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Anti-microbial finishes for hospital uniforms are not mandatory yet The Finishing Touch Continuing our spotlight on India series, Reena Mital reports on India’s developments in protective finishes for workwear and corporate clothing The Indian textile industry has only recently begun using protective finishes such as anti-microbial, bio-static and fire-retardant in corporatewear and workwear fabrics. Almost all leading corporatewear brands in India - Raymond, Reliance Industries, Reid & Taylor, Banswara Syntex, Siyaram Silk Mills, Donear Industries and Sutlej Industries have protective finishes in a proportion of their fabric. But these remain a niche product. “The specialty finished fabrics are an export-driven business in India,” says Mr KC Agarwal, executive director of Sutlej Industries. “Most manufacturers offer a limited collection in such finishes to the US and EU markets but the Indian market for such products is almost negligible.” Exports are also of recent origin. The industry’s efforts to move into value-added products, especially after the quota phaseout, led to the exploration of such technologies. And the industry has only, over the last couple of years, achieved the international quality standards needed for the export markets. But the volume of exports of such fabrics and garments is still very small. In the case of wool and polyester viscose blended suiting fabrics, of the total export of around US$ 300 million, not more than 2% would account for such finishes. Ram Bhatnagar, Raymond India Ltd’s vice president for the international market says: “We will introduce some anti-microbial, anti-static finished woolen worsted fabrics at the next Premiere Vision. This will help us gauge the response of international clients and give us a fair idea of the business potential of this new range. International markets will be the initial focus.” According to him, while protective finishes in the suiting fabric segment are still small, the cotton shirting’s segment is much bigger, but again, with a focus on the export markets. These finished fabrics enable exporters to realize premiums in the range of 20%-50% over the commodity fabrics. 6 www.workwearshow.co.uk The potential of corporatewear fabrics treated with these chemicals is huge, but untapped Visit director-e at Expoprotection: Hall 5 stand A81 Sportswear and gym wear offer huge potential for anti-microbial finishes Untapped potential in the domestic market The potential of corporatewear fabrics treated with these chemicals is huge, but untapped. A large proportion of the sales in the domestic market by most of these players are to the household sector, with a small portion going into institutional sales, where to an extent such finishes are used. However, India remains a price conscious market, and most consumers are unwilling to pay the high premiums that such fabrics and garments attract. “Lack of awareness about the proven benefits of the finishes is the main reason for poor acceptance of these finishes in the Indian market,” says Mr Agarwal. For instance, the traffic police in India could be one of the most important consumers of anti- microbial, moisture management finished fabrics in the country, but Indian fabric suppliers have been unable to break into this segment. According to Ms Mrinal Choudhary of Rossari Biotech, one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of specialty chemicals in the country: “The Indian market for specialty finishes is growing steadily at a rate of around 8-10% per annum, but still remains very small. An obvious consumer would be hospital staff but a miniscule percentage of hospital uniforms are treated with anti-bacterial and other such finishes. School uniforms are another important segment where such finishes should have been popular, but penetration again is almost nil.” According to Ms Choudhary, some international sportswear brands in India have launched their collections, which again form a small part of their total garment collections in the country. Eve Fabrics, which has recently begun importing school uniform fabrics treated with anti-microbial, soil resistant, moisture resistant finishes, is working hard to break into the Indian market. According to Mr Aditya Modi, director of Eve Fabrics, “We have targeted some of the high end schools, which have larger budgets for such spends, but are facing a lot of sales resistance. There are concerns about costs, and the effects of such chemicals on the skin. Breaking the traditional mindsets and practices is not going to be easy.” Rossari is also planning to create awareness about the benefits of these finishes on school uniforms. “We are in the process of charting out a strategy to target schools, and educate them about these finishes, which are easy to maintain. The finishes last up to 40 washes, and can be reapplied at minimal cost.” The company, through its tie-up with Aegis, has also launched UV protective treatments for fabrics. Ms Choudhary says: “This, along with anti-microbial, soil release, moisture management finishes is apt for traffic police uniforms.” The obstacle most companies face in supplying to government agencies is the system of tenders with pricing as the deciding factor. This leaves very little scope to tender for fabric supplies with added features as this would invariably increase costs. This has prevented most fabric manufacturers and suppliers from focusing on the domestic market, as there are enough orders from the export markets, and realizations are good. For