimates countries,” states M.A.H Salim, Managing
Arvind have such a lab.
that some US $ 4 billion – Director, Silver Line Group, sharing his
vision with Apparel Online. The fabric plant has been set up in the
through loss and unfulfilled
same premises that house the spinning
orders since the beginning Set up in 2003 as a spinning unit, Silver Line
unit and where the new garmenting facility
of 2015 – has hit the Group established Silver Composite Textile
for making dress shirts, which is the most
Bangladesh’s garment Mills in an area of 70 acres with 129 looms
recent investment of the Silver Line Group,
industry badly as a result and capacities for yarn & fabric dyeing,
is coming up. At full capacity the garmenting
of enforced strikes and warping, singeing, desizing, bleaching,
unit will have four floors, each having 16
transport blockades that mercerisation, printing, sanforising and
lines with 58 sewing machines in each line,
have brought country’s micro-sanding. Plans are there to have a
but as of now only one floor is operational.
export supply chain to halt. total of 225 looms, but the same will be done
Focused at manufacturing dress shirts,
in phases based on the demand. Presently
“The customs department the setup has 800+ sewing machines from
specializing in yarn dyed fabrics, the
is considered extremely Juki, finishing equipment from Veit and
company has plans for replicating the same
corrupt and there are spreader from Gerber. Highlight of the
in solid and printed fabrics. Silver Line has
frequent reports of border company’s shirt manufacturing operations
already started catering to Indian, Japanese,
officials using their positions is the unique inline material movement
Russian and European buyers sourcing
to manipulate tariffs on system devised by Nihal Ratnayake,
from Bangladesh.
imports and exports, as Consultant, Silver Composite Textile Mills
well as to delay or expedite The real achievement lies in establishing (Garmenting Division), who is working
processing at ports,” it said. a fabric unit with significant capacity in a towards reducing the number of machines
time when every textile company has put per line from 58 to 47.

28 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015

 bangladeshcanvas

The company has a fabric and yarn testing lab with all the equipment from the UK-based James Heal

Presently specializing in yarn dyed fabrics, the company has plans for replicating the same in solid
and printed fabrics

The company started with the conventional

single long sewing lines with feeding from
the front and output at the end. In the next
phase, the lines were divided into two parts At full capacity,
with newly created lines facing opposite the garmenting
directions and the in-line material flows in unit will have
U-shape. In the present layout, the lines four floors, each
have again been divided as part preparation having 16 lines
lines and final assembly lines but each part with 58 sewing
preparation line is placed adjacent to the machines in
final assembly area where that same part is every line, but
being attached to the final garment. Hence as of now only
the in-line material flow is lateral which one floor is
means that pieces are passed on through
operational.
side-ways direction to the adjacent sewing
Focused at
line; for example, pocket preparation is
manufacturing
being done in a separate line but is adjacent
to the pocket attachment operations. “With
dress shirts,
such a feeding system, we have been able
the setup has
to reduce the transportation time further, 800+ sewing
hence reducing the throughput time and machines from
increasing the output of every line,” explains Juki, finishing
Nihal, who also has plans to convert the equipment
centralized finishing department to an end from Veit and
of the line finishing system and allocate spreader from
one finishing line to handle the output Gerber.
of 5-6 sewing lines. One small finishing
production line will however be kept to
handle urgent styles.

MAY 2015 | Apparel Online Bangladesh 29

bangladeshcanvas
bangladeshSnips
32 units shut post
ILO's inspection
During ILO-monitored
factory inspection,
industry authorities closed
32 factories – failing in
their architectural design,
power supply and fire
safety system. As per the
report of the organization,
30 industries have been
registered in the ‘Better
Work Bangladesh’
project which is financed
and monitored by the
International Finance
Corporation and the ILO.
It also shared that more
than seven lakh apparel
workers have taken
training so far on health
care and safety issues.
The inspections have been
going on under an NTP
pact (owners-workers-
Government), initiated by
the Accord and Alliance,
Bangladesh Government
and ILO.
2 per cent incentives for
apparel units outside EPZs
The Government of
Bangladesh is likely to
finalize the Export Policy
2015-18 with a provision
for 2 per cent special
incentives for the apparel
factories against their
exports to help them
become compliant. Only
the apparel factories
situated outside the
Export Processing Zones
(EPZs) would enjoy the
facility, according to the
draft policy. The policy
will also target exports
worth US $ 50 billion
via capitalizing on the
markets of the three
Asian economic giants.
Commerce Ministry
in a meeting with the
stakeholders finalized
the draft policy and it is
expected to be sent to the
cabinet for approval soon.
30 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015
Review: Intertextile Shanghai – Spring Edition 2015
Bangladesh, a major focus market for yarn manufacturers
The event recorded the distinction of being the highest ever attended Intertextile Shanghai – Spring edition
T he National Exhibition and Convention
Centre – though a new venue on the
outskirts of Shanghai – attracted much
sustainable fibres. One of the leaders in
sustainable fibres, Lenzing, launched a
new micro fibre for knitting. “We have seen
criticism as many felt that the huge complex a measurable increase in the demand for
was still not ready to hold a show of this cellulose fibre and speciality fibres and
magnitude…, yet the event recorded the retailers are now driving the market
the distinction of being the highest ever towards environment-friendly options,”
attended Intertextile Shanghai – Spring said Christina Kreuzwieser, Lenzing’s
edition ever. According to official records, Head of Marketing Communication. She
more than 62,000 trade visitors from 88 was very happy at the quality visitation and
countries and regions, including China, felt that by combining fairs in a concurrent
came to source the latest apparel fabrics event attracts more quality customers. “I
and accessories from 2,637 exhibitors think the buyers who come here are looking
representing 24 countries and regions. for quality products,” she added.
This was a major jump from the last
Europe was well represented at the fair
spring edition of 40,214 visitors and 1,469
in the ever-popular Salon Europe where
exhibitors, respectively.
around 180 suppliers of premium fabrics
While the fabric section was dominated and accessories including 11 trend
by Chinese players, the yarn section saw forecasters, the Milano Unica Pavilion from
many players from India and Pakistan Italy, the Portugal Pavilion, the Germany
showcasing not only basic commodity zone, and the France and Premium Wool
cotton yarn, but also some mélange and zones were the major attractions. The area
dyed yarn with different finishes. As was cordoned off and entrance was the
expected, sustainability was a major prerogative of the exhibitors. But it was the
theme running through the fair and many Chinese mills that surprised and attracted
companies claimed to be working on visitors with innovations. “Earlier the
Chinese mills were known for good quality,
huge volumes, but standard products with
little innovation. But now we see many
mills from China giving innovations almost
at par with the European mills. This trend
has picked up in the last five years,” says
Harish Bindra, Manager Merchandising,
Norwest Industries, and Bangladesh.
Bindra was in Shanghai especially looking
for new fabric sources for his product
development team.
Pakistani mills eye
Farrukh Nawaz, MD and Faraz Ahmed Malik, Director of Global Textile Networks (Pakistan) Bangladeshi markets…
At the yarn section, a number of
“There is no real competition between India
Pakistani mills were offering coarse
and Pakistan, even though both countries are
yarn for denim weaving. “While India is
looking at the same markets, because the product specializing in finer counts and better
specializations are different and also we are more quality yarn, Pakistani mills have found
cost-competitive in coarser counts.” – Faraz Ahmed greater acceptance in fabrics where
Malik, Director of Global Textile Network lower counts are required and that is
bangladeshcanvas
bangladeshSnips
US $ 500 million green fund
for textile sector
To help the textile sector
adopt eco-friendly
technologies and practices,
the Central Bank of
Bangladesh announced US
$ 500 million of low-cost
green fund for the textile
sector. Atiur Rahman,
Governor, Bangladesh Bank,
announced the Central
Bank’s plans to earmark
US $ 500 million of low-
cost ‘green fund’ for textile
factories. The World Bank
Group is supporting the
Partnership for Cleaner
Textile (PaCT project) in
Bangladesh. IFC is taking
the lead role in structuring
the green fund.
Washing, Dyeing, and
Finishing activities are an
important part of the country’s
textile and apparel industry as
1,700 WDF units and almost
200,000 workers contribute a
net value of up to 20% to the
textile value chain.
Two factories misusing duty-
free bonded warehouse facility
Bangladesh’s Customs Bond
Commissionerate (CBC)
revealed that two export-
oriented apparel companies
have evaded duty of around
BDT 12 crore by misusing the
duty-free bonded warehouse
facility. In a recent spot
inspection, CBC officials
found that KC Apparels
Limited and Knit Concern
Limited, sister concerns of a
same business group, were
storing much higher amounts
of raw materials in the
bonded warehouses than the
registered amount.
According to the sections
of Customs Act 1969, the
taxmen can confiscate the
goods and the individuals
behind the irregularity
are liable to a penalty not
exceeding (five times) the
value of the goods.
32 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015
why many Pakistani mills are supplying to
Bangladesh, where denim manufacturing
is one of the biggest growth areas,” says
Muhammad Shafiq, CEO, Hareem Textile,
Pakistan. The company besides having
55,000 spindles also has 150 looms to supply
grey and printed fabric. Endorsing the view
Faraz Ahmed Malik, Director of Global
Textile Network, who represents many
mills in Pakistan in the international market
says, “There is no real competition between
India and Pakistan, even though both the
countries are looking at the same markets,
because the product specializations are
different and also since Pakistan is more
cost-competitive in coarser counts, most
Indian mills do not touch the category.”
A major player in the Bangladesh market
Winco Marketing, Pakistan is supplying
both raw cotton and yarn to many big
“The banking system in Bangladesh is very
difficult and payments are a major issue. Business
can only thrive on good relations. We prefer to
work with established players.” – Luqman Bin Arif,
HOD Marketing, Naveena Denim
companies like NASSA, Sasha, Partex.
Besides standard yarn, the company is also
supplying mélanges and double yarn. “We
are sourcing all our yarn from Pakistan
and now looking to increase our focus on
China, which is one of the reasons to be at
the fair,” said Khalid Rasheed, MD of the
company. Also looking to market mélange
yarns, Saif Group of Pakistan, which was
represented by Zaheen-ud-din, COO of
the group felt that the days for supplying
basic products are over. “It is important
for companies to differentiate and we have
established a factory in Egypt also to offer
a wide variety of yarns, including those
that are not produced in the country,” said
Zaheen-ud-din. The company has 130,000
spindles in Pakistan and 60,000 spindles
in Egypt.
While many of the Pakistani Mills are
either already working with Bangladesh
or interested to work with Bangladesh,
but there are strong reservations. “The
banking system in Bangladesh is very
difficult and payments are a major
issue. Business can only thrive on good
relations,” says Luqman Bin Arif, HOD-
Marketing, Naveena Denim. The company
is constantly increasing its presence in
the country, but prefers to work with
established players. The company has a
capacity of 1.4 million metres of denim
fabric per month using differential finishes.
They are also one of the biggest suppliers
for Levis in Pakistan. Since denim has
become a fashion product, one of the
biggest challenges for the company is
meeting shorter lead times.
India looking to supply  
to the value-added
segment…
Even though most of the big mills from
around the country were present like
Alok, Century, Neo-tex, Alps Industries,
Tirupati Yarns, NSL Textiles, Loyal
Textile to name a few, the product in
focus was cotton yarn. Also present were
trading houses like Texperts and Square
Corporation. “China is an important market
for cotton yarns and though last year, they
slowed down buying, we see the market
reviving which is a good sign. What matters
to the Chinese companies is reliability and
quality. If any company can offer these
two elements, then the quantities that
the Chinese need can provide work for
everyone,” says Dr K Rajasekhar Reddy,
Chairman & MD, SLN Spinning Mills. The
Guntur-based company is so upbeat about
opportunities in China that it has opened
an office in Shanghai for follow-up after
the fair. Next on its radar is Bangladesh,
which is now looking at superior yarns for
manufacturing high-end fabrics.
Also attracting attention was Linocel by
Texperts, a yarn which looks like Linen and
feels like Linen, but has softer hand-feel.
“The fabrics made out of this innovative
yarn not only retain the look, feel, comfort,
skin-friendliness and creasing like quality
of Linen, but also stays in line with the
sustainable movement, which is taking
the textile industry by a storm,” says
Manish Mehta, Director, Texperts. The
yarn is being used to develop both woven
and knitted fabric, for both menswear and
womenswear. As of today, Bangladesh is a
major market. In fact, Manish shares with
pride that the first major breakthrough
came in January 2013 when Inditex (Zara)
‘fell in love’ with Linocel and ordered more
than 100 metric tonnes of the yarn for three
of its vendors in Bangladesh to make just
three styles in million pieces.
RESOURCECENTRE

