Apparel Today April 2019

Unveiling industry best practices

Apparel accessories & fashion April 2019

A Textile Today Initiative l Published with Volume 12, Issue 04 l Pages 115 to 130

See advertisement at page 87

We should break the fear' that we are not good at communication - Uzzal Dakua

11 ways to maintain professionalism in merchandising

Quality control and audit in sewing for trouser manufacturing

Unveiling industry best practices

April 2019

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Knit & Woven Dyeing & Finishing

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11 ways to maintain professionalism in merchandising Mohammad Nurul Alam As a profession, merchandising is now a dependable position to build a career in the apparel industry. Many new graduates aim to be a successful merchandiser as this is the potential profession in the job market.

But in reality, the apparel market still needs many skilled merchandisers those are capable to handle the tougher situation and can work under pressure.

Unfortunately, the employer’s expectation does not match with the quality of job seekers.

Newcomers see the rough walkway in the journey of merchandising career. They feel the profession is challenging and unpleasant due to unlimited pressure to finish in deadline.

Professionalism is the ultimate ingredient in merchandising and so this has to be taken seriously who is willing to start a career in merchandising.

Why efficient merchandiser is needed for the apparel industry?

Bangladesh apparel industry has to reach the export benchmark of $50 billion by the year 2021.

But the present apparel export is still at $32 billion that means huge manpower and infrastructure needed to fulfill this gap between the target and achievement.

Against this backdrop, the organizations are looking for skilled professionals as well as

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Figure: merchandising is all about being capable to handle tougher situations and to can work under pressure.

merchandisers. The employers feel professionalism is not growing properly among the newcomers those who are coming in apparel merchandising.

This is the reality of Bangladesh apparel industry where people are craving for jobs but unable to meet the requirements.

Consequently, foreign experts are coming in flocks and playing the leading role in the industry whereas thousands of university graduates are roaming in the empty pocket and without a job. So the apparel industry has a big demand for an efficient merchandiser.

Why professionalism is important in merchandising?

Merchandisers play a key role in the apparel industry. They are

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responsible for performing on time goods delivery as well as in correct quantity. Strategically he is the person who runs the entire production through communication among the people.

Any miscommunication may lead the production towards disaster.

So understanding and practicing professionalism is vital to be an efficient and able merchandiser.

Who will deal not only goods delivery but also communication, and generate new thoughts and innovation.

What professionalism really means?

Professionalism means the quality and efficiency expected from a professional, along with adapting to countless challenges.

In other way, professionalism is

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Merchandising

the conduct, behavior, attitude and smart dealing of stress and challenges of someone in a work or business environment.

each other, sharing information and generating a positive image is a good tool to work together in the organization.

True professionals possess a number of important characteristics that can apply to virtually any type of business. But what exactly employers mean by this term ‘Professional’ is not the same in all disciplines.

Without supporting each other merchandiser never can finish the task within the deadline. Great teams are made up of different types of people; each member does different tasks but plays an important role that helps others to complete their tasks.

The term ‘professionalism’ varies in different areas, circumstances.

And in merchandising, below is the shortlists to maintain professionalism: 1. Reliability Unreliability is the number one career-limiting habit that holds back of the professionals.

It is vital if the merchandiser fails to gain reliability in the team then he cannot grow his career in the profession. As unreliable people are actually dangerous to the success of the entire team.

2. Staying work-focused Merchandiser should stay job focused, as he is the backbone in a factory. And he/she should not get too preoccupied with other things.

For example – enjoying casual leaves frequently that seems responsibility is getting in second priority on the personal life and damage the professional image.

3. Being positive No one likes a constant pessimist.

The pessimist sees the difficulty in everything, and an optimist finds the opportunity in every difficulty.

In merchandising profession uncertainty, difficult situations and meeting deadline always pull the negative person to be negative.

They never see things can be done rather influence others not to be positive.

So such negatives professionals don't really fit to be an efficient merchandiser.

4. Supporting other Merchandiser has to work in a team, collaboration is needed with

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5. Showing respect to other Public dealing is one of the major tasks that a merchandiser does every day. Suppliers, messengers, persons from different firms come to meet merchandiser. Sometimes it was seen people have to wait a long time to get a schedule from merchandiser for a meeting.

