Apparel Online India Magazine May 1-15, 2019 | Page 8

MIND TREE
Q-and-A
Should a company/factory have specialisation in a particular product category and develop
it only as niche, or with the changing scenario, is it time for multi-product manufacturing?
What is the buyers’ take on this? Being an apparel exporter, how do you see this issue? Do you
have a single product category as niche or are you into multi-product categories? What are
the pros and cons in this regard?
Ramjan Mondal,
Proprietor, Jahura
Handicrafts, Nadia (West
Bengal)
We are into niche product
manufacturing and we have
been witnessing a huge
increase in demand day by
day. The margins are robust.
We are now manufacturing
bedsheets, stoles, scarfs, bags,
jackets, cushion covers, and
at the same time, our products
are handcrafted. We do a
lot of kantha work, a type of
embroidery craft mostly done
in the eastern regions, on
our products. We are seeing
that the demand for these
types of handloom products is
getting more traction, even the
demands are high out of India
too. We won’t go for multi-
product manufacturing because
our buyers are happy with what
we are serving to them. We are
seeing a multiplication in our
clients’ list daily.
Dealing in similar trade from
ages has given us a proper grip
over our business and this is an
added advantage for us. Now
we actually know what the
client wants from us. But then
if we will experiment with the
new things or think of adding
other categories, then we are
not sure that the same client
will like our new products. There
is a chance that we might lose
our business; basically it’s a
risk for us. We are happy with
what we are doing now, and
in future also, we will be doing
the same thing. Maybe, we will
experiment with the designs,
but product categories will
remain the same.
Tapan Bansal, Regional
Manager-India, Sri
Lanka and Bangladesh,
Mothercare, Bangalore
Interestingly, in our
manufacturing world, we
call segments as knits,
woven and then there are
subcategories. Being a 0-6
years’ focused brand, there are
specialised products in poppet
category, and it is so difficult
to find factories which can
achieve optimised efficiency in
poppet products in Bangladesh
and in India as well. So, the
companies which are doing this
day-in and day-out, are experts
and have optimised their
efficiencies, and therefore, they
have good customers, whether
it is in the US or Europe. In the
0-2 years category, poppet
products like body suits and
sleep suits are unavoidable.
We had to partner with one
factory in Bangladesh to train
and coach few lines to do this
product because the way you
handle the poppet operations
changes the whole game from
the safety point of view and
it becomes difficult and this
is again where the category
specialisation comes in. I
keep telling so many people
8 Apparel Online India | MAY 1-15, 2019 | www.apparelresources.com
who are dealing in men’s
and women’s categories to
develop a mindset towards this
because you can get 35,000
pieces out of 20 machines
which is unimaginable. So, I
would say that new categories
are emerging, and in order to
optimise the overall bandwidth
closer to the market,
understanding the product will
be the key thing.
Ramniklal H. Desai,
Proprietor, Kamini Krafts,
Mumbai
We are manufacturing in
specialised category. We
believe in doing one thing at a
time. Trying hands in everything
may make you ‘Jack of
all trades’, but will end up
making you ‘master of none’.
With this thought process,
we have established our
business. Being into single
product manufacturing,
we have been winning
our clients’ faith and
business regularly. We are
manufacturing scarves, stoles,
shawls, bandana, womenswear
and are seeing a huge growth
in this; hence, we have
decided that we will be doing
the same thing in near future.
See when you have your own
business, then the priorities are
different. Either you focus on
the growth or the company
is at a level where it earns
enough and is able to pay
for all the expenses. So far,
so good!
Mohammed Arif,
Director, Kagzi Exports,
Jaipur
We are doing multi-product
manufacturing. And I
personally feel multi-product
manufacturing has a lot of
advantages. Let’s say, if the
business of one category is
not picking up, then you can
balance the loss through
business in another category.
There will be no slowdown
in your business, as you are
not dependent only on
one category. Generally,
what we do in the rainy
period is that if the export
is slow, then we pick up the
demand from the domestic
market, whereas in the
specialised or niche category,
your business is dependent
only on one product. If the
demand of that product is
slow, then the business is also
down and hence it suffers.
All the months may not be
equal for you. We are happy
serving our customers with
our multi-product categories,
and with the growth in our
business, we will keep on
adding new products to
our category. We are now
manufacturing womenswear,
and from the next month
onwards, we will be
manufacturing menswear too.