Kingdom Holdings Limited

World’s largest
manufacturer
of Linen yarn...
Taps potential market
for profitable growth
Starting with 10 looms for polyester fabric in 1979, Kingdom Holdings Limited, China
shifted its focus towards linen yarn in 1999 with a small capacity of 5,000 spindles and
today the company has grown to become the largest in terms of linen exports with a
capacity of 100,000 spindles. In an exclusive interaction with Team AO at Kingdom’s
beautiful corporate office on the outskirts of Shanghai, Eric Sun, International
Commercial Director, shares the company’s strategy of tapping potential emerging
markets for profitable growth in a small but important segment, i.e. linen.

Eric Sun, International Commercial Director, Kingdom Holdings Limited

I
n comparison to the cotton
spinning industry, the size
of the linen market is small
but nonetheless it is growing
and important for the fashion
and differential market. Designers
worldwide have been continuously
using linen in their collections though
it has seen little innovation over the
years. “Linen is a very historical fibre
and has a stable production. Around
6,000 years ago, the Pharaohs of
Egypt started wearing pure linen, as
a sign of royalty. It is a completely
different fabric from cotton and
wool and difficult to manufacture.
Pure linen is special in itself and
warrants little innovation,” claims
Eric. Being an environment-friendly
yarn, the company focuses on pure
linen as it is established in the
market and as Eric adds, “Linen
has a lot of aspirational value and
is a scarce commodity, which adds
to its appeal.” Yet, Kingdom spends
around US $ 1.5 million annually on
development and innovation to meet
customer satisfaction.
Though, Kingdom has combined
the modern way of spinning with
the traditional approach, blending
technology with tradition for a
successful operation, Eric rues that
unlike other segments in textiles,
linen industry has seen relatively
lesser improvement or upgradation
in its technology over the years
therefore making it a highly labour-
intensive industry. “In textile
industry, linen is less than one per
cent of the total conceptualized
textile fibres. So nobody wants to
make investment to develop new
types of machinery. In our factory,
we have some machines which are
17 years old, though from the best
machine manufacturers of Europe,”
states Eric. Though labour has been
a problem in China, but for the past
year things have been improving due
to many factories shutting down.
The company trains its labour for
handling the linen spinning, as it
requires very careful handling and
around 50 per cent of its labour
force are locals, while the other 50
per cent comes from west of China.
Currently, with a global market
share of around 20 per cent and
around 2,600 employees, Kingdom
Holding is investing hugely in
expanding its business and
tapping potential hubs for linen
manufacturing. The company has
already started construction of
its new manufacturing facility in
Ethiopia as there are many relative
advantages to have a manufacturing
unit in Ethiopia over China. “Firstly,
the labour cost is high in China;
secondly, as the company uses the
flax fibre grown in Europe and
Ethiopia is much closer to Europe
than China. While exporting from
China to worldwide, involves duty
whereas all countries open their
gates from Ethiopia due to its
status as ‘undeveloped and poverty
stricken’,” reveals Eric. Due to
cheaper product line and shorter
distance of the Ethiopian factory
to its main European market, the
company is also investing heavily
in training the labour by sending its
technicians on a regular basis.
Still under construction, the
Ethiopian factory will start
production of pure linen from
December 2016 and the first phase
of the factory will see a capacity
of 30,000 spindles, adding 30,000
more in the next phase. Apart from
Ethiopia, the company also plans
to partner with spinning mills in
Europe to tap the larger market for
Linen production; one in Poland

34 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015


and the other one in Tunisia are
under consideration. “They have
production capacities of 700
tonnes, handling Eastern Europe
and South America, which is a
huge share,” conveys Eric.
The company markets its
linen yarns in Mainland China,
European Union, and more
recently it has been supplying to
India (for the past 6 years) and
Bangladesh (for the past 2 years).
Exporting to approximately 20
countries, Italy is the biggest
market with fashion fabric
manufacturer Solbiati one of
its loyal and consistent buyer.
A technical tie up with Italian
chemical producer Bozzetto
allows the company access to the
best developments in processing
of the yarn for quality, which is
acknowledged by many as truly
the best in the world. Today,
Kingdom has in its product basket
a variety which includes wet spun
linen yarn, organic linen yarn,
linen mélange yarn, refined flax
fibre, and organic scutched flax.
In order to provide consistent
quality products to its customers,
the company has installed testing
labs at all its factories, equipped
with the latest technology.
Being a company with a global
vision, Kingdom is working
closely with Siemens for
sustainable development.
Experts from Siemens have
analyzed the operations and
are supporting changes to make
the factories more energy-
efficient and also save on
water consumption. Workers
at the factory are encouraged
to suggest improvements and
are made to feel ownership for
the company’s global success.
The management at Kingdom
understands that the future is for
sustainable companies and along
with a natural product; systems
are also being improved to give
the competitive edge for future
demands and expectations.
Working with a standardized
product, manufacturing is a
continuous process and the
company maintains well-stocked
warehouses and ships out
products on demand. “In the
past 5-6 years, everybody has
pushed us for deliveries so the
RESOURCECENTRE
time line
warehouse is almost empty,” 60 per cent, in Korea it is 80 per
declares Eric. For countries cent, share in Japan is 60 per
such as India, the company has cent, in Portugal it is 35 per cent,
its warehousing in Free Trade Turkey it is 65 per cent and in
Zone at Nhava Sheva, Mumbai; India it is 12 per cent. “Keeping the
in Turkey, the company works leadership position is very difficult, 1979
with an exclusive agent partner therefore we are always looking for
who warehouses for them, while partnering in different countries, The company started
in Italy, Kingdom has their own exploring the biggest and the most with 10 looms for
warehouse office. “On order, potential companies to work with in polyester and also
started producing silk.
I can deliver within next two terms of technology and the quality.
weeks, but though we keep We are continuously investing to
enough quantity in Italy, there is keep up with the high quality levels
always a shortage of supply and worldwide,” says Eric. 1998
that’s where the European local While India may well be the
spinners come in and get space next destination where the
Market for silk declines,
to survive. They are feeding company would want to put up a and therefore, company
factories with fast fashion due manufacturing facility, it is looking shifts towards linen.
to their proximity and quick to explore other markets also,
deliveries, the transportation and Bangladesh is one of them.
costs are also less,” adds Eric. Presently, India is the second
Meanwhile, the company believes largest consumer of linen yarn
1999
that they are their biggest after China. “India is a very huge
competitors and are confident market and in the near future we The company starts
linen production with
that no one comes close to their can think of setting up a factory 5,000 spindles.
reach in the world market. there, as within 4-5 years the
Currently, the company’s market country will surpass China in
share in domestic China is only terms of linen yarn consumption,
about 10 per cent, but in other though it is too early to commit,” 2003
markets it is huge. In Italy it is concludes Eric.
Extends the capacity of
production from 5,000
to 30,000 spindles.
2006
Kingdom becomes
the biggest company
for linen exports from
China to worldwide.
2015
Latest technology supports quality production at Kingdom Holdings Current capacity of
100,000 spindles with
a market share of 20
per cent and 2,600
employees.
2015
Ethiopian unit under
construction.
2016
Ethiopian unit to
From fibre to product, linen is a niche market start its functioning.
MAY 2015 | Apparel Online Bangladesh 35
techreview