Showing respect to others is a part of good professionalism so unnecessary schedule delaying should be avoided.

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Staying workfocused

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6. Recognizing commitment when dealing with people

Suppose, if merchandiser confirms any kinds of approval verbally and later on refuses to accept that does not look decent and professional.

If a merchandiser becomes rude then after some time he will not receive any favor from the people. As an example – an urgent marketing sample needed to be ready by one day whereas the sample section can do it by three days.

If merchandiser talks in hard line then he may not get priority from the sample section because they can keep the schedule in the queue. So being polite, making them understand the urgency of the marketing sample can be the

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08

Building good professional networks Listening carefully first then to react

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06

Should not be arrogant and rude

Confessing mistake

7. Should not be arrogant and rude

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Showing respect to other Recognizing commitment when dealing with people

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02

Being positive Supporting other

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Communication may not happen all time through e-mail or by the text message. Some of the communication or commitment may go verbally because of time or urgency.

Reliability

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Meeting Etiquette

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best option.

8. Confessing mistake Man is mortal, - mistakes do happen - and this is not exceptional for merchandiser also.

So if he/she tries to hide it from others and apply a tricky method to conceal it that will not be professional.

Because in merchandising nothing can be kept hidden if a mistake happens. So a professional merchandiser always confesses the mistake to others and takes help to resolve the problem.

9. Building good professional networks A professional network is a group of people who are connected with one another for career or business.

So building a network is one of the most important things that a merchandiser can do to advance his career.

Merchandising

As an example – having a good network with the supplier can help to arrange urgent materials which are not available in the local market.

and sincere to maintain a positive professional image while in a meeting. General meeting etiquettes are – • To be on time at the meeting.

10. Listening carefully first then to react

• Sitting appropriately.

Listening properly is half of a successful conversation otherwise it will turn in miscommunication, the final outcome is time wasting and the result is zero.

•E ngaging with the phone during a meeting is prohibited.

So merchandiser has to be careful to listen and then to react.

Suppose – Senior asks junior merchandiser to do any particular task but he was not careful to listen to what exactly boss told him to do. Later on, he sees senior really disappointed when the job is done completely opposite what is asked to do.

11. Meeting etiquette Merchandiser has to be careful

•S peaking loudly enough so that everyone hears.

•S hould not interrupt others in the middle of a speech.

• Questions have to be relevant.

Exhibiting professional behavior is not as easy as one might think.

Workplace professionalism is a mindset. It is about responsibility, knowledge, standards, and ethics.

So, to enhance the professional image in the merchandising better to learn and practice the traits and behaviors of workplace professionalism.

23 Bangladeshi apparel companies exhibit at Bengaluru’s sourcing expo Desk Report ‘Apparel Sourcing Week,’ at Bengaluru, India, the first-ever 2-day regional networking platform which aimed to bring the manufacturing hubs of the subcontinent closer to India’s retail sector, received a huge response from all the stakeholders.

The exhibition held from 15th to 16th March 2019 at Bengaluru, India.

A total of 23 apparel companies from Bangladesh participated in the expo, in a bid to increase Bangladesh’s apparel export to India, according to a press release.

Abdul Wadud, Director of Team Scl Bangladesh, said, “I have been to globally renowned sourcing fairs like Bread & Butter, ISPO and Magic but never witnessed such an organized and well-managed show before. In terms of business leads,

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not to mention the core issues of business generation, networking and knowledge sharing.

Apparel Sourcing Week lived up to my expectations”.

The team is one of the leading apparel manufacturers from Bangladesh.

