The goal now is to create our own brand for the global market

Tarasima Apparels Ltd is an organisation of Bitopi Group. Located in Manikganj, the factory was established in 2005. It produces woven garment products, including pants, shirts, shorts, jackets, trousers, etc. exclusively for export.

The company transformed itself from a non-conventional factory to a green factory and won the Leed Platinum Certificate from Green Building Society of the USA in 2019. Also, in 2019, it received Bangladesh Supply Chain Excellence Awards in two Manufacturing Excellence categories.

In an interview with The Business Standard, Md Morshedul Hoque, the financial controller of Bitopi Group, spoke about different aspects of the company.

"Bitopi Group's Tarasima Apparels is maintaining its profit margin by minimising operating costs, even though the prices of readymade garments are constantly falling in the global market," said Morshedul Hoque.

"At the same time, the company, in line with global market trends, is conducting research to establish our in-house designed products as a brand," he added.

On reducing the cost of products, he said, Tarasima Apparels has been converted from a conventional factory to a green factory. The technologies and initiatives that have been integrated during this transformation have increased production and reduced production difficulties.

The use of water in the factory has been reduced by 50 percent by emphasising reuse and recycling. Utility cost has been reduced by 30 percent through the integrated use of sunlight and electricity. Regular water and power consumption are also monitored to prevent wastage.

Md. Morshedul Haque said, "If 10 watts of light is needed in a room, we use sunlight or skylight. If for some reason, there is a shortage of skylight, it will automatically receive it from other sources. Moreover, intelligent lights have been used on the floors."

He said the factory also produces energy, using solid wastes such as cloth components, paper, and other accessories. The factory employs about 8,000 workers and staff. Around one tonne of leftovers remains every day after staff lunch. This waste is used to make gas from biogas plants, which is again used in cooking.

"There was a time when we used 100 buses to transport our workers. But after becoming a green factory, we advise the workers to stay close to the factory so that they can come on foot, for an incentive of Tk700. This has increased the capacity and production of the workers," said the official.

Md Morshedul Haque said, "Due to these initiatives, it has been possible to get out of a common 90-day cycle, from receipt of an order to delivery. We have brought this down to 45 days. In other words, it takes 90 days for conventional factories to deliver an order, but we do it in half the time."

"We are able to place orders for H&M, Zara (Inditex), Primark within this time period. Because of this capability, we are not running out of orders and are receiving orders on a regular basis," he added.

A big difference between this company and many other ready-made garment factories is that it has its own 'design store', where designers are researching the clothing of different countries and creating new designs. Many brands, including H&M in Sweden, Decathlon in France, VS Sourcing Asia in USA, Benetton in Italy, Kmart in Australia are buying these products under their own brand names. 

Morshedul Haque said the company's goal is far-reaching. "We want to sell our own brand of clothing in the world market, which is why this design unit is working regularly under the research and development department, where both local and foreign designers work."

"We put a price tag of $30-35 on the clothing that buyers order from us. But we only get $6 from that. If I'm able to sell a product I designed and get at least $20 from it, that will be our achievement," he said.

The company offers products from their own design stores to buyers. They make the product based on the design specification chosen by the buyers. The company believes that this will help establish the RMG industry in Bangladesh as one that does more than just sews clothes.