Suitable Technologies for quality

assurance and operational efficiency
When the market is saturated with technology providers, new launches of machines and
solutions rarely attract attention of the apparel and textile industry. But still there are solutions
that can help apparel and textile manufacturers increase operational efficiency and quality of
the output. On the same lines, Apparel Online highlights solutions from key technology providers
relevant to the current needs of the industry. Not only discussed are machines from Lakshmi
Machine Works, BRÜCKNER, Protti, Fukuhara and Gousheng but also highlighted are auxiliary
equipment from Memminger, X-Rite and James Heal.

Fukuhara is Bangladesh’s preferred

choice for circular knitting machines
F ukuhara, the Japanese
pioneer which entered the
market 15 years ago has more
than 1,000 circular knitting
machines running in the
country. With an aim to supply
the world with high-quality
circular knitting machinery,
parts and needles, Fukuhara
was established in the year
1923 in Japan and has been
Akihiro Konishi, Manager of West Asia Section, Fukuhara
present in Bangladesh through
its agent Pacific Associates.
“Unlike various other companies,
Fukuhara manufactures its
own machines and components,
except for a few parts, which are
sourced from Germany such as
yarn feeders from Memminger
IRO,” says Akihiro Konishi,
Manager of West Asia Section,
Fukuhara. The knitting machine
specialist claims to do 100
installations every year on an
average and some of its biggest
clients include the likes of Knit
Concern Group with 130 knitting
machines and Aman Tex with 55
knitting machines.
Equipped with OD5 frame for
open width fabric take-up and
fabric slitting device, Fukuhara’s
circular knitting machines have
achieved significant weight
reduction as compared to the
conventional take-up system. The
OD5 frame uses the latest servo
motor-driven control system
which simplifies altering the
take-up amount and the same
can be changed in increments
of 0.1 mm through the operation
panel for precise loop length. The
take-up roller system has been
modified from a 3-roll to a 2-roll
system, eliminating the need to
change gears when converting
open width to tubular rolling,
thereby greatly improving the
working efficiency.
Protti confident of
growth with the longest
collar knitting machine
W
ith over 6 decades of experience
in developing and manufacturing
electronically programmed knitting
machines, Protti an Italian company enjoys
a strong market position and has one of the
broadest spectrums of knitting machines.
“The PT223 collar knitting machine can
produce three collars simultaneously due
to the presence of three carriages, making
the machine 50% more productive than a
normal double carriages collar machine.
The three carriages can be joined together
to knit one long collar band for specialized
applications such as baseball jackets in
which the collar and placket is one long
part, and has to be knitted together. The
machine is the longest in its segment
with 2.18 metre (86”) long knitting bed,”
states Carmine Cocchia, Sales Manager,
JW-Protti Macchine Tessili. With an
equally advanced range of flat knitting
machines for sweater manufacturing,
Carmine sees a bright future for the
jacquard and intarsia sweater knitting
machines from Protti in Bangladesh.
The PT223 comes with high and low
butt needles and is designed to produce
simple linear structures of stitch and/or
colours. The PT223’s new model has three
carriages which can also be used as a
two-carriage and single-carriage system.
A working width of 76.5 inches, 80 inches
and 86 inches can be achieved with three
separate carriages, two separate carriages
and a single carriage, respectively. The
carriage speed of the PT series is 1.5 metre
per second

36 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015

techreview
BRÜCKNER’s machines
offer quality output
while saving energy
W ith 6 decades of experience in
manufacturing solutions for dry
finishing of knitted and woven fabrics, the
German pioneer BRÜCKNER has been
instrumental in helping Bangladesh built
fabric processing capabilities for more than
20 years. “Our machines were not only able
to give a viable solution for fabric drying
but also for heat setting, while solving the
problem of fabric yellowing. Since there is a
lot of dust present in the fabrics processed
in Bangladesh, we developed machines
suitable for handling this problem and this
is a secret to our success in Bangladesh,”
avers Manfred Schulte-Austum, Area
Sales Manager, BRÜCKNER Textile
Technologies GmbH. Companies such as
Hamid Fabric, Knit Concern Group, DBL,
Metro, Fakir Group, Amantex, AKH Group
and many more are a part of the 200 strong
clientele of BRÜCKNER in Bangladesh.
BRÜCKNER machines are equipped with
a heat recovery system and further energy
optimization measures that allow up to
35% reduction in the energy costs. The
ECO-AIR heat recovery system can be
retrofitted on most dryers, while promising
a return on investment in less than 3 years.
Another innovative feature of BRÜCKNER
machines is the SPLIT-FLOW air circulating
technology. Each chamber is equipped with
four air circulation fans and two heating
units in counter direction, which allows
fine tuning the machine to specific fabric
requirements. The air flow of upper and
lower nozzles can be adjusted separately,
depending upon the needs of the fabric.
Team BRÜCKNER – (L to R) Juergen Effertz, Head of Service
(East Asia); Bo Michael Kristoffersen, Area Sales Manager; and
Manfred Schulte-Austum, Area Sales Manager
38 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015
Lakshmi Machine Works finds success
with ring frame systems
C. Arunachalam, GM – Exports, LMW (centre) with P Bojaraj, Superintendent – Export, LMW (left) and A. Sathish Xavier,
Senior Engineer, LMW (right)
P resent in Bangladesh since 1980,
LMW has a strong clientage of
50 companies, including the likes
of Prime Group, Musharraf Group,
Viyellatex, Square Group, SM Group
and Pakiza Group. “Due to our long
presence in the country, we have
been able to successfully break the
biasness of the industry towards
European equipments and acquired
40% of the market share in the
segment of ring frames,” points out
C. Arunachalam, GM-Exports,
Lakshmi Machine Works. LMW
has found major success with its ring
frame and speed frame machines,
which account for 50% of the cost of
a spinning project. The company is in
Stoll going strong with its CMS 502
range of flat knitting machines
D edicated to the knitting industry,
Stoll – the 140-year old German
knitting solutions giant, has seen
the Bangladeshi market transform
from a phase where just 5-machine
order was considered celebratory
to today where 200-300 machines
installations are a commonplace.
“When I became responsible for the
Bangladesh market 7 years back,
the country was nowhere on Stoll’s
global map, but now it is just 2nd
to China and I see it becoming the
biggest market in the coming years,”
asserts Thomas Hoffmann, Area
Sales Manager, Stoll GmbH. Some
of the recent installations of Stoll
include a set of 500 machines at
the process of creating a spare parts
depot in Bangladesh.
One of LMW’s latest offerings, the
Card LC 636 machine, is designed
for higher production capacity of
up to 250 kg of yarns per hour, with
an increased working width of 1.5
metre. The card has the highest
active carding area of 1.95 square
metres among all the other carding
machines in the world today. It
has a pressure regulated chute for
better feeding and a specialized
profiled finger plate. It has an
individual drive for feed, opening
and stripper rollers, and single
licker in arrangement with arcual
combing segment.
Magpie Group and 100 machines at
Sky Apparels.
Stoll has registered success with its
CMS 502 machine, which is equipped
with 2 knitting systems, 45” working
width, take-down comb, cutting and
clamping on the right hand side and
a friction feed wheel. CMS 502 has a
starting bar and a variable stroke with
Power-RCR system (Rapid Carriage
Return). Adding to the edge of Stoll’s
machines is the SKR Tool software.
The software keeps track of the
number of pieces made by each and
every machine, machine downtime
and reasons for the same can be
monitored from any location all over
the world.
techreview

Guosheng OFFERING suitable flat knitting technologies for Bangladesh

G uosheng, a sister concern of

China-based Changsu Guosheng
Knitting Machinery, has been
supplying sweater knitting machines
for the Bangladeshi market since
2001. With 3,600 installations across
Bangladesh in leading factories such
as Givensee Group, Matrix Sweaters,
Scandex Sweater, Sonia & Sweaters,
Pretty Group, Esquire Sweater and
JFK Fashion, Shakhawat Hossain
Khan, Director, DH Euro Group, the
sole agent of Guosheng in Bangladesh,
lets Guosheng’s clientele speak for
the acceptance of ‘made in China’
machines. “This speaks volumes about
our strong and sustainable technology
Shakhawat Hossain Khan, Director, DH Euro Group with Zhu Yudong, Director International Marketing,
support, research base, training and Guosheng Knitting Machinery
after-sales services,” avers Hossain,
who is confident of installing 10,000 in 9, 10, 12 and 14 gauges and are It can knit plain stitch, rib fabric,
machines alone in 2015. “The entire equipped with a single cam system interlock stitch, irregular multi-colour
industry is going through a revolution and a saver rolling finishing system. jacquard, twit flowers weft, aran,
of infrastructural transformation The second variant is also equipped cord weave, racked stitch, cable,
from basic hand flats to computerized with 4 yarn feeder guides. Outfitted intarsia, etc., and is suitable to use
machines,” he adds. with a 6-feeder system, machines from synthetic, wool, acrylic, mixed fibre,
With a single carriage system, this series apply digital technology to yarn material, etc., to knit readymade
Guosheng’s GSJX-1-52 series of achieve transfer, tuck, eyelet stitch, cardigans, hats, gloves, scarves and
flat knitting machine are available jacquard and hidden shape, etc. accessories of cloth.

