Submission for ISCEA PTAK Prize Global Case Competition

PROLOGUE & THE TASK
Bangladesh Apparel industry is expected to reach US $50 billion by 2021. While such
predictions have been made by several reputed global organizations, different stakeholders of
this industry must work together with clear agenda for realizing this potential fully.
 Few of the major approaches that should be considered include:
 Increasing supply chain efficiency and transparency
 Building closer and long term relationship with supply chain partners
 Improving operational performance and
 Developing skilled workforce (particularly in middle management)
On the above context, Sketch a 5 years plan on developing professional Supply Chain
Management practices in the industry.
Today, your organization has US $10 million in its possession to get started with the project.
PROBABLE JUDGMENT CRITERIA
 Knowledge of Supply Chain Management
 Innovativeness
 Wise use of money
 Feasibility of the plan
 Rationale for the project
 Impact of such proposal
 Case Presentation Style
THE CASE SOLUTION GUIDELINES
 Study the Apparel Industry of Bangladesh
 Find the contribution of Supply Chain in the industry
 Find the talent crisis in the mid management particularly
 Find the flaws/ problems in Supply Chain due to talent crisis
 Find probable solutions to it
 Indicate clearly how to develop proper Supply Chain Professionals
 Come up with one BIG IDEA that will boost the growth of Apparel Industry in next 5
years
 Show rationale & use of money
REMEMBER
 Your organization is a consultation firm, given an amount to work on, no profit has to
be made out of the given money for your own organization, rather the entire amount
should be used for the development of the Apparel Industry.

Team Member -1
Name : Ahamed Najeeb Rahman
Signature :
Team Member - 2
Name : Noushin Wadud Khan
Signature :
Team Member - 3
Name : Sayem Faruk
Signature :
Team Member - 4
Name : Wais Al Karim
Signature :
Last Date of Submission: May 15, 2015
Team: IBAD- 0105-15
SL. No.: To Be Assigned by ISCEA

Integrated ERP: Disruptive Innovation in the Apparel Industry
1
INTEGRATED ERP: DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION IN THE
APPAREL INDUSTRY
In December 2014, when the Bangladesh Government and garment’s exporters set a target of
exporting $50 billion worth of garment items in 2021, skepticism and optimism alike filled the
air (UNB, 2015).
The Bangladeshi apparel industry started in the late 1970s, expanded heavily in the 1980s and
boomed in the 1990s. The quick expansion of the industry was possible because of the use of
less complicated technology, cheap and easy to operate sewing machines, and relatively
inexpensive and abundant female workforce. But, apparel firms in the county have moved into
a challenging position in the new millennium. The challenge is now to offer high-quality, low-
cost products within a short lead time; and to meet health, social and environmental
compliances in the face of increasingly stiff competition (Saha, The hidden lever to success,
2011).
Of the many challenges that have been identified for Bangladesh, only a few offer a realistic,
achievable solutions [see Exhibit 1 for specific challenges identified by the Bangladesh
Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association’s (BGMEA) President]. Supply chain
management, along with rigorous talent management, is a potential avenue that experts agree
can lift the performance of the entire industry. (Saha, The hidden lever to success, 2011) (Saha,
RMG sector faces talent crunch, 2011).
Could it be possible that an integrated industry-wide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP),
under the supervision of BGMEA, is the way forward towards a sustainable RMG sector? How
will such a high-tech solution be implemented in a technologically-challenged environment?
How can factory owners be educated on the importance of supply chain management when
they don’t even understand it?
Brief History – From Bottomless Basket to a Global Export
Powerhouse
Shift from Primary to Secondary
When Henry Kissinger, the former US Secretary of State, dubbed Bangladesh as an
international bottomless basket case, it was in economic sense by which he wanted to mean
that the country would remain an economic cripple in the years to come (Bayes, 2013). But
Bangladesh is a resilient country. The country bounced back with exceptional determination
focusing on the Three R’s of its economy – Rice, Remittance, and RMG – as quoted by
Mohammed Farashuddin, a leading economist in Bangladesh.
Over the past decades, the share of RMG as a percentage of exports have steadily risen
catapulting Bangladesh to become the second largest RMG exporting country - cashing in over
$25 billion in exports a year [see Exhibit 2 for a detailed breakdown of the sectorial growth].
The industry has now established itself as a global player. Despite numerous challenges in the
growth process, growth rate averaged about 15%+ per year (Islam, 2014). The Dhaka Apparel
Summit held in December 2014 did set some very ambitious goals – Vision 2021.

