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Interview with Manasij Ganguli

Manasij Ganguli
Manasij Ganguli
Founder & CEO
ThreadSol
ThreadSol

ThreadSol helps apparel manufacturers cut material costs and boost profits
ThreadSol has developed a number of solutions that help apparel manufacturers boost profits by reducing material usage. In an interview with Fibre2Fashion, Manasij Ganguli, founder and CEO of the company, tells us how these solutions work.

What challenges did you face while setting up your company?

Since our software is unique and has never been attempted by any manufacturer, it was initially a challenge to make clients comprehend the viability of this innovative concept. Many age-old apparel manufacturers were initially apprehensive, but once we explained the idea in detail, it seemed like a cakewalk. So far, we may have received a delayed response, but we have never faced rejection.
 

How did you hit upon the idea of ThreadSol? What is its growth story?

Mausmi Ambastha, one of the founders of ThreadSol, has been associated with the garment industry for the past eight years. She realised that there is a dire need for advanced and practical software that can optimise usage of fabric which makes up 70 to 80 per cent of the production cost of a garment. Saving one to ten per cent fabric has a huge effect in overall profitability of the company.

So, we brainstormed. The aim was to boost the sewn products industry by saving fabric, labour and time in an efficient and smart way. We came up with a critical market analysis on the competitive landscape, market entry, growth scenario and future prospects.

Looking at the potential market opportunity, we founded Threadsol Private Limited and developed a revolutionary product, IntelloCut. From that time, we have not stopped innovating. Now our product is being used in more than a hundred factories in 15 countries.

Tell us something about your background.

I graduated as an engineer from Birla Institute of Technology in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. I wrote code for 12 years for multinationals like Visa and Boeing. After that, I was an early member of Terracotta, a start-up in San Francisco, which had an exit of US$ 80 million in 2012. For the past four years, I have been the founder CEO at ThreadSol.

Which textile companies are using your solutions?

ThreadSol products have been recognised and adopted by top apparel manufacturers like Epic Group, Madura Garments of Aditya Birla Group, Blackberrys, Raymond, MAS Synergy, Hirdaramani Group, Orit Apparels and Dekko Group.

Which are your major markets? Which markets are you planning to explore?

Our major markets are Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India and China. We plan to explore East Africa, Korea and more countries in South East Asia.

What are the objectives of the company? What do you plan to achieve with ThreadSol?

ThreadSol's mission is to introduce technologically-driven products for the technologically stagnant apparel industry. With the help of our current software solutions IntelloCut and IntelloBuy, we aim to offer complete enterprise material management that helps manufacturers boost their top line by 50 per cent and helps them save 10 per cent on fabric. The aim is to be the de-facto company for all technological solutions for the apparel industry by 2020.

What services do you offer?

The current solutions by ThreadSol cater to garment manufacturers. We help apparel manufacturers buy the exact amount of fabric for making a garment. In the typical scenario, about 5-10 per cent of fabric is wasted. When they use ThreadSol, fabric waste is limited to less than 1 per cent. This increased utilisation means the manufacturer knows exactly the amount of fabric that is needed and thus saves on costs.

What are your marketing strategies?

We cater to a niche market. Our marketing strategy changes with every geography as the sentiments and consumer behaviour of every market are different. We try to educate our customers through content marketing specific to geography. Content plays an important role for any B2B marketing. We share knowledge through our blog ThreadSol Experts, Global Apparel Forum, and Stitch Diary.

Our new initiative, Apparel Tech-up helps bring garment industry experts on one platform for a panel discussion on the economic betterment of each geography. We have successfully organised it in Indonesia, Bangladesh and Vietnam. Our future ventures would be in India and Sri Lanka.

Are you planning any new products?

There are a couple of products in the pipeline. We plan to make additions to our solutions both vertically and horizontally. So, the new products will cater to a larger audience in the apparel industry.

What role do your products play in helping clients reduce fabric wastage?

With the help of its advanced algorithms, IntelloCut gives the most optimised cut plan, roll plan and lay plan, in just one click. It also offers a feedback system which works like GPS. If there are any variations on floor, the plan can be changed with a single refresh button. The advanced reporting structure of IntelloCut provides an edge to manufacturers to get complete control over the factory's practices.

IntelloBuy gives accurate buying consumption for a particular style. This saves millions of dollars of material cost at the buying stage, every day, for manufacturers worldwide.

What is the USP of ThreadSol?

The USP of ThreadSol is our motto - to challenge the present. We are constantly innovating on our products and provide updates/upgrades every three months. We constantly disrupt the current dynamics to make way for better solutions. That makes us unique.

What is your take on sustainability in the apparel industry?

The world is consuming a staggering 90 billion pieces of clothing each year, and over 21 billion tons of fabric is wasted annually. That is at least 5-10 per cent of fabric purchased. This wastage dents profits. The garment manufacturing industry could now look at some innovatively developed software solutions and algorithms that help save three per cent to seven per cent of total fabric cost. This can be a huge boost for efficiency in this sector and lead to affordable clothing.

What are your future plans? Where do you see ThreadSol in the next five years?

ThreadSol went into operation four years ago and is currently chasing a target of US$ 5 million. Presently, we have over 100 clients. We are growing 300 per cent year-on-year and want to reach a turnover of US$ 100 million within the next five to six years.

What is your R&D team like? What is your company's budget for R&D?

ThreadSol has an R&D team in Noida and Kolkata. Our consultants travel around the world and all innovations are made keeping the worldview in mind. A large part of the budget is allocated for R&D. Innovation is our USP and the highest priority for the organisation.
Published on: 13/06/2017

DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.