Grasim Industries Ltd, a flagship company of Aditya Birla Group has signed an agreement with a global specialty chemical producer, Lubrizol Advanced Materials to manufacture and supply chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) resin in India with initial production expected in late 2022.
“This collaboration with Lubrizol Advanced Materials is part of our long-term direction to bring in world class technologies to India and additionally complements our growth strategy in Chlor-Alkali and Derivatives platform,” said Mr. Kalyan Ram Madabhushi, CEO, global chemicals, Aditya Birla Group.
Construction of the near 100,000 metric ton plant will take place in a phased manner, the company said in a statement.
“This will be manufactured at Chlor-alkali unit of Grasim located at Vilayat, Gujarat to take advantage of captive chlorine integration,” the company said.
Lubrizol will bring in capital and technology while Grasim brings in extensive manufacturing expertise, required for the project, the group said in its BSE Filing.
“Lubrizol to invest fully in the project in two phases to set up the plant and Grasim will provide land, materials and utilities and will receive commercial charges over and above costs, in lieu of managing the plant operations,” it added.
Grasim industries is a large producer of Viscose Staple Fibre, the largest Chlor-Alkali, Linen and Insulators player in India. Its subsidiaries include UltraTech and Aditya Birla Capital.
Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride or CPVC is produced by adding chlorine to Polyvinyl chloride in a water slurry or fluidized bed chlorination process. CPVC is a popular piping option in today’s market. It finds usage in fire sprinkler systems, hot and cold water pipes and for many other industrial and process plumbing and piping applications.
“Growing need for clean water in all residential and commercial buildings will drive continued growth in India for CPVC,” said the company in a statement on Friday.
This affiliation will also enable Aditya Birla Group and Lubrizol Corporation to explore
opportunities across applications like water solutions, construction, textiles, automotive and piping by leveraging the technologies and market channels of both the groups, the company said.
“This alliance will help to better serve CPVC customers in India and South Asia, as well as support the Indian economy,” said Mr. Arnau Pano, vice president, Lubrizol Advanced Materials, South Asia.
Ohio-based Lubrizol Corporation, a Berkshire Hathaway Company owns and operates more than 100 manufacturing facilities, sales and technical offices around the world and has approximately 8,800 employees.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
On account of current recovery in retail and e-commerce sales, Shahlon Silk is expecting more and more orders from its domestic and international manufacturers who manufacture for leading domestic and global brands. Shahlon’s export orders are back to 75 per cent of their pre-Covid level and expected to be normalised by the fourth quarter of the financial year.
Green shoots are seen in retail sales on the back of relaxations given by certain States in the country and MBOs have been very actively supporting the local shopping needs of the people and now that Government of India has eased out norms and allowed malls to function, the demand for women’s wear is going up and expected to become better month on month.
E-commerce is where all action is and the women's wear segment is one of the segments, which has been doing well. This would augur well for our domestic and global branded clothes manufacturers which in turn is going to benefit Shahlon.
Dhirubhai Shah, Chairman, Shahlon Silk Industries said, “We supply synthetic fabric to manufacturers of international & domestic brands like M&S, A&F, Myntra and others who has a presence in value for money segment targeting youth in India and this segment has not seen much slowdown and seeing gradual improvement with the easing of lockdown and also increasing consumer confidence on account of increasing stability in overall economy.”
With migrant labourers returning to work, the company is very confident of delivering both domestic and international orders on time. Shalon’s customers are spread across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata, who are the manufacturers of top international brands and are also witnessing good demand forecast for the next season, which would in turn result in good continuity in orders from these players for women’s wear fabric. Company’s strength is the women’s wear segment which is a very vibrant segment and there will never be a dull moment.
Shahlon Silk Industries, leading fashion to technical fabric player to domestic and leading fashion brands across the world, is based in Surat, the textile hub of India. With the unwavering vision to be a fully integrated textile enterprise, and the strong support from workforce of more than 1,800 employees, the company has expanded from yarn marketing agency to texturising, twisting, sizing, yarn dyeing, weaving, finish fabrics and industrial infrastructure fabric player in the country.