Memminger IRO PRESENTS TO THE INDUSTRY labour saving devices for knitting machines

B acked with numerous patents and

futuristic developments, Germany-
based Memminger IRO has over 50
the garment industry in Bangladesh
through its sole agent F. F. Trading
Corporation. “A Memminger yarn
Memminger IRO is emerging with a
market share of 80% European and
40% Asian origin machine users,
years of experience in yarn feeding, feeder can last for 10-15 years if which includes clients like Apex,
control systems and lubrication serviced and maintained regularly Epyllion, Esquire and many top-rated
technology for knitting machines. and we provide free service for a Bangladeshi manufacturers.
The company has been present in year,” informs SM Hanif, Proprietor, Part of Memminger’s complete
the country since the inception of F. F. Trading Corporation. showcase at the fair, the MPF L – a
positive feeder for circular knitting
machines – is a great product with
wide acceptability in Bangladesh.
It comes with self-cleaning tension
rings on the yarn infeed tensioner
and closed wear-free yarn feed wheel.
Other features include the integrated
anti-filamentation unit and accessible
yarn outlet tensioner to approximately
1 cent newton. The feeder is also
equipped with knot catcher, adjustable
knot catcher, tube holder and inlet
bracket. The other popular products
from the company include a range
of feeders, lubrications systems,
monitoring systems, creels, drive
systems and accessories for circular,
flat, seamless, hosiery and warp
SM Hanif, Proprietor, F. F. Trading Corporation with a colleague knitting machines.

40 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015

techreview
X-Rite presents online colour management solutions
A global leader in colour
technology and science, X-Rite
is set to develop Bangladesh as a
world-class textile manufacturing
destination by sharing its colour
management skills and solutions
with the manufacturers. “We are
in negotiations for implementing
our solutions at 20 mega textile
factories, all producing 20 tonnes
of fabric per day. In fact, of the
leading textile barons, Hamid Fabrics
is already taking the one-month
demo,” says Rashedul Faisol, Sales
Manager, X-Rite India, while talking
about increasing its presence in
Bangladesh market. Presently, 60%
of X-Rite’s revenue in Bangladesh
comes from textiles.
X-Rite’s online colour control
solution, VeriColor Spectro and
Munich-on-line ERX 130, are compact
James Heal launches new Titan5 Universal Strength Tester
S upporting the textile and apparel
industry since 1872, James Heal
is a UK-based testing instruments
and solutions provider for the
apparel, textiles and nonwoven
industry. “Laboratories and testing
agencies such as Intertek and SGS
take complete laboratory solutions
from us, whereas an apparel or
fabric manufacturer often buys
standalone equipment. But the big
apparel companies in Bangladesh or
Peter Goodwin, Head of Technical, and Simon Dakin, International Sales Manager, James Heal
42 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015
Rashedul Faisol, Sales Manager, X-Rite India
India such as Arvind insist on having
in-house testing labs and hence they
have bought laboratory solutions
from us,” shares Simon Dakin,
International Sales Manager,
James Heal. Equipments from
James Heal are calibrated with
UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation
Service) standards and some of
the instruments, if connected to
internet through a computer, can be
investigated via remote diagnostics
and durable for harsh industrial
manufacturing applications. No
special lighting or shrouding is
required for this all-inclusive solution
which improves colour consistency
and quality control while reducing
the operating expense. Easy to set up
and manage, the VeriColor Spectro
system enables colour control in
real time as it is mounted in the
production line where the fabric is
wounded on to the roll. “It should
be connected with the Wi-Fi or
broadband line and should also be
connected to Munich office. The staff
over there continuously monitors the
fabric for colour deviation to analyze
and contain colour problems to make
corrections without stopping the
production,” he explains. Priced at
Euro 150,000, the solution promises
an ROI of one-and-a-half years.
and through the same service.
Technicians sitting at James Heal
UK office can also do a test for
a customer located anywhere in
the world.
The latest model of the Titan5
Universal Strength Tester can
now accommodate tests up to 5000
Newton and can perform tests such
as seam slippage and seam strength,
stretch and recovery, security of
attachments, compression testing
including ball burst, puncture and
crush resistance, yarn strength,
and the Baumann tear strength.
The device comes with ‘TestWise’
intuitive test analysis software for
automatically setting up the required
parameters such as gauge length,
number of specimens to test, pre-
tension requirement and the speed
at which the jaws are required to
move apart during the test. “Selling
30 units per year in Bangladesh,
the Titan5 Universal Strength
Tester is our bestselling model as
it has a wide range of applications,
followed by the burst tester which
is suitable for knitted fabric,” says
Peter Goodwin, Head of Technical,
James Heal.
Tech Management By

IE in Apparel Manufacturing – III

Work Measurement using Time Study
The IE functions in most factories is primarily limited to work measurement which constitutes
Method Study and Time Study of the same method, but with limited application in practice
whereas work measurement is one important activity and should be done with utmost care and
accuracy. Deviation from the standard method may lead to spending excess time to do the same
activity which leads to process imbalance that makes the product costlier and result into reduced
profitability to the organization. Besides its function as a tool for productivity improvement, work
measurement also works as a base for costing, production planning and scheduling the process.
Work measurement is the application of techniques designed to establish the time for a qualified
worker to carry out a task at a defined rate of working. It involves first, finding out different elements
of the production process, second finding out the time taken by each element, and third fix the
standard time for performing the production process. Here, we will limit our discussion to Time Study
only and will discuss the other work measurement techniques later. In common practice all three
steps together is termed as ‘Time Study’ and will be discussed in the same manner. In this article
Dr. Prabir Jana, Professor, NIFT Delhi and Manoj Tiwari, Associate Professor, NIFT Jodhpur
discuss the practical applications and implications of work measurement, limited to Time Study only.

W
ork Measurement is
used to develop standard
times needed to perform
operations. It works as a
base for costing, production planning
and scheduling the process. Sticking to
the standard time is also an indicator
of organization health which results
into on-time delivery of goods. Other
applications of work measurement
data may be in capacity calculation,
capacity planning and booking, process
balancing, simulation while planning,
operator’s evaluation and comparison,
skill development, and many such
complementary processes.
Many a times it’s observed that
values obtained from Time Study
don’t reflect in the practice and a
significant deviation is witnessed
from the time values set and actually
achieved. Selection of the task for
Time Study must be evaluated on
measurable criteria like, work should
be clearly measurable and performed
in a consistent manner, which means
there should be uniformity in the
work being done. Considering the
start-up losses and learning curve,
it is also recommended that there
should be a considerable volume of
work. In practical situations, it has
been observed that in case of smaller
volumes, style gets over by the time
production reaches to its peak or even
before. In such situations time values
measured may not be that much result-
oriented and practically applicable.
While conducting Time Study by
stopwatch and board, the position of
Time Study engineer is also important,
while the engineer should have a clear
view of the hand movement, he/she
should not create inconveniences to
the normal working of the operator.
Nowadays most of the organized
factories carry out Time Study through
videography of the operation, it is
important to calibrate the replay speed
with the actual speed of the operation.
Time Study is a cumbersome task. It
involves time, money and of course
manpower. To make Time Study
exercise accurate and fruitful it should
be conducted in a logical manner. It
starts with careful selection of work
to be studied followed by investigating
the circumstances (method, machine,
workplace, etc.), careful elemental
breakdown and its sequential
arrangement and finally getting the
standard time values. An eight-step
easy approach recommended for Time
Study is shown in Figure 1.
Getting the information about
work – This is the first step of Time
Study. The observer should collect
the information related to kind of
work, machine and equipment going
to be used, material used, work place
arrangement as well as the details
of surrounding.
Breaking down operation into
elements – Once the operation
to be measured is selected, the
same needs to be broken down into
elements. Elemental breakdown
provides an opportunity of detailed
investigation and enables finding out
the time consumed in value-added
and non-value added activities. The
accuracy of Time Study depends on
the elemental breakdown. The key
considerations suggested for elemental
breakdown are:
1. Each element should have a
definite start and finish point and
should be free from any overlap,
ensuring their subsequent repeated
recognition. These beginnings and
ends can often be recognized by a
sound or by a change of direction
of the hand or arm. They are
known as Break Points. A Break
Point can be defined as an instance
when one element in a work cycle
ends and another begins except
in situations where overlapping
elements are involved.

