Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine Magazine March 2018 | Page 46

RESOURCE CENTRE
BRITANNIA MOVING AHEAD ON THE FOUNDATION OF
SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES BACKED BY TECHNOLOGY
A
s a global manufacturer of
garment packaging solutions,
Britannia Garment Packaging has
set benchmarks not only in quality,
innovation and quick deliveries,
but also in ethical practices
in running a factory for true
sustainable growth. Britannia has
the distinction of being among the
four label companies in Bangladesh
to be audited and certified as fully
compliant by the Accord/Alliance,
out of the total 275 companies to
be certified in the last two years.
Standing tall behind the successful
implementation of various initiatives
and proactive growth strategies is
Jamil Ahmed, Managing Director
of Bangladesh Operations and a
firm believer of social enterprises.
Jamil is not a man to mince words
and he strongly advocates a
robust future for the Bangladesh
industry, irrespective of the current
slowdown in business. “The last
decade has been a story of growth
for the Bangladesh garment export
industry and the same will continue
because no other destination
has the demographics, where an
opportunity exists to engage a
young work-ready population,”
argues Jamil. His logic is based
on the fact that for most other
garment manufacturing bases, the
garment manufacturing industry
is one among the many potential
investments, but in Bangladesh,
it is a priority industry run by
entrepreneurs for whom this
industry is the primary source of
investment and growth.
As of today, the industry is
employing over 5 million workers,
but with the type of investment
being made and the availability
of employable workers, Jamil
feels that the industry can easily
double the worker intake in five
years. Although a strong exponent
of optimal utilization of worker
potential, he understands that high-
end technology is also significant
for the growth of the industry. “It is
important to balance the utilization
major direction now in identification
of solutions is the growing use of
RFID, and that moving forward, the
company is looking to invest around
US $ 1 million in the next two years
for the same.
Jamil Ahmed, Managing Director of Bangladesh Operations – Britannia Garment Packaging
of man and machine for best
results,” reasons Jamil.
While his factory is equipped with
some of the best technologies from
Europe for label manufacturing,
many processes are still being done
on Chinese machines. The idea is
to give clients their requirement
in the best possible price. Besides
price, reducing delivery time is also
a priority, hence investing in faster
machines for quicker deliveries
is a focus area. In fact, Britannia
was awarded the quickest supplier
partner by Walmart for delivering
labels in 24 hours.
While there has been no major
landmark development in the label
industry in the last decade, what
has changed significantly is the
technology. The processes which
were earlier done by hand are now
completely IT enabled, enhancing
the pace at which labels can be
manufactured. “Earlier we would do
2 colours 7,000 impressions, but now
we have 4 colours 14,000 impressions
at the same time. The designs are
downloaded directly from the buyer
and transferred to the CTP machine,
so there is no scope for error,”
explains Jamil. He adds that the
46 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MARCH 2018 | www.apparelresources.com
“It gives me great
pleasure that
the mindset of
the industry is
changing and
people are now
looking to become
more ethical in
their operations. I
am open to people
visiting the factory
and taking ideas
that could improve
their working...”
– Jamil Ahmed
As of today, Britannia produces
over 1.2 million labels per day
with consistent quality for some
of the best names in the industry.
But what really sets this company
apart from other competitors is its
working philosophy, which is not
buyer-driven, but self-motivated.
The green factory is fully
compliant to all international norms
for safe