Shahlon Silk Industries is engaged in manufacturing and exporting of supreme quality fabrics and synthetic textile yarn across the world. Headquartered in Surat, SSIL has state of art facilities in and around Surat, the textile hub of India. The company has three manufacturing units in Gujarat located at Kim, Karanj, and Kosamba.
The company is a leading player in fabric used in women’s wear like sarees and garments, which are growing segments and have been growing at double digits. Shahlon’s garment manufacturers in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru who export to top brands like M&S, Matalan, H&M, Belk, and many more.
SOURCE: Indian Textile Journal
Chief Economic Adviser K V Subramanian said on Friday that India Inc needs to respond to various reform measures, including those in the labour sector, undertaken by the government to accelerate the growth impacted by the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
“India Inc needs to actually respond. We’ve enabled the labour laws and the reforms, etc. I think that is a sentiment I would really like a lot of you to reflect upon,” said Subramanian, at a virtual event organised by industry body FICCI. “There are enough, enough opportunities for ethical wealth creation to be done in the Indian context. This is something that I would like to see widespread in India Inc.”
He said that India is the only country which utilised the opportunity provided by the current crisis to unleash the second generation reforms that are focused on factor markets.
He said that looking at the reforms that have happened since 1991, most of those reforms were primarily focused on product markets. These include the reforms that were launched by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government as well.
But now, looking at the reforms that have been launched together with some of the previous ones, like IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code), he said they are basically an attempt to reform the capital. He said there are labour reforms and the cost of labour is an important factor of production. He said agriculture is another important factor in the primary sector.
“When you take these into account, there is a very important theme of Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” said Subramanian. “This is primarily about relying on the private sector enterprise and on the efficiency that the private sector brings,” he said.
Subramanian said these reforms signal that the intent of this government is to rely on markets. These also signal that efficiency is primarily brought in by the private sector. He said there is a big signal from the government about its willingness to do what is economically right.
He said that the idea of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ is not anathema to competition and it is actually about how to coexist with the competition.
Subramanian also said that the Covid-19 pandemic now illustrates that factories can be set up in hinterlands and can be managed virtually. “Labour cost would be much lower,” he said.
Chetan Krishnaswamy, vice-president for public policy at Amazon India, who was at the virtual event, focused on the e-commerce initiatives related to Aatmanirbhar Bharat. He said that there is a need for corporate boardrooms, to take note of the tremendous amount of energy that exists in rural India and the hinterlands. He said that out of 650,000 sellers on Amazon’s marketplace, close to 50 per cent come from the tier-2 and tier-3 towns and cities.
Adarsh Menon, senior vice president and head – Flipkart Wholesale and Walmart India, who was also at the event said the pandemic has definitely brought to light the effect of digital companies to innovate and respond with great agility to solve unique local challenges.
“Flipkart’s push towards digital commerce, we believe, is a key catalyst and partner for MSMEs, because the technology and these digital tools will actually help them tap into both domestic as well as global supply chains,” said Menon. He said that Flipkart Wholesale is built on the core value proposition of bringing prosperity to Indian kiranas and SMEs. He said that the company sources fashion products from MSMEs all across the country. Referring to a study by tech firm Cisco, he said Indian SMEs are likely to add $158-$216 billion to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the coming four years on the back digitalization of their businesses,
“If we aid MSMEs to expand into supply chains, this will increase their resilience, and also help realize our dream of a self-reliant or Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” said Menon.
Amazon’s Krishnaswamy said that Amazon unveiled its Global Selling Programme in India in May 2015. It had clocked more than $1 billion dollars in cumulative exports. The platform is expected to generate $10 billion in cumulative export sales by 2025 for Indian exporters enrolled in this programme.
“We have about 60,000 SMEs that export to 200 countries,” said Krishnaswamy.
Amazon has planned to create 1 million jobs in India by 2025 and to digitise over 10 million small businesses in India.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
Stimulus measures announced by the government before the festive season will support growth momentum as it will provide a push to consumer demand and traction to the unorganized sector, says a report.
According to Dun & Bradstreet's latest Economy Forecast report, capital expenditure as a part of the stimulus measure will help in uplifting growth.
"The signs of recovery are nonetheless fragile as industrial production, bank credit and capital expenditure remain low. The stimulus measures announced by the government before the festive season was thus pertinent," said Arun Singh, Global Chief Economist, Dun & Bradstreet.