A flurry of activities – seminars, panel discussions, vendor workshops and open house, were held during the expo touching all key aspects of the booming Indian fashion retail sector, sourcing strategies, products, pricing and

Bangladeshi companies which participated in the expo included Laila Styles Ltd, Bando Design Ltd, Jamuna Apparels Ltd, Energypac Fashions Ltd, Anowara Knit Composite Ltd, Sonia & Sweaters Limited, Pacific Jeans Ltd, Universal Jeans Ltd, Gramtech Knit Dyeing Finishing & Garments Ltd, Standard Group Ltd, Standard Stitches Ltd, Apex Textile Printing Mills Ltd, Pakiza Knit Composite Ltd, Well Group, Anzir Apparels Ltd, Anzir Terry Towels Ltd, Epic Group, Kwuntong Apparels Ltd, Lenny Fashion Ltd, K.C Bottom and Shirt Wear Company, RBSR Fashions Ltd, Denimach Ltd and Green Smirt Shirts Ltd.

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Quality control and audit in sewing for trouser manufacturing Rasel Ahmed Likhon

The readymade garment industry is the lifeline of Bangladesh’s economy and to upgrade the industry quality improvement of garments can play a vital role.

As sewing is the key process of garments construction, so sewing quality control is also vital. If the apparel manufacturers of Bangladesh can achieve zero defects in sewing, the cost of production will reduce dramatically.

To achieve zero defects standard of garments (trouser manufacturing) from sewing lines to laundry or finishing department, the process flow are as follows: 1. All sub-assembly parts (front and back) will be inspected 100% at the end of the last operation of the sewing line.

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Any defects irrespective of however minor must be returned to appropriate operator/needle point to carry out the relevant repairs. The line manager, supervisor and QA must carry out an hourly check to ensure that repairs and defects are certainly returned to the operator for repairs/rectification.

2. At the assembly lines depending on the style and at the PP meeting stage, it will be decided what critical operations are required to implement inspection. Again, this is 100% and responsibilities are as in point 1 above. Example: waist band attach and close in active waistband garments.

3. At the end of the assembly

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line, 3 – 4 QCs will be fully trained and stationed for 100% inspect of the completed sewn garments focusing on all operations including those that were inspected in the subassembly. Any defects must be returned back to needle point for rectification or repairs.

Again, training, education, and ownership must be passed down the line for ownership purposes.

The number of QC’s above will be determined depending on the output of the line.

4. Frequent quality checking: A Roaming QC assigned per twosewing line to audit garments based on 25% of each lot/ bundle at a critical workstation which is Waist Band, Seat Seam

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Quality Control

(Yoke Seam), Back rise, In seam or any other critical points in a sewing line randomly.

5. An auditing process will take place based on 25% of each lot/ bundle. If one defect is found in any bundle, then the respective bundle will be failed automatically and sent back for 100% re-screen.

The defective garments must be returned back to needle points for rectification or repairs. If the bundle has "zero defects” then, and only then, the bundle will pass automatically and it is then

transferred to washing or finishing.

Defects take back to at source Tracking the defects back to the correct operator at needle points is very important to achieve ‘zero defect’ policy and improve the quality of the garments.

• If any operation has more than one operator, then they will put chalk mark/magic pen identification in the garments or panel to identify the respective operator. This identification mark will be identical for each operator to find the correct person.

• In-line, end line quality tables will have defective tags (tags quantity will be based on line output). A tag will be clipped to the defective panel or garment and sent back to the respective operator for repair. After rectification, the panel or garment will be sent to respective QC stations to recheck. If goods have zero defects then only it moves to the next operation. If again found any defects then it will go back to the respective operator.

Sewing in line audits Operation

Type of QC check

% Bundles audited

PCS Per bundle checked

Front Panels

Inspection

100%

All PCS CHECKED

Back Panels

Inspection

100%

All PCS CHECKED

Waist Band Area

Inspection

100%

All PCS CHECKED (based on criticality)

Roaming QC Per two line: a. Seat Seam (Yoke) b. Back Rise c. Inseam d. Out seam e. Waist Band Any other critical area

Audit

70%

25% of each bundle

Sew End Line Inspection

Audit

100%

All PCS CHECKED

Audit

100%

25% of each bundle

Lot acceptance after Sew end line inspection in Sewing Lot acceptance (Zero Defects)

Sewing quality inspection processes details Back & front panels Back panels: Quality Checking

Type

Procedure

Checking point

Inspection

100 % Inspection

Check every garment of a complete bundle. If any defects found then return to source and repair the defects and then passed to next process.

