I was speaking with a garment factory today who is considering being one of the Suppliers in the MFG.com manufacturing marketplace.  He said to me that he wanted to know “what could he do if it didn’t work out”.  I thought about this for a moment and explained to this Supplier that it is not possible that things “don’t work out” because the purpose of the membership at MFG.com is to provide a Supplier access to the marketplace and drive quality and relevant leads to the Supplier from several sides.   It always works out.  MFG.com consistently tees up opportunity for Buyers and Suppliers to connect when they need each other most.

Here is what an MFG.com membership provides every Supplier:

• Access to the MFG.com marketplace so Buyers are able to see who the Supplier is (The Supplier MFG.com Website).

• Fresh leads throughout the membership in the forms of email inquiries from Buyers, phone calls from Buyers, and direct requests from Buyers that want to get quoted on their specific production needs.  These are highly targeted leads – maybe the most targeted a lead can be.

• A Search Engine Optimized (SEO) Supplier Website that can be found even outside of the private MFG.com marketplace.   This is the essentially the Mother of all Supplier profiles and it’s syndicated across the web.

• The Ability for the Supplier to quote on any RFQs it sees as well as know exactly who has viewed its profile for easy follow up.

Let’s get right to it.  You’re a Supplier of some sort of a Textile product – garments, fabrics, technical textiles, home textiles – doesn’t matter.  If you are a Supplier let’s say you fall into one of two camps;  a.) A Supplier is who completely booked full for the next 6-9 months and will be again thereafter, or b.) A Supplier that is looking for new business to keep the machines humming.

If you’re that first Supplier, that’s great, keep it up.  But if you’re that second kind of Supplier (the one looking for new customers and PO’s, then you have an array of ways to get new leads – and that’s what I want to look at here and now.

How do you get a new client and what does it cost to do it?

Trade show:  This lasts anywhere from 3-5 days and costs you in the zone of $5000 to $20,000 and up depending on the show.  You have to consider the floor cost, the travel costs, the hotel costs, meals, staff (1or 2 people min), time away from the office – and usually you have to lug your samples to a show.   Think about this math – at even only $6000 for a 3 day show that’s $2000 per day – and there is no guarantee you get the business.

Business trip:  You could get on a plane and fly from your factory to some city (say Los Angeles or NewYork) to meet with 5-10 clients in a week.  This will run you a minimum of $10,000 if you’re 5000 miles away and the there is no guarantee you get the business.   If you spend $10,000 for a 5 day business trip this is $2000 per day.  If you’re “in-country” already this is still a one-at-a-time effort and costly.

Sales Rep:  you could hire a sales rep for $50,000 to $100,000 or more per year to drive new customer leads – this is expensive and is not a 24/7 lead generator.

Then there is the company I work for, MFG.com.  Consider the following:

You’re a Supplier anywhere in the world.  You set yourself up with an MFG.com Supplier Website.  This is essentially a factory profile that is a single page and contains all the details any Buyer would immediately want to know about you.  This one-page site is not only available inside the MFG.com marketplace for any relevant Buyer to review, it is also available outside the MFG.com marketplace because this Supplier Website is Search Engine Optimized (SEO).  This is a big deal and on it’s own companies that do only this would charge you a small fortune to get your own site ranked high on major search engines.  MFG.com gives it to you as a part of the marketplace membership.

Then what?  You then set up a short series of saved search filters on your MFG.com account so that you see only the sort of production requests you care about.  MFG.com received tens of thousands of RFQs (requests for quotes) into the marketplace each year and your saved search filter delivers right into your hands only those sort of production runs that you say you want to know about.

Stop and think about that for a moment….. you’re going about your day and as the right types of production run requests flow into the marketplace you know about it in real time.  It’s in your hand.

What do you do?  You run with it – you quote on the business you want, you call the Buyer and introduce yourself – you work the account you didn’t even know about only yesterday.

What else?  Intellience on leads.  Wouldn’t it be nice if you knew exactly who looked at your website, or you phone book listing, or whatever register you might be listed in?  Sure it would.  MFG.com delivers this.  When someone looks at your MFG.com Website (Supplier profile page), MFG.com tells you exactly who it is.

Question – What would you do if you knew the full contact info of the last 30 people that simply reviewed your profile?

