PDS Limited has announced the opening of a Centralised Cutting Plant (CCP) in its Sri Lankan subsidiary Norlanka that’s located in Malwana.
The CCP will serve as PDS’ manufacturing facility in Sri Lanka and will cut nearly 8 million metres of fabric, that translate into 33 million pieces annually.
The commercial production of the plant commenced in late December 2022 and is now operational with a fully digitalised and integrated system starting from mills inspection into warehouse, fabric inspection and the cutting process, as reported by PDS.
The CCP uses advanced automated machinery in partnership with TUKATECH, unlocking smart cut planning and fabric cut efficiency to enhance the quality of the end product and productivity of the process. With a centralised data management system, transparency is created within the entire supply chain.
Furthermore, the cutting plant also houses a centralised printing facility, while an in-house embroidery facility has already been planned. The CCP will assist in turning existing occupied spaces of the cutting divisions and raw material warehouses across PDS’ manufacturing facilities into spaces with additional production lines, leading to an increase in capacities by one million standard hours (SAH) per annum.
This investment is said to be a key step towards further enhancing the PDS manufacturing vertical capabilities through state-of-the-art machinery and digitalised processes in Sri Lanka. Adhering to the best ESG standards, the plant also has an efficient waste management system for better control of waste and the visibility of its end-of-life.
Pallak Seth, Vice Chairman, PDS Limited said during inauguration, “Sri Lanka continues to be a key geography for PDS. We continue to invest in the country and build our capabilities which not only benefit us, but also our manufacturing partners. Our investments have been consistent in the region, and we will continue to support business growth as our factories innovate and streamline practices across their manufacturing value chain.”
Sanjay Jain, Group CEO, PDS Limited, added, “The centralised cutting plant in Norlanka will give us better control of fabric usage, cutting quality and ease of cut planning, as we seamlessly synchronise the plant with design department. Our investments to enhance our capabilities across manufacturing facilities are expected to result in enhancement of margins.”
It’s pertinent to mention here that Norlanka is one of Sri Lanka’s leading sustainable exporters of baby and kidswear in Sri Lanka, working with global clients that include Primark, Matalan, Walmart, Superdry, George and many others. Norlanka Manufacturing capacity is backed by 6000 machines with a total of eight million production hours annually. In the second phase, the CCP will double its capacity in line with the vision of PDS to double its manufacturing capacity over next three years in Sri Lanka.