Back pocket high/low, deco, measure pocket distance, bar tack, seat seam, fabric fault, stitching, shading, sequence

Quality Checking

Type

Procedure

Checking point

Inspection

100 % Inspection

Check every garment of a complete bundle. If any defects found then return to source and repair the defects and then passed to next process.

Front pocket, j stitch, bar tack at j-stitch, zipper check, inseam measure length, care label, doublesingle fly, sequence.

Front part:

Sew end line inspection & measurement Sew End Line: Quality Checking

Type

Procedure

Checking point

Inspection

100 % Inspection

Check every garment of a complete bundle. If any defects found then return to source and repair the defects and then passed to next process.

Check all points of the operations.

Quality Checking

Type

Procedure

Checking point

Audit

25% of each bundle must need to Audit

Randomly checked 70% of bundles

Measurement check at inseam, waist band & seat seam, back rise or any other critical areas.

Roaming QC:

Lot acceptance details Lot acceptance (zero defects) after sew end line inspection Lot acceptance (zero defects)

Type

Procedure

Checking point

Audit

25% of each bundle must need to Audit

If 1 defect found then the bundle will fail and return to source at defects to repair. Only zero defects of the bundle will pass for next operations.

Check all points of garments.

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Industry 4.0

Sustainability or existence- how software will help you to choose your next step tactfully B M Shorif, CEO, Skylark Soft Ltd. Industry 4.0, driven by the Internet of Things (IoT), thus the world is ready for the next level of digital transformation. It’s probably only a matter of time before the topic is as commonplace as smartphones.

It is predicted that from the current world of connected people, we are quickly moving towards a world of connected devices.

importance. And the changes and advancements will continue in future as well. (Cognixia, 2017) The long-term success of any country depends on its ability to grab the opportunity for betterment.

While Singapore, China, Turkey and some of the other countries are getting into digitalization day by day, our country is yet, lag behind of

“We need to build a secure, intelligent platform that will solve crucial problems at a scale.

Meanwhile, to develop ideas and get better innovation we need to think smarter about hardware and software. Everything that can be automated should be automated.

Like air and drinking water, being digital will be noticeable only by

B M Shorif CEO, Skylark Soft Ltd.

According to a Forbes article, there can be more than 75 billion devices connected to the internet by 2025. This is being facilitated through the Internet of Things (IoT), which basically means a network of hardware (physical devices) embedded with software (applications) and connectivity – which enables them to exchange, process and analyze data, thus facilitating various services.

There are many industries that are impacted by IoT by now.

Some have already had a major influence of IoT while some are just beginning to realize its 124

using technology in this era where it can be a new light of hope for sustainability with more efficiency.

Especially in RMG sectors, which is being the highest contributing sector to the economy and generates 83% revenue for Bangladesh.

Apparel industry needs to focus on advanced technology like IoT because an August 2015 survey found that 72% of 138 global apparel eras already had IoT projects of some type underway.

And Frost & Sullivan estimates that global IOT revenue will reach $1.7 trillion by 2019, almost tripling from its 2014 level (Global, 2018).

its absence, not its presence,” said B M Shorif, Chief Executive Officer, Skylark Soft Limited.

As per this analysis, it can be predicted that now people are more involved in technology than they were ever before. They want to get real-time information in their hand with only one tap in their cellular phone. Meanwhile, buyers of the apparel industry are more tech savvy now a day. As they are time oriented, they can’t accept an order delay perspective.

Many RMG factories are facing trouble with the number of decreasing buyers because

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they cannot full fill the demand or surplus with the delivery timing. As a result, factories are closing because they are facing less improvement in efficiency, lack of saving cost, lack of proper utilization of resources, mismanagement and so on.

Despite being in a technological era, there is less or can say no relation between RMG sector and technology. Most factories are tracking their production function manually. For this reason, authorities are not getting the right information at the right time. Thus, they cannot take a decision on time.

Because of the, less efficiency factories are trying to converting the whole production function to automation (by using machinery that’s defiantly a matter of big investment). Although it will take more time and need a number of skilled manpower. If factories do R&D wisely then they will find out that Production Tracking System and ERP with the concept of IoT can make their life and production easier.

