The apparel and textile industry has seen a clear downward trend all over the world, majorly caused by a massive shrink in buying capacities of consumers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This shrinkage in buying capacity of final products on retail shelves has caused a disruptive turbulence along the fashion supply chain right down to the raw material that’s procured by the manufacturers, which further has resulted in an indefinite halt on the investment plans of the manufacturers in technology.
Yet, there are gaps in the new market dynamics. Proactive manufacturers and innovators in technology have relentlessly explored and responded to these gaps, seizing them as opportunities. As Duerkopp Adler – the German leader in sewing technology – shared in an exclusive conversation with Apparel Resources, there are ‘Winners’ in these tough times, it is for companies to align with them.
At Duerkopp Adler, the focus has widened beyond the apparel industry to include the entire sewn product industry so as to support these winners in their endeavours in long-term business sustainability. Under this strategy, Duerkopp Adler has explored and recognised healthy and stable development across the entire sewn product industry and found opportunities in many categories, particularly in upholstery sector.
While, many machine manufacturers kept a low profile this year, Duerkopp Adler has continued with its R&D efforts and completed its ‘DELTA-Line’ with the post-bed version D868 as well as the cylinder arm versions D669 and D869, which the company feels is a highlight for the otherwise difficult year. “Due to our strength in this segment and with our wide range of machines and recent innovations, we have extensively focused our activities in this field and that has paid off really well,” commented Bernd Bräuer, Director of Sales and Marketing, DA Group.
New products’ launch in 2020 has been fruitful for Duerkopp Adler…
Apart from just launching products for upholstery industry, Duerkopp Adler had launched a cotton face mask sewing automat – DA 900 CFM – in July this year, seeing the concerning situation about virus outspread at that time.
DA 900 CFM includes all major operations of cotton face mask production right from fabric supply from rolls, automatic nose wire supply, fabric folding station to ironing station, cutting station and binding attachment both left and right.
“Since the Duerkopp Adler face mask automat is focused on sewing of cotton, multiple washable and reusable face mask, we are of course offering, within the group, welding machines (by PFAFF) for protective clothing, the demand for which is not going to decline in coming months,” asserted Bernd.
Also Read: CFAI’s Chairman Opens Up About Garment Industry In Jordan
The apparel and textile industry has seen a clear downward trend all over the world, majorly caused by a massive shrink in buying capacities of consumers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This shrinkage in buying capacity of final products on retail shelves has caused a disruptive turbulence along the fashion supply chain right down to the raw material that’s procured by the manufacturers, which further has resulted in an indefinite halt on the investment plans of the manufacturers in technology.
India and Bangladesh should go for high-end technology post-Covid-19…
Under the new strategy, the company is not just focusing on new product categories for development, but is also aiming to horizontally deploy its innovations in the countries it already has a strong foothold in. And, without tapping India and Bangladesh, the efforts will remain incomplete! There is no doubt that Duerkopp Adler has one of the best technologies in the world for its line of business; however, the biggest bottleneck it previously faced was the reluctance in adoption of high-end technology in India and Bangladesh. The company feels that the situation has now taken a 360-degree turn, and more than ever before automation is at the centre stage of production process.
In a positive development, a bunch of garment and leather product manufacturers in India and Bangladesh have started showing flexibility while discussing about technology integration because they have understood that without reducing the cost of manufacturing (both direct and indirect), long-term sustainability in business is not possible in post-COVID times. Taking the initiative ahead, Duerkopp Adler is looking to strategically place itself in India and Bangladesh as these countries are in dire need of implementing automated solutions.
Endorsing this need, Bernd informed, “I´m quite sure that the industry in both India and Bangladesh will recover very fast after we overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, I recommend to continue the way they have started to invest in flexible automation.”
Besides providing right technologies, what Duerkopp Adler has extensively been focusing on is ‘Consulting the industry’ which it feels is more essential for the industry now and in future than it was in the past. “This has always been one of our biggest strengths. ‘Shopfloor management’ is the keyword coined up heavily these days and that´s why we have used current times to continue the development of our QONDAC system. First pilot lines are already successfully installed and delivering important data to the user,” informed Bernd.
It’s worth mentioning here that Duerkopp Adler has completed 160 years of innovations in 2020 and has been promoting its products by offering special prices on the newer offerings to celebrate this occasion, and that also adds to the list of achievements of the company in 2020.
“In general, we can say we are successful even in these times. Beside some special offers, we have noticed that there is a special interest in the ‘augmented support’ offered by us,” concluded Bernd.
Here is a creative video made by the German sewing tech pioneer recently which lets viewers ‘Imagine a world without Duerkopp Adler’:
