Uplifting the number of installations of Super Jeans cutter and spreader, an amalgamation of German technology and Italian precision by FK Group, from 40 last year to nearly100 installations currently, Wintex Resources has achieved an upbeat result in terms of market and competitiveness. “Out of 100 installations, many of them are complete cutting room solutions for denim and knit. We are now the top-rated supplier in the country. Market for automated cutting room solutions is growing and will continue to grow and stay ahead with the same success in years ahead,” avers Faruk Hossen Sarker, Area Director, FK Group and CEO, Wintex Resources Ltd. In this article, Sarker shares his opinion about growth of Bangladesh RMG and the technology receptiveness of apparel manufacturers.
Launched almost one-and-a-half years ago, the line of cutting room solution for denim jeans, ‘Super Jeans’ have made its existence in the cutting rooms of many top jeans manufacturing companies in Bangladesh which includes names like Ha-meem Group, Ananta Group, Tarasima Apparels, Islam Group and so on. Also equal success has been achieved in knit industries with another model, ‘Universal Cutter’. Wintex has witnessed growing interest in its ‘Super Jeans’ cutter and is expecting 20-30 installations of the same in current year. The company is riding on the burgeoning denim jeans wave despite heavy competitions, where some RMG companies are mulling over taking a legal action against so-called cheap cutting room solution suppliers as their performance were not so as claimed.
Both the models of FK Cutter consume just 5.9 KW of electricity using eco-power technology, which is almost five to eight times lesser than what is consumed by other cutters. With a cutting speed of 110 metres per minute, made possible through a blade vibration of 6,000 RPM, the cutter can be maintained via remote assistance and has been approved by WHO as medically safe for operators due to its medicated health care filter. It is much recommended for companies receiving repeat orders. The Italian pioneer’s sole agent for the Bangladesh market, upgraded in the heads of the machine, making zero buffer cutting much stronger. In the head, a special structure has been added with alloy aluminium to make it more lighter and stronger which ensures that blade is running with perfect precision/deflection.
“Having an experience of 18 years in cutting room, I can say that FK Group is at par with other competitors in terms of price, performance, quality, after-sales service and running cost,” affirms Sarker.
The company has certain parameters like production capacity, level of quality desired and brands/buyers companies are working while suggesting them the appropriate cutting room solutions according to the requirements. “At first, the small and medium-level players are suggested to invest in CAD system and spreading machine. Once they get habituated and develop an understanding of technology, we then suggest to go for complete automated cutting room solutions,” mentions Sarker. On the other hand, big apparel players opt for complete automatic cutting solutions.
“However, it pains me to see that some mid-level companies invest in the technology and keep it idle year after year, or even if they run them, they do not fully utilize it. Being a cutting room expert, I took the challenge, replaced their existing brands which, were kept idle, installed FK machines and exchanged it with performance guarantee signature,” shares Sarker. One such company is Urmi Group. “With such results, our confidence is increasing and we are also able to change the customers’ mentality,” adds Sarker.
Another evidence of technology receptiveness in Bangladesh, the mid-level companies are coming forward by starting investment in spreading machines. As the spreading machines are not maintained in a proper way in such companies, thus requiring more manpower, Wintex’s solutions saves them on cost and manpower reduction. “Once they reap good results, we then convince them to further take a step to install cutting room automation. This is how we inspire them to invest and get good results,” unveils Sarker.
Not only robust sales figure defines the success of Wintex, but its after-sales service force too puts the company on a winning path. Its training team has 22 individuals with industry experience upwards of a decade which provides training as per the customers requirements.The first two weeks of training are spent to let the operators adapt to machine and production. After few weeks, when the machine operators get adapted to the technology, they are then fully put in production. “One of the team members is always with them to provide support. Every quarter, Italian experts come and observe working, taking preventive maintenance and care wherever our solutions are installed, thus keeping proper track of every client and its using of solution,” says Sarker.
Faruk underlined that time ahead will witness the increasing number of cutting room solutions in the country. As Bangladesh RMG industry is now moving towards value addition like lingerie, high class denim, chiffon and georgette blouses, the manufacturers now ask technology providers to support in handling such kinds of fabrics. In coming years, future for Bangladesh can surely be in value-added garments…
Rotondi Group, another Italian brand for washing and finishing machines represented exclusively by Wintex, has also scored several deals during the last year under the leadership of Faruk. Ananta Group being one of them. He also affirmed of getting repeat orders for the machines. Furthermore, the company is slowly gearing for the availability of ‘Unit production hanger systems’from SmartMRT in its offerings. It has officially launched the hanger systems in the month of January 2017 at Garmentech Exhibiton in Dhaka. All the spare parts are made in Japan and machine is made in Malaysia. “For hanger systems, market is still not that adaptive but it has great potential. We will target customers who want systematic and automatic factory, or part of it as automatic or smart,” mentions Sarker.
Faruk acknowledged that time ahead will witness the increasing number of cutting room solutions in the country. As Bangladesh RMG industry is now moving towards value addition like lingerie, high class denim, chiffon and georgette blouses, the manufacturers now ask technology providers to support in handling such kinds of fabrics. In coming years, future for Bangladesh can surely be in value-added garments. However, there are still certain issues which need proper addressal in achieving the target of US $ 50 billion. Firstly, workers being the backbone of the industry need to be addressed properly. Some groups are making crises about labour unrest but they are all artificial issues. Second is political stability, and lastly it is the infrastructure. Infrastructure is improving both at the Government as well as at the factory’s level, but needs to focus more on both stage,” concludes Sarker.
