True to the role-definition of an army man, Zabed went on to take up a challenge, which he did by taking over a defunct Korean company, to revamp, renovate and make it functional, and start manufacturing in 2012. “I took over the factory to manufacture sportswear,” informs Zabed, a double major in MBA (Marketing and Human Resources), who is well-versed with the importance of groundwork and strategy – as taught and ingrained in every man in uniform – not only carried out a thorough market research and analysis of the demand-supply scenario before launching the project but also took a well thoughtout decision to manufacture specialized apparels only, to negate the cut-throat competition prevalent in the regular product categories. “There are only a handful of companies, besides us (Oasis), doing hi-tech apparels in Bangladesh which include Youngone Corporation (Korea) and Kadena Sportswear (China),” avers Zabed. True to traits of an army officer, he rose to the occasion to inspire others to fight for a cause and motivated 87 per cent of the initial manpower from Youngone to join Oasis, for which Zabed in part played the so-called home-grown card, a move that is earning him good dividends now.
Starting with just six production lines, Oasis has today upgraded its capacity to 36 lines to manufacture padded jackets and parkas, snow & ski wear, outdoorwear, hard-shell jackets, down jackets and vests, motorcycle garments and ballisticwear, to cater to clients like LC Waikiki, INA, TREW Gear, Next Sourcing, Didriksons, Sol’s, 5.11 Tactical and many more. At present, Oasis produces 35,000 to 40,000 pieces per month of tech-outerwear, 25,000 to 30,000 pieces a month of skiwear and 25,000 to 30,000 pieces per month of motorcycle wear. “I am also doing bulletproof jackets currently for a US-based client TREW Gear,” mentions Zabed, who emphasizes on doing such specialized items which require unique fabrics (prices of which may go up to as high US $ 55 per yard), and leaves little margin for error or wastage; Oasis employs specialized laser cutting technology to minimize both. Even the zipper used for TREW Gear’s bullet-proof jackets costs around US $ 12, equivalent to the FOB of a regular jacket. “We have a very tight consumption, no wastage and no stock clothes,” maintains Zabed, who has raised his production capacity manifold over the last couple of years to cater to the rising demands.
Entrepreneur Zabed Wali, Chairman of Oasis Hi-Tech Sportswear Limited, who set up the unit to produce hi-tech sportswear and specialized apparels like skiwear, ballisticwears, etc. to tap on the vast opportunities in the global market.
Despite monopolistic nature of his business, Zabed is apprehensive of the much-talked about TransPacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), which he believes would play to Vietnam’s advantage. “The biggest challenge is not the new players but TPP and its duty waiver of 17 per cent as against the GSP regulation of 10 per cent,” underlines Zabed, drawing consolation from the fact given Vietnam’s strength and capabilities, it would not be able to fulfil the demands fully and per se manufacturers like him will get some business. So, keeping an eye on the future, Oasis, whose present turnover is US $ 25 million (almost a double digit jump from the previous year’s US $ 15 million), Zabed is now planning to acquire 4 more production units within the EPZ, to add a total of 4,200 sewing machines, while also adding US $ 5 million in the top-line yearly.