Skylark Soft Limited (SLS) is conducting that our software “PROTRACKER: Real-Time Production Tracking System” will give a new dimension and

Global IOT Market 1,800 1,600 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 0

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Figure: Global Internet of Things (IoT) market trends.

create a revolution in the RMG sector of Bangladesh with the concept of IoT. SLS believes that advance technological thinking can create digitalization for our country. PROTRACKER can help you to increase productivity and efficiency by providing realtime information to the hand of the authority at the right time.

Management can take immediate action if they face any issue during production. Meanwhile, production can be completed with less WorkIn-Process (WIP) and delivered to the buyers on time.

On the other hand, our product

go RMG ERP-Ultimate Enterprise Solution for Garments can improve inventory maintenance, you can smoothly track your orders, it will help you for inventory and proper utilization of resources for production, meanwhile, you can increase quality control and can get cross channel visibility, in spite of that, your factory can increase safety more with the scope of IoT. SLS deliver phenomenal service to the RMG sector to help it digitalize its operations. It can be hopefully said that, with this expanded product portfolio, industry 4.0, will grow charismatically for our country by SLS.

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We should break the fear' that we are not good at communication Uzzal Dakua, Merchandising Manager, Echotex Ltd.

Merchandiser is the interface between customer and exporter. He is responsible for order inquiry receive, development, costing, order analysis, Production execution, Shipment and up to payment receiving. So merchandising is the backbone department in the Apparel Industry. It is a passionate job for many textile graduates.

Uzzal Dakua, Merchandising Manager of Echotex Ltd, is working at Echotex for 11 years. He Graduated from Primeasia University in Textile Engineering and involved with many professional platforms.

Recently in a conversation with Team Textile Today Uzzal shared challenges and opportunities of merchandising from Bangladesh perspective.

Textile Today: What are the responsibilities and challenges of a merchandiser?

Uzzal Dakua: The tasks that a merchandiser usually do follow up the processes, costing, negotiating with the customers or retailers, sourcing of raw material (best quality with cheaper

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price), sampling development (product development option work to meet both the needs of consumers and designers) monitoring the production, ensuring product Quality (as per Buyer requirement), on time Shipment and finding the solution of any problem of the product

are the basic responsibilities of a merchandiser. In one sentence Merchandiser is the key person of the Product. He is the main responsible for all these procedures.

A merchandiser has to keep deep knowledge about the product and possess and strong

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Apparel Icon

communication skill as he/she has to deal with the customer as well as the suppliers. Because a single mistake of a merchandiser can bring an irreversible loss for the company. So, merchandisers, every step should be perfect and I think that is the main challenge.

Textile Today: How can merchandisers play an important role to secure a better price?

Uzzal Dakua: Workers wage has increased by 51%, but the customers are unwilling to pay a bit more price. They aren’t helpful about the manufacturers’ situation rather squeezing more for less price.

In this situation, merchandisers can play a vital role by showing their caliber during negotiation with Buyers.

We all should break the myth that we are not good at communication. Factory owners should also focus on increasing their efficiency level, waste minimization and they should think long-term in case of purchasing new technology. Besides investing in technology, also owners should invest in human capital to sustain in the business.

Textile Today: We see the trend of different discipline people are coming in merchandising profession whereas textile engineers do the job in production. What will you say about this?

Uzzal Dakua: First of all, I would like to say that merchandising is the most important section in the textile industry. Because a merchandiser has to keep knowledge of the full supply chain that I have already stated.

If a merchandiser doesn’t have sound technical knowledge of textile processes, there is a possibility of wrong product development. But a textile engineer usually has these basics.

He/she knows how to minimize wastage, how to develop the right product and how to maintain costing with the buyer properly.

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Figure : Merchandising team of Echotex Ltd.

This is why more textile engineers should come in merchandising profession to make this business more profitable.

 Workers wage has increased by 51%, but the customers are unwilling to pay a bit more price. They aren’t helpful about the manufacturers’ situation rather squeezing more for less price.

In this situation, merchandisers can play a vital role by showing their caliber during negotiation with Buyers.

