An Interview with Ankit Jaipuria, Founder of Zyod
Introduction
ZYOD is innovating textile manufacturing and optimising production ZYOD, a B2B apparel sourcing and manufacturing startup, offers comprehensive design-to-delivery solutions for 550 fashion brands, including 250 Indian brands. Zyod recognized the need to upgrade textile manufacturing to meet modern consumer demands, IIT Delhi alumini Ankit Jaipuria and textile businessman Ritesh Khandelwal founded ZYOD in 2023. The Gurugram-based startup connects brands with Indian factories, helping them design, produce, and deliver high-quality fashion faster and more efficiently. It aims to transform global fashion supply chains by leveraging data-driven tools. With an employee strength of 100, including a 20-person tech team, the company utilises the AI-powered tools to analyse datasets and predict emerging fashion trends, allowing brands to launch new collections while minimising inventory risks and streamlining their supply chains to adapt to real-time market demands.
PS: Can you share a bit about your background and journey?
Ankit: I grew up in a family deeply entrenched in the textile business in Jaipur, where my grandparents and parents ran a company specializing in unstitched fabrics. Although I was surrounded by the industry, I never imagined I would pursue a career in fashion. Instead, I went on to study mechanical engineering at IIT Delhi, and subsequently worked as a management consultant with Booz, focusing on sectors like maritime, retail, and oil & gas.
PS: That’s an interesting start! How did you transition back into fashion?
Ankit: “Fast fashion requires a dynamic approach to production, something the traditional supply chain is ill-equipped to handle. ZYOD was founded to bring that much-needed agility to fashion manufacturing. During my tenure in fashion startup called Fashinza where I was one of the early team members I contributed to transforming it from a seed idea into a $300 million business. This experience opened my eyes to the fashion industry, revealing a significant gap between evolving consumer demand and the outdated manufacturing processes. The realization that the fashion sector needed agility to keep pace with digital consumer behaviour was a pivotal moment for me—it sparked the idea for Zyod.
PS: What was your initial focus when starting the company?
Ankit: From the beginning, our vision was to create a rapid, agile supply chain for fashion brands globally. We aimed to serve not just domestic markets but to address the challenges faced by the entire fashion industry on a worldwide scale making the manufacturing process fast and fit for the digital age. Our approach breaks down subjective design elements into objective data points. This allows us to predict what styles will resonate with consumers, months ahead of market trends.
PS: How does Zyod tackle challenges like inventory loss in the industry?
Ankit: Inventory loss is indeed a significant challenge for fashion brands, especially given the fast-paced market changes. We took a three-pronged approach: First, we established ourselves as a comprehensive design-to-delivery partner. We offer 10,000 styles each month, allowing brands to select or customize collections without starting from scratch. So brands can mix and match styles or use components to create their own collections. The second approach was to be fast. While the industry typically works on a six-month timeline from design to delivery, we do it in six weeks.
PS: So, it sounds like you’re adopting a model similar to Zara’s, focusing on agility in the supply chain. Would you say that’s your key strength?
Ankit: Absolutely. Our model is all about agility. Consider the automobile industry, which operates on a just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing model. Fashion has struggled to achieve that level of agility for years. There are countless stakeholders in fashion, and the lack of standardization complicates the supply chain, but it also opens up opportunities for innovation and growth. A garment could be 20 cm or 50 cm, and both could still work. The SKUs aren’t standardized, which makes it complex but also creates opportunity. The more complex the supply chain, the higher the margins and the potential for growth.
PS: You make a compelling point. How do you manage the challenge of minimum order quantities?
Ankit: Traditionally, manufacturers focused on large orders of 5,000 to 10,000 pieces per style. However, market demand has shifted, with an average of around 2,000 pieces now. At Zyod, we can fulfil orders as small as 100-200 pieces. Brands need to launch collections more frequently, and we’ve adapted to this by supporting over 12 seasons a year.
PS: How have you structured Zyod to meet these evolving demands?
Ankit: We recognized that the manufacturing model needed a transformation. In the past year and a half, we’ve rapidly scaled our operations, now serving clients in 18 countries, including Next and Anthropologie. We provide end-to-end design-to-delivery services for both Indian and export brands.
PS: Does Zyod handle manufacturing directly, or do you collaborate with other factories?
Ankit: Zyod acts as the manufacturer, operating through our own factories in Jaipur and Delhi NCR, while also partnering with factories that have excess capacity. This approach allows us to expand efficiently—our next step is establishing a factory in Tirupur and forming partnerships with others there.
PS: How do you ensure quality in your operations?
Ankit: Quality control is key for us. We standardize every aspect of production, much like how Marriott Hotels operate. Think of us like Marriott Hotels—the building can be owned by anyone, but the experience and operations are Marriott. We handle the entire production process, from design to pattern making, and it’s run under our ERP systems. Our end-to-end process is managed through our ERP systems.
PS: Speaking of investment, where are you focusing your resources—technology, operations, or design?
Ankit: Our primary investment is in technology. We’ve developed a proprietary ERP system and AI-enabled prediction models to enhance operational efficiency. Additionally, we’re digitizing our factories to ensure consistency across all locations.