44 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015

 Tech Management By

Figure 1. Steps in Time Study for increased detailing. Elements

Obtain and record all the information
available about the job, the operator
Step 1 and the surrounding conditions, which
is likely to affect the carrying out of the
work (working conditions).
Record a complete description of the
Step 2 method, breakdown the operation into
“elements”
Examine the detailed breakdown to
ensure that the most effective method
Step 3
and motions are being used, and
determining the sample size.
Measure with a timing device (usually
a stop-watch) and recording the time
Step 4
taken by the operator to perform each
“element” of the operation.
Assess the effective speed of working
Step 5 of the operator relative to the standard
rating.
Extend the observed times to “basic
Step 6
times”
having duration 0.07 min. (4.2 sec.)
to 0.10 min. (6 sec.) can be reliably
measured by a trained observer.
Long manual elements should be
rated about every 0.33 min. (20 sec.).
In practice, many IE divide the
operations into three major sections,
Figure 2. Cuff panels of a shirt sleeve
which are:
B C
1. Pick (It generally includes picking
the panel(s), moving to the needle
point and handling till stitching starts);
2. Stitch (Stitching and handling while
stitching); and 3. Dispose (taking out
A D
the panel(s) after stitching, keeping it
aside and moving back to pick the next
panel(s). Such approach is easy but Table 1. Elemental breakdown of joining the
may not be able to provide the minute shirt cuff panels
details of work hence may not reveal

Element No.

Description
the non-value added elements).

Category

Remarks
Element
Determine the allowances to be made
Step 7 over and above the basic time for the Let’s try to understand the elemental
operation breakdown of joining the cuff panels
Determine the “standard time” for the of a shirt sleeve (refer Table 1 and Picking up one panel Involves moving of
Step 8 and other by left and hands to pick, grasping
operation. Figure 2). 1. right hand panels and coming
back to the machine
The thumb rule of element bed
One common mistake in element breakdown is element that should
be small enough to be repetitive Putting panels face to Pre-positioning of
breakdown is skipping some
PICK

2. face, alignment and panels using both

motions from the cycle. In a while long enough to be measurable. placement hands
sewing operation, the pickup and The rule also says manual element
Lifting the presser foot, Lifting of presser foot
dispose of generally happens from and machine element should be sliding the aligned using knee and sliding
left and to the right of operator, separate; there should not be any 3. panels till needle point to needle point by
and lowering down the hands
respectively. During element element which is mix of manual presser foot
breakdown often the first element and machine element. This is to
ensure machine allowances can Lowering down the Needle lowering down
is “start/pick up of the pieces needle and start stitch using machine hand
be applied selectively to machine 4.
from left side of the table” and (from point A to B) with wheel by right hand
elements to get accurate results. back tack
last element of the operation is
“dispose of the sewn piece to the However, although it sounds Stop near to point B, At curve slower down
right side of the sewing table”. simple and straight forward but 5.
align and start stitching speed and using both
STITCH

at curve. Stitch (from hands

After disposing of the sewn piece often faces real life challenges and point B to C)
operator’s hand has to traverse compromising of rules may be
imminent. For example, in pocket Stop near to point C, At curve slower down
from right to left side of the table align and start stitching speed and using both
to pick up the next piece and this attaching on shirt front every time at curve. Stitch (from hands
6.
the operator reaches the corner of point C to D) and finish
hand movement is often missed in stitch at point D with
pocket, he/she will pivot the piece back tack
the complete cycle.
and then start sewing again. Ideally
2. Always try to keep the elements sewing from one corner to another
Lifting the presser foot Lifting of presser foot
and taking out stitched using knee and taking
simple and easy to understand. This may be one element (machine
7.
panels and lowering out stitched panels by
will help in common understanding element) and pivoting at corner down the presser foot left hand
among Time Study practitioners of should be separate element (as it is Picking up trimmers Picking up trimmers
the organization.
DISPOSE

manual element). But in reality for and cut the thread and cut the thread by
8. left hand while holding
3. It is good to keep the elements a good operator measuring pivoting the panels by right
smaller but at the same time time separately may not be possible hand

keeping it too small may lead to by Time Study engineer. Therefore, Moving back the Disposing of the
errors while observing. Hence for all practical purposes pivoting is 9.
trimmers by one hand stitched panels by
and disposing of the left hand
there should be a good balance added to the preceding or succeeding stitched panels
while deciding the elements. Very sewing element. There will be
small elements which are difficult marginal inaccuracy while adding
to observe should be merged with the allowances.
previous or subsequent element. Another problem of element
Similarly, the big elements should breakdown while sewing round
be divided into smaller elements curve. Unlike a stoppage (and thus

MAY 2015 | Apparel Online Bangladesh 45

Tech Management By

clear breakpoint) in sharp corner, An abridged version of a Time Study sheet

in above example of cuff sewing, Operation Cuff Making Work Place Layout
the breakpoint at point B and C Machine Single Needle Lock Stitch Machine
is non-definitive type. The same
Style/Style No. Formal Shirt/ FS - 208 A2

Centre
operator may sew few stitches more

Material
Trolley
Stitch
or less while stopping at the corners Operator ABC
resulting element time variation. Observer XYZ

Table
Training on correct hand movements Start Time 0.438 Pick

may bring down the variation, Finish Time 0.465

but operator to operator variation Date 12-Aug.-2005
within one factory will still remain. Cycle

Normally it is observed that operator 1 2 3 4 5

will not stop exactly at the middle of Element Description

Subtracted

Subtracted

Subtracted

Subtracted

Subtracted
Reading

Reading

Reading

Reading

Reading
the curve, they generally stop either

Watch

Watch

Watch

Watch

Watch
Time

Time

Time

Time

Time
at the beginning of the curve or at
Picking up one panel and other by left 2 2 38 3 75 3 110 2 147 3
the end of the curve, thereby causing and right hand
variation between cycles. Putting panels face to face, alignment 5 3 41 3 79 4 114 4 151 4
and placement
Time Study sheet Lifting the presser foot, sliding the aligned panels
till needle point and lowering down
8 3 43 2 80 1 116 2 155 4

the presser foot

Time Study values for cuff making
Lowering down the needle and start stitch 13 5 48 5 86 6 122 6 161 6
(for which the elemental breakdown (from point A to B) with back tack
is discussed in Table 1) are shown Stop near to point B, align and start stitching at 22 9 58 10 95 9 130 8 172 11
in Time Study sheet. The time curve. Stitch (from point B to C)
Stop near to point C, align and start stitching at 27 5 61 3 99 4 133 3 176 4
observations were done on a curve. Stitch (from point C to D) and finish stitch at
continuous stop watch and values point D with back tack
recorded are in sec. Before recording Lifting the presser foot and taking out stitched 29 2 65 4 102 3 138 5 179 3
panels and lowering down the presser foot
the time values, one should watchfully Picking up trimmers and cut the thread 33 4 67 2 104 2 141 3 181 2
observe the machine, work place, Moving back the trimmers by one hand and 35 2 72 5 108 4 144 3 183 2
operation, elemental breakdown etc. disposing off the stitched panels.
All the elements should be checked Total Observed Time For 35 37 36 36 39
Individual Cycles (in Seconds)
and re-checked to ensure that no
Average Observed Time (OT) (in Seconds) 37.2
activity is missed out and arrangement Rating (%) 95
of elements is done in a sequential Basic Time (BT) (In Seconds) 35.34
manner. Once the continuous time Allowances (%) Personal - 8 Fatigue - 5 Delay - 2 Any Other - 0
observations are done and recorded (in
WR-Watch Reading Cells); subtracted
time values for each element in
each cycle should be written (in ST
The number of observations in Time Table 2. Sample Size
– Subtracted Time Cells). Observed determination
Time (OT) is calculated by average Study should be statistically justified.
time values of all the cycles. Further This minimizes the error and gives Cycle time in No. of cycles
minutes to be observed
realistic results. Though there are
Basic Time and Standard Time is To 0.10 200
statistical formulae for sample size
calculated using Operator Rating and To 0.25 100
determination, for ease a convenient
different allowance. To 0.50 60
ready-to-use table (refer Table 2) is
To 0.75 40
Use of decimal stopwatch (where recommended. The logic is when the To 1.0 30
one minute is divided into 100 operation time values are smaller, To 2.0 20
divisions) is recommended for Time chances of per cent error in observation To 5.0 15
Study; it is easy to visually observe are high compared to the instances To 10.0 10
the decimal watch to note down the when the operation time values are To 20.0 8
reading in decimal of minutes and comparatively larger. Assuming, for To 40.0 5
record in Time Study sheet. However, an operation if time value is 20 sec., Above 40.0 3
the decimal stopwatch is not easily then due to limitations (may be human
available normal stopwatch (where or stop watch) one may write 21 sec.
one minute is divided into 60 compared to the earlier observations
instead of 20 sec. or 19 sec. instead
division) is used in most factories. of previous small cycle.
of 20 sec. Here the per cent error is
If normal stopwatch is used then it 5% while recording. To minimize such Recording of time for elements –
is advisable to record the readings errors, it is recommended to take Once the elemental breakdown of the
in sec. and later convert to minutes. more number of observations for small operation is done and all the element
The Time Study observer should be cycles. While in another case, if time are well defined in a sequential order, it
extra cautious during calculation; a value for operation is 60 sec., again is recommended to check the sequence
common mistake is 30 sec. is equated the error while observing may be of 1 of the element. Elements should be able
to 0.30 min. or 0.50 min. is equated to sec. (say 59 sec. or 61 sec. instead of 60 to cover the entire operation provided
50 sec. and vice versa. sec.) which is 1.67% error and lesser performed in the sequence.

