Topics

31

Textile science, events, trade and issues / Brand Building in the Apparel IndustryBy :

« on: December 14, 2011, 01:09:06 AM »

Today's global market witnesses a cut-throat competition. Many new products enter the market, stay for a while, and then go obsolete. Fads come into existence and vanish even quicker than they appear. Rapid changes in the consumers' choices, increase in their disposable income, globalization, media exposure, and influence of global and psychological trends attribute to this behavior. In order to sustain themselves in the market, it is necessary for every manufacturer to build a 'brand image' for his product in the market. This is more important for apparel makers as garments have a short life cycle and trends keep changing every now and then. Brands create the strongest competitive advantage for the manufacturer, and the retailer.
 
Importance of Branding:
 
To compete in the domestic as well as the global market, creating, and sustaining a strong brand image is necessary. Some apparel makers attempt to create a brand for their product in the global market, while many others just supply to international buying houses or retail chains according to their specifications. Branded apparels not only add a stylish image to the apparel, but it also gives something extra to the consumers. It enables them to create perceptions about the value of the apparel and the brand itself. The value of the brand or the 'brand equity' is the difference of cash the customer pays for a non-branded garment, and a branded one. The customer can buy a similar apparel somewhere else; without the label and for a lesser price as well. But, a branded apparel with a label on it gives a status symbol to the customer thus satisfying his ego. The reputation that the brand image carries helps in promoting the product among status savvy consumers.
 
What is in a Brand?
 
Strategic thinking is required in the creation of brands. Customers do not evaluate a product in all the parameters while shopping. A psychological approach is required to build faith in the minds of the consumer and make them believe that the particular brand is always associated with quality. Once customers develop faith in a particular brand, they do not evaluate their notion every time when they go for shopping. Buying a particular branded apparel every time reduces their searching time, and also gives them a mental satisfaction that they are only buying quality apparels.
 
A brand generally consists of the following aspects:
 
•   Apparel with a higher value may signify higher quality to the consumers.
•   Limited distribution of the product symbolizes uniqueness to discerning consumers.
•   Brand image signifies the quality of the product, thus giving them the satisfaction of buying quality items.
•   Brand indicates a status symbol, and satisfies the ego of the consumer that he is wearing a reputed company's outfit.
•   Branding helps in developing a customer commitment. Once the customer develops brand loyalty for the product, he jumps into buying decision without much thinking as his mind set is already molded with a positive opinion about the particular brand.
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/16/1520/brand-building-in-the-apparel-industry1.asp

32

Textile science, events, trade and issues / Steps to a Winning Brand

« on: December 10, 2011, 12:43:15 PM »

Building a Winning Brand is very much an 8-Step process. We know that when our clients go through the process they get clarity and a perspective that really makes it easy to choose from alternative options. Knowing the Brand in the intimate way we do, after completing the process, makes it easy to then work on your media strategy, creative decision-making or the revisiting of the strategic business plan.
1.   Start with the Facts.
Where have you been? Review the past history of the brand, heritage, values, beliefs, roots, etc. Write a summary statement about the past culture of the brand.
 
2.   Create Your Brand Vision/Mission Statement.
Your brand vision identifies your enterprise's purpose for existing beyond solely that of creating profits. It reveals a broader, deeper, "built-to-last" view that enriches the enterprise(s), customer(s), and community.
 
3.   Define Your Brand Personality.
Personality helps your brand come alive. It makes your brand accessible and touchable. It helps differentiate you and gives depth and dimension to your enterprise(s). If it is strategically sound, it has credibility and likeability. Some brands have a personality that leads to charisma - trust that goes from loyalty to advocacy.
 
4.   Establish Your Brand Character.
Brand character is all about the culture of the brand. It is the value system that directs every aspect of the enterprise(s), the principles, attitudes, and characteristics of the company. It is the commitment made to customers, associates, and suppliers.
 
5.   Build the Relationship Between Your Brand and Your Customer.
In thinking of the relationship between your brand and your customer, is it uplifting, empowering, and growing, deep and embedded? Is it lasting, ongoing, building or one-off, passing or fading? Is it trusting, consistent, accessible, responsive, committed, and likable? What is the perception vs. the reality? One measure of relationship is the "badge value" of a brand, such as the Gap and McDonald’s. It is an important aspect of how your customers want others to perceive them as a result of being a customer of your brand.
 
6.   Define Your Brand Image.
There are two aspects of brand image - how you want to be seen, and how you are seen. The challenge is to direct, shape, and focus how customers see you. Yet, how the customers see is not just what their eyes see, but what they feel. The eyes and brain create a kaleidoscope of impressions: past and present; real and perceived; rational and emotional. Brand image is what is physically in front of customers’ eyes and senses, and what the brain does with that information.
 
7.   Decide How You Want Your Brand Positioned in Your Customers’ Minds.
Marketers can influence how a brand is positioned in the customers’ minds, but it’s your customers who actually position the brand in their minds. Your challenge is to help shape and direct the positioning in a proactive manner. Brand positioning is all about integrated communications advertising, word-of-mouth, publicity, and in-enterprise experiences.
 