Answer – You might call them back and say “hello, how can we help you?” – that’s what you’d do.  You work the account that you didn’t even know about only yesterday.

The point is, MFG.com delivers to you a regular stream of leads that make sense for you each day/week/month as they happen.  Leads find you.  Leads find you in the form of profile views, phone calls, emails, and actual RFQs for real work from real buyers, really sourcing right now – all for a few bucks a day (instead of a few thousand $$$ a day at a trade show).

Think about this – You use email to communicate.  You use bill pay to pay bills.  You use the web to consume news.  You use a smart phone to work on the go.  Think about now using a web-based sourcing platform to get new production leads – harness this power and free yourself up to focus on making things instead of looking for leads.

When a Buyer is looking for a Supplier they’re no longer pulling out a book – they’re going the Google and they’re not finding you.  They are finding the Suppliers on MFG.com – so start using the at-your-fingertips technology that MFG.com sets in your lap and start selecting your leads instead of looking for them.

Check out http://www.mfg.com/textiles and get plugged in.

posted by tony forcucci

Bangladesh apparel exports have hit a record up 41% for 2010/2011 to $.4.4 billion supported in large part by exports to CHINA -  Yes China, the same country that is trying to figure out way to pump up their own apparel manufacturing base.

Other regional countries to be on the look out for more growth include:

Vietnam

Cambodia

Thailand

Malaysia

Indonesia

posted by tony forcucci

For two to three decades apparel brands have been seeking production sources in China.  China is still no doubt a net net heavy exporter of finished apparel but this is changing.   If you have a long term, established relationship with a supplier in China it is likely that you’re in great shape because you’ve got what so many seek – a reliable and trusted production source.

But two things are happening – 1. some production is starting to work its way from China to other Asian countries namely Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and over into Bangladesh, and  2. there is a resurgence of sorts for “made in America” because the cost differential is no longer as daunting as it once was.

There are a few key reasons for this:

1. Time.  Some brands and buyers do not want to wait 90 to 120 days to get their goods from China.  It takes typically 30 days for materials, 30 days for cut & sew, 30 days on a boat, and then 2 to 2 weeks in customs.

2. Price. China labor rates and overall costs of production are rising.

These two factors mean that for some brands/buyers is makes more sense to produce closer to home.   Another advantage of producing in America is an easier go at quality control.  A 2 to 3 hour plan ride to inspect production is doable vs.  a long haul flight and a week in Asia.  Bloomberg had a story on this very subject just yesterday.

It will be interesting to see who this will affect a general resurgence and those factories that are still in America in poised to take advantage of this trend and expand.  If you are an American based Apparel facility and want to secure more production business, visit MFG.com and get access to a world of Buyers sourcing right now.

posted by tony forcucci

The Apparel and Textiles Sourcing division of MFG.com and Messe Frankfurt USA have agreed to get together to unite the worlds of online and offline sourcing.  In the picture here are David Audrain from Messe Frankfurt USA and Tony Forcucci from MFG.com mugging for the camera moments after signing the alliance agreement.  You can see the full press release here.

Visit the Apparel Sourcing platform of MFG.com  Open for sourcing 24/7/365

Visit the Messe Frankfurt USA shows:

Texworld USA, July 19 – 21, 2011 (New York City)

Home Textiles Sourcing Expo, July 19 – 21, 2011 (New York City)

International Apparel Sourcing Show, July 19 – 21, 2011 (New York City)

Why would a Buyer source in Asia versus Europe or Latin America or vice versa?  There are reasons why some  production goes to one part of the world instead of another.

China has been on the receiving end of orders from both Europe and North America for years and years.  Europe has been going to Turkey as it’s local offshore Supplier and the Americans have been going to Mexico and Latin America as their local offshore Supplier.  But there are also big shifts going on all over the world.

Order Size and the rise of the non-China Asia:

The bigger orders in terms of volume and low price continue to go to Asia but more and more the most competitive quotes are coming from Suppliers in places such as VietNam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Bangladesh.  China still exports a huge volume no doubt, and the numbers bear this out – but the numbers also show that China is not as “cheap” as it used to be and now Buyers are looking to get even more competitive by moving production into other nearby countries.  The Chinese are even opening up factories in places like Vietnam to keep the business pipeline in hand.

Countries such as Turkey and those in Latin America are perfect for sourcing those mid-size production orders where the Buyer is willing to pay a little bit more per piece in exchange for the fact that the orders are not massive or the fact that the source country is closer perhaps to the Buyer thereby shortening the time to market and delivery expense.

That’s all is before we take into account country agreements, quotas, and overall sourcing trends such as the “re-shoring” that we see going on in the USA.   Additionally Buyers are not looking to increase the number of Suppliers they have but rather to consolidate their Suppliers into a more manageable network of production.

Bringing production home in the USA

The whole reason Brands and Buyers went overseas for production was to lower the price.  The customers were demanding lower prices and so the brands had to produce for lower costs.  There has been a shift in the mindset of some consumers in this area as well.  We’re seeing this in the USA in some cases where the consumer is mindful of the fact that it will cost more to produce “Made in America”.   Not in all cases but consumers today are more in-tune with geo-politics than ever and have stronger opinions about where their products are made.  Brands would love to produce closer to home and I suspect we’ll see more production in the USA as consumers consume less but consume higher value goods.  That’s sets a good condition for domestic production to happen more and more.

It’s the same for Europe

Turkey is the big destination but Buyers in Europe today are more and more sourcing in Poland, Romania, Hungary, and other areas of Eastern Europe.  These countries are on the move, reasonably affordable, reasonably close (certain closer than Asia), and still young enough to be able to offer solutions to European buyers that they might not be able to get by going farther away for production.

Buyers demand more service:

Apparel production is serious business and both Buyers and Suppliers want to develop relationships with the other that can last, that can provide profitable business for both, and that are flexible and adaptive when needed.   A clear trend (which is moving beyond trend and into mainstay) is more Buyers asking their factories to provide design and concepting services therby putting a portion of the creativity of the lines in the hands of the Supplier.  Those factories that can provide value-added services such as presenting new washes, new treatments, and new design ideas will win the favor of their clientele – one stop shopping for production as it were.

Quick turn-around:

Buyers are also needing quicker turnarounds in production and lower production volumes at each time around.   There is today too much risk at times in ordering tens of thousands of units only to hold the units in a warehouse.  Better in some case to order 4 times at 1/4th the quantity each time perhaps to mitigate the risk.  Sourcing volume picks up but risks go down.

Compliance issues:

Another big area is compliance.  Buyers are not only demanding compliance in terms of quality of production standards but also in social areas.  Inspection services have seemingly popped up worldwide and organizations such as WRAP can offer virtual blanket comfort that your factory is socially compliant.  Some bigger brands simply will not even do business with a factory unless the factory can demonstrate that it is socially compliant.  If you’re a factory and you’re not covered in this area you’re denying yourself new business.

Net-net

The world of sourcing is shifting into a new area in part due to global economic issues and the fluid needs of the buyers.  Preferred countries change, reasons for going to one place instead of another change,  consumer sentiment and demands change. Commodity prices have gone through the roof.  There is a list of things to keep up with as long as your arm.  The one constant in the whole world of sourcing is the need for Buyers and Suppliers to be able to efficiently collaborate with each other.  For that you can use MFG.com which operates a global marketplace that allows Buyers to source production wherever they like and allows Suppliers to connect to fresh customer leads and grow their production base in a time where it can be difficult to find that next piece of production business.

posted by tony forcucci

>>> Oley – I love the name but what exactly is WeConnectFashion and who in the big world of fashion are you connecting to whom?

Thanks Tony, we love the WeConnectFashion name too. Good question.

We connect buyers and sellers of finished fashion merchandise with each other and with industry service providers. Specifically apparel and accessories brands, retailers, wholesalers, and industry service providers.

That’s the “whom” we connect.  We also connect the industry with marketplace intelligence.  Helping fashion companies succeed with business networking, market research & fashion industry know-how, is the bigger view of what we do.

WeConnectFashion launched online in 1998 with a fashion industry database to help apparel, textile, and accessories businesses find and promote themselves to each other. We offered advice on how the industry works, along with info about the fashion marketplace, such as trade show venues, trends, and statistical research for companies to assess opportunities in the market,  all of which we still do.