46 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015


The elements need to be timed using
Time Study tools such as smart Time
Study board, stop watch, video camera
or may be by using Smart Time and
Motion Study devices. The time values
observed for elements in sequence
may be noted down using the Time
Study formats.
While taking the time values, one
should adhere to the below points:
1. First and foremost thing should be
confidence building between Time
Study personnel and the operator
to be timed. The objectives should
be clearly communicated. Many a
time operators take Time Study as
a threat to them and don’t take it
positively. It should be treated as a
routine activity with a sole objective
of work betterment. In any case,
Time Study without knowledge of
operator should be prohibited and
considered as an unethical practice.
This may lead to mistrust between
the observer and the operator.
2. Many a times, operators purposely
slow down while Time Study is ON
as they feel that working faster
while Time Study may lead to tough
production targets. Sometimes an
opposite scenario is also witnessed
where operators (mostly new
operators work fast. The reason
may be putting efforts to impress
IE about his/her skills. In both the
cases IE should ask the operator to
work at natural pace.
3. Selection of right worker is very
important. The worker selected
must possess the ability to perform
that task in a standardized manner.
Worker selection for Time Study
should be done in consultation with
production personnel. Also, it is
always better to take a number of
operators rather than one operator
for same operation while doing Time
Study. This will bring homogeneity
and increased acceptance of the
observations.
4. The operator who is going to be
timed should be given sufficient
time to settle down before Time
Study and should be able to achieve
steady pace. Operator should feel
comfortable while he/she is being
observed.
5. While Time Study, unusual activities
such as bobbin refilling, arranging
the fallen bundle, threading, writing
down something, halting work
and talking to peers or supervisor,
Table 3. Elements classification
Element Type Key characteristic
Occurs in every work cycle of an
Repetitive element
operation
Does not occur in every work cycle of
Occasional element an operation but may occur at regular
or irregular intervals.
For which the basic time remains
Constant element
constant whenever it is performed
For which the basic time varies in
Variable element relation to some characteristics of the
product, equipment or process
Element which is performed by a
Manual element worker.
Element which is automatically
performed by a power driven machine
Machine element
and once started it cannot be controlled
by a worker except to terminate it.
An element, observed during study,
which after analysis is not found to
Foreign element be an essential part of the job. (Any
element which is not part of usual work
cycle)
etc. should be ignored. The cycle
consisting of such unusual activities
should be discarded and a fresh
observation should be taken.
6. The extreme time values should be
discarded while analysis, as it may
be due to errors while recording.
Considering such values may lead to
unrealistic results.
It is important to understand the
various classes of elements before
Time Study. Lack of clarity on type
of elements may lead to errors in
the observations. Some of the major
classes of elements are as mentioned
in Table 3.
It is worth mentioning that these
element categories are not mutually
exclusive in nature. While Time Study
observer witnesses disturbances
or interruptions in the work cycle
being observed. Such interruptions
are caused by the foreign elements,
which are not an essential part of the
job and do not add value to the work.
These foreign elements make the
work cycle longer than other cycles.
It is recommended that work cycles
consisting of such foreign elements
should be discarded and a fresh cycle
Tech Management By
Examples
 Picking up a part prior to an assembly operation
 Locating a work piece in a holding device
 Putting aside a finished component or assembly
 Adjusting the tension, or machine setting;
 Needle replacement
 Threading of machine after breakage
 Bobbin replacement
 Switch ON/OFF machine
 Time in attaching button with a pre-set number
of stitches at a given machine speed
 Button holing of a particular profile with pre-set
stitches at a given machine speed
 Sweeping the floor (varies with area),
 Transferring material from one workstation to
the other (varies with distance)
 Work place arrangement (arranging the
bundles, varies with the process requirement)
 Picking up trimmer
 Disposing off the stitched panel(s)
 Pivoting between consecutive sewing bursts.
 Button attaching element with automatic button sewer
 Stitching element on a automatic profile sewer
 Embroidery element on an Embroidery machine
 Receiving instructions from the supervisor
 Thread breakage and re-threading of machine
 Bundle fall down
 Ripping off stitching after faulty operation
 Disturbance due to operator fumbling
should be observed. Alternatively such
elements may buy time separately and
later while compiling time consumed
in such elements should be subtracted
from the total time. However, to
minimize the error, in such a situation
following the first approach (taking a
fresh observation) is recommended.
Getting the Standard Time – It is very
important to get the Standard Time for
each operation. The sum of individual
operations results into the work
content of the product.
Introduction to Work Study by ILO
reads work content as the amount
of work “contained in” given
product or a process measured in
“work-hours” or “machine hours”.
It is nothing but the minimum time
theoretically required to produce one
unit of output.
Work content = Basic Time + Relaxation
Allowance + Any allowance for additional
work
There are a number of terminologies
used in industry and may differ
from factory to factory. However,
the fundamental understanding is
more or less same. Observed Time
(OT) is the average value of time
MAY 2015 | Apparel Online Bangladesh 47
Tech Management By
Work measurement is the application of techniques designed to establish the time for a qualified worker to carry out a task at a
defined rate of working. It involves, first finding out different elements of the production process; second, finding out the time
taken by each element and third fix the standard time for performing the production process.
observations achieved from Time
Study. Observed Time is recorded
from direct observation of the
operator. Basic Time (BT) also
termed as Normal Time in many
factories is the time value achieved
after incorporating operator rating.
This is said Normal Time, as the
time values have been levelled or
normalized to a standard rate of
work by multiplying observed value
by rating. Further allowances such
as Personal, Fatigue and Delay (PF
& D) are added to the Basic Time or
Normal Time to get the Standard
Allowed Minutes (SAM) or Standard
Minute Values (SMV).
Basic Time (BT) =
Observed Time (OT) X Rating of the Operator
Rating, as discussed in the previous
article (refer ‘Operator Rating’,
StitchWorld, September 2014) is
the assessment of the worker’s rate
of working relative to the observer’s
concept of the rate corresponding to the
standard pace. Therefore, the rating
of the worker gives the comparison
of the rate of working observed with
respect to the standard level, which is
the average rate of a qualified worker,
when he uses correct methods and
when he is motivated to apply himself
to the work. Operator rating (in % on
a scale of 100) when multiplied by the
observed time, gives the “basic time”
for the element.
For example, if an operator is judged to
be working slower (rating 80) and the
observed time is 1.5 minute then,
Basic Time = 1.5 × 80/100 = 1.20 minutes
Standard Time (ST) = Basic Time (BT) +
Allowances
Suitable allowances, to compensate
for Personal needs, Fatigue and
Delay are added to get the Standard
Time for a particular operation. Such
allowances are popularly known as
PF & D. Such allowances vary with
individual personal needs, type of
machine, and kind of work (light,
medium and heavy, etc.). Till date
there are no established standards for
such allowances. In normal working
conditions it is recommended to add
5-7% Personal Allowance. Delay
Allowances (also called as Machine
48 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015
Delay Allowance or Work Allowance
vary with the type of machine, these
allowances are generally kept around
5-8%, while Fatigue Allowance (also
called as Relaxation Allowance) are
generally kept as much as 5%. In total
PF & D Allowances should be kept
between 12-16%.
Assuming PF & D Allowance is 15%, the
Standard Time for the above observed
operation will be 1.38 min. (1.2 min.
as basic time + 15% of 1.2 min. as
allowances added).
For calculation of SAM, two different
methods are in practice; in first
method allowances are progressively
added, and in second method
allowances are added to normal
time. If the normal time is 1.5 min.,
PF Allowances is 10% and Machine
Delay Allowances is 9%, then in first
method SAM = 1.5 (1.09) x (1.1) =
1.7985 min. The logic behind this
calculation is given by Paul Collyer,
an independent consultant, as
“Contingency Allowances to be added
to Basic Time and to then add PF
& D primarily because whilst most
delays are machine-related (bobbin,
rethread etc.), the operator is still
working and therefore needs PF
allowance also”. This method allows
adding Machine Delay Allowance to
machine elements separately.
For same reading, following the
second method, the SAM = 1.5 +
(1.5 x 0.10) + (1.5 x 0.09) = 1.785
min. Although not so commonly
used, noted consultant Chandrajith
Wickramasinghe prescribed use
of this method because he says
“allowance has to be calculated on
observed time”.
In reality, IE executives in factory
do not face above dilemma as they
apply a blanket allowance covering
both (i.e. 19% in above example to
basic time). SAM = 1.50 x 1.19 =1.785.
According to Paul Collyer this is not
correct in terms of international best
practice but it works and makes life
simpler for harassed IEs who are
under pressure to set SAMs.
Another important rule of Time
Study is calculation of frequency
of that element in the whole cycle.
In PBU system when operator is
untying (opening) and tying (closing)
the bundle, that element should be
recorded, calculated and apportioned
to the sewing cycle. Suppose there
is a bundle of 15 pieces of shirt front
and operator sews the front placket,
the Time Study of the front placket
sewing operation is done and SAM
value is 1.27 minute.
However for every 15 front placket
making, operator is also doing untying
and tying of bundle once before
passing on the bundle to next operator;
therefore 1/15th of the bundle tying and
untying time also to be added to the
front placket making cycle.
Another blatant mistake in the name
of Time Study practiced in certain
factories is Cycle Study. Here element
breakdown of the operation is not done.
Total Cycle Time for one complete
bundle is noted and then divided by the
number of pieces in the bundle to arrive
at time required per piece. Although
there is no particular name for this
study; it is commonly called Cycle
Study and used for quickly assessing
“what’s happening” and this should not
be confused with Time Study.
Conclusion
Time Study is extremely popular
and widely used by IE. An IE spends
a considerable share of his work
time on Time Study. In many of
the organizations, Time Study is
considered as panacea to all the
problems and industrial engineers
directly jump to Time Study without
sufficient ground work. It is important
to understand that Time Study may be
only useful when done religiously. It
should be well supported by the careful
selection of work, work place, operator
and last but not the least, strong trust
between workforce and IE.
Targets set on wrong/faulty time
observations may lead to planning
failures and serious monitory losses
to the organization. Both excessive
work load (too tight targets) and
underutilization of resources (loose
targets) are dangerous to the
organization. It is highly recommended
that Time Study should be done with
utmost care and accuracy.
worldwrap
Bangladesh emerging as
an important sourcing
destination for s.Oliver
The birth of s.Oliver in 1969 as
a small boutique ‘Sir Oliver’ in
Würzburg was a tribute to the
hero of Charles Dickens’s novel,
‘Oliver Twist’. In 1978, after
some legal disputes, the name
‘Sir Oliver’ was changed to the
current brand name s.Oliver.
Founded by Bernd Freier (who is
also its current billionaire CEO),
the brand initially sourced its
products through wholesalers,
but as fashion suppliers were
frequently unable to deliver
the quantities ordered by the
retailer on time, Bernd travelled
to India in 1974 to negotiate
directly with local textile
manufacturers, and thereby
gained independence from the
wholesalers. Subsequently, he
had his own successful range
of ‘Madras check shirts’, which
founded a ready market in
Germany. Today, the retailer
has purchasing offices in
Hong Kong (China), Hangzhou
(China), Chennai (India),
Bogor (Indonesia), Dhaka
(Bangladesh) and Istanbul
(Turkey); the logistics is
managed from Rottendorf.
50 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015
T he Dhaka office of s.Oliver
has been operational
since the end of 2004. As per
There are currently
three lifestyle
segments under the
industry sources, over the last
s.Oliver brand, all
decade, Bangladesh sourcing
for s.Oliver has grown to more targeting different
than US $ 100 million. Some of buyer types. s.Oliver
the main product categories Casual is the
from Bangladesh are T-shirts, company’s largest
sweatshirts, sweaters, woven segment that focuses
bottoms, denims, men’s shirts, on ladies’ and gents’
ladies blouses and jackets. While
denim sourcing from Bangladesh
has been relatively limited,
capabilities are developing in the
country to offer a wider product
range to brands like s.Oliver.
Further opportunities await
in categories like bodywear/
underwear as many specialized
factories are being set up in the
country catering to this category.
Pre-requisites
for vendors... leisure fashion. Trendy
s.Oliver makes sure that the and fashionable, QS
by s.Oliver is aimed
basic thresholds like compliance
are in place in a factory even at teenagers and
before they contemplate doing young adults, whereas
business. More than the scales s.Oliver Selection
and infrastructure, the mindset
addresses a more
of the vendors is important as
if the mindset is right then the
sophisticated audience
with a generally
factory can be groomed as per
the buyer’s requirement. The understated style.
right mindset includes how
keen a factory is to work with
a brand like s.Oliver and how for s.Oliver as the country’s
flexible they can be? Can they capabilities are developing
handle business for 12 seasons in garmenting. The country’s
in a year? contribution to s.Oliver’s entire
Very strict on compliance, sourcing is increasing but in the
coming time, as China continues
s.Oliver audits the entire supply
to become more expensive,
chain – even the sub-contractors
and sub-suppliers, though the further growth opportunities
company normally doesn’t could be available for factories
allow sub-contracting. The in Bangladesh.
production is closely monitored Speed to market is one of the
at the factory floor by the key factors that affect sourcing
company’s QCs. for brands like s.Oliver. Having
the right product is perhaps
Focus on Bangladesh more important even if it means
increasing... that it needs to be sourced
Bangladesh is emerging as from countries that may not
an important sourcing hub necessarily be the cheapest.
worldwrap