The stimulus measures will provide a push to the consumer demand, but importantly it will provide traction to the unorganized sector that would engage in providing services or goods to cater to the festive demand, Singh added.
"The capital expenditure as a part of the stimulus measure will help in uplifting growth. In addition, the RBI's decision to invest in state development bonds for the first time ever might also help in reversing the slowdown in capex as states would get the much-required capital for investment," Singh said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a slew of measures to spur demand and ramp up capital expenditure earlier this month. This was the third stimulus package since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On October 12, Sitharaman announced a payment of cash in lieu of LTC (Leave Travel Concession) and Rs 10,000 festival advance to government employees to stimulate consumer demand during the festival season.
She also announced additional capital spending and a Rs 12,000 crore interest-free 50-year loan to states to boost the economy that has been battered by the pandemic and the resulting lockdown.
As per the report, the pent-up and festival-related demand would provide traction across industrial activity.
The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is expected to post negative growth during September and rebound to the positive territory from the month of October, the report said.
Dun & Bradstreet expects IIP to have fallen by (-) 5 per cent to (-) 4 per cent during September 2020.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) on Friday said international oil prices have been range-bound in the last few weeks, warranting no revision in retail petrol and diesel rates.
While petrol price hasn’t changed since September 22, diesel rates have been static from October 2.
“Crude oil has not seen any drastic movement,” IOC Chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya told reporters here. “Crude oil has traded in the USD 39 to 42 per barrel range in recent weeks.”
The basket of crude oil that India buys has averaged around USD 40 per barrel in October as against USD 41.35 in the previous month.
He said this range-bound movement does not warrant a change in retail rates.
As per practice, petrol and diesel prices are revised daily on the basis of change in benchmark international oil price and foreign exchange rate.
Petrol in Delhi currently costs Rs 81.06 per litre while diesel is priced at Rs 70.46.
The retail price of diesel was cut by Rs 3.10 per litre and petrol by Rs 0.97 between September 1 and October 2, he said.
Vaidya said the cracks or difference between crude oil and product price, have been low, which is a matter of concern.
Petrol and diesel cracks are around USD 2 per barrel as against USD 7.8 and USD 13.2 a barrel respectively last year, he said.
Substantial downward revision and stability in the prices of essential petroleum products — petrol, diesel, LPG cooking gas and kerosene — in the recent months, have brought much-needed relief for the common man as well as the poorer sections of society.
There has been no change in the selling price of LPG for domestic use since July.
Even in the case of subsidised kerosene being supplied through the public distribution system (PDS), the cumulative reduction in retail price has been substantial. In Mumbai, the price has been cut by Rs 12.73 per litre since February 16.
In the latest instance, PDS Kerosene price in Mumbai came down by Rs 2.19 per litre at the beginning of this month — from Rs 25.84 per litre to Rs 23.65 a litre.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
The country’s foreign exchange reserves swelled by USD 5.412 billion to touch an all-time high of USD 560.532 billion in the week ended October 23, RBI data showed on Friday.
In the previous week ended October 16, the reserves stood at USD 555.12 billion after increasing by USD 3.615 billion.
During the reporting week, the surge in the forex kitty was mainly on account of an increase in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves.
FCA rose by USD 5.202 billion to USD 517.524 billion, the RBI’s weekly data showed.
Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.
The gold reserves were up by USD 175 million in the reporting week to USD 36.860 billion, as per the central bank data.
The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose by USD 8 million to USD 1.487 billion.
The country’s reserve position with the IMF also climbed by USD 27 million to USD 4.661 billion during the reporting week, the data showed.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
INTERNATIONAL
Vicunha, which is part of Texbrasil (Brazilian Textile and Fashion Industry Internationalization Program) – the result of a partnership between Abit (Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association) and Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Exports and Investments Promotion Agency) -, held a virtual fashion show, where it presented its latest launch.
After promoting the V. Tech Protective collection, the textile company invited 13 designers and brands to present creations inspired by fabrics. The V. Tech Protective collection is made up of functional materials with antibacterial, antiviral, and repellent properties.