Over the years, we found that the industry relies on us for the stuff I desperately needed as a “Young Designer,” which is how I got my start in the fashion industry.  Sales & marketing help is the biggie, one that WeConnectFashion works hard to excel at daily.

Here’s how: WeConnectFashion aligns clients with the “right” buyer contacts and sales reps candidates for their products. We also offer ways for fashion companies to promote themselves with continual presence in front of relevant buyers year-round without breaking the bank. We provide suggestions on what trade shows to participate in, with connect tools that help to guarantee ROI for exhibitors. Our how-to guides cover topics like how to get press, with contact lists of editors and bloggers.   Other issues: where can I sell my excess inventory? What’s the deal with factors and who are they?  You get the picture!

From what we hear from our Retail visitors, they have similar sales and marketing pains, only they are looking to source products and services that offer competitive advantage. For merchandising: finding the right brands, relevant marketplace events and services, like forecasting companies to stay on-trend, or bags/wrap that offer a point of distinction, to fixturing basics like hangers. They too are looking for more efficient, cost-effective ways to have a perpetual eye on the marketplace.

Product development requests are another hot topic. “Help, I need….”, handbag closures, a low minimum fabric supplier, ribbon, buttons, a factory, fill-in-the-blank…  We help our clients find finished component parts suppliers. We also connect them with companies that offer services, like MFG.com to get their lines sampled and produced.

It’s remarkable how many retailers and brands ask us seemingly industry 101 questions. The reality is we all start in the fashion industry someplace and need connections as well as advice, wether we are new to the industry or old-timers looking to break into a new market or distribution channel.

>>> If only one thing, what is the one thing you want the world to know about WCF?

WeConnectFashion is a fashion industry marketing and sourcing network for retailers, brands, wholesalers, and service providers.

If your business buys or sells finished fashion merchandise or provides marketplace services to those that do, WeConnectFashion is the place to connect with trade partners and to access information related to succeeding in the fashion industry.

>>> Where are you based?

Our headquarters is in NJ. We have an office in New York. However, our team works remotely, which makes for a dynamic environment, where everyone is relaxed enough to be wildly productive.

>>> What kind of reach does WCF have globally.  How many people are using WCF?

Last month WeConnectFashion had 68,000 visitors that came from 160+ countries. Our global traffic is up 24% this month from last month. The top 15 countries/territories where our visitors come from, in descending order, are: USA, UK, Canada, India, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Mexico, China, Philippines, Netherlands, Spain, Hong Kong, Brazil.

>>> How would you describe the customer that is using WCF and what is the value they get from WCF that they cannot get anywhere else?

WeConnectFashion has an international following. We’ve evolved into source that has great appeal to small and mid-sized fashion businesses, especially those in the better to high-end market. We are proud to say they are our primary customers.

WeConnectFashion tracks a large swath of fashion industry business types and marketplace information across all markets in a searchable database. This gets insane, and is probably the reason we are the only one in the industry that does. Plus we’ve been working at connecting the industry for a long time, so we’ve developed a lot of wonderful relationships, which helps with everything we do.

Ours is a huge fragmented industry of inter-related businesses. WeConnectFashion offers a single entry point for the industry professionals to connect with the various types of products and services their businesses demand. WeConnectFashion provides an efficient cost-effective platform to be seen, to find, and to connect with relevant trade partners, marketplace intelligence, and industry know-how.

Oley diCenso is the CEO and Founder of WeConnectFashion.com

posted by tony forcucci

Last week I wrote a piece on cotton prices going up, why this is, four ideas you can put in place to mitigate this, and asked if it was rational.

Earlier today I sat in on a fantastic seminar at MAGIC in Las Vegas that featured two guest speakers one of which is perhaps one of the world’s leading experts on Cotton, Mr. Mark Messura, Sr. VP Global Supply Chain Marketing for Cotton Inc. and Peter McGrath of MgGrath International.

I was happy to hear their take on the price of Cotton and the insight they offered to the packed house and I’d like to share with you what I heard today on this topic confirming and adding to what I wrote last week,

10 years ago cotton was pricing at about $.43/lb and today it is around $2.13/lb

• In 2008 Cotton Market started to tighten (Supply & Demand).  At $.60 or $.70 it’s below cost of production for farmers.

