Brands & Sourcing Leaders Association organised a two- day successful conference and exhibition in New Delhi recently.
The conference theme was Mission MMF 10X and it was aimed at discussing various ways to increase MMF business from India as it is one of the fastest growing sectors all over the world.
The event started with a lamp lighting ceremony where industry stalwarts inaugurated the two- day conference and exhibition. Indu Modi, Leela Kanuga, Pragita Pahwa, Poonam Sood Lal and Tanuja Sinha Roy and Swaminathan (Swami )Ramachandran graced the occasion.
The event saw companies engaged in manufacturing yarns, fabrics and accessories for the MMF segment and reported a good response.
“The exhibition has proved to be a good platform for us as we met potential industry players, this was a useful platform for us and we also gained a lot of inputs on the market through the conference,” said Abhay Chhapia, Carvico.
Other companies that participated at the show included BM International, Birla Cellulose, Madhusudan Group, Ginza Industries and many more.
Day 1 saw panel discussion about paradigm shift in Digitalisation and Automation which emphasized the world’s technological advancement cannot be slowed and digitization, automation, and artificial intelligence are reshaping entire organizations’ growth.
Beyond manufacturing, Industry 4.0 focuses on cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things, and cloud computing, and it extends to the entire supply chain.
Another session was on the way forward under the scope of sustainability which was moderated by Sonali Pal from Resha Mandi.
“The Sustainability theme panel, has laid foundation for the future BSL sole event totally focused on ESG goals and and the much broader scope of sustainability, and so much more to Discuss, Plan & Do,” said Sonali Pal, Strategic Partnerships, Resha Weaves.
“It was a great experience to be sharing my thoughts at this platform by BSL, moving from the commercial side of apparel sourcing to sustainable cotton sourcing has been quite a journey. It’s time the industry should adopt sustainable practices in their mainstream business and no longer treat sustainability as a separate or parallel segment,” said Ruchita Chhabra, Country Programs Manager (India, Pakistan) at The Sourcery.
Other panelists included Ritesh Sharma from Reliance Industries, Abhay Chhapia (Carvico) and Cibhi Sel Ven (Regeno Ventures). The thought-provoking session stressed the need for more sustainable business models and practices.
Industry Leaders talked about the difficulties in the fashion industry’s supply chain and how to analyse sustainability in the sector.
A special presentation on opportunities in Bihar was also given by Sandeep Poundrik, Principal Secretary, Government of Bihar. He also cleared the air about Bihar being not an industry friendly cluster.
He explained that there is full government support and the cluster is also now inviting cotton mills so that the supply chain is faster and efficient. Besides, other problems related to crime and other such activities are hyped and the apparel and textile industry is in full swing in Bihar.
The panelist expressed that there is an urgent need to work on reducing dependence on imports for MMF segment and India should have its own base so that the activewear and sportswear industry can grow to new heights.
Anika Passi, Director, PDS group who was also the moderator of the conference shared that India as a production base can tap new opportunities and bring business to a new level provided its dependence on imported fabrics and yarns is reduced and manufacturers work on capacities and innovation.
Overall, most of the attendees felt that the conference was enlightening and proved as a great networking cum sourcing event.