2
Table: Current and Target Figures for the Apparel Sector
Year 2014 Vision 2021
Export Value $25 billion $50 billion
Total Market Size $450+ billion $650+ billion
Bangladesh’s Market Share ~5% ~7.7%
A research paper by Mc. Kinsey & Company suggests that unit demand growth for RMG in
Bangladesh is expected to be 2x to 2.5x through 2020. But to reach those levels bottlenecks in
productivity have be addressed (McKinsey & Company, 2011). Bangladesh German Chamber
of Commerce & Industry (BGCCI) President Sakhawat Abu Khair said the production
efficiency in Bangladesh is as low as 20% to a ceiling of 40% at a few factories and efficiency
can easily be increased to 50% through some fundamental training sessions (Rahman, 2014).
Bottlenecks in the Current Supply Chain
A quick glance over the value chain analysis will show us where to bet the money:
Table: Value Chain Analysis of a $1.28 T-shirt Produced in Bangladesh
Component Share of
Total Value
Monetary
Value
Raw materials, port charges, accessories 77.96% $ 1.00
Administration (including entrepreneur’s profits) 12.00% $ 0.15
Labor 4.70% $ 0.06
Miscellaneous 5.34% $ 0.07
Using the figures above, it can be calculated then, keeping all other things constant, a doubling
of labor productivity (i.e. a 100 per cent improvement in labor productivity) would result in the
reduction of cost by just $0.03, which is likely to have not much effect on the competitive
position of Bangladesh in the world market (Razzaue & Eusuf, 2007). Focus should rather be
on simplifying and streamlining the sourcing and logistics.
A simplified model of the current apparel supply chain is depicted below.
Image: Configuration of Apparel Supply Chain

3
Problems in the supply chain are multifaceted and intertwined:
1. Supply of raw materials like cotton and chemicals come from countries like Uzbekistan,
India, China etc.. It takes around 20 to 30 days to get cotton from Uzbekistan (Hossain,
2014). High lead times, information asymmetry, and communication gaps often
leads to lack of availability of raw materials to the right place at the right time at the
right price.
2. Manufacturers, merchandisers often delegate their production process to smaller sub-
contractors who at times don’t meet the safety, and quality standards. Sometimes, a
large order gets sub-contracted several times, which makes it difficult for the original
manufacturer to track the order. Foreign buyers are often grieved at the lack of
compliance in smaller factories (Munni, 2014).
3. Inaccurate product costing and dysfunctional inventory management in RMG due
to lack of production planning systems and continuous productivity monitoring
still makes a manager’s job a tedious task (McKinsey & Company, 2011). As a result
manufacturers are sometimes victims of inaccurate costing leading to large losses.
4. Due to the lack of an extensive rail network, much of the transportation is carried out
by trucks. Extortion, arson, life-threaten attacks are just few of the snags disrupting the
transportation of exports and imports to and from the ports. Tracking valuable
merchandise becomes a necessity in situations like these.
Existing challenges will multiply if suppliers aren’t able to fill higher-skill middle
management position. (McKinsey & Company, 2011). The RMG sector will require around
800,000 skilled professionals in mid-level positions by 2021 to lead the organizations,” said
Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, former president of BGMEA. Currently, the sector
suffers a shortfall of nearly 200,000 professionals and unfortunately, experienced and
qualified employees from Bangladesh’s neighboring countries are filling the current shortage.
They are around 15 percent of the mid- and senior-level professionals in the entire industry
remitting Taka 4 billion out of the country every year. The main deterrents to talent
development are outlined below (Saha, RMG sector faces talent crunch, 2011):
i. Entrepreneurs' lack the eagerness to spend money to train and develop local talents for
fear of losing trained employees. Only 5% of profits are now being spent of training
and development.
ii. Technical and vocational institutions are inadequate and have back-dated curricula.
iii. Garment jobs lack social recognition.
iv. Managers have poor compensation packages, unfavorable working conditions, and
undefined career path.
Integrated Supply Chain – The Way Forward
To face the challenges ahead, the apparel makers should focus on effective supply chain
management as it will ensure delivering the right product to the right place at the right time at
the right price, according to supply chain experts. “Effective supply chain management is the
way to offer high-quality, low-cost products within the shortest possible lead time as it
integrates the whole apparel supply chain as one,” said Mr. Ejazur Rahman, Managing
Director of Mind Mapper Ltd, a leading management consulting firm. Mr. Rahman also said,
“Supply chain management is the hidden lever that can magically lift the total business
performance of any company.” Bangladesh should consider the whole apparel supply chain

