Interview with Ram Sareen

"You can roll down the window of your car with a crank taking 60 seconds or press a button in 1 second to roll it down electronically, the choice is yours. Similarly, every job can be done manually, but the question is, ""Do you have the time, the manpower that cost money to do it?"" and still stay competitive, profitable or better, in business or do you go out of business. The technology is to make repetitive operations, automatic. Everything is measured in Standard Allowed Minutes (S.A.M.). Automation allows us to reduce time, which translates into money or costs, and by reducing costs, one becomes more profitable. Technology provides consistent quality, a must in any mass manufacturing business unless you are making ""HAND MADE"" ROLLS ROYCES, even they could not stay profitable and were sold to engineered companies. Ever since the sale of RR, the quality is much better; the automobile is reliable and less expensive with more safety and performance feature. Automation Technology is not limited to machinery; it is technical knowledge, application of the knowledge and machines to follow those technical instructions.."

"It is the ""survival of the fittest scenario."" Those who are ready for expansion, can control cost and deliver quality product on time, will survive. The buyers are going to consolidate their suppliers to reduce their own cost of managing. Since buyers do not have quota restrictions, they need not worry about dividing quantities into countries where they could obtain quota. Now that they have a very good HISTORY and they did keep a SCORE CARD of each supplier, they will choose the best and help them expand to take care of total supply for that category.I have seen a Billion dollar retailer in California go from 98 vendors to 26 vendors in first three months of this year. POOF and 72 suppliers disappeared in a heartbeat. The relationships will be built, joint venture will take place and profitability will shared among most efficient groups. There is no room for error, there is no excuse for delays and most certainly there will be no tolerance for wastage of any kind. "

"We focused solely on PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AREA; without a product, there is no business. The entire manufacturing process and logistics of moving goods from factories to retailers is pretty well defined. Of course, we can save some time in those operations but getting the product approved and released to production needs major attention. It is the dream of every buyer to buy only on the day they are going to sell, so they know what to buy, and will be guaranteed the margin of profit. Buying too far in advance is too risky, and every buyer is managing their RISK factor by reducing the time of approval. The problem is too severe to handle as the distances between buyer and suppliers are oceans apart, communication and language problems and as demand for more styles grow rapidly, the shortage of Pattern Makers, Technical Designers is felt across the globe.The demand of our services through www.TUKAWEB.com for outsourcing pattern making to sample making has grown three folds in one year. We now have over 1,200 companies from 49 countries using our services.Our TECHNICAL TEAM has helped many retailers and large importers by developing their MASTER PATTERNS / Blocks / Slopers. We HOST these blocks for the vendors of these retailers who buy them from TUKAWEB to develop new styles based on the fit of their customers. We have been able to shave off many weeks in sample development and approval process.Our alignment with FedEx has saved 4 out of 5 days in sending patterns and markers to Asia from Europe and North America. So many suppliers do not have any CAD system, hence the buyers now upload the CAD file electronically to www.TUKAWEB.com from any CAD system. We convert the data to standard plot data, and plot it on our high speed plotters installed in FedEx distribution center in Philippines, all within TWO HOURS and deliver in 24 hours to any destination in Asia. Now, that is SPEED TO MARKET!If any vendor needs to send hard copy of final patterns, even they can use TUKAWEB portal and upload the file, choose any of 1,248 FedEx-Kinko's locations and have it plotted/delivered within 24 hours. Our engineers and consultants have been really busy streamlining the process at both buyers and suppliers alike. "

"TUKAWEB, TUKAcenters, FedEx, Kinko's, engineers, pattern makers, graders, marker makers, sample makers" and easy to use totally open systems - NO ONE HAS THAT INFRASTRUCTURE. There is no competition. We compete with several individual services but none offer ONE STOP SOLUTION. Being the first to start outsourcing of these services via Internet, we have been able to control costs and offer quality at affordable prices. With our Pattern makers in India, USA and many other countries where we have TUKAcenters for design and development, we have experts in almost all areas. From SUITS for J.C.Penny to Dresses for Chico's, from outerwear for Patagonia to outdoors products for Woolrich, from sportswear for Rampage to many patterns for Kohl's, we cater to all products globally.

"Outsourcing is creeping up in almost all areas except design and development. Demand for Pattern makers and technical writers is at all time high, while frustrations for buyers is in finding good, skilled personnel.Although we would love to outsource those services too (many companies have already done that), TUKAWEB has teamed up with best Fashion TREND Forecaster and we allow our users acquire design direction, get patterns and sewing instructions with technical specification to make the same within hours. This service will allow many suppliers in Asia, Central America and other exporting countries to buy designs, patterns and apply them to local fabrics, make samples and send them to their prospective buyers. Yes, it will ease the pain for the buyers but it will also strengthen the relationship between the two as both are adding value to each other's business."

"Very interesting question, 85% of the Apparel industry does not have a basic CAD system, a technology that is being offered for over 40 years and the 15% of the industry that has the CAD systems do not use it to make PATTERNS. Most of the companies make paper patterns and then digitize to grade and mark on a CAD system. It slows down the entire process, compromises the quality, and generally is the major reason for loss of business. No Patterns; No samples; therefore NO BUSINESS. The CAD systems have come down in prices in last 20 years but they are still too expensive for exporting countries. All systems require software, a digitizer and a plotter. In order to use this TECHNOLOGY, the buyer MUST get all the components or nothing at all. Many times they can not justify the purchase as their use may not be 8 hours a day for expensive components like Plotters. TUKATECH just launched the RENTAL of software, at $200 per month (that is the only investment) the buyer gets the system with Basic Pattern Blocks already in the system (no need to buy any digitizer) and if needed, they can buy specialized blocks from TUKAWEB. TUKAcenters, Kinko's and FedEx gives them plotting facilities. The risk for the user is minimized, if they like the results, they can buy the software, even apply a part of their rental expense towards purchase and add plotter whenever they can justify the use per day. There are hundreds of fashion schools teaching with TUKA systems. We are now offering the FULL TIME STUDENTS an opportunity to rent the software at $25 per month, learn, use and get better before they graduate. Even if they want to be DESIGNERS, they must know techniques or patterns, grading and markers before they can expect results from others."

"We must think like Automotive industry to be successful. You do not see any left over parts, seats or wheels once the production run is over, not even a screw, with so little work in process and almost every automobile as a SKU. It is almost like making Made to measure garments that my friend is PLANNING. We require technical personnel, need to eliminate wastage, make what you need and buy for what you need to make. Do you know where I find a store or showroom to buy SECONDS Mercedes, Toyotas, Hondas? I can take you to hundreds of places where they sell Seconds of Armani, Tommy, Guess, Liz, Ann Taylor, and almost all other labels. Are we there yet? Certainly not, without TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE and TECHNOLOGY, we can not get there."