An industry’s response to an unprecedented crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath has demonstrated its ability to weather the storm and emerge stronger on the other side.This is especially true for the apparel industry in Sri Lanka.
While the initial COVID-19 wave posed many challenges for the industry, it now appears that the Sri Lankan apparel industry’s response to the crisis has strengthened its long-term competitiveness and could reshape the future of the global fashion industry and how it operates.
Analyzing the industry’s response is therefore of great value to stakeholders across the industry, especially since some of these outcomes may not have been foreseen in the turmoil at the start of the pandemic.Furthermore, the insights explored in this paper may also have broader business applicability, especially from a crisis adaptation perspective.
Looking back at Sri Lanka’s apparel response to the crisis, two factors stand out; the industry’s resilience stems from its ability to adapt and innovate and the foundation of the relationship between apparel manufacturers and their buyers.
The initial challenge stemmed from the volatility caused by COVID-19 in a buyer’s market.Future export orders — often developed six months in advance — have largely been cancelled, leaving the company with little to no pipeline.In the face of a sharp decline in the fashion industry, manufacturers have adjusted by turning to personal protective equipment (PPE) production, a product category that has seen explosive growth in global demand in light of the rapid spread of COVID-19.
This proved challenging for a number of reasons.Initially prioritizing worker safety through strict adherence to health and safety protocols, among many other measures, required changes to the production floor based on social distancing guidelines, causing existing facilities to face challenges in accommodating previous staff numbers.Additionally, given that many companies have little or no experience in PPE production, all employees will need to upskill.
Overcoming these issues, however, production of PPE began, providing manufacturers with sustained revenue during the initial pandemic.Most importantly, it enables the company to retain employees and survive in the early stages.Since then, manufacturers have innovated—for example, developing fabrics with improved filtration to ensure more effective stopping of the virus.As a result, Sri Lankan apparel companies with little to no experience in PPE transitioned within a few months to producing improved versions of PPE products that meet stringent compliance standards for export markets.
In the fashion industry, pre-pandemic development cycles often rely on traditional design processes; that is, buyers are more willing to touch and feel clothing/fabric samples in multiple rounds of iterative development samples before final production orders are confirmed.However, with the closure of the buyer’s office and the Sri Lankan clothing company’s office, this is no longer possible.Sri Lankan manufacturers are adapting to this challenge by leveraging 3D and digital product development technologies, which existed before the pandemic but with low utilization.
Harnessing the full potential of 3D product development technology has led to many improvements – including reducing the duration of the product development cycle from 45 days to 7 days, a staggering 84% reduction.The adoption of this technology has also led to advancements in product development as it has become easier to experiment with more color and design variations.Going a step further, apparel companies like Star Garments (where the author is employed) and other big players in the industry are starting to use 3D avatars for virtual shoots because it’s challenging to organize shoots with actual models under the pandemic-induced lockdown.
The images generated through this process enable our buyers/brands to continue their digital marketing efforts.Importantly, this further cements Sri Lanka’s reputation as a trusted end-to-end apparel solutions provider rather than just a manufacturer.It also helped that Sri Lankan apparel companies were leading the way in technology adoption before the pandemic started, as they were already familiar with digital and 3D product development.
These developments will continue to be relevant in the long run, and all stakeholders now recognize the value of these technologies.Star Garments now has more than half of its product development using 3D technology, compared to 15% pre-pandemic.
Taking advantage of the adoption boost provided by the pandemic, apparel industry leaders in Sri Lanka, such as Star Garments, are now experimenting with value-added propositions such as virtual showrooms.This will enable end consumers to view fashion items in a 3D rendered virtual showroom similar to a buyer’s actual showroom.While the concept is under development, once adopted, it could transform the e-commerce experience for buyers of fashion goods, with far-reaching global implications.It will also enable apparel companies to more effectively demonstrate their product development capabilities.
The above case shows how the adaptability and innovation of Sri Lankan apparel can bring resilience, improve competitiveness, and enhance the industry’s reputation and trust among buyers.However, this response would have been very effective and probably would not have been possible had it not been for the decades-long strategic partnership between the Sri Lankan apparel industry and buyers.If relationships with buyers were transactional and the country’s products were commodity-driven, the impact of the pandemic on the industry could be much more severe.
With Sri Lankan garment companies seen by buyers as trusted long-term partners, there have been compromises on both sides in dealing with the impact of the pandemic in many cases.It also provides more opportunities for collaboration to reach a solution.The above-mentioned traditional product development, Yuejin 3D product development is an example of this.
In conclusion, Sri Lankan apparel’s response to the pandemic may provide us with a competitive advantage.However, the industry must avoid “resting on its laurels” and continue to stay ahead of our competition for technology adoption and innovation.Practices and Initiatives
Positive results achieved during the pandemic should be institutionalized.Collectively, these can play a key role in realizing the vision of transforming Sri Lanka into a global apparel hub in the near future.
(Jeevith Senaratne currently serves as Treasurer of the Sri Lanka Garment Exporters Association. Industry veteran, he is a Director of Star Fashion Clothing, an affiliate of the Star Garments Group, where he is a Senior Manager. University Alumnus University of Notre Dame, he has a BBA and Accountancy Master’s degree.)
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Post time: Apr-22-2022
