“BRAND TIRUPUR BROADENING THE VALUE HORIZONS IN APPAREL”

INAUGURAL SESSION “BROADENING THE VALUE HORIZONS IN TIRUPUR TEXTILE & APPAREL SECTORS”

The Conference began with a warm welcome to the audience and all present for the conference by Dr. Vishaka Karnad, Hon. Secretary, SDC EC and with the auspicious gesture of lighting the lamp.

Tirupur is a dominant player in the knitting garment sector. The apparel exporters in Tirupur mostly produce and export knitted garments and the share of woven garment is insignificant when compared with knitted garment production and exports. Tirupur is known for its cluster activity and mostly each function of garment making is being carried out in the outside units viz., knitting units, dyeing & bleaching units, fabric printing, garmenting, embroidery, compacting and calendaring and other ancillary units. The textile industry in Tirupur is facing many challenges, in spite of these it is time to encourage apparel exporters to increase the export marketing activity for which the Indian government needs to focus on product development, cluster development and innovation.Tirupur textile and apparel industries are resourceful and very strong in integrating technologies.Their strength lies in compliance with global standards and brand needs. Tirupur textile cluster probably has its eco-processing systems in place with global standards in terms of ZLD, presence of windmills and many adopted sustainable processes.

Mr. RohitRajendranManaging Director Premier Spg.& Wvg. Mills Pvt. Ltd.Chief Guest for the Conference set the tone for the conference with his inaugural address indicating the aptness of the topic in today’s timesfor the textile and apparel sector of Tirupur.

Mr. UllhasNimkarPresident, SDC UK& Chairman NimkarTek Guest of Honour at the conference highlighted certain key points while describing the role of SDC in promoting education in the world of science in coloration. The points included colour network, colour education qualifications, SDC publications (coloration technology), SDC testing standards (colour fastness, colour development by SDC), Colour Index (published in 1942), SDC publications. He elaborated on the phenomenon of fast fashion, the importance on chemicals in textile production, effects of population explosion and its impact on fashion consumption, trends in global growth in textile and apparel, the importance of eco-labels, the various NGO initiatives referring to the Sustainable Development Goals (17 SDGs). He proclaimed further the vision of India as the leader –as the shining star.

TECHNICAL SESSIONS

Branding Tirupur Textile and Apparel Sector as the Sustainable Business Model

IMPACT AND VALUE ADDITION TO SUPPLY CHAIN WITH SUSTAINABLY COMMITED PARTNERS

Ms.Monisha Boopathi, Brand Manager Jay Chemical Industries Pvt.Ltd.presented her viewpoints with an attractive presentation during which the following points were covered

Tirupur is the knitwear cluster of India and the centre plans to create 75 textile hubs like Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur according to the Honorable Union Minister Shri. Piyush Goyal. She shared the success story of Tirupur and about the top market segments & brands working in Tirupur, the challenges in Tirupur market with the fluctuating prices in the cotton yarn, availability of good quality water,pollution,and spoke about the other macro-environmental factors. She highlighted the future expectation of global brandswith ashift in fiber scenario.

There is a felt-need to adopt to quick lead time, cost pressureswithin the supply chain, more investments are required in digitalization, traceability amongst the other key enablers for sustainability road maps, reducing emission in their supply chain; these are some of the pertinent concerns of the textile industry and apparel sector in Tirupur. Working with committed partners like JCIPL, water reduction, reducing carbon footprints, low steam washing process, accessing sustainable solutions-ecological pretreatment system, low-temperature washing-off process, 360^o solutions and switching to eco dyeing systems –for saving process time, increasing production whilst saving energy and costs are the need of the hour.

CLEANTECHNOLOGY SCENARIO- A WAY FORWARD FOR TEXTILE CHEMICAL MANUFACTURERS

Mr. Karun Tyagi, Business Head- Textile/Head EHS Proklean Technologies Pvt. Ltd. elaborated on the following topics GHG and Global Temperature, Consequences of climate change (water scarcity, severe fires,rising sea levels), Climate risks: 1.5^oC – 2^oC global warming, chemical industry is the largest contributor to CO_2, sustainable pathway(CTS- any process that reduces the negative environmental impact and green chemistry.

SPORTECH

Dr. Mrinal Choudhari, Joint Director Wool Research Association (WRA), COE – Sportech explained the Classification of sportech (sportswear, sports goods and sports accessories), World and India Market of sportech, Sportswear – sportswear design & production of sports apparel, Sports Goods and Sports Accessories, ideal properties from sportswear, global sports and active wear facts and figures and market dominance with a detail coverage of the Indian sportswear scenario. She further explained different fiber properties, evaluation on performance characteristics of sport textiles, ECWCS, testing facility for garments, evaporative cooling jacket, active heating system-based sleeping bag, national linkages of WRA, gaps and requirements and product development facilities available to strengthen the Tirupur textile and apparel sector.

SUSTAINABLE CHEMICAL FREE COTTON

Dr. Shailendra Singh, COO-Agro-Zydex Industries Pvt Ltd. discussed the challenges in cotton farmingof rising input costs, increasing pest challenges and high pesticide use, the significance of deteriorating soil health the reasons and impactwith the increased use of chemical fertilizers and the increased use of pesticides. He elaborated on possibility of successful transition of chemical farming to organic farming with yield positive results through Zytonic technology. He also mentioned that successful organic farming with new technological intervention can make organic cotton affordable for all.

