Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine April Issue 2019 | Page 27

EXPORTER PERSPECTIVE
STATS AT A
GLANCE
(Crony Group)
2,00,000+ pieces
produced per day
Knitting Capacity:
60+ tonnes per day
Dyeing Capacity:
65+ tonnes per day
Yarn Dyeing
Capacity: 15+
tonnes per day
Embroidery
Capacity: 4 million+
stitches per day
Modern Garment
Dyeing and
Washing Capacity:
50,000+ pieces per
day
All accessories made
in-house
“We do all kinds of knit items as
well as sweaters. However, none of
our products are very basic while
production procedures are rather
efficient too. To put it in technical
perspective, SMV of Crony Apparels
is 11.5 and our average SMV across
all production units is around 9.5.
Even in kidswear, average product
price is around US $ 2.5-3,” explains
the MD of the company.
Despite this, Sunny feels that in the
prevailing scenario, the need of the
hour is to take a step further towards
attaining more flexibility while also
enhancing the product portfolio,
loaded with offerings that are in
global demand and comes with decent
price tags.
“Even if order volumes for heavy knit
items are substantial, we are also
open to doing smaller runs. We are
working for various retailers whose
MoQs are very small… For Galeria
Kaufhof, orders are as small as 2,000
pieces/colour but prices are almost
thrice the regular items,” underlines
Sunny, who is now enhancing the
product basket with more value-
added and critical items.
Of late, Crony Group is moving into
sportswear and outerwear. For
the outerwear facility, it has got
into technical collaboration with a
Chinese company. The building for
the outerwear facility is reportedly
almost 80 per cent complete and
workers’ training is ongoing.
“We are planning to start with 10
lines and will gradually move up to
30 lines. Around 100 workers have
successfully completed training,”
elaborates Crony Group’s MD, while
adding that in today’s age of fast
fashion where turnaround time is
very, very short, success in business
calls for much more than just fine-
tuning operations and enhancing
product portfolio.
“Over the last couple of years, we
have increased our capacities, and
this increase has not just only been
for readymade garments. We’ve
augmented our capacities in all
aspects including washing (capacity
of 10 tonnes/day currently), printing
(digital and rotary – current capacity
20 tonnes/day), dyeing (increasing
by 40 tonnes/day to reach 80 tonnes/
day),” Sunny underlines.
The increase in in-house capabilities
has been a two-pronged approach to
tackle the need of sharper lead times
as well as opening options for value-
addition.
The only worrying factor for him now
is something on which Sunny hasn’t
FA C T S
l
Of
late, Crony
Group is moving
into sportswear
and outerwear.
For the outerwear
facility, it has got
into technical
collaboration with a
Chinese company.
The building for
the outerwear
facility is reportedly
almost 80 per cent
complete and
workers’ training is
going on.
l
The
increase in
in-house
capabilities
has been a two
pronged approach
to tackle the need
of sharper lead
times as well as
opening options for
value-addition.
l
Under
the
visionary leadership
of Sunny, Crony
Group added
nine more
entities including
subsidiaries like
Abanti Colour
Tex Ltd., Crony
Tex Sweater
Ltd., S.S. Cotton
Fabrics Ltd., Crony
Apparels Ltd. and
Crony Embroidery
& Printing Ltd.,
all of which are
associated with
apparels.
got any control. “Infrastructure is
emerging as a major hindrance; for
most of the buyers, we hardly get two
week’s time to finish production and
dispatch orders. Due to the lack of
deep sea port and inadequate road
facilities, substantial amount of time
is wasted in transportation,” points
out the astute businessman.
According to Sunny, due to the
existing infrastructural bottlenecks,
retailers prefer to place the first
order in Bangladesh (as it gives them
time enough to get orders on time)
while the repeat orders go to other
manufacturing hubs.
“The second and third orders mostly
go to countries in East Europe,
China and Turkey even when they
charge more than Bangladesh,
thanks to better infrastructure and
connectivity,” Sunny says.
Given the fact that global fashion
retail market works under very
tight schedule, where shipment
delays are equal to business losses,
Bangladesh stands a chance to grow
further only if it works on improving
infrastructure.
“Our business will automatically
grow when the repeat orders (around
30 per cent) that are now routed
elsewhere come to Bangladesh.
But for that, we need better
infrastructure and port facility,”
observes Sunny, who is keen on
spreading his client-base beyond
the traditional apparel export
destinations.
The new buyer, Balabala, which is a
kidswear specialist with around
US $ 3 billion retail business, is what
the MD of Crony Group has been
waiting for to make a foray into the
Chinese domestic market.
“There aren’t many from Bangladesh
to start direct exports to China and
Crony is one amongst the handful.
Through Balabala, we have now got
direct access to the highly-potential
domestic market in China,” concludes
the owner of Crony Group, sounding
hopeful of reaping dividends from
the various changes that have been
brought keeping up with the current
challenges and opportunities.
www.apparelresources.com | APRIL 2019 | Apparel Online Bangladesh
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