Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine January Issue 2019 | Page 26

BUSINESS BLUEPRINT - 2018
<<
<< Winning
strategies
of 2018 –
Exporters
take leap of
< <
faith!
As already touched upon in the previous
columns, it need not to be repeated
again that the past year has been one of
the most demanding for the Bangladesh
apparel sector. However, the silver lining
amidst all these challenges has been the
innovative, entrepreneurial spirit of the
garment makers… Not to be daunted by
challenges and adversities, many business
houses went back to the drawing boards
to chalk out strategies to beat the business
blues. Presenting below are few of these
rare strategical steps.
Ananta Modifying Operations
and Practices for Business
Growth and Viability
< <
Incepted in 1991 by Late Humayun Zahir, Ananta is one of the premier denim
manufacturers of the country which employs around 20,000 people across the
company with an annual turnover of over US $ 200 million. Despite its repute
and size, Ananta too had to wither the adverse effects of the changing milieu.
But thanks to the dynamic leadership of Sharif Zahir, the Managing Director of
Ananta, the company has put in place certain operational and strategic changes
which have kept it not only on track, but also on a growing spree… So let’s hear
from Sharif about the key challenges that he faced in 2018 and the strategic
moves he made to remain in the race. December 2018
The Challenge:
Right now, the industry is going
through a very difficult phase, which
is pretty much due to the existing
global retail scenario. The RMG
sector has always been price-driven
where the countries that offer the
cheapest prices prevail. However,
things have come to such a point
where further squeeze, in terms of
profit margins, would sound the
death knell for the manufacturers. If
that was not all, we as manufacturers
have not been very good, either
in terms of ensuring production
efficiency or cost cutting, excepting
may be a few. Add to that the
bank loans with high interest rates,
which many have been taking for
expansion, remediation or other
purpose. All these factors have
added up to create a very uncertain
future for the industry. And now with
increased wages, things would get
even tougher…
And the Solution:
(a) Structural Changes: In the last
couple of years, we have been
concentrating on consolidating
and restructuring the organisation
both in terms of operations and
management. Even though denim
continues to be our principal
offering, we have also started
manufacturing other categories….
(Suits and sweaters are two main
products that Ananta has started
producing already, while lingerie is
the latest to kick-start operations.)
(b) Market & Training: Even in terms
of markets, we have expanded;
we are now catering to China and
India… The best investment is in
26 Apparel Online Bangladesh | January 2019 | www.apparelresources.com
Sharif Zahir, Managing Director, Ananta
human resources and training.
Training should start with the
owners, be it with respect to
management best practices or
man-management, pricing and
negotiations, etc., percolating
down to the senior, middle-
management and the workers.
(c) Professionalism: For most of our
ventures, we have independent
CEOs now, who are running the
show on their own. If one has to
grow and develop in this age,
business has to be handed over
to the professionals, which we
have started doing already. Some
of these ventures are out-and-
out profit centres and a few cost
centres.
(Ananta prefers to have expats
with proven track records, who
are provided with teams of
promising management trainees
cherry-picked from the best of the
management institutes to train
them for future).