“We understand that, at this moment, the primary function of fashion is to reduce people’s fear of buying and wearing clothes. We are talking about the emergence of a new category of clothing, which works as a ‘shield’ and which aims to increase people’s sense of security when leaving home, offering protection and convenience on a daily basis”, comments German Alejandro, commercial and Vicunha’s Marketing Department.
To sign the models of the show, the manufacturer invited A La Garçonne, Another Place, Amapô, Caiu Toró, Diego Favaro, Daura, Igor Dadona, Isaac Silva, VIHE, Cartel 011 CZO, Jal Vieira, Uma, and Das Hauss, to interpret the line in exclusive creations, with timeless, creative, and genderless pieces.
The stylist Isaac Silva, for example, developed a suit with light antiviral fabric: “The creations dialogue a lot with the pandemic moment that we live. A comfortable, practical, and, at the same time, beautiful look when dressing”, says Silva.
German also comments on the research done by Vicunha to meet this new moment that the world is experiencing. “We started the research to create a line dedicated to the protection of people at the beginning of the pandemic, we evolved and adapted quickly as an industry to the needs of the market”, concludes the executive.
SOURCE: Texbrasil.com
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) on Friday said it has so far extended USD 4 billion to private sector businesses in the poorest countries to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The IFC, which is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets, in March committed USD 8 billion in fast track financing to help pandemic-hit private sector companies.
“Of the USD 8-billion pandemic fast track financing approved by our board in March, USD 4 billion have been committed to date, of which close to half is expected to benefit the people in the poorest countries,” Mengistu Alemayehu, IFC’s regional director for South Asia, said in a statement.
He added that the rest will go to support the fight against the pandemic in other developing countries and emerging markets.
The multilateral lender did not specify how much it has given to Indian businesses, except mentioning a USD 40-million loan to DCM Shriram for mitigating its supply chain disruptions and protecting jobs.
IFC’s pandemic response is focused on reaching the most vulnerable people in the developing world.
“Supporting the private sector will be crucial to helping developing countries achieve an inclusive, sustainable and resilient recovery, and stem the current rise in extreme poverty,” World Bank Group President David Malpass was quoted as saying in the statement.
He added that IFC’s goal is to fast-track its pandemic facility to provide needed liquidity for corporate and financial institution clients, which will provide working capital, support jobs and facilitate trade.
Of the USD 8-billion said amount, USD 2 billion is under the trade-finance envelope of the fast track facility and, today, it said the entire facility has been deployed most of which has gone to small businesses.
“By supporting the private sector, we are hoping in the longer term to help reignite economic growth, paving the way for a better, more resilient and sustainable future once pandemic recedes,” said Stephanie von Friedeburg, interim managing director of IFC.
Apart from the fast track loans, IFC has also committed an additional USD 2 billion for financing healthcare providers, tourism players, and everything that helps save jobs.
The World Bank Group has the financial capacity to deploy USD 160 billion over the next 15 months, including a potential USD 47 billion, from the IFC in overall support for the private sector.
In August, IFC also launched the USD 4-billion global health platform to help developing countries expand access to medical supplies such as masks, ventilators, test kits and, eventually, a vaccine for the pandemic.
In 2019-20, IFC invested USD 22 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity.
SOURCE: PTI
Russia is unhappy with the European Union (EU) for marking it out, along with China, for the application of tougher anti-dumping methodology on the grounds of market distortion in prices, and has dragged India and South Korea into the fight by alleging that significant market distortions also existed in the two countries which hadn’t been identified for investigation by the bloc.
At a recent meeting of the WTO’s Committee on anti-dumping practices, Russia pointed out that it had systemic concerns with the EU’s new anti-dumping regulation and with the recent amendments to the regulation, which set out the concept of “significant distortion”, according to a Geneva-based official.
Anti-dumping duties are imposed on imports when it is established that the export price is lower than the normal price in the markets of the selling countries; causing injury to domestic producers in the importing country.
“Russia was unhappy that the EU had come up on October 23 with a report on Russia and the market distortions it found there that would be used as the basis for the application of its 2017 methodology against Russian firms,” the official added. Russia also demanded to know why the EU was not producing reports on countries such as India and Korea and alleged that significant market distortions also existed in those countries, the official said.
