Even as Samba magic weaves its way into every nook and corner in Kerala, a group of people in the capital city have been weaving their own brand of magic by making cool and trendy apparel for folks in the land of the Samba! Apparently, there is more than football and cassava that is common to Kerala and Brazil. Adding yet another thread to bind the two is Poojaa Garments, a manufacturing company in Kinfra Apparel Park, which has been exporting ready-to-wear garments to Brazil.
“It is a challenge for us and a milestone in my four-year journey in this industry,” says Usha Umesh, managing director of Poojaa Garments. Yesterday a consignment of 8,000 cargo shorts made its way from Thiruvananthapuram to Brazil. The factory is gearing up for the next consignment on July 31.
Stylishly done, the cargo shorts in olive and tan are packed into cartons bearing the name Sam’s Club. This consignment for Walmart, the United States-based giant retailing chain, is part of an order for 44,000 Bermudas. In another section, nimble fingers give the finishing touches to shirts in eye-catching check prints. The shirts are for a leading retailer in India, the last before Poojaa Garments concentrates on garments for Walmart alone. Another group of workers are working on a consignment for Rovietex, a Brazilian retailer.
Every worker in Poojaa Garments, one of the four apparel companies in Kinfra, knows this is an order that can change their fortune in a significant way and so there is a sense of purpose in each person. It’s says a lot for Usha’s entrepreneurial skills and her team of employees, all feverishly working to meet the deadline.
Four years ago, Usha was an academic, a teacher of economics doing her post-doctoral research in industrial economics in CUSAT, Kochi. As part of her work, Usha, a native of the city, came to Kinfra to collect some data and facts. Her meeting with Shashidharan Nair, the then managing director of Kinfra Park, changed the fabric of her life.
“Married with a daughter, I had plotted my chart in teaching a subject that I enjoy. But he encouraged me to dream big and so I began this garment factory in my daughter’s name in 2010,” says Usha.
Since then, it has been an uphill journey and Usha had to learn the ropes of the garment trade to ensure that she could be a competitive player. Her business is also a lifeline for 600 employees – 450 at KINFRA and 150 at a factory in Karakonam. For many of the women coming from all parts of Kerala, their job has opened doors to a stable career in the garment trade. “We take them as raw hands and train them in the highly mechanised production process,” explains K. Jayadevan, the head of administration.
The four-storey building hums with activity. Rigorous quality checks at different stages in the manufacturing are meant to prevent errors and sub-standard work. Thomas George, fabric in charge, explains how important it is to meet the expectations and stipulations of the buyers. “Each bale that we buy is a certain shade of a colour but there might be a slight variation in another. So we check each bale and sample and keep the buyer in the loop to prevent any last-minute hitches,” he explains.
The cloth, in keeping with the specifications of the client, is bought from Tirupur, Salem and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Delhi.
Depending on the requirements of the customer, the bales are washed in enzymes or chemicals to give it a specific colour or finish. “For instance, denim cloth or trousers can be given a faded look near the edges of pockets and along the trims with a wash meant for that,” explains Ramesh Babu who is in charge of the washing department.
Tech packs, which contain minute requirements regarding each apparel, including measurements, yarn, colour, and thickness, are carefully deciphered by master pattern maker Ramesh Nair, who then makes templates of different parts of a garment. “These are then handed over to the cutting department where the cloth is cut according to size. The buyers are finicky and any difference in the measurement, even by a millimetre, could prove to be an expensive error for us,” explains Ramesh.
Once the cloth is cut and the parts numbered and ironed, it is tailored and again checked for quality. Soman Nair is bent over a snazzy pair of black trousers with the label ‘London Fog’. “I have a printout out of the tech pack and I check and measure this piece to see that it meets all the specifications. We have a person from Walmart who is also doing the quality check at the same time. Once it is cleared, it is washed, ironed and packed,” says Soman.
Under the eagle eyes of Sajimol, the only woman floor supervisor, the shorts are folded neatly and sent to the packaging department. “Threads are snipped away and each and every garment is vetted by us before it packed,” she adds.
Usha admits that till the consignment is loaded on the ship, it is stressful for her. “Even a road block somewhere can derail our plans. If the cargo does not reach on time, we stand to lose a lot of money,” she says, adding that their turnover in the previous quarter was Rs. One crore.
Premshanker, general manager of the firm, says the apparel industry in India is poised for a huge leap if certain hurdles are cleared by the authorities. “If half the attention that is given to Technopark is given to this Park, we could all benefit,” he adds.
Usha is all thanks to her partners Sreejith and Nirmal Krishna and the Federal Bank for their support and guidance. “We have big plans for the company. If the government were to lend a helping hand by way of some logistical support we could really make a mark in the apparel industry,” says Usha.
DREAMING BIG
Her wish list includes regular buses to the Park and some kind of tie-up to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme because labour shortage is one of the biggest problems in the apparel industry. “Now, we have employees from Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand and Assam. Soon all our employees might be from there.”
Unlike the sweat shops one associates with the readymade industry, the factory here is airy and well lit. Peppy music is played on most of the floors. “We also have a hostel for some of the employees who come from Wayanad or other States. A canteen is run on the premises that offers subsidised meals for our employees. It is not easy but it as a welfare measure for our staff members,” she says.
Lalimol, Reeja and Reshma work in different departments of the factory but they say in one voice that this firm has made a difference in their lives and given them a future to look forward to.