PS: What does the future hold for Zyod? You’ve carved out a unique space in a traditionally rigid industry.
Ankit: Our vision is straightforward: to make business easier in fashion. We want to create an ecosystem that facilitates seamless participation from brands, manufacturers, and buyers alike. Our goal is to simplify the supply chain so that everyone can thrive.
PS: Can you elaborate on how you plan to achieve this vision?
Ankit: We aim to create a system where the complexities of the fashion supply chain are streamlined, allowing all stakeholders to grow and excel. Our mission extends to positioning India as a major player in global fashion manufacturing, especially as other countries face challenges.
PS: So, you see India stepping into a leadership role in global fashion manufacturing?
Ankit: Our mission is to bring India to the forefront of global fashion manufacturing. We’re fortunate to be in what I call the “golden decade” for India. Globally, countries like China, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan are facing challenges—geopolitical risks, dollar crises, and more. India is well-positioned to be the next major hub for manufacturing, especially in fashion. Historically, manufacturing moved from Korea to China to Vietnam, and now the world’s eyes are on India. With the right approach, India can become a leading hub, and Zyod intends to spearhead that growth by fostering a tech-driven, efficient manufacturing ecosystem.
PS: What obstacles do you anticipate on this journey?
Ankit: Success hinges on establishing a reliable, process-oriented approach. Our goal is to build a robust ecosystem that positions India as a sought-after destination for apparel manufacturing. It’s about creating a very process-oriented, efficient approach and establishing reliability. That’s exactly what we want to build for India. Our goal is to develop an ecosystem where India becomes a sought-after location for everything related to manufacturing, apparels, and soon, fashion. With this process Zyod will also emerge as a fast growing company in apparel and fashion segment.
PS: If I’m a new entrepreneur fresh out of NIFT, can I come to Zyod for manufacturing support?
Ankit: Definitely! We’re excited about that model. Initially, we focused on supporting small D2C brands, and now we’re expanding our offerings. We’re developing an app for iOS and Android that will allow users to place orders and access custom catalogs easily, even without prior manufacturing experience. In the next couple of years, we expect a significant portion of our business to be automated through this app, though for larger enterprise customers, we’ll still maintain the human touch for a more personalized experience.
PS: Who are your current clients?
Ankit: We serve a diverse range of clients, from brands to importers and large buying houses. Our goal is to provide unparalleled service, catering to both small and large customers alike.
PS: The Indian apparel export industry has established players like Gokaldas and Shahi. What challenges do you foresee entering this market?
Ankit: We view these companies as peers rather than competitors. We believe in collaboration and innovation. We believe India is a land of opportunity. Despite being at only a 2% share of the global apparel export market compared to China’s 44%, there’s a huge potential for growth if we adopt a collective growth mindset.
PS: Labour management is a long-standing challenge in the industry. How does Zyod tackle these issues?
Ankit: We address labour challenges in two main ways: managing labour efficiently and ensuring labour reliability. The demand in this industry can be sporadic, which means labourers may not have consistent work. Some of the best companies have shifted their workforce from piece-rate work to a salary-based approach to create more consistent demand and security for workers.
The second aspect is efficiency management, which is where technology plays a crucial role. At Zyod, we act as the brains of the manufacturing process, using technology to give daily instructions on what needs to be done. For instance, if there are 10 styles in production, we tell the factory which styles need to be cut, packed, or dispatched on a given day. By breaking down the supply chain in this way, everyone has a clear roster of tasks, and there’s no lag in actions. We shift from piece-rate to salary-based work to ensure consistent demand for labour.
PS: How do you oversee the production process?
Ankit: Our ERP system drives production targets, making oversight data-driven and efficient. The targets are driven by data, and everything is tech-enabled. We still have the same structure as any other factory—line supervisors, stitching teams, cutting teams—but the brain behind it is our ERP system. It dictates the workflow, so there’s no need for constant discussions or manual tracking, only actions. We’re also working on digital IoT (Internet of Things) enablement. For example, we recently developed a feature for job work tracking, which allows everything to be live-tracked by scanning barcodes. This ensures that there are no delays in production processes.
PS: And how do you manage logistics for raw materials like fabric?
Ankit: We’re digitizing the logistics process also to ensure transparency. Our job work feature allows live tracking of fabric inventory, that intercepts information about how many pieces are cut, what the wastage is, and what the live cost is. There’s no room for delays because every part of the process is transparent and automated ensuring that no delays occur at any stage.
PS: It seems like Zyod is leading the charge in innovation. What do you envision for the future of the Indian apparel industry?
Ankit: The future is bright with potential for innovation. We’re focused on collective growth and efficiency, aiming to streamline the entire manufacturing and export process. I believe the future is all about innovation. India has incredible potential, and we want to help unlock that by focusing on collective growth and efficiency. We’re working toward a tech-driven future where the entire process—from manufacturing to export—is streamlined and automated. India’s share of the global apparel market is currently around 14 billion USD, but with the right innovation and mindset, we can easily scale that number tenfold.