Rossari, nonwovens and technical textiles is an important and growing market for these finishes, especially in the Meditech segment. Encouraging industry growth While government agencies remain unaware of the latest developments in fabric finishes, textile organizations are doing their bit to spread awareness. The textile department of the Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) in Delhi, recently made a presentation to the Board of Police Research & Development (BPRD) about the need for a more focused approach to police uniforms. These included conducting the necessary anthropometric studies for better fits, using various specialty finishes that impart the necessary protection and comfort to the personnel, using the right blends of fabrics. This is the first such proposal that the department has ever received. The Indian textile dyes and chemicals industry has been dominated by multinationals - Clariant, BASF, ColorChem, Dystar, to name a few, and has thus had access to the latest developments in textiles dyeing and finishing. The situation is no different in specialty chemicals. Clariant, through its tie-up with Schoeller Technologies Ag, has recently introduced the nanotechnology based NanoSphere textile finish in India. Clariant India has been the pioneer in bringing to the textile industry the latest in innovative finishes. Similarly, Resil Chemicals, in association with Thomson Research Associates, has introduced the Ultra-Fresh range of anti-microbials to the Indian textile industry. Other finishes offered by the company include water and oil repellent finishes, and a number of silicone finishes, and sensory perception technology for textiles. The company has collaborated with CTF2000 for fire-retardant finishes. BASF and other multinationals also have their own range of specialty chemicals for the Indian textile industry. The know-how, technologies and raw materials for protective finished fabrics are available to the Indian textile and garment industry. The market for such products will mature as India’s per capita income grows.
PROFILE Taking Control Technopoly’s supply chain management software is clinching business deals for corporate clothing and workwear companies Planning, implementing and controlling your supply chain are necessary for any business looking to maximise its performance and efficiency. Done manually, it’s time-consuming and prone to human error, but supply chain management software - or SCMS - is the antidote for the corporate clothing and workwear market. By freeing employees from endless paperwork through complete stock management and total control of garment sales and warehousing, it’s little surprise that more and more businesses are turning to SCMS manufacturers like Technopoly. Established in north-west England in 1994, Technopoly launched its garment sales and stock control software system - ApparelGMS - four years later. Since then, directors Graham and Kathleen Helliwell say that interest within the workwear and corporate clothing industry has grown and grown as companies realise its potential. “More demands are being placed on companies in these sectors for shorter garmentissue timescales,” says Kathleen. “But they’re now learning that ApparelGMS can take the strain out of providing quick and efficient orders. It frees up companies of all sizes to start chasing and winning new business rather than being bogged down with admin.” A winning combination Built from the ground up and based on the Microsoft SQL database engine, ApparelGMS is a fully-integrated, real-time stock system that gives the user complete control of all activities from initial enquiry through to garment dispatch and invoicing. It also links directly to Sage accounts and the Microsoft Office suite. Stock can be entered and searched for in groups of colours and sizes among multiple warehouse sites, while forecasting screens predict run-out. Sales orders can also be entered quickly from either list or matrix screens, matched to stock and then tracked - ensuring delivery deadlines are always met. Kathleen says: “It’s a bespoke yet simple-to-use service that’s created to meet customer needs while having the capability and flexibility to serve businesses as they expand. Additional modules like web ordering, finishing, manpack, concessions and retail POS have all been devised with this in mind.” Putting the customer first It’s not only the product that’s enabled ApparelGMS to expand businesses - Technopoly believes that customer service and price are just as important when it comes to SCMS. ApparelGMS support staff are on-hand to provide support or extra training on the phone or online 24 hours a day, while any essential onsite visits will also be made at no extra cost - keeping pricing competitive. This sounds impressive, but Technopoly’s users are its best advocates. Corporatewear supplier FCC won a contract to provide a major bus company with uniforms for their 350 staff after ApparelGMS gave them online uniform ordering. You can head to www.apparelgms.com to read more and, as Kathleen says, find out “straight from the horse’s mouth’’ how ApparelGMS can benefit corporate and workwear companies. Contact: Technopoly Ltd Rolands House, 87 Bacup Road Rawtenstall Lancashire, United Kingdom BB4 7NW Telephone: 01706 830930 Fax: 01706 831090 sales@apparelgms.com It frees up companies of all sizes to start chasing and winning new business rather than being bogged down with admin www.director-e.com Visit director-e at Expoprotection: Hall 5 stand A81 7
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