Apparel Online India Magazine June 1st Issue 2018 | Page 24

TEX-FILE
Innovation in yarn is at the
centre of growth at Vardhman
Vardhman Textile
Limited is amongst
the largest vertically
integrated textile
groups in India
manufacturing yarn,
fabrics, garments and
sewing threads. One of
the most critical pillars
of their business is
‘innovation’, the other
being ‘sustainability’.
Each segment is
working to strengthen
these pillars. In fact,
yarn development is
of prime importance
today, as manufacturers
(both fabric and
garments) and end-
users are looking for
not only newness but
also performance and
comfort. “Our product
basket for yarn is very
wide. There are many
things we have done
and there are many
new things we are
doing. It’s an ongoing
process of change and
we are investing a lot
of money and effort in
this direction,” explains
Neeraj Jain, Joint
Managing Director,
Vardhman.
I
n this process of change, adding
value has to be balanced by viability,
both from a practical and commercial
angle. The changing needs of the
market and fashion trend too have to
be taken into consideration. As of now,
functionality (comfort) has become
very important for the consumer – be
it stretch fabric, easy maintenance
or wrinkle-free fabric, but things like
these are just a percentage of the total
demand and not yet a mass demand
for bulk production, “Once we are in
the process of development, we look
at many aspects, but what actually
gets to the market depends solely on
Neeraj Jain, Joint Managing Director, Vardhman
how the demand moves; some of these
developments gain success, while others
remain in the R&D files; may be for
future use. To get ideas for development,
there is a lot of cross-germination of
thoughts that happens between the
organisation and the manufacturers,”
says Neeraj.
The company admits that competition
in the yarn segment has increased
substantially in last 3-4 years,
24 Apparel Online India | JUNE 1-15, 2018 | www.apparelresources.com
particularly in the basic qualities.
Thanks to the change in policies
that have increased subsidies
for setting up spinning units in
many states. Even in this tempting
scenario, Vardhman decided not to
expand their capacities and instead
concentrated on value. “We have
worked hard to study our systems
and processes and check what
internal changes we can make, what
improvements we can bring to the
system and what value additions
we can do,” shares Neeraj. For the
past 4-5 years, Vardhman has been
diligently moving its product range from
commodities to value-added products.
As of now, 30 per cent of its yarn being
produced is going into the value-added
segment. Out of its total production
of yarn, one third is used internally,
one-third sold in domestic market and
another one-third is exported.
Besides increasing competition in
yarn market due to overcapacity,
which has resulted in the customer
getting a lot of choices, the trend of
fast fashion is also impacting the
textile value chain. Moreover, the
changes that are happening in the
trend-driven fashion industry have
resulted in decrease of lead time
along the supply chain, and what used
to be an accepted delivery schedule
of 150-170 days has now reduced
to 60-90 days, which is expected to
decrease even further. “These are
issues with hidden opportunities,
the critical differentiators are: how
big organisations like Vardhman are
looking to add value to their product;
and how they are going to integrate it
into their processes since the product
range is also improving. So, on one hand,
the number of days is decreasing and on
the other, you need to add value to the
product. Whichever company is going
to balance this equation, will be the
ultimate winner. I think it’s a wonderful
and exciting time and we are looking at
it very positively. At Vardhman, we are
always looking at adding value to the
product for our customers and this is our
growth strategy also,” concludes Neeraj
with confidence about the future.