What is all-over print?

Figure 1: Demand for AOP fashion is to remain strong in coming days.

It is a term used to describe a special kind of print that covers the entire garment (and when we say the entire garment, we do mean the entire garment). All-over print reaches places that regular ones don’t, the most obvious being seams and other elements like zippers. Noticing these details is the only way to actually tell if it is all-over or not. This kind of print is achieved by layering the t-shirt on a flat surface and then printing on top of it, which means that any element that is not exposed to the ink, like hems, for example, won’t be affected. If a hem or the interior of the garment is printed then the fabric was probably printed before it was sewn, this is the traditional way of printing fabric.

AOP demand trend

The current shoppers are quite fashionable. So the garments manufactures are also making garments keeping fashion in the mind. New technologies are developing through which it is easy to work. When a printing machine print full width fabric with its impression it is call AOP. Usually in case of AOP fabric is cut after printing. All over printing is one type of printed clothing that is attracted by buyers of all ages. Due to having its colorful design, it’s used almost in every program.

Technique

The process is similar to the dye-diffusion approach: a graphic is printed onto a sheet of high-release paper and then transferred onto the chosen apparel using high heat and pressure. Heat converts the solid dye particles into a gas through sublimation. The liquid phase is skipped due to the instantaneity of the physical change. This immediacy bonds the released chemicals to the polyester fibres. Unlike screen printing and direct-to-garment digital printing, this is not digital. Instead, the dye is absorbed by the fabric for a fantastic soft-to-the-touch feel and breathability. The design is printed on 100% polyester material.

Often, this is done on white garment only as this base colour allows for the best applicability. The types of garments available are T-shirts, hoodies, sweaters, socks, bags and much more.

Figure 2: Demand for AOP fashion is to remain strong in coming days.

Digital AOP

Conventional print creates huge bunch of effluents which are hazardous for the ecosystem and even for the human being. The technology makes possible to have faster production cycles, to reduce the water consumption. That’s why, digital inject All Over Printing is becoming very popular day by day due to the less environmental impact.

Nowadays, consumers want to change frequently and give them a much greater individual touch. There is scarcely any other technology that combines brilliant colors, wonderful designs and production on demand with low resource utilization. Currently, 60 percent of digitally printed textiles are produced in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam. Due to the increase in demand, many of the factories in Bangladesh are opening digital ‘All Over Printing’ section along with conventional. New jobs are also being created in the different houses with attractive salary.

AOP as a career

There was a time when the newly graduate students wanted to work in dyeing, knitting, spinning or garments section. They thought that without joining those sectors, career growth is not possible. But now choices have been changed because of the changing era. Graduate students are choosing the printing sector as profession. It’s too much a challenging sector like medical or journalism. But if anyone is persistent towards the goal, he/she will be successful in this sector soon.

Textile sector

Bangladesh's textile industry, which includes knitwear and ready-made garments along with specialized textile products, is the nation's number one export earner, accounting for 80% of Bangladesh's exports of $15.56 billion in 2009. Bangladesh is 3rd in world textile exports behind Turkey, another low volume exporter, and China which exported $120.1 billion worth of textiles in 2009. The industry employs nearly 3.5 million workers. Current exports have doubled since 2004. Wages in Bangladesh's textile industry were the lowest in the world as of 2010. The country was considered the most formidable rival to China where wages were rapidly rising and currency was appreciating.
After massive labor unrest in 2006 the government formed a Minimum Wage Board including business and worker representatives which in 2006 set a minimum wage equivalent to 1,662.50 taka, $24 a month, up from Tk950. In 2010, following widespread labor protests involving 100,000 workers in June, 2010, a controversial proposal was being considered by the Board which would raise the monthly minimum to the equivalent of $50 a month, still far below worker demands of 5,000 taka, $72, for entry level wages, but unacceptably high according to textile manufacturers who are asking for a wage below $30.On July 28, 2010 it was announced that the minimum entry level wage would be increased to 3,000 taka, about $43.
The government also seems to believe some change is necessary. On September 21, 2006 then ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia called on textile firms to ensure the safety of workers by complying with international labor law at a speech inaugurating the Bangladesh Apparel & Textile Exposition (BATEXPO).

