Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine February Issue 2019 | Page 30

EVENT REVIEW
Aamra looks for
sturdy presence
of Taiwan-
based Oshima
in Bangladesh
market
A
amra Resources has the reputation of
bringing to the industry technologies
and solutions that are not only value-
additions to the production process, but
can also assist the industry onto the
path of Industry 4.0. Among its latest
partnerships, the most significant one
has been with Taiwan-based Oshima
Co., Ltd. “We listen to our customers and
through our knowledge transfer sessions
wherein we engage our clients, we not
only update them on new technologies and
services, but also understand their needs
and accordingly bring solutions into the
market,” said Sohel Ahmed, COO, aamra.
The tie-up with Oshima is a step ahead in
the same direction.
Team Apparel Online recently caught up
with Shamim Masudul Haque, Deputy
General Manager, Aamra Resources
Ltd.; Rich Tsai, Assistant Vice President
and Hsu Ching Hsiang, Sales Executive,
Oshima Co., Ltd. and discovered the
nerve of the vibrant Bangladesh apparel
industry and why Oshima products are a
good fit. Established in 1971, Oshima Co.,
Ltd. is a well-established manufacturer of
apparel and textile machinery equipment
with a plethora of products such as weight
checker machines, spreaders, needle and
metal detectors. Though the company has
existence in the Bangladesh market for
the last 20 years, the real turning point
for the company came in 2016 when it
joined hands with Aamra Resources Ltd.,
and since then, the escalation in sales of
Oshima products has been noteworthy.
Having facilities in Taiwan, China,
Thailand and Vietnam, Oshima has
always strived to survive through the
implementation of high quality, better
productivity and credibility by service
to satisfy its customers. Endorsing the
same, Shamim informed that Oshima has
helped Bangladesh industry to reduce
manpower and increase productivity
through their automation solution. “When
we started Oshima spreaders by joint
venture with Lectra, we used to see 10
Shamim Masudul Haque (C), Deputy General Manager, Aamra Resources Ltd.; Rich Tsai (R), Assistant Vice President; and Hsu Ching
Hsiang, Sales Executive, Oshima Co., Ltd.
Oshima is educating the customers that a lot of wash is there
in garment processing, and in such washes, a lot of chemical is
involved. It is not possible to get 100 per cent particles removed
because it’s embedded in the fabric through these processes.
to 15 people working on one spreading
table in garment units. Now, it has moved
down to 4 to 5 people and we are aiming to
reduce it to 2 in future,” shared Shamim.
Reducing manpower and using automation
is becoming even more important as
Bangladesh has recently seen a 40 per cent
increase in its labour cost which is not
supported by an increase in price offered
by the buyers.
Further, it’s a well-known fact that
Bangladesh is now evolving from a basic
garment manufacturing destination
to become a value-addition garment
manufacturing hub with more design
intervention and the companies which are
following these trends are being targeted
now, jointly by aamra and Oshima. Both
these companies are promoting not just
spreaders but also metal-detectors and
weight checkers. Though metal detectors
are not new in the market, customers are
looking for more upgradation in detectors
in this era of Industry 4.0 where the retail
brands can see report by themselves in
real time regarding how many garments
the factory has checked and what are
the needle or other metals that they have
found. “The customers’ requirements are
rapidly changing and they want to know
about all the data. Our metal detector
machine can deliver what they want,”
claimed Shamim confidently. The metal
30 Apparel Online Bangladesh | FEBRUARY 2019 | www.apparelresources.com
detector of Oshima can get connected to
central Wi-Fi system and this central data
collection system can help retailers get the
report from the machine.
Further, Rich Tsai explained that the
metal detector can detect metal particles
having length of as minimum as 0.8 mm.
“However, at the same time, we are
educating the customers that a lot of wash
is there in garment processing, and in such
washes, a lot of chemical is involved. We
can’t get 100 per cent particles removed
because it’s embedded in the fabric
through these processes. You can’t expect
to see 100 per cent detection rate through
these machines, but as far as Oshima is
concerned, we are already ahead of many
other companies,” asserted Shamim.
All the mentioned developments are a
result of strong R&D division of Oshima
which is based in Taiwan. Apart from
this R&D centre, the company has four
factories which are located in Taiwan
(for automation equipment), Shanghai
(needle detectors, weight checker facility),
Zhejiang (for spreaders) and Guangzhou
(for heating equipment). “Every year, we
are launching new software with revised
generation as we are also following
Industry 4.0 concept in our technology,”
concluded Rich Tsai and Hsu Ching Hsiang
confidently sharing the strength of Oshima
and its future growth directions.