• In 2009 the price dropped somewhat during recession – so farmers planted less.

• In first half of 2010 the market started to recover and prices went up.

• In second half of 2010 prices skyrocketed.

Why did this happen?

1. The Fundamental Balance has Tightened.  Mill consumption recovered faster than farmers’ ability to grow cotton.  Prices went up.  Cotton harvests are in the Fall and it takes a year to replenish and about 2-3 years to balance out.

2. China continues to be a huge consumer of cotton and has to go to market to buy it.  Mills are buying.

3. Exportable crops are sold out.  India didn’t release full capacity and took their cotton off the market.  Brasil in the Southern hemisphere is coming to market but is too small to make a dent in market quotes.  33% of 2012 crop already sold and it hasn’t even been planted yet.

4. Price volatility remains high making it hard for mills to commit at times.

On the Supply side:

Production should increase in 2011/2012 but this new cotton will not come to market until Fall of 2011.  China is hoarding cotton frantically.   Cotton futures (ICE futures) show the price coming down over the next two years from about $1.89/lb in 2011 to perhaps around $.96 in 2013, but we’re not going to see the prices of 10 years ago.  Also – government policy in the USA has been pushing ethanol which has warped the price of corn.  Farmers in many instances have also been forced to choose between growing corn or cotton.

On the Demand side:

Emerging economies (BRICS) driving demand plus recovery in industrial markets plus consumers spending less on clothes due to higher prices.

The reality is that clothing and anything made with cotton will simply cost more.  Here’s an article from CNBC hitting this very subject.

So what can Brands/Buyers do ?

Offensive cost optimization such as add seeing if polyester can be added in some percentage to their lines if possible.  Reduce the amount of cotton used until prices fall back a little.

Find a new Supplier of your cut & sewn goods that could have better pricing on cotton from having larger sources that bought in the past at a better price.

Regardless of what strategy you think is best for you to handle this challenge, you can discover new suppliers and  source your production on MFG.com by clicking here.

posted by tony forcucci

1. Why is this and what affect has it had (and is it having) on the price of your clothes?

2. What can makers of cotton based products do to handle this?

3. Is it rational?  Some people believe cotton has been irrationally over-inflated in price and are looking at shorting.

The Why

According to this article in Textiles Intelligence… “the main cause is a massive hike in the price of raw cotton. In the 18 months between March 2009 and the end of September 2010 this rose by 127%, from 51 cents/lb to almost 116 cents/lb.  Cotton is in short supply because farmers cut back on plantings when cotton prices were low. Also, cotton usage is rising in response to strong retail demand growth in China and India. And a further blow to cotton prices has been struck by the devastating floods in Pakistan.”

Pakistan is a major producer of cotton but growth has been tricky and cotton is a complicated crop to tend to.  Flooding in the region and other bad weather affecting crops in China and Australia certainly put a dent in the price and it hit demand (driving prices up). Buyers of raw cotton have to scramble to other regions in the world such as in India (which is growing in it’s cotton production) and then we have the classic example of supply and demand dictating prices.

Four ideas to manage the situation if you make cotton clothing.

• Add other materials into your cotton based products.  Instead of 100% cotton shirts for example, maybe you redesign them to be 10% polyester or some other materials.

• Work more closely with your suppliers to see what is possible to negotiate.  Perhaps consolidating 10 suppliers down to 6 or 7 and filling those 6 or 7 up with the additional orders could help mitigate on the other side the price pressure felt on the cotton products.  Give them more volume ask for better overall pricing.

• Rethink your 30 or 40 percent of your line – does everything need to be cotton?  What alternative materials could you use for 2012/2013?  Adapt the line to the times.

• Re-source apparel production to suppliers that perhaps you never used before but have larger production runs that can allow you to piggyback on the raw materials buy.

Is it Rational?

People tend to panic at times and that can also lead to irrational pricing but if you look at the graphic at the top of this piece, you’ll see that Cotton has been high in the past as well as in the early nineties and then came back down over the next 10 years.

