Yogesh Gaikwad
Director, SDC International
Manufacturing of textiles is a lengthy and resource intensive process at least in current and common circumstances. Pre-pandemic life of sourcing agents was relatively ‘better’. The pandemic and the Ukrainian war has changed everything. From the products manufactured to the choice of supply chain everything has gone under some kind of review. Some influencers for this review process may be:
- The demand for more local manufacturing
- Products need to have a touch of local culture from local makers
- Uncertainty in prices of raw materials (volatility in crude oil and gas prices)
- Demand for Design innovation that are frequent and reflect the local customers inspirations
- There is a visible tilt towards products that are not based on fossil fuels
- Awareness about chemical toxicity even in emerging markets
- Life expectancy in emerging markets is improving and demand for products with ‘green’ manufacturing is increasing.
- Youth now perceive protection of earth resources as their primary responsibility
These are some influences among others.
The manufacturers are now having to adapt to the challenges and they have :
- To be more careful about choice of design
- To have a larger base of suppliers for similar products
- To have minimum steps of manufacturing
- To have source that would supply target final and assembled product not just the components
- To adapt to new chemical and social compliances as demanded by governing bodies and brands and retailers
- To keep an eye on the new innovations that can have major influence on how the products are sold and manufactured
- To accelerate the process of digitalisation , automation and use of artificial intelligence in manufacturing and selling process
Among the major influencers is the impact of colour , patterns and design in shaping a merchandise. The customer preferences change with various influences around them. This could be :
Global / International : – climate change, global inflations ,global effects of war, global pandemics, rise or fall in international energy prices etc
National / ground zero level : social health of the surrounding, economics of the region, recent environmental calamities, seasonal effects, etc
Local/ personal : Health issues that effect what you wear, body types, professional needs , travel frequency, exposure to pollution , personal economic factors etc
Sustainability , circularity and regenerative farming to be used as a core tools in restricting the damaging effects of climate change. The supply chains are been rewired to keep an organisations mission in meeting the environmental and social compliance targets.
The Supply chain need to cleaned for toxic chemicals and also get the efficiency to the global levels. Manufacturers who do not meet the productivity and energy efficiency should be encourage to do so by economic incentives like more bulk orders etc.My opinion is that alone Chemical compliance cannot clean the supply chains. There is too much reliance on certification by testing and compliance audits without understanding the efficiencies of the manufacturers. Cheap labor, cheap non renewal fuel sources , government subsidies are been used to hide operation deficiencies which arise from lack of skilled personnel on the shop floor.Major losses in efficiency are also due to human errors, lack of planning in departments and poor communication between different departments at the manufacture. Automation of the process can bring transparency but this is not substitute for cordial relationships among leading professionals of various departments.
I propose :
- Energy audits that are realistic and adhere to the global standards in productivity.
- Water audits to evaluate the water used per kg of fabric delivered from folding department
- Worker skill measurement by evaluating their understanding of the role they play
- Use of automatic dosing systems , record keeping of all manufacturing process by artificial intelligence. Process cycle that provide optimum use of resources.
- Establishing a independent research department to evaluate various process innovations and their adaptability plans in production
I end with a dream where every child breaths air as pure as Mother Nature provides and all humans like in a environment of harmony and peace with our surrounding ecosystem.