Beijing, too, complained about the EU’s report on market distortions in China and noted that these reports were only against two countries.
Dealing with distortions
The EU established its new anti-dumping methodology in 2017 to deal ‘head-on’ with the market distortions which may exist in countries where reported prices or costs, including the cost of raw materials and energy, are not the result of free market forces and are affected by substantial government intervention. Such prices can’t be accepted for calculating anti-dumping margins, it said.
Per the new rules, the European Commission would draft reports for countries or sectors where it will identify distortions and the evidence collected will be available for future investigations. The industry in the EU would rely on these reports to make the anti-dumping cases against the concerned countries where distortions existed.
EU finding new excuses
Russia accused the EU of finding excuses to come up with new practices to adjust exporters’ reported costs to ensure the application of duties, and said these were against the WTO rules.
The EU said it had already given a reply explaining how its new rules were consistent with the WTO norms. It added that all information in the country reports could be contested by any interested party.
On why other countries like India and Korea had not been selected for examination in new reports, the EU said any such decision will be based on the same criteria of government distortions, which were used as the basis for initiating the Russia and China reports.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) slipped to 51.4 in October from 51.5 in the preceding month, official data showed on Saturday.
The figure released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) beats Reuters' median forecast of a marginal fall to 51.3.
The purchasing managers' index (PMI) is a key gauge of China's manufacturing activity. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction.
Although the reading is slightly lower than last month, it has been above 51.0 since July this year, operating in the expansionary territory for eight months in a row and indicating the overall manufacturing industry has continued to pick up, Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician with the bureau, explained in a statement.
Thanks to a slew of foreign trade stimuli measures and the partial recovery of international market demand, manufacturing imports and exports have further improved, with October's new export order index and import index rising above the boom-bust line of 50 for a second time this year, Zhao elaborated.
China's economic recovery gathered pace in the third quarter of 2020 as GDP grew by 4.9% in July-September year on year, boosted by investment and exports.
The world's second-largest economy remains the only one to show signs of positive growth in pandemic-wracked 2020. China's GDP is projected to expand by 1.9% this year, according to the latest economic outlook released by the International Monetary Fund.
But the sub-index of new orders notched up by small-sized enterprises fell and was significantly lower than the overall level of the manufacturing industry, pointing to the fact that the market demand for these companies is particularly insufficient.
Non-manufacturing PMI meets its peak of the year
The non-manufacturing PMI, which measures sentiment in the services and construction sectors, rose to 56.2 in October from the previous month's 55.9, reaching its peak of the year and referring to expedited recovery pace in the non-manufacturing sector, according to the NBS. It also surpassed the median expectation in a Bloomberg survey for a rise to 56.0.
Growth in China's services sector gathered speed in October as the business activity index climbed by 0.3 percentage point to reach 55.5 percent, marking a steady rise, Zhao said.
Within non-manufacturing, services sector sentiment rose to 55.5 from 55.2, while morale within the construction sector eased back to 59. 8 from 60.2, but remained "very strong as the nation's infrastructure and property building booms continued," SCMP commented.
"From the perspective of the whole industry, buoyed by the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, Chinese residents demonstrated strong willingness to travel, with consumer demand on the rise," it said.
The business activity indexes of railway transportation, air transportation, accommodation and catering, culture, sports and entertainment industries all operated with relatively high ranges above 59.0 percent.
Other recent Chinese economic indicators have also signaled steady improvement in the world's second-largest economy.
Profits for China's major industrial companies climbed by 10.1 percent year on year to reach 646.43 billion yuan (about $96.5 billion) in September, narrowing nine percentage points from August, official data showed on Tuesday.
"China's vast industrial sector is steadily returning to the levels seen before the pandemic paralyzed huge swathes of the economy early this year, though the global outlook is dimming," Reuters said on Thursday.
SOURCE: CGTN
Vietnam's export and import turnovers in the first 10 months of 2020 increased by 4.7 per cent and 0.4 per cent year-on-year respectively, according to the country's General Statistics Office on Friday.
Export revenues totaled nearly 229.3 billion US dollars and import turnovers reached $210.5 billion during the period, said the office, noting that the country posted a record trade surplus of more than $18.7 billion in the 10-month period, reports Xinhua.