4
as one, adopt a fact based approach upon thoroughly understanding current realities, invest in
the appropriate skills and constantly monitor and adjust to optimize results in an ever-changing
world (Saha, The hidden lever to success, 2011).
ERP: A High-Tech Solution
The Growing Use of ERP
The ever-erratic political situation of the country poses a major hindrance towards achieving
Vision 2021. The series of blockades and strikes over the past few years has prompted RMG
manufacturers to turn to technology to bring some certainty in an uncertain environment.
Most of the ERP solutions are purchased by RMG manufacturers and large corporations
in Bangladesh (Mirdha, 2009) [see Exhibit 3 for an industry overview of ERP solutions].
BGMEA Integrated ERP
We recommend integrating all the supply chain actors into a common portal. The portal
will connect the ERP modules at different factories and relay capacity information to the
relevant stakeholders when they search for it. Only the contact details of manufacturers with
excess capacity will be shown in the search results. No other confidential information will
be disclosed. Only BGMEA-certified manufacturer, buyers, merchandisers, suppliers and their
managers can access the system. If the system is enforced by BGMEA, then it should solve the
issue of nonchalant manufacturers as non-compliance won’t be a choice. Even unenforced,
few will want to be left out of the bandwagon. Hence, existing manufacturers using ERP will
just need to connect their module to the BGMEA ERP portal and new ERP users will be
supported by BGMEA in their implementation. The goal is to integrate the supply chain to
one.
In order to solve the mid-level management crisis, we suggest incorporating a common
learning platform for all the mid-level managers and interested students in the integrated-ERP
system. Pilot testing of an independent learning platform has already been done by a company
called GreenGrade Solutions which is backed up by UKaid (E-learning software launched for
Bangladesh RMG workers, managers, 2014). Online videos will teach managers basics of
management and hands-on training can be provided on a weekly basis at any of the 23 RMG
training providers (GIZ, BGCCI, BGMEA, BKMEA, 2008) under the Promotion of Social
and Environmental Standards (PSES) by BGCCI and Gesellschaft für internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) (Rahman, 2014) [see Exhibit 4 for a mockup of the user interface and
Exhibit 5 for functionality features and sample e-learning course outline].
Plan of Action
The implementation for such a system is done in two phases - business process reengineering
(BPR) leading to an ERP implementation. The BPR will make sure that an expensive ERP is
not configured to existing broken processes [see Exhibit 6 for potential contenders in providing
the BGMEA Integrated ERP Portal].