8.   Deliver it in all you do.
Being 100% consistent in delivering the brand experience is critical to its long-term success. Every time you change or mix the message to your customers or every time you don’t deliver the promise, you chip away at what you are trying to achieve. And are ultimately proving the brand is not to be trusted.
Make your Brand more than a logo and a slogan. Then you’ll experience the power of Real Branding!
[By Roger Griffin, Associate Partner
FOCUS Business Marketing Intelligence]

33

Textile science, events, trade and issues / Technical Textile in Medical Science

« on: December 10, 2011, 12:00:03 AM »

Introduction:
Medical textiles are one of the most rapidly expanding sectors in the technical textile market, according to reports, and hosiery products with medical industry applications are among a long list of textile products being consumed in that market.
An important field of application of textile in medicine has been developed such as wound care and preventing chronic wounds. Bandages and wound dressings are most commonly used because they are affordable and reusable. The medical textile should have bio-compatibility, flexibility and strength.
Definition:
Combination of textile technology and medical sciences has resulted into a new field called medical textiles. New areas of application for medical textiles have been identified with the development of new fibers and manufacturing technologies for yarns and fabrics. Development in the field of textiles, either natural or manmade textiles, normally aimed at how they enhance the comfort to the users. Development of medical textiles can be considered as one such development, which is really meant for converting the painful days of patients into the comfortable days.



 






Constituent element of Medical Textile products:

 





   
   

      

Medical textiles
Medical and hygiene textiles products range from high volume disposable products for babies’ nappies, feminine hygiene and adult incontinence, to extremely specialised and high value textile products for use in blood filtration, surgical sutures, prostheses and, most recently, scaffolds supporting tissue growth.
Artificial Kidney
The kidney serve as filtering devices of the blood. The nephrons, the working units of kidney, filter waste materials out of the blood and produce urine to secrete toxins from body. The kidneys also maintain normal concentrations of body fluids, which play a key role in homeostasis. In the natural kidney, ultrafiltration of the blood occurs through the glomerular  capillaries leading to the removal of waste products and the purification of blood. In an artificial unit a membrane dependent ultrafiltration achieves essentially the same result. Hemodialysis is indispensable for people suffering from kidney disease.

Mechanical lung
Mechanical lungs use microporous membranes that provide high permeability for gases(both O2 and CO2) but low permeability for liquid flow and functions in the same manner as the natural lung allowing oxygen, displaces carbon dioxide, thus effecting purification. In this devices, oxygen flows around hollow fibres  at extremely low pressure. Blood flow inside of the fibre. The oxygen permeats the micropores of the fibre and comes in contact with the blood. The pressure gradient between the blood and oxygen is kept near zero to prevent mixing of oxygen and blood. Red blood cells capture oxygen by diffusion process.

Artificial liver
The artificial liver utilizes hollow fibres or membranes similar to those used for the artificial kidney to perform their  function . Oxygen cells are placed around the fibres and blood flows inside the fibre. Blood nutrients pass through the fibre wall to the oxygen cells and enzymes pass from the cells to the blood. The metabolism of the liver is very complicated which poses problems for the artificial liver. This can be solved by using a double lumen structure with a hollow fibre within a hollow fibre. Blood runs outside and in contact with liver cells and blood, and after purification it runs inside the fibre.

34

Textile science, events, trade and issues / aBout Bangladesh Textile Mills (BTMA)

« on: December 06, 2011, 11:17:36 AM »

Bangladesh Textile Mills
 
 
Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) is the national trade organization representing Yarn, Fabric Manufacturers and Textile Product Processors mills in Bangladesh under private sector. It began its journey in 1983 with an initial membership of 22 mills with a specified list of objectives, first and foremost being the promotion and protection of the trade, commerce and manufacturers of Bangladesh in general and of the textile related trade in particular.
 
 
Currently BTMA has 810 members with 458 weaving mills, 222 spinning mills and 141 dyeing-printing-finishing mills. Over US $ 3.3 billion (2.50 billion euros) has been invested in these mills and about 3.50 million people are currently employed. BTMA fulfills 100 % of the domestic fabric and yarn requirement, 50% of the cotton woven fabric requirement of export oriented garments sub-sector and over 95% of the yarn and fabric requirement of export oriented knitwear sub-sector.

35

Textile science, events, trade and issues / Apparel Terms (part…i)

« on: November 29, 2011, 12:35:43 AM »

Apparel Terms (part…--i)   

 
Neck Tape
Protective band of tape sewn over the seam between the shell and the collar for a more comfortable feel to the garment.
 
Johnny Collar
A knit, stand-up collar.
 
Wicking
Movement of moisture within a fabric by capillary action, usually along the filament surface, to where it can evaporate quickly.
 
Welt
A welt is a pocket opening treatment. The welt is a cut and sewn piece of fabric that is used to finish the pocket opening.
 
Storm Flap
A strip of fabric covering the zipper or snap closure of the jacket and its pocket.
 
