After the successful edition of Apparel Tech Up in Chittagong in 2017, ThreadSol hosted the second edition of Apparel Tech Up for the Chittagong Apparel Industry on 4th March 2018 at Radisson Blu – Bay View, Chittagong. The event was aimed to discuss different technology interventions for the Chittagong RMG Industry with primary focus on re-branding of Bangladesh RMG Industry and digitization for Bangladesh RMG Industry to meet the global sourcing requirement. The sponsors for the event were eminent technology firms –Webable, Ether Technologies and Centre for Digital Transformation. The speakers also included RMG Industry representatives from JMS Group and Well Group.

The event saw a large turn out from the Apparel Manufacturing fraternity of Chittagong with presence of over 45 high management representatives from 22 manufacturing groups including Kamrul Hassan, MD Saad Musa, Ranjith, GM KDS Group, Jashim Uddin, Goldmart Apparels and representatives from CBIFT-BGMEA.

The event began with a note by Md. Shariful Alam, Director, JMS Group. With 41 years of industry experience, he discussed the transformation that he had witnessed in the Chittagong RMG Industry. He focused on the current challenges and said, “The RMG industry has seen challenges in the last 41 years. Business is always a challenge. However, the last 5 years have been the most difficult for the industry. I am certain technology is the only solution we have.”

This was followed by talks by Ovick Alam, Chairman, Webable, a leading communications and digital marketing firm from Bangladesh and Shadab Mahbub, CEO, Ether Technologies, a product development agency. The center of the talk was re-looking the current stance of the RMG Industry and transition of the “Made in Bangladesh” brand to encompass a larger footprint in the RMG landscape. The last speaker of the event was Senior Partner – Manufacturing Excellence, ThreadSol, Anas Shakil. He discussed the changing global sourcing trends. The need for the RMG Industry to move from low FOB, long lead time products to shorter lead times.

He said, “With fast fashion and e-commerce, the retail brands want their vendors to take on more responsibility, they want better costs and shorter lead times. Brands are now looking for “Super Vendors” and to stay in the race, Bangladesh needs to transition to one.” He also explained how ThreadSol products using AI, Big Data and Mobility can drastically aid the RMG industry in Chittagong to become faster and more efficient. The event concluded with an interactive panel discussion on the topic – “Technology for the RMG Industry in Chittagong”. The panellists were Anas Shakil (ThreadSol), Imitiaz (Webable), Shadab Mahbub (Ether Technologies) and Asif Hassan (Well Group). The panel also saw high audience participation via real-time polling.

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