‘BUY NOW,
WEAR NOW’
CHANGING RETAIL
Brands no longer restricted to four buying seasons
Though technically seasons change 4 times a year, but for many retailers today
the season changes between 7 to 15 times, luring shoppers to stores. Ditching the
traditional fashion-cycle, many retailers and brands are striving to deliver a near-
constant feed of ‘Buy now, wear now’ products. The buying season in fashion is no
longer about Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter, as retailers develop new reasons for
fashion seekers to shop, widening the number of collections and plugging falling sales
in traditional lean periods.

oday, the lead
time of individual
collections for brands
is anywhere between
two to five weeks, compared to
the traditional six months or
more, enabling fresh products
on the shelves with every new
delivery. This shortened cycle
allows brands to better respond
to market feedback by doing
smaller runs per piece and if
well received by consumers,
then produce more, instantly.
Though the concept is not
entirely new, as ZARA, the
master of offering consumers
a near-constant stream of
newness has been embracing
faster fashion-cycle for a long
time, making it amongst the
consumers’ favourite; it is now
almost a norm with every fashion
retailer. The Spanish fast fashion
retailer commits six months in
advance to only 15-25 per cent
of its season’s collection and
only locks 50-60 per cent of its
collection by the start of the
season, which means that up to
40-50 per cent of its clothes are
designed and manufactured in
the middle of the season. For
instance, if Marsala becomes a
rage, then ZARA’s supply chain
reacts very quickly, designing
new styles and getting them into
stores, while the trend is still at
its peak.
Even though it has a different
business model, following
ZARA’s footstep is the Japanese-
owned Uniqlo, an affordably
priced global apparel retailer,
which makes well-designed and
well-fabricated basic clothes.
Not to remain behind, Burberry,
which is also well-known for its
tech-savvy approach to shopping,
has experimented with this
concept. Since 2010, the brand
has sold a selection of pieces
straight from the runway, with a
delivery time of just eight weeks.
Almost unbelievable, but as of
today the fashion industry is
churning out around 52 ‘micro-
seasons’ per year, with new
trends coming out every week for
consumers to buy as quickly as
possible, before they disappear
from the shelves. According
to Elizabeth Cline’s book
Overdressed: The shockingly
high cost of cheap fashion,
ZARA receives new deliveries
to its stores twice per week,
whereas H&M and Forever 21 get
daily shipments of new styles,
and Topshop introduces 400
styles a week on its website.
Another approach is numerous
collections within seasons. A
leader in this concept is H&M,
the second largest apparel
retailer in the world, which
offers two main collections each
year, one in Spring and one in
Fall, but within each season,
there are several sub-collections
that allow H&M to continually
refresh its inventory. The
retailer’s primary collections
are traditional long-lead times,
while the sub-collections are
trendier items with shorter
lead times. Generally, the
items by the Swedish retailer
with very short lead times
are manufactured in Europe,
while longer-lead items are
manufactured in Asia. Like
Zara, this allows H&M to be
more responsive to trends.
The concept is now expanding
into other fashion items like
accessories. Tamara Mellon,
Jimmy Choo Co-founder, who
launched her namesake brand
in 2013 with ‘Buy now, wear
now’ ready-to-wear accessories
faces a challenge of getting
retailers to accelerate the way
they work. Instead of quarterly
deliveries, Mellon provides
monthly collections and finds
it challenging to get stores
to agree to working with 12
deliveries within a year. “It is
difficult for department stores
to fully adopt the updated
distribution cycle. We have
seen great success online with
our own e-commerce and with
forward-thinking retail partners