If you take a look at the chart on this page it shows cottons has risen almost 4x that of gold and the case could be made that cotton is simply overpriced by a longshot and will come down.  There’s no doubt that the factors of high demand for cotton products coupled with China’s consumption of cotton and add in a buzz in the world about how cotton is going up up up, maybe we simply end up with a self fulfilling prophecy that pushes the price of cotton too high compared to what it should be based on real supply and demand.

We’ll find out in the next 1-2 years but in the meantime I expect that consumers will be holding on to their jeans a little while longer than they used to and retailers will be closely watching how many units they buy.  Better to sell out than get stuck with dead and perishable inventory.

posted by tony forcucci

Is everything made in China?  Hardly.  In fact even China is losing some of it’s manufacturing base to countries like Vietnam and Cambodia.  The real story that many fail to see is that for all of the services in the USA, there still is a vast manufacturing base in America across a variety of industries, but the reason we don’t always sense this is because much of what is manufactured in the USA is of a much higher price point.

There is a good op-ed piece on this in the Boston Globe this week talking about how the things we make in the USA tend to not be the cheapo things you see on the shelves at a big box retailers.  Instead they tend to be much farther up the food chain with products that take more brains to make instead of human brute force.

The same can be seen in the apparel business as well.  You can make very nice premium jeans in Los Angeles – they are pricer than what you would typically produce in Asia, but they are as nice or nicer and the goods are closer to your US customers (less delivery time and inventory build up).

That’s not to say there is still not an enormous about of product coming in from China and greater Asia, its just that the rumors of US manufacturing being kaput are not true.   Not only is there a lot of product made in the USA, I think that more people on the Buying side have a renewed vigor and pride for going back to making things in the USA while also searching for reliable production sources closer to home in the USA rather than going overseas. This is not only good news but it is important.  China will eventually become a supplier mostly to the Chinese (a lot of people are going to need a lot of things) and the USA is a going to reclaim some manufacturing ground as it is now.

Did you know that the USA is the 10th largest apparel exporter in the world?   That’s not such an easy club to get into without substantial manufacturing volume so take the “news” all manufacturing going overseas with a grain of salt.

posted by tony forcucci

We’ve been seeing the trend from US based Buyers in the sourcing world to look for ways to shorten their lead times from factory to doorstep and this had led to more US sourcing people to seek sources closer to home be they in the USA or in Latin America.  This week Apparelnews.net reported that imports to the US from Central America are on the rise.

This is good news for both Central America and those Buyers in the USA that have the convenient option of sourcing “local” as opposed to hauling in containers from Asia that take 90-120 days to arrive from PO to doorstep.  According to the article, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatelmala all are beneficiaries of this movement.

1. John, what is Metro Custom Dyeing?

>>> A custom dyeing facility that provides specialty and small production dyeing services to the designers and manufactures in NYC.

2. You have access to many Buyers in the NYC area, how do you service them?  What sets you apart from any others?

>>> We provide top tier customer service, quality dyeing, and free messenger service to our customers. Additionally, we make our plethora of resources communal among the fashion community.  What separates us from other dyers, is that although we recognize that we have an uncommon skill that is in high demand, we still keep customer service and consistency on the forefront.  After all, we are a service company.

3. New York Magazine listed you as the best Custom Dye house in the NYC area, how long did it take you to build this business?

>>> 13 years

4. How would you describe the old school garment district of yesterday compared with what’s going in the business today?

>>> It is really the same as it was 30 years ago, with the exception that it has downsized significantly.  That is sad, but it is true. Now that does not mean that there is not plenty of commerce still here, the opportunities are abundant to the innovators, it is just a global market these days and materials are being produced elsewhere for much less money.

5. What’s next for you and your business?

>>> I am selling laces.  My dyeing business will serve as the catalyst between an amazing 100 year old lace manufacturer and the intimate apparel, ladies wear and lingerie manufacturers.  The synergy is there, my dyeing company services the design departments of the world’s leading apparel manufacturers.

Thanks John – have a great year.

posted by tony forcucci

In 2011 I would like to showcase the Suppliers, Partners and Buyers on MFG.com and think the best shape for that to take is a five question interview format where I ask five questions to the MFG.com member and we get their responses.

I am kicking of the series with an interview with Umapathy P. from Brahmos Tex in India.

