Tukatech Helps Upgrade Workforce in India
Los Angeles–based Tukatech Inc. has found a second home in India, which is fast becoming one of the top choices for production after China.
This past Jan. 5–7, the company exhibited at Apparel Machinery Exposition ’06, India’s largest apparel technology trade show. It has also aligned with several educational institutions to provide Tukatech software to students and has opened five of its TukaCenter CAD rental stores throughout the country.
The company’s mission has been to provide cutting-edge technology for minimal upfront investment to appeal to the smaller companies and designers within the industry.
At AME, the company showcased its latest CAD systems as well as its soft body forms. While it has been looking to increase sales in India, it has also sought to improve the skill level of the local workforce through a number of programs.
“In the last nine years, we have trained over 5,000 pattern-makers at our customer sites and in our training centers,” said Ravi Kapoor, managing director of TukaGroup in Asia. The company has installed 168 CAD systems in 14 Apparel and Training Design Centre (ATDC) schools.
TukaTech Chief Executive Officer Ram Sareen and Program Chairman Vijay Aggarwal met in Mumbai, India recently to discuss upgrading the skill levels of workers. Out of the discussions came a plan to train existing “masters” to become production pattern-makers using CAD systems to expidite the sample approval process.
“Our objective is to increase our market share in the world, and we cannot do that with old techniques. We need to add value to our customers by providing better-fitting garments on the first attempt,” said Aggarwal.
“By getting faster approvals, we will have more time to produce better quality at lower cost hellip; and avoid air shipments. All this is possible if we can get the samples approved faster”.
Sareen also met with other CEOs and educators while in India to discuss the state of the industry in that country.
“Almost all executives had only one concern— how to get more CAD-trained masters in the industry,” Sareen said. “The most surprising fact is that almost all companies using CAD systems are still digitizing the paper patterns.
Shame on suppliers for not supporting and training their customers. It takes away the enthusiasm of investing further in CAD systems when owners do not see the results.”
At a fit seminar held Jan. 9 in Okhla, India, Sareen stressed that others in India can learn from developing nations like Sri Lanka, which has made significant inroads by incorporating more technology into local manufacturing operations.
“I do not think anyone will doubt that the Sri Lankan fashion industry is very tech-savvy, organized and always willing to look at better solutions,” Sareen said. Tukatech has installed more than 300 systems at various Sri Lankan companies.
—Robert McAllister