5
Phase 1 Phase 2
Process improvement and
standardization
ERP implementation
Deliverables Process:
 As-Is Process Maturity
Assessment
 Process Improvement & SOP
documentation
 Business and operational
performance
 Dashboard design
People:
 Organization structure and role
matrix
Technology:
 Technology Requirement and ERP
application selection
 Assistance with tool selection
Modules:
 Finance, accounts and costing
 Sales and logistics
 Procurement management
 Production management
 Plant maintenance
 Quality management
 Document management
 Business intelligence and analytics
The entire process will take 14 months. Assuming the process starts on January 2016, it will
end on February 2017 – leaving 3 years and 10 months out of allotted 5 years to evaluate the
progress and tweak the system to reach the $50 billion mark.
Table: Financial breakdown of the Recommended Plan
Process Cost
BPR $175,000
ERP Implementation $525,000
ERP Software $2,000,000
E-Learning Platform $1,000,000
Total $3,700,000
Savings $6,300,000
The cost of a full-fledged ERP software costs $2 million (Mirdha, 2009). Whereas a BPR and
ERP implementation will cost $700,000 (figure obtained from a KPMG Advisory Services

6
proposal to a RMG producer). E-learning platform’s cost has been overstated since coming up
with quality content will require expensive props, equipment, and teachers with vast practical
experience.
Feasibility and Benefits of the Plan
The system will solve many issues relating to the supply chain.
1. Through the seamless interaction of macro supply chain processes – Customer
Relationship Management (CRM), Internal Supply Chain Management (ISCM), and
Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) - the entire supply chain will become a
more efficient one – maximizing the overall value generated and operational
performance.
2. Problems pertaining to inaccurate costing and inventory management can now be
handled under the newly installed in-house ERPs.
3. Since the system promotes transparency and with BGMEA-certified manufacturers,
buyers can rely on and monitor sub-contractors and avoid any potential public
relations nightmare.
4. Supply chain partners, through effective communication, can forge long-term
relationship with each other.
5. The e-learning platform means manufacturers can share the cost of the training and
develop a skilled workforce. The portal will allow managers to sharpen their skills at
a time of their convenience, while certifications will motivate them to constantly
learn new skills.
6. Overall, the portrayal of a tech-savvy industry will improve the sector’s image and
attract new talents.
Indeed, certain issues need to be resolved as a part of groundwork before launching such an
audacious plan. Problems relating to infrastructure, energy, market access require long-term
systematic changes to produce an organic difference (Islam, 2014). Positive signs are already
being seen across various frontiers of the sector [see Exhibit 7 for details on the positive
signs].
The proposed recommendations have short run application with long term implications.
The RMG sector will be benefited in terms of business, communication and transportation
efficiency. Given the nature of business - race to the lowest cost - in the RMG sector, an
industry-wide integrated solution has been long overdue, it will be needed tomorrow, if not
today.

