Bangladesh, known for producing and taking only bulk orders, is now gearing up to accept smaller orders with even the bigger companies jumping on to the bandwagon. The acceptance of small orders have taken a fresh turn as Government apathy and the recent terror attacks have adversely impacted the industry, putting the medium-level exporters on a back-foot, stalling expansion plans, while the bigger ones are moving faster towards small orders to fill capacities. In conversation with Apparel Online Bangladesh, few small buying offices share their journey to work in small quantities.
In a market that only understood huge quantity orders, today there is a growing number of companies that not only accept small orders, but are also willing to do many styles within the order. “If there are many styles it is very challenging, so we ask for at least a total quantity of 2,000 pieces, which makes it more viable for the exporter. Say for example 10 styles of 300 pieces each is acceptable,” informed Sahed Hasan, MD, Dazzle Textile, who is currently supplying winter garments to Poland and denim products to wholesalers of Middle East in Kuwait and Dubai, is also working with the US and has recently entered Australia.
Though medium-level buying houses do have challenges, they are creating opportunities for small- and medium-level exporters.
Hasan also shared that there were about 500 to 1,000 factories in Bangladesh today that accept small orders including better known ones like JS Cotton and Sanguine Textile Ltd. “These small factories are found mainly in Mirpur, Gajipur, Kanchpur, and Tongi situated at a distance of 20 km from each other and having 50 to 200 machines each,” said Hasan. Chipping in Md. Shahinul Islam, MD, Expo Vision, who also runs a small buying house along with a factory of 50 machines, which he is planning to expand, opined that even though they take small orders, Bangladesh does not have facilities that can make 500-1,000 pieces as efficiently and expertly as other competitive countries. He cued, “Pakistan and India are apt at taking such small orders, so buyers prefer to go to them.” In search for orders, Islam is looking to enter the Russian market, alongside expanding on his customer base that is mainly retailers in the UK and other European countries.
Relationship with buyers is one of the main reasons for big companies picking up small orders.
Greenbee Toggery is presently working with four factories in Bangladesh and caters exclusively to the US market. “My buyers prefer a collection comprising of 70 per cent knit and 30 per cent woven,” says Bikash Rudra, Director, Greenbee Toggery, a buying office that was initiated hardly a year ago. “Though big companies were reluctant to take small orders, but now they are dedicating few lines to the same. So if a factory has 10 lines, they will have 7 lines doing the bulk production and 3 lines will cater to smaller orders. However, small orders can be taken only for certain types of garments, for example small orders cannot be taken for suits,” added Bikash. He further shared that many big groups have put aside 100-150 machines for smaller runs to be used as required at any given point of time so as to not miss out on any orders. Greenbee Toggery is working with wholesalers as well as retailers and has customers like Golden Touch Imports (importer), Five Star Apparel (wholesaler) and Weather Proof (retailer).
Dazzle Textile: Last year, the buying office did business worth 7 crore Taka and is expecting a turnover of 10 crore Taka this year. The company is looking to start its own manufacturing in the next one year.
Though many believe that it is the changing market demands that have necessitated the big groups to adapt themselves to smaller quantities, Islam sees relationship with buyers as one of the main reasons for big companies picking up small order. He opined, “If I am doing volume business for a client than I am also expected to take-up small runs too, at times. He recalls how one of his factories took an order of only 2,000 garments though the capacity of the factory is to produce 1.10 million garments. He further informed that big companies like Windy Apparels were now contemplating to accommodate small orders, which for sure is a sign of change. Abedin Group is reportedly also planning to do small orders, but only for their regular buyers.
Expo Vision: The 12 years old Expo Vision is sourcing from 5-6 companies and its core strength is trousers. From last 3 years, it is getting orders worth 3 million pieces per year. The company, expecting 20% growth this year, claims that it never faced shipment cancellation. The buying office maintains an IE team that is also strong in merchandising and cost analysis.
All agreed that there was a need to deliver quality products on time and have a sustainable and safe work environment, as these are the main commitments that will benefit the small order manufacturing factories, and will help them to expand, since the flow of orders in smaller runs will not stop. “The industry has many factories that are more than 30 years old and are still non-compliant, despite being warned by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). They are doing nothing to upgrade their factories,” bemoaned Islam. All of them agree that compliance in small factories is a major concern. “While these non-compliant factories may function smoothly today, but in the long run they will face problems and may even shut down. I have already updated and improved my factories and even the machines,” argues Hasan. Adds Bikash, “Being compliant is a criteria, but it helps if the land of the factory is owned by you for being in control to improve infrastructure especially after the buyers became strict after the Rana Plaza incident.” This is particularly relevant as most of the small factories are in rented premises.
Greenbee Toggery: The nearly year old buying office is working with 4 factories for the USA customers and is also knocking the doors of European buyers. It claims to have the facility and expertise to give costing to the buyer within 48 hours. The company has good network in China for fabric and trims sourcing. It is expecting to have good market reach in next 3-4 years.
All the manufacturers and buyers AOB talked to unanimously opined that they were not receiving Government aid or support. They said that a substantial sum of money is needed to upgrade a factory to be compliant, besides the bank interests were high and the Government is not extending its support, under these circumstances even if they want to become compliant they will not be able to do so because of lack of funds. Citing the example of India, they said that the Government-funded project helped by third parties ensured that the small and medium exporters in India become compliant. The medium and small exporters of Bangladesh also want better infrastructure and more support in the field of information technology. “We started with a lot of hope, but we are struggling now. Our targets have not been achieved and it doesn’t seem that this will happen even in the coming year,” concluded a slightly dejected Bikash, who had opened the buying house with lots of enthusiasm.
