Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine May Issue 2019 | Page 36

RESOURCE CENTRE HAVE YOUR SAY BREAKING NEWS Tell us your news by emailing at [email protected] To read the latest sustainability news, go to https://apparelresources.com/business-news/sustainability/  that they may put the responsibility on the local person. This is the internal side of the story. The external side is that the expectations from the industry have increased manifold. Being a local, people believe that empowerment and authority is on me. So, the additional pressure is on me to perform and create the right balance to satisfy all and justify my position as head. AO: As an industry, Bangladesh has changed in the past five years; what are the positives that you see in Bangladesh today? Rashid: If we look at Bangladesh 10 years before, we have had many negative things. But, ironically, after the unfortunate Rana Plaza incident, many good things happened. After the incident, the buyers understood that Bangladesh is an attractive manufacturing destination and even those which were trying to penetrate into other countries, came back. They realised that this is the place they need to stay on and fix, giving birth to the Accord and Alliance. There was a joint understanding by the Government, industry owners and the buyers. Everyone thought in a positive way with positive efforts, investments and mindset, which gave a good shape to the industry, but unfortunately this has not been promoted or communicated to the rest of the world properly. The people who come here regularly are aware of this, and those who don’t, still have that old perception of the country 5 years or 10 years before. After witnessing the present changes, few of my seniors, who came here after 10 years, said that Bangladesh should be promoted now. For this, we have assigned on R&D team from Hong Kong to make some presentations, provide articles, and to be able to give a clear picture, we have asked them to stay in the country for sometime to find the true, real Bangladesh. They admitted that the internet doesn’t give a clear picture, and out of 10, 8 things show negative aspects of the country. There are many positives that one can find in Bangladesh, like our expertise, capacities and capabilities in the apparel industry, besides the entrepreneurial skills of the people here, encourages global brands to invest in the business. Some of the top green factories of the world are from Bangladesh. These are the things that many people don’t know. This is an opportunity, which is currently challenging but an opportunity which we need to cash in on properly. There are many positives that one can find in Bangladesh, like our expertise, capacities and capabilities in the apparel industry, besides the entrepreneurial skills of the people here, encourages global brands to invest in the business. Some of the top green factories of the world are from Bangladesh. These are the things that many people don’t know. This is an opportunity, which is currently challenging but an opportunity which we need to cash in on properly. This is even more important now, as with the wage hike, sooner it won’t be the cheapest country. So all the stakeholders need to put their heads together for a viable and sustainable roadmap to growth. We are now becoming more customer-focused, so surely, we are changing with times. We have also started an SGS academy, where we provide training sessions for upcoming industry-related topics, and also hold workshops. Every week, we are gathering 50-60 people from different factories to share our technical knowledge, which are provided free of cost. Taking the leadership role seriously, SGS has to lead the way and is hoping to inspire others.  AO: With so much competition in the TIC industry, what is your USP that will keep you relevant today as it did many years ago? Rashid: Being a leader, we are not just thinking, but acting on the same. IT is one of the ways or tools that is making every industry efficient and making life much more comfortable. Going on, inspection will become a manual job. We have done a fusion, making most of the things automated. For inspection, we have created OLB (Online Booking). The customers from anywhere can visit our website and can book an inspection, asking for the same within three days from a particular factory on any particular item and quantity, along with the specifications. He/she can upload all his requirements and immediately our back office will act on this. This is one of our developed tools. And after inspection, we will upload our results on our portal. So, the customers sitting in US or Europe can track and analyse the report whenever needed. This is the inspection side. Rashid: Earlier, TIC companies used to sit back, waiting for people to come with their samples. That was the culture, but now the USP is to put solutions at the door steps of the customers. We have labs in Dhaka and Chittagong, and we are the first to introduce free pickup samples from the customer’s factory or premises. We have also expanded all our services for the customers. Previously, we only had the textile lab, but now we have footwear lab with all the solutions in Dhaka. We have formally started a calibration laboratory. This facility is for factories that can’t calibrate, we give them services starting from compliance, testing for all the products needed such as textile, footwear. We also provide help in maintaining the internal lab equipment. If the customer has its own lab and doesn’t need commercial test from a third party like us, then we consult those factories and give them the SGS certification for the lab. This helps the factory, as it proves that it has the capability of testing for certain domains as they have the equipment. 36 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2019 | www.apparelresources.com AO: How are you using IT- enabled tools to support your vast businesses that are helping you to be more at the doorsteps? On the testing side, we are going to implement a new version of LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System). SGS Global is going to implement this at our Dhaka lab which has been selected as the trial lab. After successful implementation here, other countries will follow the system. This is a matter of pride for us!