7
References
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturer and Exporters Association (BGMEA). (n.d.). Trade Information.
Retrieved May 7, 2015, from Bangladesh Garment Manufacturer and Exporters Association
(BGMEA): http://www.bgmea.com.bd/home/pages/TradeInformation#.VVQsV_mqqko
Bangladesh Textile Today. (2013, February). BIM introduces new diploma course on: productivity and
quality management. Retrieved May 14, 2015, from Bangladesh Textile Today:
http://www.textiletoday.com.bd/newsite/bim-introduces-new-diploma-course-on-
productivity-and-quality-management/
BASIS. (n.d.). List of Members. Retrieved May 10, 2015, from BASIS:
http://www.basis.org.bd/index.php/members_area/member_list
Bayes, A. (2013, May 11). Bangladesh: A bottomless political basket case? Retrieved May 4, 2015,
from The Financial Express: http://www.thefinancialexpress-
bd.com/old/index.php?ref=MjBfMDVfMTFfMTNfMV82XzE2OTAxNw==
E-learning software launched for Bangladesh RMG workers, managers. (2014, November 13).
Retrieved May 12, 2015, from bdnews24.com:
http://bdnews24.com/technology/2014/11/13/e-learning-software-launched-for-
bangladesh-rmg-workers-managers
GIZ, BGCCI, BGMEA, BKMEA. (2008). RMG Service Provider Directory. Dhaka.
Hossain, M. (2014, Janurary 5). Warehousing facility for Uzbek cotton. Retrieved May 7, 2015, from
The Financial Express: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2014/01/05/12197/print
Hye, H. A. (2012, November 8). RMG exports at a cross-roads. Retrieved May 14, 2015, from The
Financial Express: http://www.thefinancialexpress-
bd.com/old/index.php?ref=MjBfMTFfMDhfMTJfMV82XzE0OTIxNw
Islam, M. A. (2014, December 7). Vision 2021 for RMG: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of
Independence. Retrieved May 5, 2015, from The Financial Express:
http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2014/12/07/69749/print
McKinsey & Company. (2011). Bangladesh's Readymade Garments Landscape: The Challenge of
Growth. McKinsey & Company.
Mirdha, R. U. (2009, May 7). Key RMG players shift to automated systems. Retrieved from The Daily
Star: http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/cache/cached-news-details-87064.html
Munni, M. (2014, November 3). RMG subcontractors go unregulated. Retrieved May 7, 2015, from
The Financial Express: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2014/11/03/64245
Rahman, T. (2014, November 18). MoU inked to train 300 mid-level RMG officials. Retrieved May 05,
2015, from Dhaka Tribune: http://www.dhakatribune.com/regulation/2013/nov/18/mou-
inked-train-300-mid-level-rmg-officials
Razzaue, A., & Eusuf, A. (2007). Trade, Development and Poverty Linkage: A Case Study of Ready
Made Garment Industry in Bangladesh . Dhaka: Unnayan Shamannay .
Saha, S. (2011, March 7). RMG sector faces talent crunch. Retrieved May 4, 2015, from The Daily
Star: http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=176636

8
Saha, S. (2011, May 10). The hidden lever to success. Retrieved May 4, 2015, from The Daily Star:
http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=184963
UNB. (2015, March 6). US to help Bangladesh achieve $ 50b RMG export target: Envoy. Retrieved
May 2, 2015, from The Independent:
http://www.theindependentbd.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=250
230:us-to-help-bangladesh-achieve--50b-rmg-export-target-envoy&catid=108:business-
finance&Itemid=152

9
EXHIBIT 1: CHALLENGES & REALITIES IDENTIFIED BY MD. ATIQUL ISLAM
(BGMEA PRESIDENT)
1. Infrastructure - Industrialization and opportunities to grow need road-rail-port
infrastructure, trade financing, etc.. Developing planned Special Industrial Zone is
another important option.
2. Power & Energy - We need to ensure adequate supply of electricity, gas and energy
as these act as the engine behind running the industry.
3. Access to finance at competitive bank interest rate
4. Human Resources - The RMG industry needs skilled human resource in terms of
both skilled workers and mid-level management. The industry is currently
employing 4.4 million workers where our productivity is 77%. This is lower than
our main competitors (India 92%, Vietnam 90%, Pakistan 88%). Though over the
years a good backward linkage has developed we still fall short in forward linkage.
The industry for marketing and design depends on agents and source countries
respectively. About 19,000 expatriates working in the mid-level and high position
at the garment factories of Bangladesh are remitting about Taka 4 billion every year.
5. Environmental Sustainability is also another major challenge for us.
6. Safety & Dignity of Workers - Without ensuring a safe workplace for our workers,
we can’t be able to create a safe and sustainable industry. This is one of the issues
that has attracted much attention.
7. Politics - Over the years, political instability has posed as a difficult challenges.
We need to ensure a stable political situation for the sake of our industry and
economy.
8. Market Diversification - Market diversification, exploration of new markets is
another major area for us to ensure sustainable growth of the industry. Though our
apparel export share to non-traditional markets has increased in recent times we
need to further enhance this momentum.
9. Market Access - There are a number of non-tariff barriers to trade with the SAARC
and other Asian countries region which includes lack of land connectivity, transit
crisis, complex visa system, etc. A regional infrastructure strategy is essential for
tapping economic and commercial opportunities among the Asian countries, while
safeguarding the growth opportunities for underdeveloped countries such as
Bangladesh.

