Industry Update

When in the business of apparel

exports, manufacturers and exporters
cannot ignore the nitty-gritty of supply
chain. As they are important links
in the chain, it is pertinent for them
to know and understand the entire
apparel supply chain process.

TEXT BY
Ludhiana Vasant R Kothari and
Nithya Venkataaraman

Delhi

Jaipur

Chain
Reaction
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Gujarat

Maharashtra
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Chennai
Bengaluru

Madurai

Tirupur
26 APPAREL SEPTEMBER 2010

“The best supply chains aren’t
just fast and cost-effective.
They are also agile and
adaptable, and they ensure
that all their companies’
interests stay aligned.” - Hau
L. Lee, US Professor of Operations,
Information and Technology in Harvard
Business Review, Oct. 2004 (1)
M
anagement of the apparel
supply chain process today
has moved beyond just
outsourcing of products
and processes. It has evolved to be
a network of stakeholders who align
themselves with a common interest. In
this scenario, where does India stand
today as a diverse nation with its up-
scaled manufacturing capabilities?
We have seen that the Indian supply
base can capitalise on its product
strengths, value addition mechanisms,
a strong textile base and the availability
of manpower. Additionally, it holds a
multitude of self sustaining clusters
which help in adding to its strength as a
viable sourcing base for apparel. These
sourcing clusters are well recognised
with each of them having specific
capabilities, technical know how and
infrastructural requirements.
Let us look at some of the
key sourcing areas in the Indian
supply base:
Delhi and NCR – Mélange of
fashion
The NCR has been valued for its
strength in value addition and
embellishments. This is evident with
the number of small- and large-scale
units that specialise in product ranges
of varied quantities. This automatically
becomes a choice area for high end
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fashion garments – specifically for the
export segment.
The NCR also boasts of a
balanced product-offering in knits
and weaves. The product range,
thus, offered through this cluster, is
diverse with a mélange of fabric bases
with embellishments in the form of
embroideries (hand and machine),
prints, construction and detailing on
garments. However, it is still not rare
to find companies dealing with basic
garments and investing in technology
driven units to produce value for
money garments.
Gujarat and Maharashtra –
Spin and win
The western region of the country
hosts a number of spinning units
and composite mills. Major players
in the fabric market benefit out of
the spinning centres clustered in this
area – be it for denim or for synthetic
fabrics. Surat has further specialised
in polyester fabrics with prints – the
advantage being its proximity to
polyester yarn suppliers.
Salem-Erode-Karur –
Handloom dens
We have often come across cotton
blankets and bed linen woven in
multihued checks. These are products
from the south with distinctive touches
of handloom. Salem, Erode and Karur
hold a number of small- and medium-
scale units specialising in fabrics that
serve the demands for home linen in
the export market.
The distinctive features of handloom
make this product line a viable selling
point across the U.S. and European
retailers, and its growing demand has
facilitated the growth of infrastructure
to increase production.
Bengaluru – The retail hub
The IT capital of India has emerged
as the preferred retail destination
for fashion-forward consumers. The
backup of IT and integration facilities
has helped evolve this city into a
manufacturing hub with strong techno-
savvy infrastructure; and likewise skilled
manpower to work with the same.
Most factories in Bengaluru, thus, are
state-of-the-art units, dealing with large
volumes, but for basic garments like
shirts and trousers. The concentration
of such units by companies having
a pan-Indian presence, shows the
popularity of Bengaluru as a strong
base for technology and productivity.
Chennai – Manufacturing
with panache
As the manufacturing den of the Indian
textile industry, Chennai capitalises on
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its committed workforce and excellent From the human Ludhiana – Flat knit hit
infrastructural facilities. Large volume resource perspective, Think sweaters, think Ludhiana. A
orders with basic styling are still the it may also be strong industrial town in a state
forte of this area – predominantly conducive for endowed with natural resource,
for men’s shirts. Units with advanced manufacturers to Ludhiana has made a mark over the
machinery, excellent operational address labour issues decades as a preferred destination
efficiency and above average in a cluster scenario. for flat knits – woollen and blends.
productivity – backed by predominantly Finally, the easier The city specialises in basic as well
women operators are a common inter-dependence as value-added flat knit products;
sight. This area serves both the export and proximity of and has been the home for major
and retail market – with some major resources within domestic players like Monte Carlo
domestic players producing structured a cluster can aid and Pringle knitwear.
garments in quick responses
and lingerie. to outsourcing Jaipur – Tradition for
challenges for the business
Tirupur – The knitwear city supplier. The Pink City moved beyond its
Low-cost production was the key area image of bandhni and tie-dye to be a
which enabled this small town in the
south of India to set its base as the
specialist in fine knits. However, with
the fast growing market and with the
help of infrastructural support, Tirupur
has risen to be the unquestionable
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choice for circular knits today. The

phenomenal growth can also be
accounted to the fact that the city is
a one-stop shop for fine knits – from
yarn to value-added products like
printed T-shirts. The units in Tirupur
go through a constant upgradation
and it is common to see most of
them following compliance norms for
environmental and social issues.

28 APPAREL SEPTEMBER 2010

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fashion centre for producing mid-range
and high-end apparel. Regular clients
with year on year orders for traditional
prints, hand embroidery and tie-dye
variations have produced a mélange
of apparel. It has proven itself to be
a business centre for fashion apparel,
footwear and accessories, and services
a large number of retailers with its
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unique product line.

Why clusters?
Sourcing of apparel (or raw material)
from clusters such as the above
provides multiple advantages to a
retailer. For one, the concentration
of units in the same area helps them
share physical infrastructure such as
power, roads, water, etc., thereby
reducing costs of production. It also
reduces transaction costs due to
common and trusted economic agents
in the area. From the human resource
perspective, it may also be conducive
for manufacturers to address labour
issues in a cluster scenario. Finally, the
easier inter-dependence and proximity
of resources within a cluster can aid
in quick responses to outsourcing
challenges for the supplier.
Disadvantages of clusters
With obvious advantages as above,
sourcing clusters can provide
some challenges as well. Product
differentiation and development can
get minimised due to over reliance on
the same sources. Potentially creative
innovations are likely to be sidelined.
Moving to alternate suppliers gets
logistically difficult in case of a
delivery issue.
All these factors withstanding,
sourcing clusters in India still are a
strong establishment of business and
employment generation. It remains to be
seen if the emergence of a competitive
era and with sustained government
support, growth of these clusters and
emergence of newer centres can add to
the Indian sourcing capital. n
(Sources:www.12manage.com
Roy Satyaki- Institute for Studies in Industrial
Development Garments industry in India-
Lessons from Two Clusters)

30 APPAREL SEPTEMBER 2010