PPE AND MEDITECH

Mr. S. Sivakumar, Head – Textile Chemistry & COE Medical Textiles South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) acquainted the audience about SITRA (Activities and services of SITRA) and its technological facilities. He spoke about sustainable product development (alternate fibers, fancy yarns, fabrics, sustainable processing), pilot mills and raw materials evaluation, sustainable processing solutions by SITRA. The different projects undertaken included Salt free dyeing of cotton materials using a newly synthesized cationizing agent-Go Green SFD, Development of eco-baby wear using natural mordant and natural dyes, Development of eco-clothing by greener reduction process of natural indigo dye, Development of breathable, reusable and oxo-biodegradable coverall using biocidal polyester, Durable non-fluorinated functional textiles using fumed silica sols, Antioxidant cosmetotextiles: durable nano-encapsulated Vitamin E finishes on textile fabrics. Further, a glimpse of the products developed by SITRA CoE Medical Textiles was presented. Some of the products developed by SITRA include nano-finish for surgical apparel, collagen coated hernia mesh, mopping pads, chitosan dressing, straight and bifurcated vascular grafts, 3D compression bandage, rotator cuff repair device, barbed bi-directional surgical sutures, breathable viral barrier film (BVB), transdermal patches.SITRA has planned to establish a Centre of Excellence for Green Processing of Textiles at Tirupur with the fund support from Government of India. With the range of services, Centre of Excellence for Medical Textiles, sustainable processes and products in its arm, SITRA is all poised to move with the industry  and is  keen to show the way forward to build a sustainable niche market to establish “Brand Tirupur”.

The technical session was very informative which was followed by the felicitation of the speakers and a short tea break to get connected and network.

PANEL DISCUSSION: STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF TIRUPUR AS ONE CLUSTER

The Panel discussion was power-packed with industry experts who shared their expertise and experience in a very engaging discussion. The panel members included Mr.Anjani Prasad (Moderator), Managing Director, ACHROMA INDIA Pvt. Ltd.; Mr.Periasamy S., CEO AIC-NIFTEA Incubation Center Textiles and Apparel; Ms. Monisha Boopathi, Brand Manager, JAY Chemicals Pvt. Ltd.; Mr. Karun Tyagi, Business Head, – Textiles /Head EHS PROKLEAN Technologies Pvt. Ltd.; Mr. V.R. Sai Ganesh, COO- Textile – ZYDEX Industries Pvt. Ltd.; Ms. Monika Choudhary, Lead – Aryabhata Innovation & Research Center, TRIDENT Group; Ms. Pooja Kanekar, Manager PWC India.

Key Points that were discussed by the panel are as follows:

• Tirupur needs to be portrayed as anincubation center for idea execution, design and product development which should facilitate brand building.
• Providing for finance for start-up through venture capital like shark tanks.
• The need for integrating with new technology for brand Tirupur.
• There can be a common Portal for all innovationswhich can be used in trading. There is a need for Industry and Academia to collaborate and make innovation tradable.It will be important to connect the Colleges and Institutions of Higher studies to fulfil the Industry needs. There are several patents awarded to IIT which have yet to be commercialized.
• Common trading platform for sourcing fabrics from Tirupur.
• The scale of operation and processes have to be optimized.
• There is a need for a single platform, one certification body and not so many which are difficult to manage and expensive.
• For promoting the Textile cluster and branding there are many aspects that have to be considered like carbon foot print, ZLD, energy conservation, resource utilization, finding renewable energy etc.
• Salt disposal project and get chemical companiesto and manage and refine.
• Managing sludge burning can be set up for energy recovery.
• The Tirupur must become one integrated cluster offering farm to retail. 

Thus, thefollowing are the objectives towardsBrand Tirupur that need further endeavors:

• To create a single association to discuss and deliberate on this theme and the surrounding issuesby getting the stakeholders on one parent platform and one authority board.
• To devise one single certification system instead of having multiple certification processes and systems.
• To promote branding Tirupurwith respect to forming an integral cluster (including carbon footprint, ZLD, having a farm to retail approach in one cluster, strategizing use of renewable energy sources)
• To empower scale of operation and optimize resource utilization and mobilization.
• To connect different research and innovation-oriented colleges / institutes to come together with industry and task head-on for setting up projects with thorough industry need-based assessment and not be limited to academic pursuits. Research that can have commercial viability should reach towards product development with enhanced features and mass production capacity.
• Innovators and their innovation to be accessible on special innovation hub portalswhich can be tradable.
• Innovation incubation centers in academic, research and industry organizations for idea execution, design and brand building.
• One exclusive trading platform for fabrics, textile and apparel resources for trading from Tirupur.
• Finance arrangements and schemes for start-up like shark tank.
• Salt disposal projects involving chemical companies who can reform the effluent management system.
• Burning issues with sludge treatment, energy management and acquiring much needed approvals from various authorizing bodies to be addressed on priority basis.

The above points can help Tirupur to stand out as a global sourcing manufacturing and innovation hub.

The Conference ended with the felicitation of the panelists and sponsors. The program concluded with a Vote of Thanks by Mr. Sandip Singh, Hon.Trustee Board Member. The event was successful due to the active participation of companies, association members, delegates and institutes. It was a great platform for textile and apparel industry professionals, researchers and academia to network and share their experience and ideas. We express deep gratitude to the Speakers, Panelists and all the participants of the conference. We are indebted to the Sponsors of the conference and media coverage parties.