52 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015

worldwrap
like Net-a-Porter. The consumers
have fully-embraced the ‘Buy
now, wear now’ approach, but
department stores have been
more reluctant to follow suit,”
reveals Tamara.
However, the retail scenario is
changing and slowly department
stores too are embracing
this concept, such as Neiman
Marcus, which encourages
brands to split their collection
into 8 to 10 (sometimes 12)
deliveries. “We have engaged
customers, who visit our stores
weekly and to keep their
attention, there has to be fresh
goods with new deliveries. We
live in an ADD (Attention
Deficit Disorder) society,
with the iPhone,
iPad, Instagram, etc. creating
on a weekly basis,
We like immediate
the customer feels
gratification and visual
off-trend after the
stimulation. At Neiman,
that means new and
exciting clothes,” informs
Ken Downing, Fashion Director
and Executive Vice President
at Neiman Marcus. But the
longer and more complex the
supply chain, the harder it is for
the retailers and brands to break
away from the traditional retail
cycle. “The number one thing
facing the industry right now is
timing. Consumers today buy
what they need when they need
it, changing the way they used to
shop. But retail has not changed
completely. It needs to be more
in sync,” asserts Marshal
Cohen, Chief Analyst at
Market Research Firm NPD.
54 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015
From mass market ZARA to
high-end Burberry, retailers
and brands are embracing
and accepting the change
happening in fashion and
the customer’s need for
instant gratification. With
designers creating new looks
on a weekly basis, the fashion
calendar for these companies
is set up to deliberately make
the customer feel off-trend
after the first wear. In today’s
highly competitive retail
environment, regardless of
approach, it is critical to know
how consumers will react to
products well before they are
launched. The chase
With after Spring, Fall,
designers Resort and Pre-Fall
new looks season is pointless
when retailers such
as ZARA, H&M,
Topshop, Forever
first wear.
21, etc. are coming
up with collections
every week or so.
Scurrying to keep pace
are manufacturers around
the world, while European
producers in Turkey and
Eastern Europe and US
suppliers in Mexico and South
America give advantage of
proximity to fill shelves in two
weeks, Asian destinations
are still the preferred choice
for more long running and
classic garments where
along with fashion, quality
and timelessness are the
critical deciders for shopping
the style.
CSA Group divulges certification
programme for safety apparel
A leading provider of
testing and certification
services, CSA Group, has
launched a new testing and
certification programme for
high-visibility safety apparel
to the requirements of CSA
Z96-09. The Group offers a
comprehensive programme of
standards solutions, testing
and certification for personal
protective equipment, including
high-visibility apparels such
as coveralls and vests used
in construction, emergency
response and leisure sports;
the CSA Z96-09 standard
provides guidance on the
design and manufacture of
high-visibility safety apparel.
It recommends that a hazard
assessment be carried out on
each job to determine the risk
to workers of being struck
by moving vehicles and the
Greenpeace unveils Detox
Catwalk report
R
ecently, Greenpeace East
Asia released its Detox
Catwalk, an online platform
report, which assesses how
effectively fashion brands
are removing toxic chemicals
from their supply chains and
tackling water pollution. While
on one hand Inditex Group,
Puma and Valentino join 13
other Detox leaders in this
year’s ranking, on the other
hand, sports brands such as
Nike and Li Ning are labelled
Greenwashers for their failure
to take credible action to Detox.
The Detox Catwalk assesses
how committed companies have
performed against key criteria,
which include how they are
working to eliminate known
hazardous chemicals, such
as PFCs, nonylphenols and
phthalates from their products
and processes, and what steps
they are taking towards full
supply chain transparency.
“The fashion companies that
have committed to Detox over
environmental conditions
under which the work is
performed.
The Group covers a broad
range of products including:
fall protection equipment, head
protection, protective eye-wear,
face protectors and protective
footwear. “CSA Group is a
leading provider of testing
and certification services and
standards development for
high-visibility safety apparel
for the Canadian market.
This programme is a part of
CSA Group’s commitment to
contributing to a better and
safer world. The expanded
services will help our clients
to meet the requirements
that help promote safer work
environments in Canada,”
maintains Nashir Jiwani,
CSA Group Regional Vice
President, Canada.
the past four years represent
approximately 10% of the
global apparel and footwear
market,” revealed Yixiu Wu,
the Detox campaigner at
Greenpeace East Asia.
The four-year Detox
campaign is changing the
way companies are working
with their suppliers and is
starting to shift chemical
regulations in manufacturing
countries. According to
Greenpeace, Detox leaders are
those committed companies,
leading the industry towards a
toxic-free future with credible
timelines, concrete actions and
on-the-ground implementation.
“Increased supply chain
transparency is a good
practice for a sound chemical
management, which will
help decision makers
draft and promote solid
policies in China,” tells
Liu Jianguo from College of
Environmental Sciences.
 fall ’15 TRENDS
All about Fur and Patchwork for the Glamour…
The Arctic weather conditions in New York and London was reflected on the collections of many
designers as fancy furs, cozy winter coats, woolies and other warmers. Vibrant furs were big news in
Fall 2014, and Fall 2015 hasn’t dropped the pace. As designers oscillated between the 60s and 70s era,
there was experimentation with the idea of uniform, with hints of workwear. This was the direction for
carrying androgyny looks on the runway. While ornamentation was kept on the down low at New York –
functionality and protection against the cold were top priority – London’s designers were feeling a little
more frivolous. Runways at Paris and Milan showed that patchwork has become the luxury market’s way
of setting itself apart from other market segments with tricky piecing together of fabrics or working of
print. Trend analysts at FFT have listed out the biggest Fall trends from the coming season.

f all ’15
Fun Fur
S eventies being such a big trend, fur coats
were everywhere. All the fashion capitals
churned out their versions, whereas New York
and London presented fascinating faux furs,
Paris and Milan went for patch worked ones and
more innovative ones. Of course, the safe fur
coats included traditional shapes and various
coloured pieces in the most divine pelts. But
this season was more about the frivolous furs
– fluffy Mongolian lamb furs at Philipp Plein in
bright shades, two-tone grey and white at Just
Cavalli, Saint Laurent’s haphazardly colourful
patchwork fur coat. Plain furs were incorporated
in unusual shades – emerald at Versace, red at
Emilio Pucci, aquamarine at Max Mara and baby
blue at Dolce & Gabbana. Matthew Williamson
used long Mongolian lamb fur in lilac, caramel,
raspberry and turquoise in garments. Erdem
trimmed the collar of a camel coat in golden fur
Philipp Plein Sacai
and Roksanda made use of brightly coloured
shaved fur in stripes.
Jil Sander Roksanda

56 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015

 f all ’15
Androgyny Ahead
I taly and France saw the trend of androgyny adopted by a
range of designers with heavy workwear referencing.
Dries Van Noten used shades of khaki on cargo pants that were
made dressy, at Chloé, a straight, pastel blue corduroy suit which
resembled denim, buttoned up all the way with utility pockets,
Nina Ricci did something similar, though in navy with jet pockets
that was paired with a ribbed sweater. A more sombre theme
came through in starkly androgynous tailoring and outerwear.
Aquilano Rimondi’s dark charcoal and black palette played across
hip-slung pants and blazers fasted to the neck, with only a flash
of silver sequins hinting at luxury. Costume National kept things
very serious – chalk-drawn pinstripes on three-piece suits, longer
line blazers, patent black leather and deep navy velvet.
f all ’15
60s-70s Blur
I t was back to the 1970s era for Fall 2015, with elegant, but
louche workwear with tailored flared pants and turtleneck knits,
as well as shimmering dresses and maxis ready for the disco
dance floor. Dutifully, they followed in the 70s image, with fur
capes, wide brimmed hats, flared pants and culottes and disco
tailoring. However, designers in Milan, like in London, strayed
from the decade merging it with 1960s references such as mini-
skirts, modish bomber jackets, printed tights and neat A-line
coats. Designers to watch for this retro appreciation include the
casual tailoring and flimsy bow blouses at Gucci, the acrid palette
and geometric prints at Bottega Veneta and the movie-star
glamour at Just Cavalli. In fact, many designers merged their 70s
and 60s referencing within the one collection, Jonathan Saunders
and Topshop Unique included.

Costume National Paco Rabanne Just Cavalli Véronique Leroy

Chloé Gucci Carven Marni

f all ’15
Patchwork
P atchwork, so popular in New York and Milan, was back in force
during Paris Fashion Week. Designers in Paris presented three
options for this: the first a literal patchwork in spliced fabrics on offer
at Stella McCartney, Guy Laroche and Jacquemus. The next route was
neatly patch worked layers that felt more like wall art – see the frame
worthy panels at Christian Wijnants or the woven dreams at Nina Ricci
where sequined panels and feathered pieces were merged into one.
Lastly, patchwork effects were created through a clever print. They were
knitted in grey tones at Acne, used on skintight leggings and long
line blazers. At Cédric Charlier, varying widths and colours of stripes
were spliced together, giving the haphazard effect of a patchwork.
The strongest use of patchwork however goes to Chloé, who spliced MSGM Stella McCartney
colourful printed and woven panels of fabrics together in 70s style
ponchos and floor length dresses. Moschino Nina Ricci

58 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2015

f all ’15
Fringed Upon
I t’s almost as if designers anticipated how well their tasseled, fringed
and shaggy collections would perform. Fringing was seen trimming
boots at Rebecca Minkoff, forming skirts at BCBG and on bags and
shawls at Ralph Lauren. Fringing is also a great way to get products to
stand out online, plus it offers fantastic movement. Gentle fringing to
the edges of jackets, bags and booties, has been consistently popular
through New York, London and Milan. So we turn to Paris to unearth
the more extreme versions of this trend we now know will be big for
Fall 2015. We found it in Nina Ricci’s navy pea coat, cape-like with black
fringe. There was drama in the twine-coloured fringing at Sacai, which
boldly hung from the bottom of a leather coat and Ellery laser-cut lurex
and worked into heavy fringed rows across a strapless dress. BCBG Max Azria Chloé

Balmain Burberry Prorsum

f all ’15 f all ’15

Everything Embellished
M ilan’s established houses love ornamentation and finery, so
it is no surprise that embellishment comes through from
the week as a trend. Versace’s high-impact collection ended
with a number of sequined bejwelled pieces, mini-dresses and
jumpsuits, bearing the motifs of the digital age – hashtags
and symbols, as well as letters spelling out the brand's name.
Better were the embellished and appliqué birds on a sweater
and dresses at Gucci, the metal studwork at Philipp Plein, the
scattered sequins at Just Cavalli and the children’s doodles
turned into appliqué at Dolce & Gabbana. The raincoats at Mary
Katrantzou bore embellished squiggles from plastic ribbon, not
unlike cassette ribbon and Burberry’s bohemia was underlined
with the unusual use of mirrored discs, alongside embroidered
floral blooms.
Cape Around
T here were endless furs, used in coats, jackets and stoles, but
the real newness came from the cape. In tweeds, shearling,
wool and leather, capes were seen at Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph
Lauren and Lacoste, to name a few. By now capes are so
entrenched in Fall 2015’s dictionary that it was expected to see
them included in the collections of the big designers in Paris.
Of course, they did not disappoint, with Lanvin and Lemaire
revealing versions befitting of the most gallant journeyman on
horseback. Sonia Rykiel paired her velvet cape, which fell to
ankle, with a matching printed velvet jumpsuit. At Kenzo, capes
came in weatherproof poncho shapes, or knitted forms which
swaddled the wearer and were hemmed in blanket stitch. At
Chloé, the sleeves of a grey woolpea coat were given such fare
that the whole thing resembled a cape more than a coat.

Gucci Versace Tommy Hilfiger Vionnet

Burberry Prorsum Mary Katrantzou Burberry Prorsum Versace

MAY 2015 | Apparel Online Bangladesh 59