After Apparel Tech Up in Dhaka, Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam and Indonesia, ThreadSol hosted the first edition of Apparel Tech Up for the Chittagong Apparel Industry on 26th August 2017 at Radisson Blu – Bay View, Chittagong. The event was aimed to discuss different technology interventions for the Chittagong Apparel Industry with a primary focus on Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Mobility. The speakers for the event were eminent technology and consultancy providers – Fast React, GSD, ThreadSol, and Gherzi.
The event saw a large turn out from the Apparel Manufacturing fraternity of Chittagong with the presence of over 60 high management representatives from 32 manufacturing groups including Mr Syed Md. Tanvir, Director of Pacific Jeans, Mr. Ranjith, GM KDS Group, Mr. Md. Sahariful Alam, Director JMS Group and Mr. Eraj Mendes from Univogue Garments.
The event began with a note by Mr. Navdeep Sodhi, Partner, Gherzi. He discussed the changes that are taking place in the textile value chain and the factors impacting it. He focused on the disruptive technology that was causing these changes.
This was followed by a keynote by Senior Partner – Global Sales, ThreadSol, Anas Shakil. He discussed the changing landscape of retailers and consumers of fashion products, the inevitable rise of e-commerce and the plausible impact on manufacturers.
He said, “The trends all over the world are changing, Amazon (An e-commerce company based in the USA) holds a 6.6% share of the fashion retail in the USA and it is expected to rise to 16.2% in the next 5 years. This impact of fast fashion will greatly affect the global apparel manufacturing. From our analysis of 154 factories across 15 countries, we see the number of styles per season is rising at a CAGR of 17.9%. By 2020, manufacturers will have to plan twice the number of styles as they do today, whereas the overall quantity will remain constant.”
He also explained how ThreadSol products using AI, Big Data and Mobility can drastically change the landscape of Apparel Manufacturing in the world.
The event concluded with an interactive panel discussion on the topic – “Manufacturing Excellence – People, Products, and Processes”. The panelists were Mr. Anas Shakil (ThreadSol ), Mr. Navdeep Sodhi (Gherzi), Mr. Tanzim Beg (GSD) and Mr. Habibur (Fast React). The panel involved three primary sections discussing the growth of Bangladesh Apparel Industry, the low labour cost advantage versus the poor productivity in Bangladesh and if Bangladesh will continue to be a cheap manufacturing destination. The panel also saw high audience participation via real-time polling.
