Textile producers asked to follow buyers' tastes

Textile producers asked to follow buyers' tastes

JAKARTA (JP): Producers of textile related products should
follow the tastes of their overseas buyers if they want to
survive in the new millennium, according to a textile expert.

Senior textile producer Chamroel Djafri said on Wednesday that
monitoring buyers' inclinations was a must for the country's
textile producers.

In addition, producers should also follow international
quality standards such as the ISO 9000 quality management
standardization, he said.

The full liberalization of the textile trade within the next
few years will result in fiercer competition in the textile
market, said Chamroel, a senior advisor of the Indonesian Textile
Association said.

He said Indonesian exporters would survive the tight market
only if they were able to meet the market demand for good quality
and fashionable products, he added.

An important aspect which must be followed by exporters,
according to him, is the improvement in the treatment of their
goods, especially during shipment.

"Proper product handling is necessary to guarantee the
fabrics' quality when it reaches the destination country.

The delivery of the products should always be on time,
especially to countries, which have four seasons, such as the
United States and Europe," he said.

"They should be responsive and quick in fulfilling the orders
from their buyers," he said at the launch of the DHL Worldwide
Express Fashion First service.

He added that lack of information about export procedures
could create inconvenience later in the destination countries,
ranging from prolonged customs paperwork to product reshipment to
the exporter's country.

"Indonesia's textile and garment industry is an important
foreign exchange contributor that has been growing steadily over
the years. It accounted for US$7.8 billion or nearly a fifth of
the country's total non-oil exports," technical advisor of
Birotika Semesta/DHL Worldwide Express Bruce Hampson said.

"Unfortunately the industry is not adequately serviced," he
said adding that importer countries, like the U.S. have
complicated customs requirements.

"An incorrect application would cost the exporters's time and
money," he said.

He added that the company has trained 250 of its staff on
customs skills specific to textile and garment exports to provide
free customs brokerage.

Mike Fitzpatrick, the company's senior technical advisor said
the Fashion First service utilizes a specially designed delivery
box to guarantee the fabrics' quality and a special customs
documentation holder for easy identification.

The service adopts Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
technology which enables import procedures at the port of entry
to be carried out before the shipment arrives.(06)