Mind Voice

We all know what is mind voice right?

I have been in the textile/apparel profession/business for decades, and I have never seen such tough times before. Find it difficult to manage & survive in the present scenario. Don't know where the textile business is heading to, not sure if we will be able to continue to be active in business or not?

The above might be the mind voice of many who are part of the textile/apparel business ecosystem.

Ground Reality

Are these challenges new to business? Is it going to end once and for all if we overcome them one by one? The answer is NO. It is going to continue & remain in some form or name. We spoke about VUCA in the last article. If so then what is the way out?

The answer is HAT

As we all know "a hat is a head covering worn to give protection".
I am sure everyone needs a HAT to be protected from such a challenging environment.
But the HAT here what am talking about is slightly different than the real one.

Hunt for an opportunity,
Adapt to Market,
Technique to Survive….. Now let's see this one by one

Hunt for Opportunity

Whenever there is a challenge, it throws an opportunity as well. Hunting for such opportunities and capitalizing them to the core will enable us to become successful in the challenging environment.
For example - the medical cum technical textiles & special performance finish-based textiles should be the focal point to grab the business opportunity.

Adapt to Market

Market demands keep changing, by looking at the cotton prices sooner or later everyone will opt for other cellulosic and natural fibers along with blends of manmade fibers.
For example - increasing your non-cotton base product-making capabilities is going to be the new revolution for the textile industry along with blended fabrics of cotton.

Technique to Survive

Handling of new age fibers and specialized products is going to be the key technique which helps to survive as it creates a monopoly in the market and the manufacturers of that caliber are limited & very few who always have demand from the market.
For Example - Making and handling of modal, Tencel & lyocell kind of products and its derivatives offering solutions for unisex consumers.

Hope we got some idea about HAT. The above mentioned are some of the examples to make everyone understand. Depending on the business model and type of work we are in to and the stage at which progressing in our career we can apply ourselves suitably to overcome the challenges we are in from time to time.

We usually get many examples that do not pertain to the Indian context, many are happy to share stories and examples of overseas companies and people.
Though we may know many who are running their show well & successful irrespective of market challenges. I have decided to quote a real-time example about one of the companies which are managing their business so well & running quite successfully till now with their smart and principle business approach of HAT.

Erode to E2- Yercaud Express

The company example I am talking about here is basically from erode. They started in a small way, evolved in the business ladder, fared well & the success mantra for their business even today is what we will be seeing subsequently.

Erode - has the country's largest textile market, fabrics made out of Erode are famous throughout India and exported to various countries across the globe.
E2 -is the landmark of the H.O of a big apparel company in Chennai, and a dream for many to get business with them.
Yercaud Express -it's one of the famous trains connecting Erode & Chennai in Tamil Nadu.
We talk about the train in particular as there are not many domestic flight options during this period. Also, the trend was to travel by train to meet the customers.
Journey

The erode-based company I am talking about started as a greige fabric trading company. With their network & expertise, they established good relationships with all the leading greige fabric manufacturers and buyers.

Looking at the market potential & needs to grow up the ladder they decided to position themselves as pocketing fabric supplying vendors to export factories across the south. With their stable business approach towards manufacturers & exporters they were able to get business on their new move, with their commitment & accuracy in handling the quality soon they became popular in the segment of pocketing fabric vendor amongst others.

As they continued to become the prime source of pocketing suppliers, they started hunting for an opportunity to ground them well in the industry, with their continued Hunt & hunger they got a chance to become a shell fabric vendor to E2 Company towards their one of the prestigious client which was a golden opportunity for them to prove themselves as a potential vendor to rely on. They could do it successfully by Adapting to the changes required to handle to shell fabric level from pocketing. Now they transformed as a proven vendor who could handle from greige, pocketing to shell fabric needs of their customers. At that time market stood up with the challenge of migrating from cotton to poly blends & 100% poly fabrics due to the price challenges. When others found it difficult to cope with handling the blended fabrics & 100% poly from cotton, they had strengthened themselves in handling such varieties in the southern part of Tamilnadu. Their enhanced skill & Technique enabled them to survive with those changes. It's time to reveal the company name which we are talking about all this while.

We all know Coimbatore is called Manchester of South India, due to extensive textile industry. In a similar context, it is wise to call M/S. GOLDEN FASHIONS trim, pocketing & lining fabric Manchester of India (South). As they are one of the most famous & preferable vendor partners for many buyers across the globe. You name any buyer they would have worked with or shown keen interest to work with them due to their consistency across all aspects of the business. Even today they are one of the market leaders and pioneers. The entire credit goes to Mr.Radha Krishnan (one of the directors) & the other 4 Directors.

The kind of growth & stability they hold in today's market scenario is highly commendable, now they have reached up to a level where they decide with whom they should work and what fabrics they should make based on market needs.

Hope you like the concept of HAT and the examples quoted show it has proven results when we apply it to the core in our working methodology forever.

Looking forward to your views and thoughts on this article………….

RELATED TOPICS:#Apparel,Ramesh Gunasekaran