PDS’s Sri Lanka subsidiary Norlanka launches Centralised Cutting Plant

PDS Limited (“PDS”), the global fashion infrastructure company today announced the opening of a Centralised Cutting Plant (CCP) in the Sri Lankan subsidiary Norlanka, located in Malwana.
This plant’s commercial production commenced in late December 2022 and is now operational with a fully digitalized and integrated system starting from mills inspection into warehouse, fabric inspection and the cutting process. This centralised operation uses advanced automated machinery in partnership with TUKATECH, unlocking smart cut planning and fabric cut efficiency to enhance the quality of the end product and productivity of the process. With a centralised data management system, transparency is created within the entire supply chain.

The CCP will serve our manufacturing facilities in Sri Lanka and will cut ~8 million meters of fabric translating into 33 million pieces annually. Furthermore, the cutting plant also houses a centralized printing facility and an in-house embroidery facility is planned soon. The CCP will assist in turning existing occupied spaces of the cutting divisions and raw material warehouses across our manufacturing facility into spaces with additional production lines, leading to an increase in capacities by one million standard hours (SAH) per annum. This investment is a key step towards further enhancing the PDS manufacturing vertical capabilities through state-of-the-art machineries and digitalized processes in Sri Lanka. Adhering to the best ESG standards, the plant also has an efficient waste management system for better control of waste and the visibility of its end of life.

Speaking on the inauguration, Pallak Seth, Vice Chairman, PDS Limited said, “Sri Lanka continues to be a key geography for PDS. We continue to invest in the country and build our capabilities which not only benefit us, but also our manufacturing partners. Our investments have been consistent in the region, and we will continue to support business growth as our factories innovate and streamlining practices across their manufacturing value chain.”

Added Sanjay Jain, Group CEO, PDS Limited, “The centralized cutting plant in Norlanka will give us better control of fabric usage, cutting quality and ease of cut planning, as we seamlessly synchronize the plant with design department. Our investments to enhance our capabilities across manufacturing facilities is expected to result in enhancement of margins.”

Norlanka is one of Sri Lanka’s leading sustainable exporters of baby and kids’ wear in Sri Lanka, catering to over 20 international fashion brands and retailers and works closely with over 35 partner factories across Sri Lanka. Its diverse product portfolio also consists active wear, casual wear, and athleisure. Its global clients include Primark, Matalan, Walmart, Superdry, George and many others. Norlanka Manufacturing capacity is backed by 6000 machines with a total of eight million production hours annually. In the second phase the CCP will double its capacity in line with the vision of PDS to double its manufacturing capacity over next 3 years in Sri Lanka.