It took a long time to change mindsets
Bierrebi produces automatic cutting systems and has been operating in industrial fabric cutting machines since 1963. In an interview with Fibre2Fashion, Boban Charly, executive director, Bierrebi Asia, speaks about Bierrebi's market positioning with respect to the industrial fabric cutting machinery worldwide, the new launches to look forward to and its future plans.
What is the story behind the brand? Who are the founders?
Bierrebi is a leading brand that produces fabric cutting machines for basic t-shirt manufacturing, popular from 1963 onwards. The present owners are two young and dynamic entrepreneurs Francesco Virlinzi and Mario Paoluzi.
You are heavily into automation. Is the Indian market ready for automation yet in general or is it still lagging in the global scenario?
Yes. Many people in the industry still follow the old method of cutting manually. However, this is not a practical method anymore. Converting the mindset-which is generated from a culture-is really very difficult, but things are becoming different with the new generation and everybody has to move on with automation and innovative technologies in order to not lag behind in the competition.
Availability of space is becoming a problem in many industrial areas. Automation reduces the wastage of huge floor area. Again, rather than controlling many employees (manual cutters), it is very easy to manage one/two operators with our machine.
Another point that I want to highlight is that by making the process automatic, the production system can obtain thousands of identical items/pieces, and the production will get standardised with mass quantity and there will be less costs and efforts.
What are your expansion plans?
Bierrebi is known for producing basict-shirts and sharing this information to all the manufacturers, is the main agenda which we are focusing on. By forecasting and expanding our market share in the fabric/textiles industry, last year we stepped forward with our new machine in Ludhiana, which is a big new market for tubular products, especially for t-shirts. Giving insight to t-shirt manufactures about Bierrebi's innovative cutting technologies is going to be one of the main focus areas this year.
What have been the highs and lows in your journey, your major achievements?
Bierrebi is able to provide innovative solutions to the manufacturing plants, which were struggling to increase their production of t-shirt/vest and innerwear. Managing the manpower, shortage and availability of efficient cutters are big challenges for any management, and we are very happy to say that Bierrebi became the most efficient and effective solution for the manufacturers of t-shirt/vest.
What was the turning point in the growth story of your brand?
The company started its journey in 1963 and the demand for Bierrebi machines led us to expand the market on an international level by 1970. In 10 years, we became a leader for tubular products. In 1980, we expanded our product range and developed the first fully automated machine for cutting tubular knitted fabrics through t-shirts and sweatshirts. Now we have two branches-one in the US and another in India.
IoT, AI, etc. How is Bierrebi equipping itself to keep pace with the digital world?
The technology is growing day by day and IoT, AI, etc represent platforms that became a common intermediate between people. Around 75 per cent of the people are taking advantage of these technologies in business and marketing, and it gave a good result in many areas of their businesses, including cost reductions, especially during the pandemic period. However, I believe that IoT, AI and virtual meetings can never replace the depth of personal man-to-man relationship and interactions in business.
What are the upcoming trends in the fabric cutting market?
The market for manufacturing of t-shirts/vest and innerwear for European, American markets increased again and they started to source more from India. We expect to see a big growth in the next five years. T-shirt is becoming common now than formal wears and many customers see t-shirts as an easy wear outfit. Even at work, young people have started wearing them. Hence, t-shirt is becoming very common; we see the possibility of using a single solution as Bierrebi Automatic Cutting Line for t-shirt production, giving in this way many advantages to the manufacturers.
How big is the market of industrial fabric cutting machinery worldwide? What is Bierrebi's market positioning with respect to that?
The cutting process is one of the main procedures which needs to pass through the entire supply chain line before obtaining the finished product. So, obviously, the market for cutting machines is even bigger than we expect. In addition, there are many brands from all over the world who contribute with their technology in this cutting process. However, Bierrebi has always stood separately as a unique cutting solution provider among others with its simple die cutting technology and its maximum level of productivity.
What kind of growth and expansion has Bierrebi witnessed under the leadership of the new owners?
Under the new leadership, the company has grown with new strategies that allowed it to quickly adapt to the market needs and trends- economic contribution on research and development, focus on human resources, and fostering the innovative mindset have enabled improvements in established products, and brought new concepts to the surface as well.
What are the new products you will be coming up with?
We will keep improving our technology based on the trends and needs of the market. Bierrebi is still known as "One and only solution for Tubular Fabric Products" and we want to keep our leadership in the market by offering the latest and most advanced technology. Apart from this, we have developed a new machine, called Crystal, which cuts on a patented glass surface with a double blade system. Thanks to this new technology, we are able to expand our market focusing on the medical field as well because these cuts are very sophisticated. It can be used for surgical nonwoven items other than sampling and in the fashion industry, which makes high quality premium products.
What are the revenue expectations/targets of the parent company and its India subsidiaries for the current fiscal?
This year is very special for us-in fact, we forecast to reach a 30 per cent increase in revenue.
We always keep a certain percentage of our revenue for the development of our machines. Our R&D investments remain constantly high to stay ahead in anticipating and meeting the requirements of quickly evolving markets. Such innovation-focused mindset also fosters a stimulating environment, both to improve existing products and, to come up with new ideas and concepts. It is in Bierrebi
culture to challenge itself, to constantly learn, and to strive to devise solutions to new problems.
What is Bierrebi's revolutionary "single layer" cutting technique all about? How is it different from other fabric cutting systems?
By understanding the needs of the market, we introduced a new technology of single layer cutting that brought perfection in cutting quality, reduction of waste, increased productivity and space savings.
How does your entire supply chain work and how do you keep it transparent throughout?
All of Bierrebi machines are produced and assembled in Italy, and of course, all the raw materials are from Italy as well. We have a good purchase department team, which coordinates in the best way for the supply of materials in time. In addition, we have implemented a very efficient delivery system, which allows us to ship the machines before the time we commit.
Please throw some light on your India journey. What were the initial challenges that you faced?
We started with our Asian market expansion in 1990 and the Indian market was always among our priorities, right from the beginning of starting our operations. The main challenge that we faced in India was to convince people on switching the systems with which they usually worked. It took a long time to change their mindset, but now, we have installed our cutting systems in many companies and closely follow our clients. We have started our subsidiary in Coimbatore/Tiruppur.
Which are the major innerwear companies you supply cutting equipment to in India?
All the major brands of innerwear players in India cut their fabric with Bierrebi machines. When they bought a single Bierrebi machine, they had the possibility of getting free bank loans and, in about a year or two they always added another Bierrebi machine within their production. As of now, we have installed 55 Bierrebi machines in India, which represents our main market in Asia.
How different is the Indian machinery market from the rest of the world? What are your thoughts on its positives and negatives?
The size of the machinery market is very vast in India. The government provides strength and support to the industry too. For this reason, the country is emerging as the main hub for manufacturing in Asia. Technology tie-ups with leading global companies help manufacturers compete with production quality. A good support from the government in almost all sectors through subsidies and customs duty exemptions, attract investors to bring their contribution to the market even though the market needs to keep improving in many areas.
