Having a strong belief in 3T – Trust, Teamwork and Transparency, US-based Ravelheart is extensively working to create better synergy between buyers and vendors. With the core and expert team of designers, technical people, merchandisers and logistics managers in New York and a production team in Tirupur, who work efficiently in every facet of business, Ravelheart is seamlessly ensuring a shorter lead time – a requisite that’s the need of the hour in apparel business.
The versatile CEO of the company Kami Orthmann, who has 25 years of experience, is personally involved in all areas – be it marketing, designing, production, or fitting – and she makes sure that the company serves its clients in the best possible way. What makes Ravelheart a go-to place for buyers and vendors is its product portfolio containing some beautiful and exquisite designs, fair costing and quick decision-making!
Effective ways of working is what lures the stakeholders
The company follows the principle that direct and quick communication with the factories makes the operation process shorter and more effective, saving valuable time. To ensure a quick turnaround, Ravelheart always cuts the unnecessary steps and works on quick approvals and quick decision making. Strong and efficient teamwork between India and New York also streamlines the process from order to production to delivery, believes Ravelheart. Ravelheart works alongside the factories and leverages their expertise without micromanaging to optimise the efficiencies of production. All in all, the company feels that this style of working relationship expedites the process with better outcomes for all parties.
In another essential process that relates to costing – an integral and the most important part of the business, Kami shares, “While doing the costing, we believe that if the offered prices are okay to us, we do not dig into fabric cost, CMT and everything! If costing doesn’t suit us, we let the factory go back and rework it. There is no need to cross-check the open costing and control the costing. The bottom line is that the factory has to make money too, it’s better to let the factories work it out with their suppliers and come up with more competitive finished packages.” Kami further adds that if buyers control every penny, that’s not business rather it’s a number runner.
Ensuring short lead time is in its DNA
To ensure short lead times, the company believes in the mantra – Don’t wait, just act and get shorter lead times to the buyer.
These days, the fashion retailers want goods every week, Kami says, so the company has to work as per the trend. “We don’t go with the seasons, rather we work very hard to put new designs in at regular frequency. When the customer walks in, they see life in the garments and that’s our achievement. We can ship everything new every week to the buyers. For that we are doing every possible thing like pushing the buyers, putting designs together, coordinating with the factory, quick turnaround of lab dips, etc.,” avers Kami.
The company is mainly dealing in knitted products but post-pandemic, a lot of buyers are coming up with woven orders as a result of the pause in China’s supply chain and production chain. “There is a good chance for India to grab this opportunity of woven business and therefore based on the various woven demands, we are working on the new categories having various woven fabrics and silhouettes,” concludes Kami.
