"Prabir Jana, President, TANTU, in his welcome address said the theme was chosen based on audience suggestion – the technology of shirt making – the core apparel area. He explained the uniqueness of the seminar where information and knowledge is extracted from experts to maximise value to the audience. It’s an interactive seminar where audience also participate in the discussion. The maiden initiative of TANTU was to offer scholarships to two students from its alma mater to attend the annual seminar, which would help them get exposed to the new vistas of knowledge and network with industry professionals."

The 6th edition of TANTU seminar held on September 15, 2018 at India International Centre, New Delhi focused on ‘The Art of Shirt Manufacturing’. The seminar was attended by industry experts, academicians, professionals and officials from across India and countries like: Indonesia, Bangladesh, Romania and the US. The seminar discussed technical and aesthetic aspects of shirt making.

Prabir Jana, President, TANTU, in his welcome address said the theme was chosen based on audience suggestion – the technology of shirt making – the core apparel area. He explained the uniqueness of the seminar where information and knowledge is extracted from experts to maximise value to the audience. It’s an interactive seminar where audience also participate in the discussion. The maiden initiative of TANTU was to offer scholarships to two students from its alma mater to attend the annual seminar, which would help them get exposed to the new vistas of knowledge and network with industry professionals.

Technologies to increase the bottom-line

Keynote speaker, Ram Sareen emphasised on fits in apparel products and on-demand manufacturing. With case studies, he revealed how the global industry is using technologies like 3D simulation and pattern printing to shrink supply chain lead time and increase bottom line. He also emphasised on the importance of on-demand garment manufacturing and micro factory as the future business model.

Solutions for garment fusing problems

The theme for the first panel discussion was the art of shirt making. The discussion began with the purpose of having a pleat at the across back. For aesthetic purpose pleats can be added in various ways. And for functional purpose it helps in providing tolerance for movement. The panel discussed features and attributes of shirts and its functional and aesthetic aspects. Kamaljit Singh, Business Development Manager, Freudenberg India, talked about how interlining makes wearers more comfortable wearing a shirt. His company has developed interlinking for specific market segment, an application on a white shirt, where they have developed contamination free interlining with the combination of man-made fibre.

Laszlo of timeSSD emphasised on the importance of benchmark performance when factories measuring and analysing productivity and efficiency data. With timeSSD system, one can easily establish the standard time of sewing operations without prior training. Anshuman Dash, H&H talked about the technology they use for fusing machine that can be used for variable thickness. He highlighted some of the technical features and parameters of latest fusing machines.

The second panel discussion was on ‘Technology of Shirt Making’, where Ramaswamy from Veit shared garment fusing technologies and the possible solutions of many common problems faced during fusing garment components.

Affects of changing market dynamics

The final panel discussion was on the business of shirt making. It focused on the inability of India to secure a prominent place in shirt making industry in spite of excelling in fabric, garment production and technology. It also discussed how change in market dynamics from large orders to small orders with various fashion elements has affected the industry.

Roopak Malik, Director, Textile Sourcing blamed the delivery system along with the costing. However, Gaurav Kumar, Marketing Director of Aquarelle said profit-oriented mind-set of export houses is the culprit. Mridul Dasgupta, GM, Macy’s merchandising group believes value addition and design driven production to be India’s stronghold. Pallab Banerjee, Strategic Advisor of Pearl Global discussed about the advantages of strategic sourcing. The seminar concluded on the note that with proper product development and a change of mindset, India can still make a mark in the global textile business.