EXPORTER PROFILE
“…Yes, that is one amongst the many
reasons,” says Maashed referring to
the changed political milieu in USA
adding, “Many international retailers
are also now moving from USA to
Europe. Besides, European brands
are coming up strongly as against
their American counterparts”. Also
to be considered from Maashed's
perspective is the strong emergence of
Ethiopia as a garmenting hub. Armed
with AGOA, the Sub-Saharan country
of late has successfully lured many big
names from US with numerous others
ready to follow suit. “American policy
of Bangladesh has changed after the
Rana Plaza incident. Moreover, they
are also in a dilemma whether to
produce in Bangladesh or Ethiopia,”
Maashed explains indicating that
this is not a good sign for future
development.
Not the one to ignore the risks of
single market dependency, Dressmen
is seriously looking at market
diversification, but with a touch of
caution! “We are also catering to some
non-traditional markets like India,
Turkey and South Africa… Despite
the huge potential, I think Japanese
market is very difficult for Bangladesh
as we are yet to achieve the level of
expertise to satisfy the Japanese
customers in terms of quality,”
Maashed observes.
Out of the three mentioned countries,
it is India that excites Maashed the
most. “India is very promising. It
has a very large population with
considerable buying prowess…,”
elucidates Maashed, adding that
reduced rate of taxes as against
those levied currently by the Indian
Government could go a long way in
paving a mutually-beneficial business
relation between the two neighbours.
Traditionally a woven shirts
manufacturer (dress shirts, casuals
and formals) with combined
production capacity of 8,00,000
pieces per month, and catering to
names such as Ralph Lauren, TESCO,
VF Corporation, MANGO, Eddie Bauer,
Nautica, TARGET Stores, HAGGAR,
TRADITIONALLY A WOVEN SHIRT MANUFACTURER (DRESS SHIRTS, CASUALS AND
FORMALS) WITH COMBINED PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF 8,00,000 PIECES PER
MONTH, DRESSMEN INDUSTRIES HAS NOW ADDED DENIMS IN ITS PRODUCT RANGE.
Springfield, etc, Dressmen Limited
has now added denims in its product
range. Bangladesh’s rising popularity
in denim has surely opened up a
world of opportunities for the garment
manufacturers, and Dressmen is not
the one to miss this moment! Taking
a step further in this direction, it
has entered into a coalition with
an overseas factory, to utilize each
others’ strengths better to get an edge
over the others.
“We have established a strategic
alliance with a factory in Turkey (in
which we are also a stakeholder)
to manufacture value-added, small
quantity orders to the tune of 300-500
pieces. Similarly when they get
volume orders, it is routed to us
in Bangladesh,” shares Maashed
stressing on the importance of
resource and expertise sharing
between entities cutting across
geographical boundaries in the age of
globalization.
He also states, “In Turkey, we also
have a design studio for product
development,” and refers to have
hired the services of an Italian agency
to feed Dressmen the latest in trends.
“Four times in a year, they give us the
CAD designs of the ongoing trends
in the market and we replicate those
designs in our factory. It’s a very
exclusive process as there are not
many in Bangladesh who use the
same for mass production,” says the
Director of Dressmen.
ESSENTIALS
“Business
dynamics have
been changing
rapidly and if
one has to stay in
the race, there’s
no option but to
think out of the
box and keep
evolving. Every
3-4 years, one
has to change
the game plan in
this business and
we are currently
exploring all the
possibilities.”
– Maashed R Abdullah
For seamless supply chain operations,
Dressmen has established a network
in Hong Kong and China for all their
global procurement. For a better global
reach, it has further partnered with
two organizations, one in New York
for North American operations, and
the other in Istanbul for the European
operations.
“After completing more than 30 years in
this business, we are convinced that we
are no longer engaged in the traditional
garment manufacturing business.
Combination of innovation and
technology driven by speed, efficiency
and competitive costing is now the
recipe behind the science of successful
manufacturing. And with our extensive
knowledge and experience, we are able
to create new collections for heritage
brands as well as fulfil directional
trends and advise our retail partners
on the latest style details. Our ability
to replicate the product design cycle
for established brands and become the
resource for product development and
deliver excellence for our customers
has earned us the reputation of being
‘The Secret Behind Great Brands’,”
reasons Maashed on a concluding
note, and proves rightfully so,
embarking on a transformation is more
than just deciding to do something
different or expanding into adjacent
markets. Rather it’s a painstaking
process of examining, planning and
executing the business plans keeping
the future in perspective.
www.apparelresources.com | JULY 2017 | Apparel Online Bangladesh
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