Screen Print India & SGAI organize Webinar in Tamil – Panellists delved into the business strategies that should be adopted post COVID-19 

24 September 2020: Keeping in mind new survival strategies amid COVID-19 pandemic for the printing industry in mind, Screen Print India (SPI) magazine organized a webinar on September 16, 2020. It was supported by the Screenprinting & Graphics Association of India (SGAI), Tirupur Export Knit Printers Association (TEKPA) and Tirupur Export Printing Managers Association (TEPMA). The webinar was moderated by Shakti Gautam, Laurel Technologies, Tirupur.

Read on for the key excerpts and takeaways from the webinar:

T. R. Srikanth, President, TEKPA, Tirupur, giving the inaugural address, conveyed that, “Tirupur plays a major role in satisfying the domestic demand of our country; post lockdown the city has bounced back well with its capacity in meeting the orders from the local buyers. We have sensed the positive scope on the normalcy of the domestic orders and look forward for orders for festive season and winter collection. The printing community is at present struggling because of the skilled labour force. We, as a country with 1.2 crore population have wide scope of market potential. With the strength of value addition like screen printing, the textile industry can match the demand from young dynamic population who comprises more than 40% of the Indian population.”

Ramesh Ganduri, CEO, Spoorthi Technologies, Tirupur, opined that “Investment in the automatic machine and its viability in future will depend on market demand. The hybrid system is also calling the shots. In future, investment into automation is the only solution considering the current pandemic wherein many workmen have also gone back. And continuing with manual printing will be a big hurdle for the growth of the business. Some of the major advantages of automation are productivity, safety and comfort to staff, profitability, quality and less of human errors. In India, there is not much investment in capital equipment although investment brings actual growth. I read a data which indicates that China apparel industry is exporting about 161 billion dollars’ worth of merchandise and India exports about USD 7.8 billion knitted garments, about 8% of China business. So, even if 5% of China’s business gets diverted to India, we are not ready to take that load due to low capacity and low investment” He further adds.

Lalit Narain, Executive Director, EPTA Inks (P) Ltd, Tirupur, said, “When it comes toskill development on materials, Tirupur garments industry is known for knitted cotton garments. Post COVID-19, the market has been receiving a lot of enquiries from the buyers who were earlier buying from China. We have to train ourselves and be prepared for the future. Screen printing is a value-added process which most of the merchandiser and garments owners are not aware of. So, we need to educate them and based on our input they will create awareness to their buyers.”
“Regarding skill development on machines, we have lot of advanced machinery for textile screen printing. However, they need to learn how to make maximum production utilisation. With reference to skill development on manpower, cheap and efficient labour force is the backbone of Tirupur garment industry. There is need to upskill them by conducting frequent training program and educating them. Try to use less number of labourers with more efficiency and more productivity,” he added.

Arasu S. Perarasu, President, TEPMA, Tirupur, shared, “I have been into skill development and training activities in Tirupur. Considering the current scenario in Tirupur wherein a lot of trained workers have gone back, it will result in a shortage of skilled labour. In Tirupur, we do not have a professional screen printing training centre as in China or Europe. If we start a screen printing institution in our city, then we can solve most of our problems as far as manpower development is concerned. We can make our syllabus with like 70% practical and 30% theory. There can be courses for machine operators, screen making staff, print supervisors, colour masters and production managers. All the participants in the webinar were fully accepting my ideas and thoughts. By creating a technically-qualified workforce, we can strengthen Tirupur’s screen printing sector. If we have professional workforces who are settled with families in the city where they are being employed, then there won’t be much labour shortage. Moreover, we must create a positive environment wherein workers feel safe and protected.” he pointed out.

C. Suresh Babu, CEO, AB Screens, Tirupur, emphasised, “It is reported that due to COVID-19, there is likelihood of small volume jobs for printing. So, garment printers should also invest in other printing technologies. A close friend of mine wanted to start a big budget restaurant. I advised him not to make a big investment for now and told him to restart with a small investment and it can be expanded later. By following my suggestion, he makes now more profit at a lower cost. The same principle can be followed in our printing industry also.”

S. Thiruvengadathan, Communication Manager, Lakshmi Bio-Chem, Tirupur, underlined that “First of all, let us think positive. COVID-19 has given all of us a good lesson that we should always be prepared to face any natural calamities/pandemic like this. We should proactively plan our raw material inventory, manpower and other important factors, because of which we shouldn’t become handicap. Although COVID-19 badly affected Tirupur, for the entire Indian textile industry there is a huge scope both from domestic and export markets if necessary economic measures are put in place. Certainly, Tirupur should not over depend on specific markets such as USA and Europe. Like the TEKPA president said, Tirupur textile industry should also explore the domestic market. As a supplier, we are ready to offer any kind of technical support and knowledge to customers. Our market should stick to consistent quality products,” he concluded.

The webinar received a very good response and the feedback received from the participants was that they would appreciate more such informative sessions being organised going forward as well.

You can View …… YouTube Video of ‘Bussiness Strategies Post COVID-19’ Webinar ….. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSAVMhVU7IQ