Being a trusted and a proven brand in one country, almost and always helps a company gain a good foothold in another country. Premco Global Vietnam too has been making rapid strides in leaving an indelible mark on the industry.
Elucidating on the above, Kamal Mangwani, Vice General Director, Premco Global Vietnam underlined, “Over the last 40 years, Premco Global has been manufacturing woven and knitted elastics of high quality in India. Trust is built among customers only through quality and this is what is today helping us stand out among all other elastic companies in Vietnam.” In a candid discussion with Team Apparel Online, Kamal spoke about the company’s continual focus on quality while also sharing the company’s journey of progress in Vietnam.
Every company considers itself to be different, but at Premco, when they say they are different from other elastic companies in Vietnam, they have good reasons for claiming it. Their strong research and development team back in India has been integral to their reputation over the last four decades and their office in Vietnam has been getting the same world-class technical support – from India.
Besides, the raw materials that the company gets from India are highly specialised that are very difficult to source in Vietnam. “Some specialised yarns are not available here but from India, we are able to import lots of high quality yarns. Our sourcing is very strong in India and this gives us an advantage as we get sourcing support in Vietnam also,” underlined an optimistic Kamal.
A small manufacturer in Vietnam may, most of the times, source from China but with China getting expensive each day, business gets only tougher. This is where Premco scores. It sources majorly from India which is cheaper, steady and, importantly, provides better technological and sourcing support, thereby helping it offer even better prices. Corroborating on the same, Kamal maintained, “All these does make us different in every sense.”
The company has further plans of expanding its research and development team in Vietnam much to the same standards as the one that the company has in India. Ever since the company entered Vietnam, it has grown beyond manufacturing woven elastics and is today actively into the production of knitted elastics, elastic dyeing and also printing. The company believes that once the R&D unit sets up in the country, there will be lot more innovative products from them.
One must also mention here that Premco uses German, Italian, Swiss, Indian, Italian and Swiss machinery for all stages of its production, be it warping, covering, weaving or finishing.
Apart from manufacturing knitted elastic as well as non-elastic narrow fabric and webbing, the company’s extensive product range caters to the apparel, lingerie, sports-related, medical, footwear, luggage, furnishing and automotive industries. Premco’s commitment to quality begins at the earliest pre-production stages.
Kamal substantiates the above by averring that, “Quality starts from the first stage itself at Premco. We have set up a QC laboratory here and have dedicated quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) teams. From the time we get the raw materials, the teams check everything. All the guidelines are properly laid out and our quality teams have their own testing methods and procedures to ensure quality is checked at each stage. Once into production, there is a team on the floor all the time and they check the quality carefully on the machines. The team randomly selects the samples from the machines and then does full testing on those selected samples.” It is to be noted here that samples are selected from different stages and accordingly, reports are prepared.
When the defects are raised, they are not only fixed immediately but are also conveyed to the workers and operators in such a way that they learn from the errors so that such blemishes do not occur again. As Kamal confidently confirmed, “Once the elastic is made, checked and packed, the QC again comes into the picture. Our testing and stringent standards review enables in providing a zero-defect product to the customer.”
It is not surprising, after seeing all the streamlined processes and procedures in the factory premises, that the company serves some of the big names in the industry. Premco is today a preferred supplier to many companies such as Tesco, Fruit of the Loom, Old Navy, The Gap, Target Stores, Walmart, The Children’s Place among several others.
While recalling the journey of his company so far in Vietnam, Kamal elucidated, “Things are more smoother and organized in Vietnam compared to India. The Government is very supportive and all the procedures are laid down correctly. Things are very transparent and lucid from the Government’s side, be it the social insurance section, income tax or while handling issues related to expatriates like issuing work permits, resident cards, etc. Foreigners are treated well here and as an Indian, I can say that Indians are looked upon with great regard in Vietnam. The journey in Vietnam has been no less than fantastic so far.”
At Premco, they believe, ‘Quality is an ongoing journey, not a destination’. Any company with this ideology is bound to grow by leaps and bounds. Undoubtedly, they are big in India and they are second to none in Vietnam…
