COVER STORY
Fabrics
We prefer our in-house fabrics as we have spinning, yarn dyeing and weaving facilities.
Turnover( combined) US $ 100 million
M & M Shirts Ltd.
A part of Shanin Group, M & M Shirts Ltd., produces around 1,60,000 pieces of shirts( men’ s formal & casual) apart from ladies blouses, school shirts & blouses. M. A. Haque Howlader, General Manager of M & M Shirts Ltd. shares his views...
Shirt business today
Well, I would say shirt business is not at its best today. Compared with other RMG products, shirt is not the frontliner in Bangladesh any more. Fact is that, we have failed to explore markets for shirts. To grow in shirts, we would have to find new customers and new markets. Also the price from buyer must be increased; otherwise it would be very difficult to survive in the market.
Demand scenario
There is demand for both casual and formal shirts in the proportion of 50-50. Men’ s formal & casual shirts, ladies blouses, school shirts are items that are in big demand.
Major buyers
Primark, Penny’ s, Frank-Q, Jacks Clothing, Zara, Comma, Collins, etc.
Potential market( USA / Europe)
We work for the European market mainly as we feel more comfortable in the European market compared to that of USA.
Fabrics
Actually we procure all kinds of fabrics – 100 % cotton, semi-cotton, even blends. We source the fabrics mainly from China; sometimes we also source fabrics from India, Pakistan and Indonesia. In Bangladesh, these fabrics are not available.
Bangladesh’ s strength-yarn dyed or solids?
In Bangladesh we can produce both yarn dyed and solids.
Turnover US $ 70 million
Accessory, Testing and their importance
As shirt manufacturers gear up competencies and expertise to cater to new and potential markets, the importance of quality standards and value-additions have become vital parameters deciding the success and failure of businesses. Apparel Online spoke to a prominent accessory supplier and some top-of-theline testing labs to know what they think about the shirt business and what is it that they have to offer to achieve value-addition and set new benchmarks in quality and standards.
KDS Accessories
Based out of the port city of Chittagong, KDS Group is one of the leading multinational apparel and textile conglomerates in the country. KDS Accessories has selected its products finely intertwined with not only the evolution of its accessories business but also with the dynamic nature of the country’ s apparel industry. It all started with manufacturing of corrugated cartons for packaging purposes and was sequentially followed by sewing threads, polybags, plastic hangers, tags, labels, polyester button, etc. Debasis Daspal, CEO of KDS Accessories, shares his views.
Shirt Business
Shirt as a product category has good potential to grow but currently is facing some operational challenges to meet the global high standards of quality and craftsmanship. However, the growth rate of shirts significantly lags compared to that of denim and lingerie items in Bangladesh.
Debasis Daspal – CEO of KDS Accessories
But as more and more entrepreneurs are inclining towards higher value creation, the possibility of higher number of shirt manufacturers coming up besides capacity augmentation of existing manufacturers seems not so far.
Accessory requirements
The total number of different trims and accessories is quite substantial in various kinds of shirts depending on styles and sizes. The general requirements of some major accessories in a shirt are: Buttons( 2 %), Labels & Tags( 1 %), Carton & Poly( 5 %), others( 7 %).
[ The percentages are average in terms of FOB value of a garment ].
Apart from the considerable value that accessories play in garments’ FOB, the complexity and varieties of any trims are also significant.
Special Buttons
There have been so many special polyester buttons’ requirements for any kind of shirt. The need for variety of buttons range from normal pearl buttons to horn buttons to several types of fancy buttons. Apart from the polyester buttons, several types of metal buttons and snaps are also needed in denim shirts and childrenswear.
KDS’ s strength to meet the accessories’ demands
KDS accessories, being the foremost trims and packaging player in the country, stands tall in supplying most of the accessories needs of a shirt manufacturer in the country. Starting from providing sewing threads, buttons, all kinds of labels and print material, hangers, poly and cartons, we are the one-stop trims solution providers to any shirt manufacturer.
Our button facility ramps up overall business by developing our fancy button
18 Apparel Online Bangladesh | JULY 2017 | www. apparelresources. com