After an overwhelming success of the second edition, the recently concluded third edition of Source Zone Fair 2012, held at the Apparel House, Gurgaon, failed to impress many of the participants and the visitors present at the event. With around 26 participants, compared to 56 participants in the previous edition, the collective effort to redefine sourcing for apparel manufacturers proved to be a major disappointment for those expecting a good footfall or hoping for exposure and enquiries to translate into a business transaction. Exhibitors displayed fabrics, garment accessories and softwares and services for apparel manufacturing.
Amidst speculations why the fair received a lukewarm response, a few participants did find it to be an excellent platform and opportunity for exposure in the market. One such company was Goldstar Garment Accessories. “Source Zone has proved to be the right place and opportunity for us to showcase our products and also display our new collection of fancy buttons in polyester. We are really happy with the response we have received from the visitors,” said Mohit Hora, Director of the company. Representing Tamil Nadu based Balavigna Weaving Mills, SS Tagore, Fabric Merchandiser, was also pleased with the response they received. The company was present at the fair to showcase their new development in DuPont Sorona, receiving good enquiries and interest from the buyers.
According to CG Ramesh, DGM-Marketing, Uflex, the biggest advantages for the participants at the fair was quality footfall with decision making power. “Even though the fair is smaller than last time, we have received a good response from a lot of visitors for our latest developments that include exclusive embossed printed colours and neon florescent colours in holographic sequins,” shared Ramesh.
The most satisfied lot of participants was from the south who perceived the fair to be a good entry into the market in the northern region. Elaborating on the same Abhishek Jain, Partner, Jain Impex said, “The fair is a good platform for exposure and even if not all enquiries turn into orders, it is an opportunity to build stronger ties with exporters in this region.” A third time participant at the fair, Jain Impex displayed their new range of prints and checks, all of which were developed as per international forecast. A follower of Fashion Forward Trends, the in-house fashion forecasting division of Apparel Online, Abhishek said, “We constantly check the FFT newsletters as a guide for our new developments as forecasting today has become more of a necessity than choice.”
Ram Srinivasan, General Manager – Marketing, KG Denim shared that they were in Delhi to cover a new set of customers. “The fair for us is an excellent introduction platform to meet new customers. The region has always helped us generate good business, and despite a slow fair this year we have received a good response and demand from the exporters.” The company displayed their latest range of neon pigment denims and their latest developments from DuPont Sorona fibres. “With the rising demand of sustainability in the market, the demand for DuPont Sorona fibres is picking up as well. According to me these products will work well and do good business for the next two to three years,” opined Srinivasan.
Working upon the moving trend towards eco-friendly products, Lenzing, the leading fibre innovation company, with one of the strongest R&D teams of about 250 scientists working on new developments everyday, was present at the fair to showcase their latest innovation, Micro modal with a carbon neutral base. “As carbon footprint in Europe is counted on all the activities, coming up with such a product was the next natural step for us and since India is the second largest hub for textiles, the new development becomes more important for the base as well,” reasoned S. Jayaram, Head of Sales in South Asia for Lenzing.
While the fair was a positive experience for some of the participants, it proved to be disappointing for many others. First time participants Mafatlal Industries felt there was a lack of enthusiasm at the fair. “We had heard about the fair and were hoping for a good response, but it did not meet our expectations,” said Bharat Bhavsar, Dy. GM, Mafatlal Industries. Alok Raj, Director, Elegant Buttons, added that there were a lot of factors that affected the credibility of the event, making it slow, compared to the previous editions. “Problems like lack of publicity, weak management and few genuine visitors, really affected the image of the fair. We have received an average response at this fair compared to the previous one,” claimed Alok. The company displayed an array of printed shell buttons, colour matched and eco-friendly products.
[bleft]There were a lot of factors that affected the credibility of the event, making it slow, compared to the previous editions. Problems like lack of publicity, weak management and a few genuine visitors, really affected the image of the fair. [/bleft]
Despite the fact that the impact of business slowdown was clearly felt by all, yet the shift in demand and preferences of the buyers was evident. Substantiating the same Arvind Shah, Marketing Director, Shahlon Industries said, “We have observed an increased demand for polyester. With cotton prices fluctuating in recent times, not everyone is being able to deliver on time, increasing the lead times. To avoid such a situation in the already suffering business, people have now shifted to polyester bases for their collections.” About the fair, Arvind also mentioned that even as they received a good response from the buyers, not all visitors at the event, seemed to be genuine, which was bad for both business and the fair. The company displayed their latest developments and collections in prints, georgettes, chiffons, satins and crepe.
Specializing in draped looks and fabrics, Sundar Sons Exports was present at the fair to display their latest developments in cotton viscose, feather weight micro viscose and other blends. “With the cotton prices going up last year, buyers looking for value for their money shifted to blended bases for their production. Also, with consumer’s choice shifting more towards easy care fabrics today, the demand for blended bases has increased amongst both the manufacturers and the consumers,” reasoned Hassanand Sundardas, Managing Partner, Sundar Sons Exports. Not satisfied with the fair this time, Hassanand added, “Perhaps the timing for the fair was not right, with Diwali being the biggest festival for all, a lot of exporters got deviated towards other tasks. Also, there weren’t many overseas buyers present at the fair this time, which proved to be a loss for us, as we do not cater to the retail buyers.”
UK Sharma, General Manager, RST Rayon, agreed that the lack of foreign participants this year affected the event. “Both the overseas and the domestic businesses have been suffering for some time now and that resulted in low business at the fair,” said Sharma. RST Rayon displayed a range of yarns for the schiffli embroidery, manufactured at their units with new sets of machines and new packaging.
Amongst the disappointed, a greater segment belonged to the service and the technology companies present to display their offerings. Ran Avraham Kremer, Managing Director of the Software developing company OptiTex, said “the fair is extremely small and we were expecting more people to show up, but the footfall has been very disappointing. Even the number of participants present is very weak.” First-time participants, the software developed by the company reduces the overall development time of the product by 35%, saving all time, energy and resources.
Sharing similar views Sameer Pauriyal, Vice-President – Marketing, Tukatech said, “Even as the response we got was good, the overall fair was not that impressive and the footfall was extremely weak. Maybe if the fair had been held during the weekend the response would have been better.” The company has pioneered implementation of full packages in technology and provides services at various stages of manufacturing. Also present to create awareness of their product were first-time participants, ION group from TATA Consultancy Services, “We have participated for the first time and are here for educating the visitors about our products and services. The software we have developed is an ERP specific to garment manufacturing. Even as the response has been okay we are hoping people will understand what the software is all about and then only will they be able to accept it,” concluded Amit Maheshwari, Project Manager, ION.