Between January and October, the United States remained Vietnam's biggest importer with turnovers of $62.3 billion, followed by China with $37.6 billion and the European Union with $28.9 billion, according to the office.
Meanwhile, China was Vietnam's largest exporter with turnovers of $65.8 billion, followed by South Korea with $37.4 billion, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with $24.4 billion, the office said.
In 2019, Vietnam's total trade turnover reached nearly $517 billion with an export turnover of approximately $263.5 billion, up 8.1 per cent against 2018.
The country posted a trade surplus of more than $9.9 billion, the highest level in the past four years.
SOURCE: The Financial Express, Bangladesh
Gildan Activewear, Inc. (PPAI 250187, S13) has placed 32nd overall among the Wall Street Journal’s new ranking of the Top 100 Most Sustainably Managed Companies in the world. The Montreal, Quebec-based supplier also claimed the sixth spot among the top 10 companies in the world in the business model/innovation sub-ranking. Gildan was second among only three apparel companies included in the top 100 ranking and was also the only North American apparel company. It says that this recognition underscores the effectiveness of the company’s vertically integrated operating model and supply chain from a sustainability standpoint.
“We are proud of our inclusion in this new Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ranking and acknowledgment as a top global performer,” says Glenn Chamandy, president and CEO at Gildan. “This recognition is a direct result of our unique business model of owning and operating our manufacturing facilities and reflects the continued commitment and progress we have made towards our vision of ‘Making Apparel Better.’ Over the last 35 years, we have built a company known as much for the quality of our products as for how they are made under our Genuine Responsibility program which allows us to manufacture clothes responsibly and ethically.”
The Wall Street Journal’s inaugural ranking of the World’s Most Sustainably Managed Companies was produced based on a review of more than 5,500 publicly traded companies around the world that met disclosure standards for data showing what programs, policies and performance metrics they have in place for several key sustainability dimensions, including environment, human capital, social capital and business model/innovation. The scores take a broad view of sustainability that assesses a company’s ability to create value over the long term using criteria considered most financially relevant as defined by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), a nonprofit organization that works with companies and investors to create a framework for reporting on sustainability.
SOURCE: PPAI Media
Gerber Technology continues to expand its global network and today announced a collaboration with Alvanon that will further strengthen their powerful 2D-to-3D for fit solution. The new collaboration between Gerber and Alvanaon will allow fashion and apparel companies to accurately simulate their customer’s size and fit. As COVID-19 continues to drive an increase in online shopping, it is important for fashion companies’ clothing perfectly fits the body shape and sizes of each of their customers. Through this collaboration, Gerber’s AccuMark® 3D users will be able to leverage the Alvanon Body Platform (ABP) to develop production-ready 3D samples and reduce fit errors. The collaboration, which will be demonstrated at ideation 2020, will empower and accelerate digital product development and eCommerce.
“We know how difficult it is for fashion and apparel companies right now as they navigate through the pandemic,” said Mary McFadden, Vice President of CAD Product Management. “Digital transformation is now inevitable for companies who want to succeed in the next era and our collaboration with Alvanon will give them the tools they need to fully transform product development.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated challenges within the fashion and apparel industry. Over the past several months, many companies have had to shut down their brick and mortar locations, adjust to working remotely and rely on eCommerce for a majority of their sales. Gerber’s collaboration with Alvanon will help fashion companies recover from the pandemic and succeed in the new reality by enabling digital product development and eCommerce. Through the powerful combination of AccuMark 2D/3D and the Alvanon Body Platform, fashion companies will be able to develop perfectly-fitting garments that accurately reflect the sizes and body shape of their customer base, resulting in less returns and more satisfied customers.
“We have an opportunity today, with the technology and tools available to us, to build a new future for the apparel industry,” said Jason Wang, COO of Alvanon. “One where the digital and physical are closely connected and work together."
Fashion brands, retailers and manufacturers will be able to go into Alvanon’s vast library of over 6,000 3D virtual bodies, each representing a specific brands’ fit standards, and download the 3D avatars for AccuMark 3D, use it to test patterns in all sizes and validate fit. Alvanon’s library offers both standard (ASTM) and brand-specific avatars.
SOURCE: Whattheythink.com