Bangladesh: A Growing Textile Economy

Bangladesh’s textile industry is comprised of a mix of small- to large-scale privately and publicly owned companies.

By T.C. Malhotra

T he textile industry has played an important role in Bangladesh’s economy for a long time. Currently, the textile industry in Bangladesh accounts for 45 percent of all industrial employment and contributes 5 percent to the total national income. The industry employs nearly 4 million people, mostly women.

A huge 78 percent of the country’s export earnings come from textiles and apparel, according to the latest figures available. Bangladesh exports its apparel products worth nearly $5 billion per year to the United States, European Union (EU), Canada and other countries of the world. It is the sixth largest apparel supplier to the United States and EU countries.

Major products exported from Bangladesh include polyester filament fabrics, man-made filament mixed fabrics, PV fabrics, viscose filament fabrics and man-made spun yarns. Major garments exported include knitted and woven shirts and blouses, trousers, skirts, shorts, jackets, sweaters and sportswear, among other fashion apparel.

Textile and apparel firms in Bangladesh are mostly concentrated around the capital city of Dhaka.

A Picture Of Bangladesh's Textile Industry

Bangladesh’s textile industry can be divided into three main categories: public sector; handloom sector; and the organized private sector. The private sector is the fastest growing sector in the country.

The handloom industry provides employment for a large segment of the population of Bangladesh and supplies a large portion of the fabric required by the local market.

Mahmud E. Alam, managing director, Famano Textile Mills Ltd., said about 20 percent of existing mills in Bangladesh are large-scale mills, roughly 30 percent are medium-scale mills, and the remaining 50 percent are small-scale mills. Alam said the number of spinning mills in the country is increasing day-by-day.

The textile quotas under the Multi-Fiber Arrangement of January 2005 have been moderate in Bangladesh and the industry is divided on their impact. While industry analysts say Bangladesh’s garment and textile manufacturers will have to face steep competition from countries such as India, Pakistan, China and Thailand as a result of new policies, the textile companies see no impact on their business.

Alam feels the lifting of quotas is not going to affect his business. “The future of the textile industry here is very bright,” Alam said. “Even the lifting of quotas is not going to affect the industry as was worried,” he said.

Mostafizur Rahman, managing director, Pawrob, also is of the view that lifting quotas is not going to have very much of an effect, but he fears China will affect the Bangladesh textile industry in the long run.

“The main reason behind this is the leap factor,” Rahman said. “Chinese companies have an edge of 30 days over Bangladeshi textile companies.”

nationalmemorial

Top to bottom: National Memorial in Savar, 35 kilometers from Dhaka; Jamuna multipurpose bridge, which connects two detached parts of Bangladesh; Shaheed Minar, which commemorates the Language Martyrs of 1952;
and Bangladesh's National Parliament (Sangsad Bhaban), designed by American architect Louis Kahn
Combined, the textile and apparel sectors consist of 3,600 firms. There is a concentration of manufacturing activity in and around the capital city of Dhaka and a growing garment manufacturing presence in the country’s export processing zones.

Bangladesh Textile Mills Association Secretary General Taufiq Hasan said that because textiles and ready-made garments are the two largest export sectors and employers in Bangladesh, government support will continue and there are no restrictions on repatriation of profits and investment or tax-free imports of machinery and raw materials for export. The government also is liberal toward work permits.

According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the total fabric requirement in the captive market is about 3 billion yards, of which roughly 85 to 90 percent is imported from countries such as China, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan. Fabric demand is increasing at the rate of 20 percent per year.

Although the industry is one of the largest in Bangladesh and is still expanding, it faces serious problems, principally because the country does not produce enough of the raw materials necessary for the industry to expand. The primary materials used in the spinning sector are raw cotton and man-made fibers such as viscose and polyester staple fibers. Unfortunately, none of these raw materials are produced in Bangladesh.

Most spinning mills in Bangladesh produce low-grade yarn. Available figures show that current yarn production satisfied only 22-percent of the total yarn demand. In spite of this drawback, as many as 116 new spinning mills, each having the capacity of 25,000 spindles, will be established in the near future.

The weaving sector also is plagued by a lack of organization and coordination. The existing weaving capacity in Bangladesh can meet only about 40 percent of fabric demand; the rest is imported. However, the increasing trend of expansion in the weaving sector is clear from the fact that 223 modern weaving plants, each with an annual capacity of 10 million meters, will be set up in the near future.