1. Umapathy, What advantages do you have as an Indian based factory?

>>> Two main things.They are availability of raw materials and skilled labour in one house.During recent times,we can clearly see that,there is a huge demand for cotton from competition countries like China,Bangladesh and Vietnam etc.  But India has never faced such a scarcity of raw materials in its apparel production history. Of course there was a price rise for the raw materials,mainly because of the international demand for cotton and other raw materials.But no Indian Apparel manufacturer has suffered a major setback due to non-availability of  raw materials.

Second, skilled labour at a economical wage. The quality of the output apparel is far better compared to neighboring countries. The main reason is skilled labour and digital connectivity of India.When ever there is a new apparel production technology introduced in US or Europe,it hardly takes few days to reach India.As all the major international textile technology companies have their offices in Indian cities like Tirupur,Coimbatore and Ludhiana. It is very important for a supplier country to be technologically upgraded in this ever changing fashion industry.

2. Why should Buyers in the USA or Europe work with India?  Are there any special country to country treaties that make it an economically smart thing to do?

>>> Before a year or two,Bangladesh and Vietnam were having a slight advantage in manufacturing cost.But even during those period, quality of the Indian apparels were of high compared to the neighbor countries. But after the cotton availability crisis in the international market,India has grown very strong in both quality and competitiveness in price. And the  labour pool is very huge compared to other countries.And even the buyers from US and Europe are swiftly starting to recognize that India will be the top destination for apparel sourcing very soon.Already,factories in India are flooded with orders from US and Europe. So, it’s wise for international buyers to start a business relationship as soon as possible with Indian suppliers which suits their requirements. So that,they don’t waste time in future by searching for right suppliers.

3. What are Brahmos Tex’s specializations?

>>> Brahmos Tex is an knitwear factory with complete facility to manufacture high end Tees,women’s tops,cardigans,kid’s wear etc. We normally take small to medium minimums to cater our buyers who expects exceptional quality and quick turn around time.Our production is generally based on fabric materials like 100% cotton,cotton/viscose,100% viscose,burnout styles,polyester,Tencel,modal,bamboo etc. We also work on garments with original swarovski crystals and other speciality accessories. We also have an sourcing department within Brahmos Tex for sourcing denims and woven apparels for our buyers from US and Europe. For more details about Brahmos Tex,please mail to umapathy@brahmostex.com .

4. What is the perfect kind of order to source in India in terms of category and perhaps size of order?

>>> In fact,India is one among the very few countries which can cater to all small,medium and large buyers. There are factories of all scales.And recently India has grown in to a strong contender for Apparel production,mainly due to huge workforce.

5. Where does India compare against other potential source countries such as Bangladesh or Vietnam?

>>> It’s very clear now that India is in a better position in both raw material and skilled labour availability. So no buyers from both US and Europe wants their products to get delayed due to unexpected developments during production. But if you see recently in Bangladesh, there was a huge strike among labors for wage rise. Bangladesh also depends on import of cotton. Similarly in China,there is a very huge domestic demand for cotton. So China is becoming less dependent on export revenue. And Pakistan was recently hit by floods. Which made cotton availability scarce. So finally,these recent developments made India in to a favorite destination for lot of buyers from US and Europe.

Thank you Umapathy.  You can see Brahmos Tex’s Supplier profile by clicking here.

END

With Barcelona’s one and only Frans Baviera in Hong Kong October 2010 at the IAF World Congress.

I came across this story in the BBC about how the Chinese are beating the Italians at their own game of Made in Italy.  In Italy the “Made in Italy” name, label, phrase, whatever you want to call it, it a BIG deal.  The Italian cling to this a the one remaining jewel they have in the world of competing with the world.

Then we have the city of Prato located near Florence where there is a small (big?) community of Chinese workers making clothes in Italy and selling the products as “Made in Italy” because they in fact are.  The Italians aren’t too happy about it because the Chinese can now produce at a very high level of quality compared to years past and still do it at far more competitive prices than the Italian.

Click here for the article.

posted by tony forcucci

posted by tony forcucci

MFG.com has published their insider’s guide to apparel sourcing which is pretty much everything you need to know on how to use MFG.com as a Buyer and have access to an amazing set of online tools to source apparel production.

If you want it click here and then just send it to your printer.