Textile Today: What are the differences between foreign professionals and native professionals who are working in this sector?

Uzzal Dakua: Every year foreign professionals are taking away almost USD 6 billion from our textile sector.

Most foreign professionals working in Bangladesh are Indians, SriLankans, and Pakistanis. The government and BGMEA should have a strict policy about foreign experts.

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On the other hand, every year many talented textile engineers are graduating from BUTEX, PAU, AUST, NITER, BUFT and many other universities. Factory owners should give a chance to the fresh blood to prove their talents.

At Echotex, we don’t hire any foreign professionals. Most of the persons working here are young, energetic and talented textile engineers. Here we all work as a team. Almost every week we sit for a meeting, try to understand ourselves and solve our problems together.

Textile Today: Tell something from your experience for those who are planning to take the merchandising as a profession.

Uzzal Dakua: A fresh textile graduate should do the job in a production unit for at least 2 years.

He/she should also attend different training programs, seminars and understand the basic terms of textile and apparel business with a clear concept. They should also have basic knowledge in Microsoft word, excel, power point, etc.

Textile Today: What is your future plan?

Uzzal Dakua: I want to play my role as a great contributor to Bangladesh’s economy. Whenever I am serving for Echotex, I always think I am working for my country.

If I bring an extra penny for Echotex, it means like an extra penny for my country’s economy.

In this way, I want to contribute to my country’s welfare in the future also.

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Apparel Leader

Rubana Huq elected as first female President of BGMEA

Rubana Huq, Managing Director of Mohammadi Group, has been elected as the first female President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) as her panel won all 35 posts of Directors in the biennial election of the trade body today on 6 April.

Staff Correspondent The election was held at the BGMEA offices of both Dhaka and Chattogram that began around 8:00 am and continued till 4:00 pm.

Around 1,492 voters out of total 1,956 cast their votes in Dhaka and Chattogram for electing their leader of the BGMEA for 2019 and 2021 tenure.

In Dhaka, some 1,204 out of 1,597 and in Chattogram some 288 out of 359 votes were cast in the election.

This time Sammilito Forum and Shadhinata Parishad contested for 26 posts of directors as all nine directors were elected unopposed from Chattogram zone earlier.

A total of 35 directors needed to be elected for the formation of the BGMEA board.

Sammilita Forum, led by the Mohammadi Group Managing Director Rubana Huq has swept to victory in the biennial election to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), bagging all the 35 posts of Directors.

The 26 Directors elected for the Dhaka region are: M.A. Rahim (Feroz), Rubana Huq, Arshad Jamal (Dipu), K.M. Rafiqul Islam, Inamul Haq Khan (Bablu), Miran Ali, Md. Moshiul Azam (Shajal), Md. Mohiuddin Rubel, Md. Nasir Uddin, Md. Rezwan Selim, Md. Kamal Uddin, Mohammed Nasir, Md. Sajjadur Rahman Mridha, Md. Munir Hossain, A.K.M. Badiul

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Alam, Mohammad Abdul Momen, Md. Shahidul Haque Mukul, Iqbal Hamid Quraishi (Adnan), Md. Shehabudduza Chowdhury, Masud Quader Mona, Md. Mosharraf Hossain Dhali, S.M. Mannan (Kochi), Sharif Zahir, Nazrul Islam, Asif Ibrahim, and Faisal Samad.

The nine Directors elected unopposed for the Chattogram region are: A.M Chowdhury (Selim), Anjan Shekhar Das, A.M. Mahbub Chow., Mohammad Atique, Mohammed Abdus Salam, Mohammed Meraj-EMostafa, Enamul Aziz Chowdhury, Mohammed Musa and Khondaker Belayet Hossain.

time of their bad days. We will try to find out the way how to save their factories,” she said.

Earlier, the BGMEA election was held in 2013 and the board continued up to September 2015.

However, in 2015 the election was not held as both Sammilito and Forum panels jointly decided to elect the board in consensus.

So, Siddiqur Rahman, the last BGMEA president, ran the trade body for three years and seven months — although the tenure of an elected BGMEA president is for two years — with a frequent extension from the commerce ministry.