10
EXHIBIT 2: COMPARATIVE STATEMENT ON READYMADE GARMENT (RMG) &
TOTAL EXPORT OF BANGLADESH
YEAR
EXPORT OF
RMG
(IN MILLION
US$)
TOTAL EXPORT
OF BANGLADESH
(IN MILLION US$)
% OF RMG TO
TOTAL EXPORT
NUMBER OF
GARMENT
FACTORIES
EMPLOYMENT IN
MILLION
WORKERS
1989-90 624.16 1923.70 32.45 759 0.34
1994-95 2228.35 3472.56 64.17 2182 1.20
1999-00 4349.41 5752.20 75.61 3200 1.60
2004-05 6417.67 8654.52 74.15 4107 2.00
2009-10 12496.72 16204.65 77.12 5063 3.60
2010-11 17914.95 22924.38 78.15 5150 3.60
2011-12 19089.73 24287.66 78.60 5400 4.00
2012-13 21515.73 27018.26 79.63 5400 4.00
2013-14 24491.88 30186.62 81.13 4536 4.00
Source: (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturer and Exporters Association (BGMEA), n.d.)

11
EXHIBIT 3: INDUSTRY OVERVIEW OF ERP SOLUTION PROVIDER
Domestic Production
To support rising demands in Bangladesh, there has been a huge upsurge in the number of
software companies providing ERP solutions in Bangladesh in recent years – foreign and
domestic alike. Of the 734 software companies operating in Bangladesh, 164 of them are
currently providing ERP solutions in Bangladesh. All of them provide both “off-the-shelf” and
“tailor-made” software to their clients. These clients range from real estate to the banking
sector. Software developers in Bangladesh have also started to explore foreign markets with
the IT sector and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) becoming a top contender for a major
export industry. Currently, only 56 of the 164 companies are exporting.
According the data made available by BASIS, till date a total of approximately 1614 ERP
installations have been carried out in Bangladesh. The number of companies providing such
solutions has increased over the years as depicted by the chart below (BASIS, n.d.).
Chart: Number of Companies Providing ERP Solution
Competition Dynamics and Market Structure
The market for ERP software is becoming an increasingly competitive one. The mature
companies have lost their first-mover advantage to many small companies who are now
providing similar support at much more competitive price. In the past five years, a total of 68
companies have started providing ERP software which has dramatically shaped the competitive
landscape of the software industry. Foreign competition operates in Bangladesh but under the
banner of local companies. A number of foreign companies have partnership with local firms
and thus indirectly influence the market as a whole.
What was once an oligopolistic market dominated by a few sellers two decades ago, has now
transformed into a monopolistic market structure where many sellers are vying for the same
customers with their own differentiated products.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
1989
1990
1992
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014

12
EXHIBIT 4: BGMEA PORTAL - USER INTERFACE
Simple mock-ups of the Integrated ERP Portal are depicted below.
Image: Login page
Image: Manufacturer’s homepage

13
Image: Search results for sub-contracting showing only manufacturers with free
capacity
Image: Sub-contracting requests from merchandisers and other manufacturers.

14
Image: Homepage of an enrolled student or mid-level manager

15
EXHIBIT 5: FUNCTIONALITY FEATURES AND SAMPLE E-LEARNING COURSE
OUTLINE
Table: Functionality According to User Roles
Supply Chain Actors Available Functions
All Bulletin Board
Manufacturers Sub-contract Orders
Receive Order Requests
Find Suppliers
Merchandisers Find Manufacturers
View Order Requests
Find Suppliers
Buyers Find Merchandisers
Track Order Sub-contracting
Suppliers Send Quotations
Receive Quotations
Mid-Level Managers Take Courses
Receive Certifications
Receive Job Offers
Explore Job Openings
Apply for Job
Table: Tentative Outline for a Course on “Productivity and Quality Management”
Particulars Details
Targeted Towards Production Managers/officers, Industrial
Engineers, Method Study Officers,
Productivity & Quality-related Managers/
officers
Core Focus Production, Productivity, Lean
Manufacturing & Quality Needs of RMG
Export Sector
Modules Covered HRM, OB & Social Compliance,
Introduction to Garment Manufacturing,
Garment Production Management,

