Till few years ago fabric sourcing was one of the most challenging tasks but with increasing option of fabric sourcing, more use of technology and awareness about quality, conditions have improved over the years but some challenges are still prevailing and industry is struggling with those issues. Irony is that to some extant there is no solution for these challenges. Apparel Resources discussed with the various stakeholders of the industry that what is their strategies to ensure smooth fabric sourcing from selection to quality assurance to timely delivery?
Most of the exporters and working industry professionals be it merchandiser or fabric sourcing manger accepted that is no major issue as far as procurement of cotton fabric or cotton yarn is concerned but challenge is there with synthetic-base. Still, there are some yarns or blends which are not easily available in India like cashmere, which is also an issue. Stalwart of the industry and CMD of Orient Craft, Gurgaon Sudhir Dhingra says, “Our company faces similar kinds of challenges in fabric sourcing like others of the apparel manufacturing industry. We are not beyond the industry. What you can’t help, you must accept. The situation is still the same when we see that the major sector is manmade fibre and there are a lot of duties by the Government which increases our cost. Local Indian producers of the same quote price as they wish which is often very high. Nobody wants to break or can break their monopoly, so business is suffering.”
Duties imposed on fabric import by the Government is a pain point for the industry as it increases price. Manoj Goyal, CEO, Goyal Tex, Jaipur insists, “Still there are challenges especially with regard to linen and imported silk. When India is not producing linen, what is the point of having anti-dumping duty?”
Garment manufacturers using cotton fabric are almsot helpless when it comes to price volatility as another veteran of the industry Narinder Pal Singh, MD, Nancy Krafts, Delhi shared his experience, “Price increases anytime without any strong and valid reason. We pay that from our pockets. When we talk to our suppliers, they also show helplessness.” He further adds that buyers do need to think in this regard as they don’t want to pass any benefit to the exporters like in the case of weakening rupee, they hardly consider the issue of imported fabric.
“Though in past 10 years situations in the Indian fabric sourcing has improved with number of innovations, options availability of the supplier and competitiveness but the main challenge of cotton and cotton blends yarn sourcing still exist the same as it was earlier. The most fluctuating part in the entire supply chain of fabric procurement is yarn pricing which keep changing and there is no direct control on the same. What actually happens when the pricing of yarn increases the supplier prefer to deliver yarn at current rate to the new buyer at the current pricing to gain the up pricing extra profit though he is supposed to deliver yarn first to the buyer to whom he has already agreed upon earlier at lower pricing. Such issues are still need to be addressed as this affects not only the delay in fabric development but also the overall efficiency of the business,” Akshay Tholia, Chief Training Consultant, Sarv International, Jaipur
As far as quality is concerned, apart from good vendor, fair price, strong check…trial run is a way being opted by many apparel manufacturers and they are happy with this way. “To make sure of the smooth process, we ensure effective trial run. Once the trial run is completely okay, then only we move forward. If there is an issue, we sort out that issue completely at that stage,” informed P. Balamurugan, Managing Partner, Tex Orchid, Tirupur. He is also concerned about the price and strong says, “My only concern is the price which is without any logic or system Whenever there is a tilt towards cotton export, yarn manufacturers or supplier increase the price without any reason. This is not fair. There is no way to control this illogical price hiking. We always bear this hike and can’t ask buyers to pay for this additional cost.”
Some exporters see it as market dynamics and manage accordingly. Sunil Kumar Goel, Proprietor, Sunil Enterprises, Kolkata uses mainly 100 per cent cotton, silk and linen and mainly source yarns from wholesalers or traders of Kolkata. “Market forces always have negative or positive impact, like if there is less demand, we easily get whatever is required. On the other hand, if demand is more, supply has to be affected naturally,” says Sunil.
Sunil Garg, GM- Merchandising, CTA Apparels, Noida too adds a perspective in this regard, “There are issues in the synthetic segment as our Indian producers are still not able to match the Chinese synthetic. Though quality of Indian synthetic may be good, but overall it does not match up with the Chinese or imported fabric. Most of the buyers approve such fabric as there is no other viable option in this situation and comparatively price of Indian fabric is also a little less. I have observed that when it comes to importing fabric from China, there is a lot of uncertainty in terms of price as well as delivery. Therefore, Indian companies should adopt similar advanced infrastructure like China.”
Debit Note is not a solution
Jai Singh, Manager-Fabric Sourcing, Boutique International, Noida ssuggest to fellow industry professionals only to work with such companies which have maximum in-house systems and try to develop strong and long-term relations with them. “Debit note is not an option and leads to useless quarrel,” He strongly says. Manoj so says that debit note is just a one-time solution. It is not even a solution but rather a kind of damage control and so we don’t issue debit note.