Stand-up Collar
A collar with a short height that does not lie against the garment.
 

 
Epaulet
A shoulder strap or collar trim that is styled with a military look.
 
Pigment Dye
Washed down colors that will continue to soften and age with washing. Great for outdoor and casual looks.
 
Drapability
A fabric's ability to hang gracefully in a finished product.
 
Colorfastness
The ability of a fabric to withstand exposure to sunlight, dry cleaning and laundering without fading or running. The types of fiber, dye and treatment used for setting the color determine how colorfast a fabric will be.
 
Face
Traditionally, the side of a fabric that offers a finished or polished appearance. The face is normally used for outward print and decoration.
 
Gusset
Added panel of fabric in a seam to provide action movement.
 
Full-fashioned
A term applied to fabrics made on a flat-knitting machine, such as hosiery, sweaters and underwear, that have been shaped by adding or reducing stitches.
 
Mercerized
A treatment of fine cotton yarn or fabric that increases shine, luster and strength. Its ability to absorb dyes produces vibrant colors.
 
Interlock
A plain-stitched knit fabric which looks the same on both sides. Often used for T-shirts and golf shirts.
 
Raglan Sleeves
Sleeves are all one piece from collar to cuff, allowing for ease of movement.
 
Running Stitch
Sequential stitching which runs in a single direction.
 
Byron Collar
A pointed, shirt-style collar.
 
Slash Pocket
Angled pockets that are formed by cutting a slash in the shell and attaching a pouch inside the garment.
 
Set-in Sleeve
Sleeves constructed to run from the shoulder to the cuff.
 

Butterfly Collar
A pointed collar that lies flat against the garment, but can be brought up and secured to ensure warmth.
 
Patch Pocket
A pocket added to a garment usually made of self material and withou pleats or lining, like a shirt pocket.
 
Grommets
Metal, plastic or stitched holes creating fabric reinforcement at stress points.
 
Delrin Zipper
A heavy nylon zipper with large teeth, often left exposed for style.
 

36

Textile science, events, trade and issues / Top apparel buyers open offices in Dhaka

« on: November 28, 2011, 12:58:57 AM »

Most global retail brands have opened their offices in Dhaka in recent times for direct sourcing of Bangladesh’s quality clothing items at reasonable prices.
Buyers say the liaison offices here will raise their capacity to follow up on supply chain management for the Bangladesh-made apparels collected at a cost comparatively lower than other countries.
After China, the world’s largest supplier of apparels, Bangladesh emerges as a lucrative place for the renowned retailers like US giant Wal-Mart, JC Penny, Zara, Tesco, IKEA, Marks and Spencer, H and M, Uniqlo and Li & Fung.
These firms have already established their branches in the Bangladesh capital with an aim for business expansion, as they now take much more interest in Bangladesh’s readymade garments than they are keen on such items from China, India and Pakistan..
Previously, major foreign buyers used to source Bangladesh’s RMG either from Delhi or Hong Kong or from Islamabad or through the local buying houses representing them.
According to a major supplier, major brands like Puma, G-Star Raw and Espirit are likely to have their branches in Dhaka soon, although they still source ready-to-wear products from other countries.
An official of the Swedish company IKEA points his finger at Bangladesh’s low-cost but quality apparels, which pushed up buyers’ interests.
Moreover, recently Bangladesh improved a lot in compliance issues and made the garment factories free of child labour, he added.
“Recently many owners have established effluent treatment plants (ETP) in their factories, as it is mandatory for protection of environmental and ecological balance,” the IKEA official also pointed out.
Cheap labour cost is another factor that helped grow buyers’ keenness, said an official at the Dhaka office of another retail brand.
On the objectives of opening its branch office, he said, “Certainly we can now follow-up the supply chain management, compliance issues, product quality and design and efficiency of the suppliers very closely.”
The country is in an advantageous position with cheap and quality apparels because its competitors like China, Pakistan and India are losing out their market share for their higher cost of production, industry insiders say.
Higher cost of production and shifting to high-end products have driven China out of the apparel market, while Pakistan lost its reputation because it has long been a trouble-torn country, apparel makers added.
Meanwhile, Export Promotion Bureau data shows around $3.55 billion knitwear exports in seven months to January of the current fiscal year, a 6.85 percent decline compared to the corresponding period a year earlier. EPB also points out that this figure is also 13.62 percent below the target for this period.
Woven exports also slowed 6.99 percent to $3.15 billion during July-January.
Home textiles and textile fabrics also maintained a negative growth, as their exports totalled $165.65 million and $42.30 million respectively.
When his attention was drawn to such export decline, Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, former president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the financial meltdown worldwide has led to this situation, as major export destinations like EU and USA have been badly affected by the recession.
“Apparel exports will rebound soon as there are signs of recession-recovery,” Parvez hoped. However, he insisted on developing Bangladesh’s basic infrastructures to take the growth in apparel exports to an optimum level.
In this context, he suggested the government ensure regular adequate supply of gas and power to RMG units so that manufacturers can maintain in-time production and lead-time.
source: thedailystar.net