Coats, a leading industrial thread and consumer textile crafts business, is celebrating 25 years of operating in Bangladesh. 

The opening of a new state of the art zips factory in Chittagong, Bangladesh, which has been announced at a gala event in Dhaka this weekend, marks this historic milestone for the company.

The event was attended by over 400 customers and suppliers. It also recognised the highly successful joint venture in Bangladesh with AK Khan Group, the company reports.

Economic growth

The Ready Made Garments (RMG) industry has been the mainstay of Bangladesh’s economic growth since Coats was established there 25 years ago, when exports were worth US 624 million and the sector employed 320,000 people.

By 2004 exports had grown to US 6.4 billion and the sector employed 2 million people.  This year exports are expected to reach over US 25 billion and employment will reach over 4 million people, according to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Bangladesh business

The Coats Bangladesh business has gone from strength to strength in recent years.  According to the company’s annual global employee engagement survey, Bangladesh has experienced the most significant improvement.

In 2013, the engagement score was 87%, up from 49% in 2010.  Earlier this year, it was awarded Coats Business of the Year and also received the inaugural CEO Award for Health and Safety Excellence, having reached over five million accident free hours.

Coats Bangladesh produces many of Coats innovative products, including flame retardant threads, Hemseal (adhesive thread for hems), Eloflex (thread with high extension properties for use stretch fabrics), Aquamelt (water soluble thread for temporary stitching applications) and Drybond (water resistant, strong and durable anti-wick threads for use in sports equipment). 

New zips factory

Coats has manufacturing sites in Chittagong, in the south east of the country, and Gazipur, near the capital Dhaka, which operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

The new zips factory will open in the early part of 2015 and is being established in response to the growing demand from global consumer brands manufacturing apparel and footwear in Bangladesh.

“Coats is extremely proud of our world class operation in Bangladesh and the support and relationship with our joint venture partner.  Our business has seen significant growth and development, particularly in the last few years, and the opening of our new world class zips factory is a demonstration of our commitment to an ever-growing presence here,” said Paul Forman, Group CEO, Coats.

Hot spot of South Asia

At the event on Sunday, Paul Forman discussed the market dynamics driven by the longer term mega trend of the growth of the Asian middle class, as the Asia-Pacific region moves from being primarily a manufacturing base to the world’s largest consumer market. 

He talked about the global apparel sourcing heat map, with Bangladesh being one of the main hubs in the hot spot of South Asia.  He also covered cost inflation and productivity, time and speed as the basis for competitive success and the use of digital technologies to drive efficiencies in the supply chain.

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