16
Garments Quality Management , Industrial
Engineering, Lean Manufacturing, Fire
Safety
Duration 6 Months (2 classes per week)

17
EXHIBIT 6: MAJOR CONTENDERS IN PROVIDING THE BGMEA INTEGRATED
ERP PORTAL
With over 700 ERP installations, NaviWorld is the perhaps the most experienced ERP solution
provider in Bangladesh. NaviWorld is also leading ERP Consultancy provider in Africa, Asia,
Europe & Middle East regions supplying international and local companies with IT & ERP
consultancy solutions and products. NaviWorld has an outsourcing centre located in
Bangladesh.
Following NaviWorld are The Databiz Software Limited and Advanced ERP (BD) Limited,
each of whom have installed about 100 ERP solutions. Databiz and Advanced ERP have been
operation in Bangladesh for a quite a while – Databiz entered the market in the year 2000 and
Advanced ERP entered in 1996.
With more than 40 years of experience and nearly 50,000 customers, this SAP’s market-leading
ERP software is a proven, trusted foundation – built to support the world’s largest organizations
as well as small and midsize companies in 25 different industries.
Kandaree is an integrated solution that covers the entire process of an apparel manufacturing
unit. From price quote to actual shipment and its proceeds realized, Kandaree manages the
entire business process of the company. Kandaree collects data from the actual business process
execution and not through any data entry operation. This provides authenticity of the data as
well as internal process control at operation point of the process.

18
EXHIBIT 7: POSITIVE SIGNS ACROSS THE RMG SECTOR
It’s difficult to say whether Bangladesh will be able to reach its target. Bangladesh will continue
to be to the global hotspot for RMG manufacturing that’s for sure. 89% of Chief Purchasing
Officers (CPO) from leading apparel players in the EU and US chose Bangladesh as one of
their top 3 sourcing countries (McKinsey & Company, 2011). But doubling performance in a
span of 7 years requires participation from all stakeholders and extensive institutional support.
Currently, Bangladeshi garments exporters pay 15.61% duty to the US, whereas China pays
3.08%, Vietnam 8.38%, India 2.29%, Turkey 3.57%, and Indonesia 6.30% (UNB, 2015). Being
subject to a myriad of tariff and non-tariff barrier Bangladesh has diversified away from its
once core market, US, to non-traditional markets.
Bangladesh has also been under rigorous scrutiny by foreigners but the scenario is improving.
According to a recent study out of 3,500 RMG factories over 2,000 are already complying with
the international standard. Many of these factories have obtained international standard
certificates like ISO-series, GFSI and FSSC (Hye, 2012).
The Bangladesh Institute of Management (BIM), in collaboration with the PSES project
implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Government launched a Diploma Course on
“Productivity and Quality Management” on January 31, 2013. As a first of its kind course in
Bangladesh, the course is designed to meet the technical needs of middle management working
in the RMG and textile sector, with focus on lean manufacturing (Bangladesh Textile Today,
2013). Some organizations in the apparel sector, like Viyellatex Group, have introduced their
management trainee schemes. It is also mandatory for managers at all levels to attend the
management development programs run throughout the year (Saha, RMG sector faces talent
crunch, 2011).
Stories like these signal that the market forces are catching up and that maybe $50 billion is
not that difficult of a goal.

Submission for ISCEA PTAK Prize Global Case Competition

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Submission for ISCEA PTAK Prize Global Case Competition

Similar to Submission for ISCEA PTAK Prize Global Case Competition (20)

More from Sayem Faruk

More from Sayem Faruk (10)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Submission for ISCEA PTAK Prize Global Case Competition