Sunday – the third day of the ongoing 26th Garment Technology Expo at NSIC Complex, Okhla (New Delhi), India – appeared to be ‘great’ for the technology suppliers at the show as they clocked some serious business enquiries.
Day 3 drew copious attention (than ever) to the tech companies that are not known by many. One such firm is Megasew, a Taiwan-based sewing technology provider that marked its presence at the HCA booth. The company is showcasing a machine specifically made for joining two different kinds of knit fabrics. James Huang, Director (International S&M Div.) of Megasew appeared quite bullish about the Indian market as it inked significant number deals at the show. “We have surpassed our target here and are still getting many potential buyers, James told Apparel Resources.
Another tech bigwig – HCA added quite a good number of orders to its book. Bhavya Anand, Business Developer of the company told us: “We have closed numerous deals and 90 per cent of the products we are showcasing here have already been sold out.”
On the technology front, ‘Real Time Data Collection’ emerged as a key development displayed at the trade fair by all the sewing machine providers. Brands like Juki, Brother, Jack, Typical, Juita and Hikari are exhibiting their sewing machines equipped with the real-time monitoring system and are garnering heavy visitation at their respective stalls as the buyers appeared keen to know more about the innovation.
Day 3 also saw participation from exporters and buyers from manufacturing hubs like Gujarat, MP and Jharkhand. The eager visitors are looking for latest technologies to deploy at their production sites. Being a ‘Sunday’, many garment manufacturers from remote areas also visited the show; like Amit Anand, Cliff Climbers, Dehradun; Suhas Varade, Swara Sports, Nashik.
The second day of GTE 2018 welcomed many bigwigs of the industry and the third day was even more exciting and equally engaging, Apparel Resources observed. Many owners and technical teams from Delhi-based manufacturing firms (both from the export and local sides) were seen moving from one booth to another, discussing technology and business viability.
Interestingly, one question that most were asking was when the Government will realise that the industry is under too much pressure and relief is required ASAP. Though everyone is very optimistic of the future, as of now the lack of clarity in policy and implementation of GST is a cause of concern, even among the tech providers (as highlighted by them at the show).
Many projects have been put on hold but the reality is that there is no dearth of orders; it is the viability of taking those orders which is bothering the industry ‘as a whole’. Rajeev Bansal, MD, Celestial Knits is candid in expressing his concern that if the Government does not take corrective measures soon, many more manufacturing units may close doors in the next few months. He is a regular at the GTE and makes it a point to check out new technology that could help in ‘saving’ cost.
Apparel Resources met many exporters, buying houses representatives from across India; to mention few Amit Gupta, Partner, Pearl Apparels; Akshay Jain, Miniking, Ludhiana; Carola Koerber, Quality Head, Iconic (Landmark, Dubai); Amit Gupta, Director, East West Combine, Delhi; and Yogesh Gulati, Director, PNR Apparels, Gurgaon among others; that were exploring innovations in garment technology on Day 3 of the expo.
Industry shared that there is business despite the ample challenges and they are managing the business by reducing prices with the help of automation. Some of the exporters are expanding also.
Further, the technology providers are particularly worried about the imposition of GST on products being sold from bonded warehouses, which has resulted in the hike of prices.
Back to the tech part of the show, it was interesting to see Product Development (PD) teams from buying houses as well as from brands visiting the fair. Rajiv Ranjan, Asst. Manager – Product Development, Raymond Apparel and Shreya Kirti, Senior Merchandiser from William-E-Connor also explored show mainly for value addition technics. Many technical professionals like Pawan Arya, VP, Orient Craft; Amrendra Kumar, GM, Mahavir Spinfab, Kanpur; and Kiran Kumar, GM – IE, Wear Well visited the fair with their big teams.
Overall, visitors were keen to explore value addition technology and advancements in stitching operations. Even medium-level domestic brands of Gandhi Nagar and allied areas are now going more aggressively for advanced technology like CAD/CAM, etc.
Day 4 is expected to remain equally or even more enticing as the final day will see some order negotiations and unleash some unseen innovations. Catch the Live updates here at Apparel Resources.
