Being focused on a defined goal has paid dividend to Well Group Industries, established in 1973 by Founder Chairman Abdus Salam under Bangladesh Textile Industries (BTI) in a small workshop in Chittagong. With an initial target to produce sewing threads to cater to its growing domestic demand, it has in just over four decades expanded into a conglomerate with multiple interests apart from only sewing threads. WELL THREAD (its flagship product), packaging, food, hospitality, real es tate and readymade garments together generate a combined annual turnover of over US $ 100 million and employ over 20,000 workers. Apparel Online caught up with the dynamic CEO of the Well Group Industries, Syed Nurul Islam , to get an insight on Well Group’s mercurial rise and its diverse offerings in RMG, which Islam prefers to call ‘clothing’, and justifies using the term of his choosing with a rational explanation.
“I personally do not like to use the word readymade garment (RMG)… Today Bangladesh is not only about cutting and stitching, but much more as it has matured tremendously. From producing yarns to making fabrics to cutting and stitching to finishing and packaging, we are doing everything. Today the majority of the big names, be it in woven or knits, have their own vertically-integrated set-ups. For basic denim fabrics, Bangladesh is not only self-sufficient but one amongst the best globally. In twill also, we are doing very good and so also in knit,” states Islam proudly.
The readymade garment units of Well Group (Well Fashion Ltd., Well Designer Ltd., Well Mart Ltd., Well Dress Ltd. and Well Fashion Ltd. Unit-2 with combined machine strength of 3000) together produce 20 million pieces of garments (trousers – denim and twill, besides cargo shorts) for names such as Walmart, H&M, JCPenney, Kmart, Carrefour, Aeropostale, George, Sears, Dollar General, Tesco, etc. However, Well Group’s preferred product in its initial days of garment manufacturing was not bottoms, but shirts! “We started in a very small way making shirts with 100 machines in 1999 but have shifted focus exclusively to trousers afterwards,” maintains Islam. Changing demand dynamics of the existing clients and Well Group’s inherent strength in washing are the main reasons behind this shift from shirts to bottoms.
Well Group’s wash facility is equipped with the latest in wet and dry processes as well as power laser, taken care of and supervised by a Sri Lankan expert while another Sri Lankan is in charge of the production units ably aided by two IEs from the same island nation to help ensure smooth and hassle-free garment manufacturing.
Currently, almost 80 per cent of Well Group’s production is cargo shorts with an (average FOB of US $ 6) and remaining 20 per cent caters to women’s denims (average FOB US $ 6 that can go up to US $ 9 depending on wash and value addition). “Walmart is our main client from USA and H&M from Europe and both have big order volumes which suit us well,” avers Islam. Dealing in volumes, Well Group is not keen on adding too many names to its clientele and is content only with a handful, but with voluminous orders. “This is actually our marketing strategy. It is very difficult to handle large number of buyers, who would have different needs and requirements with diverse order volumes,” shares Islam, conceding to the fact that working with only a few clients comes with its own share of drawbacks and briefs. “There are two sides to it. The biggest risk is if the buyer does not have orders, we do not have business. While at the same time when we have very big orders, we cannot entertain other customers as our capacities are filled,” he continues.
Going forward thus, Well Group is investing in a manufacturing unit to resume producing shirts, in tandem with market diversification, keeping the future in perspective. “To start with, we will have 10 lines (500 machines) to make specialized shirts from yarn dyed fabrics,” informs Islam, who has a well-equipped unit for yarn dyed fabric (WELL Fabrics) with weaving capacity of 500,000 yards per month. While in terms of market, Islam is readying himself to look beyond USA (where Well Group exports 80 per cent of its products) and Europe (20 per cent), and sees a very good prospect in Japan.
“We are already in talks with clients there and hopefully by next season, we would have orders from Japan, which again is a non-traditional market for Bangladesh but has very good potential in my view,” Islam underlines, citing Japan’s increasing volume of garment trade with Bangladesh. “You will find a large number of Japanese buyers in Bangladesh these days; even Uniqlo has its own office in Dhaka,” he says, adding, “Japan for that matter is buying apparel worth almost US $ 1 billion from Bangladesh currently; and especially for knits and denims, the prospects are very positive.”
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