Mudassir confidently stated that the textile industry can boost its export revenues by up to 20% through process automation. PHOTO: FILE
In a telling example of how technology can help turn a business’ fortunes around, Karachi-based Al Rahim Textile industries saw its revenues growth rate expand by 10 percentage points within the six months following an end-to-end implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software.
With double-digit growth in revenues over the past six months, the textile manufacturer and exporter looks set to recover the investment and double its exports in less than a year, Khawaja Mudassir – IT general manager at Al Rahim Group, the parent company of Al Rahim Textile – told The Express Tribune.
Thoroughly satisfied with his company’s experience with ERP software, Mudassir confidently stated that the textile industry can boost its export revenues by up to 20% through process automation, and recover that investment in six to eight months.
With a specialty in home textiles, Al Rahim Textile has a full-range manufacturing facility at Nooriabad and is the third-largest exporter of home textiles in Pakistan, if Mudassir is to be believed. The company earned Rs6.5 billion in annual revenues, mainly exports to the United States, Europe and Australia, through its Lintaz brand, an internationally-registered brand owned by the Al Rahim Group.
“Information technology is not a luxury, it is a need,” Mudassir observed. Al Rahim Textile, he claimed, is the first Pakistani textile firm to have deployed an ERP solution in every department of the company – in sampling, manufacturing and production, and supply chain functions etc.
The company has invested Rs20 million in ERP solutions, which includes the costs incurred on 30 Oracle professionals hired exclusively to operate the software. “We had calculated our return on investment beforehand and we can recover this money within six to eight months,” Mudassir said.
The company had been growing at an average 10% during the last three years, according to Mudassir. After implementing the ERP software, the growth rate has increased to 20% over the last six months. “We expect it to go even higher, since we are still at an early stage,” he said.
Explaining why technology matters, Mudassir said that when international buyers search for textile companies to place their orders, they first look at that company’s visibility online. If they are satisfied with that, they are next interested in whether their own software can connect with that that of the textile manufacturer outsourced for the job.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc – the world’s largest chain of retail stores based out of America – uses the same Oracle-based ERP as Al Rahim Textile, according to Mudassir. This makes it easy for the two companies to work together on orders.
“When they make their purchase order, it becomes our delivery order through a single entry,” Mudassir explained. “Wal-Mart doesn’t only place orders, it tracks them as well; so data integration is important, because it increases our buyer’s confidence.”
Clients can no longer rely on email, as they want to supervise every single step of the order and plan their further course of action based on this information. “We therefore use a mobile notification service that sends SMS alerts to our clients regarding the status of their orders: eg, the day production will start and the days left till shipment, etc,” Mudassir explained
On top of that, the ERP software helps increase production efficiency and ensures on-time delivery of orders. It usually takes more than two months for an order to become ‘mature’ for delivery, but an automated system reduces this time by 40%, thus speeding up the decision-making process.
“We’ll share our case study with the industry through the platform of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association,” Mudassir told The Express Tribune. “We would be happy to provide training to the industry,” he added. He believes that 100% automation will multiply the existing export ratio, thus benefiting the entire national economy in the long run.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 18th, 2013.
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In our land, many companies rate themselves as 100% tech savvy, where their IT expertise happens to be not more than checking their emails, or conducting routine correspondence via Internet. The same is also true for so-called ERP deployment in many leading textile companies in Pakistan. Just talk to their CEOs and you will find that these tech-savvy business leaders don’t know the difference between web administrator and IT project manager. Yes, they do have modern computing machines, latest laptops equipped with all modern accessories, and air-conditioned computer rooms, but what they normally lack is an established ERP environment. Just tell me how many leading big textile companies here at Pakistan are able deliver the finished order to their overseas clients within a week? Or does any textile company have sufficient arrangement to show live manufacturing and production processes to international clients online? Other than teleconferencing, how many textile companies are able to broadcast their production process through laptops and iPads to those of the customers and retailers living in European countries? I think this is the time that we must be glad about achievement of companies like Al Rahim in technology adoption and implementation, and other textile companies need to reassess their technological backwardness and be rational when passing judgment on others’ accomplishments.
@Zain: Get your facts right . ERP stands for enterprise resource planning , not economic . Again if I believe Mr.Khawja Muddasir , then I would say they have hired some of the ineffcient software operators . 30 ERP operators can handle a company whose market value is over 2 billion USD . At max 10 operators are sufficient to operate this.
This is wonderful achievement made by a Pakistani textile company. It must be appreciated instead of casting any doubt upon this. I have been in home textiles since last 12 to 13 years, having worked with leading textile companies operating in the country. As per my experience, almost all of these textile companies are running their systems on traditional methods, giving less attention to technology-based applications. Forget about ERP, many of these local textile giants give damn care to installing primary inventory systems as per international standards. On the name of ERP, many textile firms seem to installing a very small chunk of ERP with a very limited scope and within a single department mostly. India takes the lead, because of its enriched software background, whereas many textile manufacturers and exporters in Pakistan are mainly focused on using attractive slim female models to attract buyers. They publish glossy magazines and booklets featuring their products via commercialized exploitation of women’s physique, but disregard the essential aspect of technology support.
Economic Resource Planning (ERP) is a very useful software for planning any industry. ERP and has been taught in many business schools. It is used thru out the world, in auto industry, as well as many other. Also JIT, Just In Time, inventory planning software, where you only keep the level of inventory needed, to save cost and more efficient manufacturing. Lean Manufacturing is another business management resource. Pakistanis should use these strategies, which are normally taught in many MBA courses, but rarely do these practices are brought out of text books and used practically.
Quite a lot of discrepancies in this article:
1) 'With a specialty in home textiles, Al Rahim Textile has a full-range manufacturing facility at Nooriabad and is the third-largest exporter of home textiles in Pakistan'
By what measure is this company the third largest exporter of home textiles? I have been working in textile sector for quite a while and know companies that produces much more in sales than Rs. 6.5 billion - clearly you just made it up.
2) 'Al Rahim Textile, he claimed, is the first Pakistani textile firm to have deployed an ERP solution in every department of the company – in sampling, manufacturing and production, and supply chain functions etc.'
The company I work for implemented ERP in 2007 in all departments - what is this guy talking about? For that matter Nishat textile had this implemented in 2006.