The newly elected 35 Directors also elected a President, a First Vice-President, a Senior VicePresident and Five Vice-Presidents for the Executive Body.

“If the factory owners think that they need help from the BGMEA in case of price bargaining with the buyers, we will set up a separate cell in the BGMEA to assist them,” Rubana Huq said after the election.

She said many small and medium factories are in trouble and they are facing even the closure of their units.

“They need immediate help.

We need to stand beside them in

Figure: Rubana Huq, Managing Director of Mohammadi Group

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S m a r t Te x t i l e

UV protection clothing- a practical approach to sun care Muin Uddin, Consumer and Retail, Physical Laboratory Manager, SGS Bangladesh Limited Ultraviolet is an electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength from 10 nm to 400 nm, shorter than that of visible light but longer than X-rays. Ultraviolet radiation is part of the electromagnetic (light) spectrum that reaches the earth from the sun.

Skin is the largest organ of human body that protects us from the environment, regulate heat, prevent water loss, touch and pain sensor. Sun protection is important because sun exposure is the leading cause of skin cancer.

UV radiation from the sun is associated with about 90% of all skin cancers.

The good news is skin cancer is highly preventable with UV protection, including UV protective apparel, sunglasses, sunscreens and reducing sun exposure between 10AM to 4PM (UV rays are strongest). UV can lead to the degradation of a textile like heat, it can initiate chemical reactions in polymers which result in the breakdown of those polymers and the loss of their physical and chemical properties. The amount and type of damage caused

by UV radiation depend on the nature of the fibers or filaments from which the textile is made.

The penetration of UV radiation in nylon, for example result in a decrease in elasticity and tensile strength. Exposure to UV radiation leads to a deterioration in its color, strength and resiliency in both dry and wet conditions. (Reference: Global Apparel Markets, No 35 April 2017) Currently manufacturers and retailers in the UK and Europe are testing items according to EN 13758-1 and have been setting a UPF value of 40 or more as a minimum performance standard and a maximum of 5% UVA transmission for claims of UV protection as required

by EN 13758-2. In order to fulfil the essential health & safety

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requirement to absorb or reflect the majority of harmful wavelengths, it is understood that the minimum requirements for UPF and UVA from EN 13758-2 satisfy this need. The producer must create a technical file containing all of the relevant information (as below) and must ensure that labelling shows the CE Mark and provides the necessary information concerning the limitations of the protection.

• Sun exposure causes skin damage • Only covered areas are protected • The protection offered by this item may be reduced with use or if stretched or wet Other countries and regions are also using different test standard to evaluate UV protection of clothing complying relevant method. Below are the common test methods used in different countries like US, UK, Europe, China and Australia respectively.

• AATCC 183 • BS EN 13758-1 • GB/T 18830 • AS/NZS 4399

2, nevertheless where there is a claim of UPF, it must carry the CE Mark. Because EN 13758-1 is not a harmonized standard. For sun hats with a UPF claim, the national standard BS 8466 will need to be utilized, at least in the UK, as there is no similar European standard yet available.

With growing public awareness about the dangers of excessive exposure to the sun, some sectors of the textile industry responded by developing ultraviolet (UV) protective clothing. While baby clothes and children’s swimwear initially dominated this niche market, UV fabric manufacturers now produce lightweight and breathable adult-wear that is also functional and fashionable. If you create UV protection fabrics and/or garments, our rigorous testing can help you raise the quality of your outputs and achieve your commercial aims.

For example, because our tests are acknowledged by the world’s standards authorities, you can use our results as the scientific proof behind your marketing claims.

Contact SGS Bangladesh now to find out how we can test your functional treatments according to international standards and provide results that improve fabric quality and performance.

There is also the issue of repeated laundering on the protection level. To this end, it is strongly advised that the UPF performance is measured again after multiple wash cycles (e.g. 5 washes) so that any reduction of performance can be quantified. This information should then be communicated to the buyer in the information leaflet provided with the product.

It is important to note that garments such as swim and beachwear may not fulfil the requirements for body coverage specified in EN 13758-

Bangladesh Textile Today |

Volume 12, Issue 04