The knitting and hosiery sectors look brighter than weaving, and about 80 percent of garment accessories like cartons, threads, buttons, labels, poly bags, gum tapes, shirt boards and neck boards now are being produced within Bangladesh and contribute to the the national gross domestic product. However, the textile industry is just budding.

Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation

When Bangladesh gained its independence from Pakistan in 1971, the new government nationalized the textile industry. All of the country’s textile factories were then organized under the Bangladesh Textile Mills Corp. (BTMC).

The role of BTMC within Bangladesh’s textile industry has substantially been altered since the denationalization of a large number of public sector textile mills over the last decade and a half. Prior to denationalization, BTMC enjoyed a near-monopoly within the yarn and fabric market in Bangladesh.

At present, there are 21 textile companies under BTMC. They operate 24 spinning facilities with an installed capacity of 490,892 spindles and 1,036 looms. Out of that total, 13 of the companies — which operate 16 plants — utilize 320,228 spindles under the service charge system producing different counts of yarn in the range of 32/1 to 80/1. Another five companies have 128,088 spindles in operation.

Among the 21 mills, Valika Woolen Mills Ltd., Nasirabad, Chittagong, is the only specialized BTMC company, producing knitting wool, woolen suiting, men’s and women’s woolen shawls, and woolen blankets.

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The government-owned Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority promotes foreign and local investment in its export processing zones, which were developed to provide potential investors a business environment free of complicated procedures.
Other leading textile associations in the country include the BGMEA, Bangladesh Jute Mills Association, and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

According to Bangladesh’s Textile Minister Shajahan Siraj, the government had initiated various policy measures such as rationalization of tariffs and taxes on imports of capital machinery, raw materials, dyes and chemicals, and reduction of interest on long- and short-term loans.

Mahmudur Rahman, executive chairman of Bangladesh’s Board of Investment, said in a recently published interview that in the next five years, the country needs an investment of US $3 billion in the textile sector. He said the country’s textile market, during the last fiscal year (July 2004-June 2005) totaled $21.5 billion, compared to $3.2 billion 20 years ago. Rahman predicted the market could grow to $23 billion in the next fiscal year.

The Bangladesh government offers great incentives for encouraging the use of local fabrics in the export-oriented garment industries. To encourage textile export, companies can import capital machinery duty-free. Cotton also may be imported duty-free. Moreover, the government recently has implemented several policy reforms to create a more open and competitive climate for foreign investment.

Rising garment export trends from Bangladesh, along with some benefits provided by the government, have created concerns for Pakistan's government. Textile tycoons in Karachi are thinking about shifting their business to Bangladesh.

Investment In Bangladesh

As reported by Bangladesh news agencies, the Bangladesh textile sector acquired an investment influx of Tk 622 crore (approximately US $95 million) between January and May of 2005. Twelve textile mills — primarily spinning mills located in Dhaka — benefited from the investment, which is said to be the largest investment in textiles in a five-month period since Bangladesh became an independent country.

Badsha Spinning Mills recently purchased 20 Trützschler TC 03 cards.

One of the recipients of this investment, Badsha Spinning Mills Ltd., recently purchased a blow room and 20 TC 03 cards from Germany-based Trützschler GmbH & Co. KG. The Trützschler equipment will be used to produce sliver for Ne 30 hosiery yarns in Badsha’s ring-spinning plant. Nepcontrol NCT, featured on all of the cards, monitors neps, seed coat fragments and trash particles on-line. According to Trützschler, Badsha Spinning, which will export the majority of the yarns it produces, selected Trützschler equipment because high yarn quality is important.

Sector	Products
Spinning	Yarn
Weaving	Grey woven fabric
Knitting	Grey knit fabric
Dyeing and finishing	Dyed or printed fabric
Apparel or garments	Men, women and baby wear
Jute	Carpet, twine, hessian, and sacking.
Sericulture	Silk yarn and silk fabric
Hand loom	Sharee (jamdani and banarosi), lungi and gamsha.
Power loom	Sharee, lungi, gamsha and different woven cloth.

PRESENT TEXTILE SECTOR OF BANGLADESH

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

All Over Print – How Do They Do It?